Oh there's no place like home for the holidays

My level of homesickness goes up every December due to the bajillion Christmas celebrations happening in the Philippines this time of the year. As they say, the pre-dominantly Catholic country celebrates the longest Christmas season.

So to deal with this, I will list out the things I miss the most from back home during the holidays:

• Parols - those colorful stars, lit up by the bulbs inside them. I hardly see those here because they're expensive.
• Puto bumbong - buying a couple of warm puto bumbongs after a Simbang Gabi mass, with coconut on top and that brown powdery sugar... ooh and butter melting on top of it too... mmm...
• Simbang gabi - waking up at the crack of dawn, wearing a jacket, feeling the cool breeze as we walk to church, fighting off my heavy eyelids later that day.
• Choirs singing Christmas songs - we all know there are hundreds of versions of Christmas songs. But for me, nothing beats the version of a simple church choir's. I heard a rock version of O Come All Ye Faithful on 91.9 and my mind went "NOOOO..." I thank God and Toyota for the option of changing to another radio station. I know there are church choirs here, but I heard them more frequently back home. Probably because back then we would attend special masses in school and so of course the choir would sing Christmas songs, while the rest of the students are forced to sing along. If you don't comply, you will get a stern look from your teacher.
  
• ABS-CBN's Christmas special - what can I say, I am a sucker for Christmas songs. Even if most of them lip sync it. I make an exception during the holidays because they wear nicer clothes.
• Christmas shopping at ATC - the thing I love about this mall (aside from it being 15 minutes from our house) is that it's not one big building. It's open, outdoorsy... I don't feel claustrophobic even with the holiday crowd. Since it's not cold in the Philippines, I love walking around this mall and taking in the ambience, oftentimes seeing a familiar face - may it be a relative or an old high school classmate.
• Driving around Alabang to see the Christmas lights - they have more money over there so they have the better decorations.
  
• The weather - it's ridiculously hot in the Philippines, but come December that's when the cold air comes in. And when I say cold, I mean 70's.
• Christmas party at school - being forced to bring a food for potluck and a gift for Kris Kringle, then just sitting on an armchair while eating cold spaghetti and puto because what else is there to do in a small classroom. On the upside, we don't get to wear uniforms that day, wheee!
• Sound of Music marathon on RPN 9 - I still don't get the connection between the movie and Christmas (family?), but I got so used to watching it in December that I think I want to pop it in the DVD player tonight and watch, with a cup o' hot chocolate.
• Watching Christmas specials w/ the family at the living room - nobody wants to watch anything with me anymore. Geez. Maybe it has something to do with the shape of the living room here, and with the TV only fitting in one corner, it's got a weird angle pointing to the couches. Plus the TV's size is small if you look at its distance from the couches. Sometimes you can't hear much either because of the bad acoustics in the living room. Also, I analyze too much.
• Metro Manila Film Festival - okay, so, before I used to laugh at the movies being shown on that filmfest. It was like this festival where production companies can boast which of them got the bigger stars (though not exactly the best movie you can take seriously - I cannot count how many song & dance numbers these movies have shown at the end). But then when they started making quality films, starting with Jose Rizal, I took notice. Since then the MMFF became one of the things I looked forward to during the holidays, to see Philippine cinema's best movies of the year.
• "Helping" my mom bake goodies to give as gifts to family friends - and when I say "help," I mean taste the batter while watching the MMFF Parade of the Stars.
• Delivering gifts around the village - I didn't like it back then because I was scared of dogs chasing me, but I miss it now. Bring on the german shepherds!
  
• Anticipated mass at Christmas Eve - with the choir at their best and the church is at its crowdest, this is my favorite mass of the year. After that the kids get to run to the baby Jesus and kiss his feet, and the rest of us greet the other churchgoers, who we've grown up with, a merry Christmas.
• Christmas morning at home - being the first one to wake up and impatiently wait for everyone else; eating cheese (if we're lucky, Amsterdam cheese!), ham, crepes and ensaymada for breakfast; delivering gifts to our next door neighbors/relatives; waiting for them to wake up as well; and choosing the best thing to wear for Christmas lunch with my relatives.
• Trip to Baguio - I think this is where my love for road trips started. 7 hours in a van with my family and/or cousins. Going up to the house in the cold mountains of Baguio. Playing cards inside the house while exchanging ghost stories. Waking up to the smell of Baguio longganisa, fried eggs and garlic rice. Bowling with my cousins. Making cardboard sleds and riding on them. Buying peanut brittle and ube jam from Good Shepherd. Buying sweaters from tiangges. Getting some ice cream from Camp John Hay even though it's already cold over there. Horse back riding that just goes around in circles. Biking... that just goes around in circles.
  
