Winter Solstice and Christmas in a tropical country

Pudu Ria did a top-notch job decorating this naturally-grown (imported) Christmas tree from Denmark

I started working after my one-week hospitalization leave ended following my follow-up medical procedure at a private hospital in Batu Pahat, Johor. The days leading up to 2025 Christmas were the usual 5-working days and completing my annual performance appraisal and reviewing executive-levels as well as attending to usual work tasks. The last time I actually experienced natural Christmas trees were during my university and English Bar days back in 1997. Somehow a little piece of memory from those UK days was re-ignited when I saw the loveliest Christmas tree at Pudu Ria Florist, days before 25th. A short video of this is captured as featured at the top of my blog post above. I couldn't resist testing the pinecone decoration on this tree to see whether it was real.    

A smaller christmas tree (with zero decorations) was positioned nearby the taller one. The smaller tree would set one back by RM500+. It was not a cheap import. A wild barred owl that perched on top of a Christmas tree inside a house in Virginia, USA which can be read HERE. According to this website HERE, an Austrian biodiversity investigation on Christmas trees named two avian species (Woodlark and Red-backed Shrike) as examples of natural beneficiaries of these tree plantations in Denmark and Europe. In Peninsular Malaysia, the collared owlet is a raptor which I've seen during my birdwatching trips to Fraser Hill. My trip and pictures of this owlet can be seen HERE.