A Royal Lagoon Christmas Eve
I would rather have been around a Christmas tree in the mountains of North Carolina. But the tree at the Royal Lagoon was big and beautiful. Santa was there, with a choir singing carols, a great buffet of food, and good friends to share the evening. It made being 8,000 miles from home a little more palatable.My good friend, Lucas had invited me to share the evening with he and his management team from Premier Furniture at the Royal Lagoon for their Christmas Eve Celebration. I had long heard that this was the place to be on Christmas Eve, if you have to be in Dongguan City. I was not disappointed. We had a big table right off the lobby just behind the choir, but not so close to the buffet as to get food slopped on you.
As I arrived the choir was already in full chorus of hymns and Christmas songs. My friends that make up a Phillipino trio: Wendy, Grace, and Linga, were leading the carols. They are so talented. Name a song and they can play it. And here they were doing Christmas carols too. The choir in white robes and crowns was quite good too. I kept trying to figure if they were from a local school.
As I started snapping pictures (see new link “Royal Lagoon Xmas”), Santa appeared and the excitement rose. Kids even here were getting excited and giddy. They had evidently already been into some chocolate. And they certainly knew Santa had special meaning on this Christmas Eve.
More of Lucas’s staff arrived, and we began making our way to the buffet. What a spread of food. There was a sushi table, salad row, covered meats and vegetables, breads, and a big dessert section. I found two more buffet sections (pasta bar and appetizers) after I had stuffed myself to near explosion. And this was just one of at least three restaurants in this large hotel catering to meals like this. The choir was rotating between the different venues to entertain everyone.
As I moved behind the choir for close-ups, a young lady on the end of the back row suddenly said: “Hi Gene!” …… Whoa!? She knew me! Who was this?............... Finally it hit me: It was Rose, one of the hostesses here at the hotel. I sure didn’t recognize her at first in the shiny white robe and crown. So that was it: the choir was actually staff from the hotel. And they were really good. They sang numerous songs. They did dances to more peppy tunes. What a group of employees. This hotel continues to amaze me.
By the end of the evening, Lucas decided to share the Skyy vodka bottle I had brought for him, with everyone at our table. The hotel staff searched back to the bar and found shot glasses, and we toasted the Christmas season.
The hotel even had a drawing of prizes from massages to laptop computers. We had a couple of winners at our table, so the excitement got more furious. I didn’t win, but at least I won some more new friends and had a good time.
It wasn’t a North Carolina Christmas, but Christmas in China was good! Merry Christmas to all!
posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 7:39 AM
Comments: 0