• New Year's Eve - going to mass then getting home to smell the scent of garlic bread and baked macaroni wafting through the air, some of the food we would eat for the New Year's Eve celebration we always had at home with the relatives that live next door; hiding in my room because the fireworks scare me (they are really loud over there) until my cousins would drag me out so everybody could start eating; going to the other 2 houses next door with Tito Gene throwing coins in his house and Tito Noel in his house (I would later on use the coins I collected at a nearby sari-sari store); drinking Asti Martini at Tito Gene's when I got older.
  

Then What Am I Taking My Shoes Off For

From USA Today...

Most fake bombs missed by screeners

Come to think of it, I've had my Swiss knife go past the security check point in 2 of my trips. The first time was when I went to Chicago back in March, and the second time was when I went to Dallas last month. Both times I realized, after checking in on the counter, that I still had my keys (which include the Swiss knife). So I just placed them in my carry-on. Nobody noticed it in the X-ray thingie on both trips.

And when I did check in my keys w/ the Swiss knife, the plane loses my suitcase. I ended up working from home for 2 days, as I waited for my car keys. How does the story end? I don't have the Swiss knife attached to my keys anymore.

Things I Learned in Costa Rica

• Latin Americans love to worship.
• Always bring a Spanish phrase book if you want to be understood.
• The sun is a gift from God.
• Heredia is like Tagaytay.
• When running in the rain you think you see a light blue floormat, don't step on it. It's actually a pool overflowing with water.
• Take Dramamine 30 minutes before riding a plane, if you didn't learn the first time.
• The trampoline is a gift from God (through a human being that invented it).
• Do not panic when the cab driver charges you 2000 colones. He's actually charging you 4 dollars, not 2000 dollars.
• Just because there are a lot of common words between Tagalog and Spanish does not mean you know Spanish.

Things I Learned in Europe

• People in Paris let their dogs poop on the sidewalks.
• Lourdes is like Baguio City.
• A Mini Cooper is actually a mid-size car.
• If you want to order regular Coke, you have to say "normal Coke." All others are abnormal.
  
• The French language is sexy.
• So is the Italian language.
• I think the Germans are mad at me.
• The Handmaids are crazy... and I mean that in a good way.
• The real Maria Von Trapp made a cameo in The Sound of Music.
• Walking around Paris with a backpack containing your laptop, SLR, hard drive, cables, water, etc. is not good for your back.
• 8-hour layover in Rome's airport = boring
• Take Dramamine 30 minutes before riding a plane or train.
• Condoms are sold at sidewalks to tourists.
• When Filipinos in Vienna say something that sounds like "aso," they're not talking about a dog.
• Before dining in a restaurant in Lourdes, learn French or Spanish first. Your English is useless there.
• European chocolates taste much better.

Blessed

Love is the Answer

The Beatles were asked to write a simple song that everybody could relate to. They figured, what can be more universal than love? And so the birth of All You Need is Love.

The ability to love is a gift given to us by God. Whatever problem we're having in any kind of relationship, the simple solution is love. Love takes away the crazy little thing called pride. The more we love selflessly, the closer we get to Jesus - the ultimate symbol of love.


I always forget about this simple solution. For the past few days I've been getting messages to love. Love my household, love everybody in the community, love my family, love the poor, love my co-workers and our angry clients, and most of all, love God. Each day contains a new message of love. It's like God is knocking on my head (imagine Biff in Back to the Future - "Hellooo McFly!" tap tap tap - but in a more loving way) reminding me of this simple act.

The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace. -Mother Teresa

We are all human who have our own faults and weaknesses. Sometimes we tend to attach ourselves to worldly things, instead of to what is pure and holy. But we need to always take a step back and examine our actions - do we do this out of love? Do we love our neighbors as Jesus loves us? Once we realize that everything we do must be done out of selfless love, only then will our worries and negative emotions go away.

I'm a revolutionary artist. My art is dedicated to change. -John Lennon

All we need is love.

Generation Now

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith, with selfless faith
I see a near revival
Staring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees, we're on our knees
-Hosanna, Hillsong

It's time for us to stop waiting for people to tell us what to do. It's time for us to rid ourselves of worldly things. It's time for us to be pure, in mind and heart. It's time for us to step up. Time for us to uphold peace and unity.

Because in these, there is hope.