Off for a four day vacation, I was hoping Monday at the stores is light and I could do my last minute Christmas shopping with ease. My first stop was Washington Mutual at 3rd Street to get some cash, not for the gifts because I usually use the power of plastic for all expenditures, but for the meals while shopping. WAMU's parking lot was full and so are the parking lots of all the stores we visited from Beverly Hills to Glendale. Had I not applied the stoic strategy of "just wait, don't drive" I wouldn't be able to find a slot to squeeze-in my tiny SUV. But I love full parking and shops full of people at Christmas time, it reminds me of SM (Southmall, Megamall, Bacoor) my favorite shopping center in the Philippines. The scene is familiar, people rush to the mall to get last minute gifts for their love ones, makes me feel I'm at my hometown.
Despite the full parking lots, the florid homes, and the festive menu however, I still feel the celebration here is a bit languor, maybe because it is a non-secular country so people greet with "Happy Holidays" (to be safe of not offending somebody) instead of "Merry Christmas" which is what the season is about, the birth of Jesus Christ.
I miss the rice cakes and the "puto bumbong" (a purple variation of rice cake cooked in bamboos), I miss attending "Simbang Gabi" (a series of dawn masses) and seeing frowsy faces trying to complete the novena of masses. I'd like to think Christmas in the Philippines is inimitable. The only country in the world where the season kicks-off officially the first day of September (because the month's name ends in "ber" same as in Decem"ber"), where radio stations play euphonious Christmas carols instead of the popular song "September Morn." Where enticing display of "parol" (a native Christmas lantern, usually shaped like a star) and lights, enhances the hopes of the zealous filipinos.
Here, there, or anywhere, Christmas is always especial, looking forward to a home filled with happiness and togetherness of family and friends. It is also a day of feasting, delicious meals, wines and drinks, and doing everything we love. It is a season of prayer, of giving and receiving (I love presents!), of reconciliation and forgiving, with memories that linger long after the season is over.
Twelve years ago on December 25, love came down on us at Christmas. Our little bundle of joy is now a young man. Happy Birthday Abraham!
Love came down at Christmas; Love all lovely, love divine;
Love was born at Christmas, Stars and angels gave the sign.--Christina Rossettiand HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!
Have the Merriest Christmas and the Best of the New Year from our family to yours...
Click Here To Write Me
No comments:
Post a Comment