Paskong Pinoy

Christmas is just around the corner! And I'm so happy that I'll be spending Christmas here and not in another country. I don't think I'd want to spend Christmas elsewhere. Why? Because Christmas is where your home is, and my home is here in the Philippines.

So, I thought of spreading the Christmas cheer by starting off this meme to showcase why Christmas is best spent here.

What to do: Just share a warm, fuzzy Pinoy Christmas story or anecdote or photo or whatever it is you love about Christmas (as a Filipino). Link to this blog post so I can share your story in my compilation. Copy & paste the instructions (this paragraph) and then leave a comment so I can check out your post.


I must admit, inasmuch as I spent most of Christmas last year in Bali and Jakarta with my family, I went crazy because it is so much different. It was the nth time that I spent Christmas offshore, but I got so depressed. Why? Because the following elements were missing:

1. Simbang Gabi - I've never completed the novena. I almost did, twice when I was a kid. Waking up at 4 in the morning to hear mass, stretching your vocal chords to the limit to sing during mass and then lining up for bibingka and puto bungbong and having some hot chocolate after brings a totally different kind of joy. You won't experience that elsewhere. Attending one at the Philippine embassy in the evening just doesn't work for me.

2. Midnight Mass - I've been part of our choir since I was in high school (now don't start computing) and singing Christmas carols during mass makes me feel complete. I couldn't help but cry last year when we sang "Ang Pasko ay Sumapit" after the midnight mass hosted by a Pinoy in his house in Jakarta. I missed our church, our community and my friends terribly.



3. Cardiac Delights - Nobody loses weight in our country during Christmas. All those yummy noche buena handa tastes different when you are in another country. You will surely miss the delectable Purefoods ham cooked in Del Monte Pineapple juice with brown sugar, Mang Tomas sarsa over lechon kawali or the Baliwag chicken with lots of atsara and Tita Olive's sweet spaghetti swimming with red tomato sauce and Purefoods hotdog. (I'm not endorsing those brands okay, that's just what we use). I can feel my waistline growing by leaps and bounds just thinking about all those food.

4. Twinkling Christmas Decor and the Belen - inasmuch as sometimes I get annoyed with my Mom's decor of twinkling lights and the unending piercing Christmas jingles coming from the tree, you won't actually see much of those elsewhere. You'd also miss the Belen (look at the nice one in our photo above).

5. Gift-wrapping and Shopping - my list has dramatically shortened in the past two years, but I do miss gift-wrapping loads and loads of stuff since I had a lot of mommies in my past work. I always go to Divisoria, but I unfortunately didn't have anytime to do so this year. Good thing I bought 2 years worth of gift-wrappers and ribbons last year.

Everything would be really great, sana lang traffic's not heavy!

I'd like to tag the following to start off the Christmas cheer: Juned, Markku, Jayvee, Anne, Harry, Sweetie, Sorsi, Jehzeel, Winston, Blogie, Andrew, Migs, Ria, Janette, LadyCess, Gibbs, Jake, Tappy, Noemi, SexyMom and Lianne. You are also welcome to join in the Paskong Pinoy sharing, just leave a comment with the URL of your post so I can include your blog.

Maligayang Pasko!

Paskong Pinoy Stories

Christmas in Davao, Blogie Robillo
Christmas in the Philippines, Jake de Asis
Christmas Memories, Ria Jose
Paskong Pinoy (Christmas in the Philippines), Migs
Christmas in Australia, Janette Toral
Christmas Away from Home, Sorsi Soriano
Holiday Season - Philippine Style, Reggie
Maligayang Pasko, Tina
Missing Filipino Christmas from Tokyo, Reyian
The Real Meaning of Christmas, SexyMom
Real Stories of Christmases Past, Anna
Paskong Pinoy - Christmas Date Tradition, Noemi
Christmas is Here!, Jeric
Pasko na Naman!, Juned