A Christmas tradition

Hope is brimming in the hearts of Filipinos during the Christmas season. Hope is both a prayer and a celebration of the human spirit and it comes wrapped in the warmth of joy that the season brings.

Hopeful and celebratory is the tradition of Christmas at Manila Hotel, which is “one of the most important landmarks in Manila,” because “it presents a great story for the Philippines,” according to American writer Ernest Hemingway, who once stayed at the Grand Dame, which opened to the public in 1912.

“When we hope for a brighter future, the celebration begins,” says Rachy Cuna, dubbed as the country’s one and only floral architect because of his ingenuity when it comes to floral designs.

“Manila Hotel is a heritage hotel and we want to highlight the culture of the Filipino people. Since I joined them, I tried to focus on Philippine symbols, symbols that are truly ours, symbols that are truly Filipino. These are everyday symbols that Filipinos are familiar with. When you are at the hotel, particularly during the Christmas season, you feel at home, you know you’re home, you celebrate the tradition,” says Rachy, the cadence of his voice, warm and whimsical, is in itself a celebration.

This year, Rachy says, the Christmas design of the hotel focuses on ilang-ilang, being the official flower of The Manila Hotel. Everywhere you go, oversized ilang-ilang flowers made of compressed paper are hung from the ceiling of the hotel’s lobby, restaurants and outlets. (Walk around Ilang-ilang restaurant, a topnotch buffet dining outlet in the country, and be mesmerized by these blooms. They are everywhere in the restaurant, so that you begin to smell their dainty fragrance as you gorge on your fresh oysters, prime-rib steaks, scallops and lobsters.)

Even the giant Christmas tree that welcomes guests at the lobby is festooned with humongous ilang-ilang flowers. Rachy is certain the glorious Christmas tree at the lobby of The Manila Hotel measures 20 feet. His vision for this year’s Christmas décor of the hotel, as Rachy is the style and social director of the Grand Dame, is clear and sharp — to celebrate “the Filipino in us.”

Pinning his hopes on all things inspiring and inspirational, Rachy gathered oversized gold-leafed ilang-ilang flowers. “And what is Filipino Christmas without a parol?” he emphasizes. The Pinoy lanterns on the Christmas tree of the hotel are fashioned from abaca fibers, all in their natural glory. Vines and balls are aplenty and they are made of indigenous materials only Rachy’s eyes can spot. Desiccated mango leaves are also used instead of holly. And to add that needed Yuletide kick, oversized red ribbons perch gloriously on the tree like angels at rest.

Rachy, a respected floral stylist and installation artist, did not forget to adorn the tables at the hotel’s restaurants with a touch of Christmas spirit. He played with coconut flowers and turned them into little Christmas trees. The presence of this element gives diners a feeling of a joyful, hopeful Christmas. More so when freshly cooked bibingka and puto-bumbong, which can be ordered anywhere you dine at the hotel, land on the table.

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year and each one of us needs to be joyful, hopeful that Christmas is here,” says Rachy, who is himself an incognito “Santa Claus” to many Grab and Lalamove drivers because every delivery to his house is met with a gift from him, be it a raincoat and a pair of rubber boots (he has in stock all the sizes) on rainy days or school supplies for the driver’s kids or relatives during school season. All these are wrapped Rachy-style. Oh, the wrapping is already part of the gift if it is from him.

“Come Christmas, The Manila Hotel is a destination for families to witness the Christmas spectacle at the hotel. For many, it is a must, a tradition to experience Christmas at the hotel,” says Kim Tan, the hotel’s sales and marketing director.

With Rachy’s focused creativity, hope and celebration comes the theme of Christmas at the hotel.

“Here’s hoping that every Filipino will always celebrate Filipino Christmas with a hopeful, happy heart. Merry Christmas,” Rachy smiles. *