CHRISTMAS in the PHILIPPINES

[leahrosa]

HI to all and MERRI CHRISTMAS..i am so INTO CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR... i do not know if there are lots of FIlipino memebers for this site...i would love to share Chistmas languages from my native country. Below is a simple dictionary of the terms we used here

Merry christmas - Maligayang pasko or Malipayong pasko
Gift - regalo or pinaskuhan
Caroling - DAYGON
Christmas Eve dinner - NOCHE BUENA
EVE MASS - MISA DE GALLO
Excanging of gifts - kris kringle
SANTA CLAUS - we call it santa claus still :)
Christmas star decor - PAROL
sacred family in a manger - BELEN

cant believe it folks its already 97 days before the big holiday and counting...time flies indeed!!!! :santa:

[PumpkinJack81]

Welcome to the forums! And thank you for sharing your native language with us all. :waving:

[Merry Christmas Darling]

I had a Filipino penpal when I was in high school. She sent me a pretty Christmas card with palm trees on it.

[leahrosa]

yes, we filipinos are very thoughtful esp during christmastime...so are you still connected wth ur penpal?

[Merry Christmas Darling]

yes, we filipinos are very thoughtful esp during christmastime...so are you still connected wth ur penpal?

I regret to say that I became too busy to write letters on a regular basis and I lost touch with her.

[leahrosa]

I regret to say that I became too busy to write letters on a regular basis and I lost touch with her.

hey not to worry i cud be ur penpal :) but we can write thru this forum..hehe and speaking of penpals, i do have a penpal too, 10 years ago, she's from the UK and sad to say it was me who lost time to send her a letter back, but ill search her and maybe then i ud write her back thru the net..advance merri christmas Marshamallow world :blowing:

[Merry Christmas Darling]

It would be really great if you could post pictures if you have a camera and know how to load pictures onto a computer. I love photos!

[leahrosa]

dat wud be very wonderful, i had some posted already but of my son, BB Sanchio, he is 8 months now and im excited to celebrate my first christmas with him :) hope u can also upload some of ur pics and we can get together better :)

[Merry Christmas Darling]

Sancho has cute eyes and a lovely smile!

[onemagicalchristmas]

I would love to hear a little more about your traditions when it comes to christmas and new years:carols:

[leahrosa]

Sancho has cute eyes and a lovely smile!

thanks marshmallow World, he sure does have cute eyes and his smile brightens me everyday

[leahrosa]

I would love to hear a little more about your traditions when it comes to christmas and new years:carols:

hi one magical christmas. how are you> its now 59 days to go.. and im glad u loved to hear bout our traditions :santa:

here is some of the traditions i nver fail every year:

Personally I start my countdown by the first day of September (hehe one of my very few traditions)… But the real excitement comes when its 4 weeks before Christmas. In the office we do our Kris kringle, its like exchanging gifts but the gifts we exchange is based on a certain category (like on Monday we are going to exchange something that is RED and HAIRY J )but we do not use expensive gifts, like these things only vary from 10 Phil peso – 50 phil peso (in US I guess this is $0.45-$1.00) and the excitement goes on and on every week. Some would make fun just to add color and more excitement.

And then by the start of Dec 16, we hear our evening mass or locally known as MISA DE GALLO, funny as we celebrated this @ 4:00 AM usually – dawn not evening..ehhhe and we complete this for 9 consecutive “dawns” ending on the dawn of Dec 24th and the biggest mass is celebrated by the eve of Dec 24 usually @ 10:00 PM -- this is the true evening mass then after the mass all family members gather all together to enjoy our NOCHE BUENA or Christmas dinner (mostly composed of spaghetti, Christmas ham, chicken and cake), I still can remember when I was young, our mother and/or father sleeps through until 12 MN and would ask us to wake them up on time for the NOCHE BUENA. Parents being santa claus is not usually common for us but we have our own santa versions. Our ninangs or ninongs, rather known as godmothers or godfathers are the ones giving us presents every year though we know its from them (as this is being written on the tags) we still consider them as our Santa clauses…After the noche Buena we sing carols, or either watch movies or plays with other younger children. By Dec 25 we again hear mass with the entire family and if we have relatives near to us we visit them.

hope u liked da way we celebrate it here and now its ur turn to share ur traditionspresents

[PumpkinJack81]

How wonderful Leah! Thanks for sharing your culture with us! :D

[mr. snowman]

did you know that Filipinos celebrate Christmas longer than any other country in the world?
when the Ber months settle in, one can usually hear X'mas songs being played in the radios and even some houses can be seen with X'mas trees already set-up...:presents3:

They also have rice cake being peddled near churches catering to early Sunday churchgoers...

[Merry Christmas Darling]

did you know that Filipinos celebrate Christmas longer than any other country in the world?
when the Ber months settle in, one can usually hear X'mas songs being played in the radios and even some houses can be seen with X'mas trees already set-up...:presents3:

They also have rice cake being peddled near churches catering to early Sunday churchgoers...

Well, the Filipinos must be my kind of people!!! :)

[steph535]

I once worked with a guy who had married a Filipino lady and he told me that when he was over there, they celebrated Christmas from September til at least February. I agree with you, MW; sounds like my kind of people. Too bad, I don't think I'd get away with starting in Sept here in the US, lol.

[Merry Christmas Darling]

I once worked with a guy who had married a Filipino lady and he told me that when he was over there, they celebrated Christmas from September til at least February. I agree with you, MW; sounds like my kind of people. Too bad, I don't think I'd get away with starting in Sept here in the US, lol.

LOL. I think it would be funny if a bunch of Christmas fanatics all lived on one street and decided to do that!


http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy27/DiademRose/Christmas%20Trees/Christmas_Tree_3.gif

[DaleGuice]

I experienced first hand how Filipino celebrate Christmas and I love the way they celebrate it.

Thanks for sharing

[mr. snowman]

it's the start of the traditional pre-dawn masses here in our country! can't get enough of the urge to wake up as early as 4 in the morning to get a glimpse of the youngsters & old alike braving the morning chill and enjoying a sip of our native ginger drink which goes well with our creamy rice cake topped with salted egg!!!

[kapadult]

Oooooh! I'm was there... relly nice....

[cranberry]

ano pasko na? wala pa ring pera!

[Jake]

;O becareful of this

[cranberry]

what do I have to be careful with?