Christmas time is coming!

It's never to early to plan for Christmas, my favourite time of year.

Yes, yes, Hari Raya Aidilfitri is not even over yet. And there's Deepavali . And there's what, 3 months to go before Christmas. But it'll be here before I know it, and I like to distract myself from work every now and then, just thinking about how I'm going to dress my tree this year, the food and hum carols to myself.

First, to plan the Christmas feast.
Turkey? Again? Maybe lamb this time? Or should I do a theme i.e Italian? Indian?

Christmas presents.
Go shopping with the crazy crowds in the malls? Maybe shop online?

Christmas time often financially cripples me for a month or two after. So I'm really hoping for some big sale between now and December. Or some really good deals online like on Coupon Chief which offers coupons for some good discounts. Just click on the coupon codes of choice.

Most of the merchants are American and not very accessible to me, but there are coupons for Amazon.com, my favourite online bookstore (at least they do international shipping). Most of the Christmas presents I get for my nieces and nephews every year are book gifts anyway, so that's great.

I was also quite surprised to see coupons for National Geographic merchandise. Calendars. T-Shirts. Mugs. All for a good cause too. So I'd probably get something from there for friends working and living abroad now.

I was drooling over some coupons for igourmet.com. They have stuff like fine cheeses, gourmet meats, olive oils and other culinary goodies (Umbrian pasta, Tuscan tomato sauce, and Parmigiano Reggiano!!). Too bad they don't deliver to my part of the world. I guess I'll have to do my food shopping on home ground then.