J. Julius

Happy New Year!" That greeting will be said and heard for at least the first couple of weeks as a new year gets under way.

Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. Parties often last into the middle of the night after the ringing in of a new year. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year's Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man.

Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring good fortune.

Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day.

Well to all, Manigong bagong taon ( Happy New Year )!!! from Philippines.

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Dear Readers, Friends and MY Family

My grateful hearts and warm appreciation for the time we share,and the progress we make possible over this year.Have a Blessed Christmas to you & your family.

More to come in 2009!!!

New Year's Eve is another one of thous big event. Filipino families believe in welcoming the New Year by preparing a sumptuous feast. They believe that a big feast will bring good luck and prosperity to the family. This gathering is called Medya Noche, where families share the feast on midnight after hearing mass. At midnight, there is a lavish display of fireworks. Firecrackers are believed to help remove badluck and evil spirits.

This custom of making noise and merrymaking is not only meant to have all the fun on New Year but also to drive away evil spirits. The people in Philippines believe banging on pots and pans and blowing on car horns to be the safer methods of merrymaking on New Year.

Another custom is opening the doors during the first day of the New Year is a custom that is followed to bring good luck for the New Year.


Maligayang Pasko or (Merry Christmas) and Have a Happy New Year!

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Philippines has earned the distinction of celebrating the world's longest Christmas season. Christmas celebrations start on the month of Septmeber. Parols or Christmas Stars are everywhere. Caroling would also be heard during the Christmas season in the Philippines. You'll get to see a gang of little kids walking from house to house singing the old time favorite Filipino Christmas carols. Even the older generation may go about caroling as well. Simbang Gabi or Missa de Gallo a nine-day dawn masses that start on December 16 is a novena Masses that is very important part of Filipino Christmas tradition.
Christmas Eve is often celebrated by families at home enjoying a Christmas dinner at midnight. This tradition is called Noche Buena. It is a time for thanksgiving and a time for families and friendsto be together. For Filipinos, Christmas Eve ("Bisperas ng Pasko") on December 24th has the much-anticipated Noche Buena - the traditional Christmas Eve feast after the midnight mass. Family members dine together around 12 midnight on traditional Noche Buena fare, which includes: queso de bola (Spanish: "ball of cheese"; this is actually edam cheese), "Tsokolate" (a hot chocolate drink) and jamon (Christmas ham), and some would open presents at this time.

Maligayang Pasko or (Merry Christmas)
God Bless you and your family.


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Noche Buena, The traditional Filipino Christmas dinner!

The Christmas eve dinner or commonly called Noche Buena in the Philippines is one of the highlights of the Filipino Christmas celebration.

If you are a lucky foreigners, who will be dining with Filipino families or are hosted in a Filipino home will surely be treated to a sumptuous fare of Filipino cuisine.
A traditionally, Christmas dinner is usually done in buffet style which could offers 15 to 20 food items in a table beautifully decorated with Christmas wreath or flowers and dining wares used only during special occasions such as this. The Noche Buena is eaten around midnight, after the Christmas eve Mass.

Among the typical dishes served during the Christmas dinner are lechon (roasted pig), kare-kare (oxtail stew in peanut butter sauce), rellenong manok (baked stuff chicken), noodle and pasta dishes like pancit or spaghetti, barbecue, adobo, native rice cakes, lumpia (spring rolls) and Queso de Bola (cheese that is shaped like a ball). In most Filipino tables, the queen of the dinner table is the Chinese ham made from cured and sweetened pork meat....

Other traditional Christmas liquids to try are the hot "tsokolate," a native chocolate drink and the "salabat" or ginger tea which are great for cold early mornings. You may also try the internationally renowned San Miguel beer made in the Philippines.

The Filipino Noche Buena is like an open house celebration. Family, friends, relatives, and neighbors drop in to wish family members a "Maligayang Pasko" or Merry Christmas.

Maligayang Pasko or (Merry Christmas)
God Bless you and your family.




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Christmas Philippines begins formally on December 16 on the first light of Dawn, locally termed as Simbang Gabi or Misa de Gallo and continues until the first Sunday of January, which is the known as Feast of the Three Kings.

Simbang Gabi will lasts for nine consecutive days beginning December 16 and is traditionally, it is held at dawn, but in recent years some churches started offering anticipated masses one night in advance. Well some thing do change diba! (right!)

What I like the best about Simbang Gabi is the abundance of native delicacies, like bibingka (rice cake) and puto bumbong (purple colored glutinous rice steamed in small bamboo tubes) sold outside most churches. Filipinos love sharing these delicious delicacies after the mass. Filipinos believe that after completing the nine Dawn Masses, their wishes will come true. The a wish they make at the start of the Simbang Gabi.

The last day of Simbang Gabi falls on December 24, a time when Filipinos are busy in the preparation of Noche Buena, a family feast that takes place when the clock strikes 12 a.m. The noche buena is highlighted by the bountiful feast prepared by the family. Family members exchange gifts and greet each other "Maligayang Pasko!" (Merry Christmas).

Christmas Day is a gathering of family and friends. Children visit their ninongs and ninangs (godparents) to receive aginaldo or Christmas gifts and blessings.

Christmas officially ends on the Feast of the Three Kings which falls on the first Sunday after the New Year.

Maligayang Pasko or (Merry Christmas)



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Philippines is the only country in Asia where Christians are the majority. Catholicism came from Spain in the late 1500s and while many Filipino Christmas traditions come directly from the religious calendar and would be recognizable to all Catholics, others are home-grown.

The one thing about the Philippines is that religious holidays are taken very seriously, Christmas is one they celebrate with a lot gusto. Has well attended fiestas where family and extended family and friends tend to feast of some the best foods.


Now for decorations. One of the most common is a parol, a five-pointed star, commemorating the Star of Bethlehem which the Wise Men followed to Christ's manger, as for the influence of the United States introduced the idea of Christmas trees, but the Philippines does not have a ready supply of evergreen trees, so people who want to imitate the US tradition buy artificial trees. Just like being at home in the United States.



Being here in Philippines with my wife and her family has made me understand Filipinos and their way of life. I have been touched by the generosity of the very poor, having visited many ordinary, spartan homes of the desperately poor.

Despite all Christmas advertising, and music, Filipinos do not seem to succumb to any pressure to spend too much money over Christmas time . There is no expectation of any gift giving for the most part, and I am sure many children never get an Christmas gift at all in there lives. Yet, people make the most of Christmas in their own way, and it is an important family time. The Christianity of the Philippines is probably far stronger than any United States or other western country, so the religious significance of Christmas is still paramount to the Filipinos and their family's.

They say every thing's is late in Philippines, oh, but never Christmas!

Maligayang Pasko or (Merry Christmas)


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