Festive Season 2023: How The Accela Team is Celebrating
The Accela team wishes everyone a wonderful festive season 2023! As we wrap up this year and get ready for the next, we've gathered insights from the team on their most cherished memories from the holiday season and their plans for celebration this year.
Claire Leys - Communications Executive
My family usually does roast beef with sides like mashed potatoes, greens and we’ll definitely always have my mum’s salad on the table. The more unique one might be Coq au vin, which is a classic French dish that people have quite often in France but one time we just felt like having it for Christmas - so we did!
When we were kids, we’d go shopping for presents and my parents pretended that they’re writing down everything we want, and then send the list off to Santa Claus. On Christmas we would wake up and hunt for our gifts that “Santa” hid around the house. It was fun.
This year, I will be celebrating the holidays with family as always ❤
Deeksha Bhatnagar - Finance Manager
My most unique dish for the holidays? Plum cake 😊 It holds a special place as a unique dish that I eagerly anticipate during Christmas. The preparation typically includes soaking dried fruits in alcohol or fruit juice well in advance to intensify the flavour. I am excited about savoring my favorite cake from Bangalore when I visit.
One of the most cherished memories from my childhood revolves around the eager anticipation of Christmas celebrations. Growing up in a Convent school environment, our school hosted elaborate festivities. The warm recollection of decorating the Christmas tree with my siblings occupies a special corner of my heart.
During this holiday season, I will be traveling to India to spend time with my family. I'm particularly excited about the upcoming school alumni event, looking forward to the chance to reconnect with both friends and family members as we celebrate this festive season together.
Erin Padilla - CEO & Co-founder
My most unique dish for the holidays is Chicken wings! On Christmas Eve my mom would make a very non traditional meal of chicken wings with a recipe she found on a with a Hidden Valley Ranch box and crudités. I still crave it.
A favourite Holiday memory is cuddling up on the couch and watching holiday movies, from Die Hard to It’s a Wonderful Life and everything in between. I look forward to it all year!
This year, I will be catching up on my year end reading, spending time with family and friends, and lots of champagne and cookies!
Louisa Meredith - Director of Finance and Corporate Services
I love Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Salami - it’s incredible!
My fondest Christmas memory is hearing the iconic songs of Slade, Band Aid, Shakin’ Stevens, Wham! and John Lennon & Yoko Ono (among others) from the 1985 'Now - The Christmas Album' bellowing from my parent’s record player on Christmas morning, as the fairly lights glowed on the Christmas tree and my family got ready for the day ahead.
This is going to be an unusual Christmas for us because we are going to see friends in New Zealand, rather than heading home to a chilly but beautiful Europe to see family. That being said, we met these friends when we first moved to Singapore and they became the closest thing we had to family here during Covid. I really can’t wait to see them again.
Katie Boon - Communications Manager
There’s this Eurasian dish, Feng, which my husband’s family always prepares every Christmas. The festive dish is a non-spicy curry containing diced pork and offal. We usually eat it with bread or rice, which tastes better than it looks!
My favourite Holiday memory is when my house is, once a year, filled with the people I love for drinks and food. This year, my family and I will be going for midnight mass at Church, and we have a line-up of houses to visit over the week to eat, drink and be merry!
Ranjini Padattil - Finance Associate
The most unique festive dish from my family is my mom's chocolate cake and her Chicken Biriyani. I am so lucky that she is with me in Singapore for these holidays! I cannot wait to eat up all the yummy food that she makes!
My cousins and I hardly get to meet as we are scattered across different parts of the world. December 2022 was this golden month in our lives when we all happened, purely by chance, to be in Kerala (my hometown in India). We celebrated Christmas by bursting firecrackers left over from our Diwali celebrations. We travelled back to our childhood days that one time :)
This will be a relatively quiet holiday where I spend time with my family in Singapore, especially my parents. Planning to go to Orchard Road to see the breathtaking Christmas decorations!
Savitha Raman - Senior Finance Manager
I am going to try my hands on making Sushi this holiday season. There are very few vegetarian options for this dish, so I will try making it with a hint of Indian spices.
My favorite Holiday Memory is when I set up a small Christmas tree with the Christmas train going around the tree; we had fun family time while setting it up.
This year, we visited many temples in India during these holidays. It was fulfilling to explain the rich heritage to my son and see him enjoy it.