Holiday ups and downs

As per usual when December rolls around the festivities begin! Life all of a sudden become 10 times more hectic with both good and bad things and it seems as if we have all embarked on one very long holiday season. As for me, I am a huge fan of Christmas! I always look forward to December because I know families will be together, parties will be non-stop, and of course gifts will be arriving. (That’s one of my favorite parts!) But naturally, it’s not all a pleasure cruise. There are ups and downs during the month as well and I’ve put together some things that we can anticipate with joy and some things we can hope pass us by.

Things to look forward to this December

Family coming home and Noche Buena. This is probably tops on my list of things we can look forward to this month! After all, who doesn’t love having everyone come home? Family members we rarely see all year make the annual Christmas trek back to the Philippines (or we go abroad) and we all get to catch up and stuff ourselves silly at our traditional Christmas Eve dinner, more commonly known as Noche Buena. I look forward to this every year because that means my mom’s traditional Christmas fare of chicken salad, chicken pastel, and egg rolls — all long-standing holiday staples for me. And then afterwards we all open presents (Yay!) around the tree and digest together! To me, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Avenue Q. Back onstage after its successful run a few months ago, the whole gang of Avenue Q is back and better than ever. See the perfect collaboration between puppet and person as Rachel Alejandro and Felix Rivera lead an amazing cast in song classics such as The Internet is for Porn, It Sucks To Be Me, and There’s a Fine, Fine Line among many others. It’s truly a holiday treat for anyone who loves to be entertained and to laugh so hard their stomachs hurt. I highly recommend catching Avenue Q before it closes. This will actually be my second time around already since I enjoyed it so much the first time! (For Avenue Q tickets you can contact 0917-8283683 or 0917-8-AVENUE. But hurry before they run out!)

Delectable Christmas treats. Christmas always means a lot of sweet treats and my personal favorite among the pack is puto bongbong! I always look forward to this sweet sticky delicacy that I remember buying every morning after Simbang Gabi. Either piping hot or even cooled off, this yummy purple treat is awesome with its special brown sugar. Another thing I am looking forward to is no fruitcakes! Ha, ha, ha, just kidding; I’m looking forward to delicious cupcakes! Cupcakes seem to have exploded in popularity past few months and I can’t get enough! Either cupcakes from Marta, cupcakes from Sonja, or cupcakes from Cuppy Puppy by Joanna Romero — I think these miniature cakes are some of the best things to give as presents for those with an active sweet tooth (like me!).

Holiday gift-giving. I enjoy presents — both giving and receiving — and every Christmas I try to look for something meaningful (and hopefully well-priced) to give as gifts to my family and loved ones. I prefer it even more if the presents I buy help out a charity at the same time. This year I am looking at Luntian Bags (canvas shopping bags that are a livelihood project of San Teodoro in Batangas), Yabang Pinoy and hopefully something from PAWS. Remember, it’s important to help those less fortunate than ourselves — especially during this season!

Those are just some of the many things I look forward to this December. But when it all comes down to it, the most important things, of course, are spending time with loved ones and family and being with those that really matter to us. Not to mention, it is important that in all the excitement and merrymaking we don’t forget the reason for the season!

Things we should be wary of this December

As I mentioned above, even with all the fun and excitement there are things we should be careful about during the holidays.

Extreme traffic situations. With everyone heading out to parties, reunions, and even just to finish Christmas shopping the roads always seem three times more packed during the holidays. Even destinations that were a mere 15 minutes away turn into an hour-long car ride because the traffic is bumper to bumper. Getting from Mandaluyong to Makati or even QC takes longer and longer every day and we should plan ahead when we know we need to be somewhere. The best remedy for this is give yourself a lot of time to get where you are going and have a bunch of good tunes on hand to keep you company on the road.

Rise in crime. Sadly, it’s during this time that the most thefts occur. In conjunction with all the hullabaloo about the season, Christmastime can, unfortunately, have some negative effects on people. If you are lonely to begin with you get even lonelier during the holidays. It’s really sad and we should all help out when we can but at the same time we should all be cautious as well. I can still recall two Christmases ago I got robbed twice! First my small purse was stolen at a Christmas party and the second time (a day later, can you believe?) my bag literally got pulled off from behind while it was still on my shoulder sending me crashing to the ground! So, even in the midst of the merriment, exercise some caution. Especially when walking alone at night.

Impossible shopping. I know it’s a little late but everyone is out last-minute shopping so the sooner you finish your Christmas list the better! Lines at the stores are getting longer and items are selling out faster than donuts at the gym so if you had your eye on something specific than you better grab it before it’s gone!

And those are just a few things you can enjoy these next few weeks as well as a few things to be careful about as well. If you ask me, the good completely outweighs the bad and with the proper precautions and some forward planning, we should all be having a very happy holiday indeed!