Christmas Dinner

After taking rest the whole of Christmas Day, the family decided to go out for dinner, and the usual family time that Christmas night. We initially went to Spicy Village, our favorite restaurant, only to find out the place is closed as it has been reserved previously for a party. We then decided to take our dinner in a poolside restaurant of one of the hotels in the area, which happened to provide a buffet dinner that night especially for Christmas.

The family got to partake of a sumptuous dinner - beef, chicken, seafood, pasta... and lots of appetizers and desserts. It was a fun Christmas dinner, and an equally fun night out for the whole family.

 Have a blessed Christmas... hope you enjoyed it like us.

waking up on Christmas morning

Santa's loot bag near the tree

 Cold, relaxed, ... no work!

Well, technically there's work, I'm just lucky that after five years of 'business as usual' on Christmas Day, today I was able to get two days off from that familiar 'cubicle' of mine for Christmas and Boxing Days. After a long time, it's good to savor the season's holiday feeling once again.

The sala is a mess: wraps and presents still litter everywhere. Santa's loot bag sits near the tree, and the kids and us take our sweet time whiling away time eating leftover spaghetti and 'maja' from last night's family pre-Noche Buena feast while watching Top Gear UK's Norway episode. This is the true holiday feeling. 

Merry Christmas!

another day at the office...

While most of the world is now in 'holiday' mode, and my friends and former classmates already in their vacations, trips and parties, I am still stuck here in my 'cubicle' trying to do some decent work and be productive (even if my mind continues to wander about what will happen in our small get-together later tonight). This, I think, is the single biggest disadvantage if you are a Roman Catholic living and working in this region. Well, the pay and work environment is good, which do not happen everywhere, and the work hours superb (total of 6 hours a day), but you don't get to observe your own holidays. I know that's being too shallow (and I don't mind observing Islamic holidays, as well). However, when you experience it firsthand, and then for it to be further intensified by what you learn from your social network (well, something's happening out there and we oughtta know), then it somehow becomes an issue (well, at least for me, it's happening).

Anyways, I am stuck on this chair for another few hours at least, and it's best, in the current scheme of things, to turn in some work. I just console myself about the fact that I am already used to this, and have been doing this for six years now. (wow!)

Will they allow me to take an internal leave tomorrow? 

Google Dinner

As I take a peek inside the fridge, I got a glimpse of what's inside: half chicken breast, two thick pieces of turkey breast ham, a piece of potato, a packet of mushrooms and two eggplants. I said to myself, what will be for dinner?

 Here comes Google.

It's a bit tricky, but it's also very easy. As I began typing the ingredients I have in the fridge, a list of possible recipes are already being shown by Google. I finally settled for something that sounds like "chicken with eggplant and mushroom".

The directions were fairly straightforward: stir fry the chicken and turkey ham and when brown, add the vegetables. Then season with the usual salt, pepper and a dash of soy sauce. For added taste, I added two chicken bouillon. Voila! the family's dinner is ready.

Judging from the result, I think Google's recipe went well. The kids loved it, wifey said she's too full as she ate lots of it... and of course, I forgot to take a photo as everybody scrambled to get a piece of it after savoring the delicious smell.

Looks like a repeat of Google Dinner is in the making. 

Simbang Gabi

It is that same indescribable feeling.

Source: rhoelilagan (Flicker)

I remember attending the ‘Simbang Gabi’, or ‘Misa de Gallo’ when I was still a kid in our small town. We usually wake up early, around 3:00 or 3:30 in the morning, and brave the cold weather outside to walk the kilometer or so to the church. (This is the time when global warming hasn’t started to be a major world issue yet.) We normally reach the church with a little time to spare, and, being a kid, I remember spending that ‘precious’ time loitering near the small shanties dotting the fence in front of the church patio for an initial taste of that delicious ‘bibingka’ and very hot ‘salabat’. (Well, it sure is welcome to have something to help you ease that cold somehow.) I don’t know the real reason now, but I have no recollection of somebody selling ‘puto bumbong’ during Misa de Gallo when I was still a kid.

‘Simbang Gabi’ in our small town starts at 4:00 in the morning. I think it’s how the Philippines, as a predominantly Catholic country, customarily celebrate the nine-day mass in preparation for the nativity of Christ on Christmas Day. That is also probably why it is called ‘Misa de Gallo’. This practice remains the same until now.

This tradition has been part of my growing up. The only thing changed was that, instead of my parents, it was my friends who were with me in attending the masses during my teenage years, and that the frequency of attending it dwindled as I reached adulthood.

Then, all of a sudden it was gone when I decided to relocate to a Muslim country. 

Until last night.

There may be no bibingka, salabat or puto bumbong dotting the church patio… the mass may be celebrated late at night (10:00pm) instead of the customary 4:00am… instead of walking a kilometer, there may be that long 200-km drive from our place to the church (and another exhilarating 200 kms back!), but these differences aren’t really important. What’s important is that, after a long while, I got to experience ‘Simbang Gabi’ all over again. (...and as a bonus, share this moment with my family!)

Once in a while, it’s nice being a kid again.