Put up a Filipino Christmas “tree“.
Play Christmas tunes like “Pasko na naman” and “Pasko na sinta ko“.
Attend the “Misa de Gallo” - midnight masses that began on December 16.
(After church) buy Christmas foods like puto bumbong, bibingka, suman and hot ginger tea (salabat).
Display your Christmas parols, star-shaped lanterns made from colored chinese paper, capiz shells and brightened with either candles or lights.
Expect “cumbancheros,” or carolers, to visit your house with musical instruments to serenade you and your neighbors.
Watch the “Panunuluyan” in the town plaza (oops, no plaza here in the U.S.) on Christmas Eve. This is a re-enactment of the Holy Couple’s journey to Bethlehem and portrays the lack of hospitality they encountered along the way.
Gather with friends and relatives for “Noche Buena” after the Mass ends. Serve pandesal, queso de bola, home-made hot tsokolate and “mansanas na marami”. This is a festive meal followed by the exchange of gifts, which lasts through the next morning.
Arrange to visit family and friends on Christmas Day. Be ready with your new and crisp dollar bills, to give out to children as their aginaldos.
Celebrate the NEw Year with a bang, and don’t get out of your Christmas spirit until mid-January, when we celebrate the Three Kings.
Have a Joyful and Blessed Christmas.