I spent another Christmas away from home. Last year, a friend and I hosted dinner for 15 in Paris. This year, I spent Christmas Eve, known as 24 December in Taiwan, with J and her friends.

Things were less hectic this time. We had our December 24th dinner at an organic restaurant near Shi-Da (NTNU) and then hung out at a friend’s place nearby for a 100 NT ($3) gift exchange and karaoke.

In Taipei, 100 NT was enough to buy a music CD, colourful slippers, a coin pouch, and other cheap stuff we found at the night market. In London, just taking the tube to go shopping and back would break the budget.