This is probably the simplest Christmas celebration I've experienced but at the same time, it's the happiest. For the first time, not a single member of the family is absent. All of them went to our house and celebrated Noche Buena with us. It's a very simple gathering and yet, very memorable.
There were not a lot of food in our tables, but we all shared it and enjoyed them very much. Since we just moved to this house, not a lot of people know we're staying here so we did not expect any other visitor. And so, we cooked food just enough for the family, which is actually good because we managed to eat them all, nothing is left to spoil.
Outside, all you can hear are kids caroling to each houses they passed by. Of course, no more "patawad" (pass) since it's already Christmas. So the kids who caroled in front of our house received simple gifts (a small bag of assorted candies and chocolates) and Php20 for each of them.
We were also visited by adult carolers. Some are very old (church ladies), some are teens singing and strumming their guitar to Christmas tunes. Php20 are obviously not enough for these carolers.
Before, we have a lot of huge firecrackers that we fire every Christmas and New Year. Now we didn't even have a single 'fivestar' or 'kwitis'. Me and my brothers just settled with the small 'Piccolo' and 'Pop-Up' which you can buy for Php10/box and contains around 60 heads. Cheap, but is surprisingly fun to use. Definitely worth every centavo.
