Now, Im here in Kuwait. I miss the holiday season back home, the cold december morn, merry kids singing carols on the streets, the festive mood around the air, the colorful decoration on the streets and at the malls, the Xmas party at the office, exchange gifts with friends, and most of all being with my family during the Holiday season.
When me and my siblings were still young, just like any children on earth, we were really excited when ber months arrive. It only means, the holiday is just around the corner.
We reside in the province and when holiday arrives, some of our relatives residing in Manila celebrate with us, which makes us more happy because they gave us lots of money and gifts hehe! My mother seldom cook, but during holiday season she really cooks a lot for us and for our visitors.
As early as the last week of November, we already build the Christmas tree and put decoration all around the house. Its really fun to do it with my sister and brother. Then we put all our gifts at the feet of the giant tree, we then brag who got the plentiest of gifts. My parents put a rule not to open the gifts before Christmas day itself.. but mischievous me, I woke up in the middle of the night and I woke up my brother, we then sneek from our rooms to the living room and we checked the gifts... specially the largest one! We again sneek back to our room then we goes back to sleep. When mom asked us about the gifts which are obviously been moved.. we'll just look at each other and we'll giggle..really funny!
Christmas day comes, we attend the mass at 4am (1st mass) which I admittedly hate because that's too early. My parents are both religious persons and actually my father is a Lay Minister and it's a must for us to complete the 9 mornings. After the mass we ate breakfast and after that it's really hectic day. My mom starts to cook at 9 and me and my sister helped her. We have lots of coins to give to the children which start to arrive around 9am and will ends till lunch time. Relatives from the nearby towns will also drop by and eat with us, they always bring some delicacies for us chomp. We kids love's the spaghetti, there's pancit, menudo, lechon, lots of sweets like leche flan(Mama Gee, my aunt really do the best) Im assigned to do the punch which I love doing. After lunch, everything was clean, we will go to our room together with our gifts.. excited to check our gifts. Oh God knows how I missed it..
Christmas passed, and we kids now look forward to the New Year. In our family, we seldom woke up for Noche Buena. But for New Year our celebration is much elaborate and my parents spend more money for this event. Lots of foods than christmas, we bought 13 different types of fruits and put it on the center of the table, then for me, I begged to my father to give us money to buy firecrackers.. of course he often gives in (he knows that I will not leave him until he give the money hehe) And if he did not? well I collects money from my sister and brother from our money we received last christmas.. then we have lots of firecrackers.
We have lots of foods during Media Noche, they believed in chinese customs that every new year there should be plenty of everything so that the coming year would be prosperous. Mom always have the salabat or ginger tea, the bola-bola which I love, suman, bibingka, maja etc.
Spaghetti was a staple every occasions, there's the ubiquitos pancit, lechon, menudo, puto and the sweets, there's the fruit salad, leche flan, lechetin and at the center of the table are the colorful 13 fruits. When its already 12 we start to lit the firecrackers.. we kids loves the fountain, lusis, we are not allowed to buy the pla-pla, bawang and something that can amputate our fingers.. that's for our older cousins hehe! O god I love the smell of paputok.. hehe! After few minutes of really loud noise across the town, we then eat that foods. It's so plentiful that I dont know what to get.. I usually get a little bit of everything and I love the sweets. Everything that left would be our breakfast and lunch.
Writing this post is such a bittersweet thing for me, I'm happy to reminisce the old times but yet sad because I'm not there with them. I know that this year would be the saddest, because my sister and me are already working abroad. We are a small family and I know its not complete.. the whole thing without us, last year it was still okay because im still there but now, it'll be much different for them.
I miss everything about the holidays.. But I guess its the prize of being here and earning some nice bucks abroad. But I guess sometimes, we need to experience this for us to appreciate what we have now.
Merry Christmas to all!
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