SSS: Shopping, saving and sharing this Christmas

Running low on creative fuel, I take pit stops at toy stores. It is a minefield of sounds and sights to get your brain spinning into a hyper-pinwheel as you discover the impossible whenever a propeller UFO hovers over your head or by just watching kids play golf on Wii by swinging a remote. It is also a place to widen your vocabulary as you learn words like “micro aggression” and “deluxe aggression” (these are actual wrestling toy terms) but sound nifty enough to be used in an intellectual conversation. Yet, the most amazing thing about toys and toy stores is that they teach us to share because most toys are meant to be shared. You can’t play simple games like dodgeball without an opponent; and can you have a PS3 without a second controller? We all become babes and not brats in toyland if we learn that the number one rule in this big playground called Earth is “It is always fun to share with everyone” as Jack Johnson would sing in his Sharing Song.

Of course, sharing is hard nowadays with the chimes of Christmas that remind you of all the people you have thank for giving you such a loopy year. Together with the pressure of juggling shopping time with work time and what to give each one, the chimes turn into bells that toll, toll, toll. So, I want to share some gift ideas that have stories behind them, are stories in themselves, or can create new stories in future as a present to readers who want to stay Supreme this season.

Share Music

Music and Christmas are intertwined like the red stripes on a candy cane. Holiday tunes liven up the spirit of the season because they are meant to be shared and sung with friends. Try singing Mano Po Ninong, Mano Po Ninang in a car with peers and find out how corny but ridiculously enjoyable it is. I admittedly was feeling a bit low coming into November, knowing that the San Miguel Chorale would not be making a new “Pasko” CDs. However, Hands on Manila, a volunteer outreach network that shares throughout the year lifted my spirits by compiling a charity CD together with Viva Entertainment group. Their holiday CD includes a mix of artists including Jaya, the UP Singing Ambassadors and Zsa Zsa Padilla singing classics such as Morning Has Broken, O Holy Night, Amazing Grace and The First Noel. The sound might not be your regular pop fare but it’s good enough to play as background at Christmas parties for only P175 per copy. (It comes with a special notebook.) You can also tell your guests that proceeds from the album go to charities such as Child Hope Asia, Habitat for Humanity, Talking Hands for the Deaf, and the other mini NGOs handled by Hands On Manila.

While listening to the tracks, I called up Viva Music to get some perspective on how musicians perceive Christmas music. I was able to have a charming dinner chat with a Viva representative and our own Philippine STAR music reviewer, Baby Gil, Moy Ortiz from The CompanY, Eugune Villaluz from the legendary Minstrels and Moy Ortiz’ uncle, and Claire Algarme from Hands On Manila. Honestly, for artists, the Christmas season literally zips by for them. According to Moy and Eugene, recording a Christmas album starts in July for the CD to come out in September because “Filipinos are just OA for the Christmas season.” Once December kicks in, it is all about touring for gigs. For The CompanY, they count their blessings by singing for free at hospitals like National Children’s Hospital for KYTHE, a cancer volunteer Group. According to Moy, it is all about good karma. They take a family break on Christmas Day, of course. So Christmas music doesn’t get them with its tear-jerking sentimentality; it’s Christmas Day itself that does, because it’s the only time they really spend with their families.

Share Books

As our conversation drifted on in Dome at The Podium, Moy told me about the floating boat bookstore, a ship named MV Doulos, currently docked at the South Harbor in Manila. My bookworm senses suddenly perked up and I hurried home to find out more about it. I finally visited this mechanical wonder last Saturday and discovered that the MV Doulos or Hope is a virtual Noah’s Ark of 300 volunteers from 40 countries from various Christian beliefs. Each volunteer works for free, except the captain who gets paid a dollar, and each is designated a task onboard — from firefighting to cooking the 1,000 meals each day. The entrance fee is a measly P10 and, though the range of books is not too spectacular for fiction-hungry readers, the selection is great for readers searching for Christian, inspirational and children’s books. The deck is also sprinkled with sumptuous art and cooking books. While I was now impressed by the stories in print, the tales from the crew were simply astonishing.

My tour guide, Sven Benseler, his wife Mirjam, and kids Joshua and Samuel left their lives in Dubai to spend two years on the ship. Sven dropped his high-paying job at Siemens to dock at foreign countries to promote the boat to the media and help in local communities. He said all this with a hearty smile. I also got to know more about this radical life from a 23-year-old Brazilian named Felipe Boechat who joined the crew to discover what work he wanted to do in the future. With the hopes of being an anthropologist, he even braved 12 days without seeing land just to learn how to live harmoniously with other cultures and has become chums with the Italians, French and Koreans on board. He admitted to jumping ship twice but withdrew those thoughts because his parents at home always taught him to be responsible for his actions. There aare 298 more tales awaiting you onboard the MV Doulos if you get the chance to drop by and ask them to share their story.

Share Your Board-Dom

If your trip is to stay in-doors, you can also look for unexpected left-field gifts such as game boards that you can play with your friends. While my friends are crazy over Jenga at the moment, I found book versions of the multi-awarded Cranium board game by Microsoft star performers Richard Tait and Whit Alexander. If you haven’t heard the hullabaloo over Cranium, the board game is a mad mix of tasks to reach the fun finale. The tasks vary, covering the four areas of your brain. There are word worm anagrams for Bibliophiles; data head trivia for Factoids; guess that tune or character for Star Perfomers; and sketch and sculpt games for Creative Cats.

The Cranium game books are similar to the original and there is even a pullout game board, sculpting clay, game cards and a handy marker with eraser included. The best activities in the book are the Creative Cat sections where you can doodle your own monster, treasure finds, cereal boxes, and other trippy stuff like that. While the motto of Cranium is to discover hidden talents, the truly endearing part of the game experience is that you get to uncover the quirks of people you spend 24 hours a day with. There are juicy questions in the book to ask like “What is your superhero name?”, “What tattoo would you get?” and “What would you name your hit song?” The book becomes even niftier for five-hour road trips to Baguio as it isn’t too bulky and can be played by two people with a Peter Pan complex.

Share The Love

Aside from finding gifts to share back to the community or to people you love, don’t forget the best thing about gift-giving is the best “S” of all: surprise. So, please don’t open your gifts till Christmas!

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Hands On Manila is the first international affiliate of the Hands On Network from the US. It is a network of volunteer groups sponsored by big companies such as Ayala Land, La Farge, First Gen and Powerbooks. You can choose a project depending on your personal cause whether it be orphanages or the environment. For more information, visit its website at http://handsonmaila.org. To purchase the CD, e-mail giftset@handsonmanila.org or call 843-7044.

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Moy Ortiz gigs with his group The CompanY and can be found at http://www.thecompanysingers.com. Eugene Villaluz, who is also Moy’s uncle, sings with the group on occasion.

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The MV Doulos will be in Manila until Dec. 23. They will dock in Subic after that. Their website is http://www.mvdoulos.com.

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The Cranium game book is available at National Book Store. Learn more about this head cracking game at http://blog.cranium.com.

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