Chúc mừng Giáng sinh!

that's merry Christmas in vietnamese. :) it's 820pm here and that's 920pm in manila. I can only imagine the text messages surging in my phone right now if im there.  i'll probably smelling my  tita's menudo, spaghetti and lumpiang shanghai, infusing the whole house with smoke. my mom is probably chopping ingredients for her traditional maraconi salad.  my cousins are watching tv or playing with nephews mathew and daniel.   and my kuya probably already burned his tongue again from stealing hot-off-the-stove food :p

our christmas tree will probably full of gifts waiting to be opened. my cousins and nephews have probably checked who has the biggest gifts :p  every ten minutes, there will be carolers in our gate.  but im probably be again in my room, either watching tv or staring in my laptop. sometimes i feel like a scrooge.

christmas is for the kids. i can't remember being so happy an excited for this in my adult life. because that means gastos and pagod for me :p but really, im happy seeing my cousins and nephews happy and my titas enjoying cooking food for us.  im more of an observer rather than experiencing christmas.

i think one of the most memorable christmas was when we did not celebrate it at all. it was a dark time, my dad was at his death bed.  my brother and his family spent their christmas elsewhere. me and my mom just ate dinner and slept through noche buena.  but a few hours after noche buena, a friend came over and shared with me the most heartwarming christmas ever.

before you react, no i dont miss the person. i just miss the feeling :p Aaand my point is, sometimes, great things happen in our darkest and quietest hours.  that's why im choosing to spend it different this year. happy or not, i think this christmas will be one of the most memorable ones :)