Meralco's Maliwanag ang Pasko and Liwanag Park

Meralco,  the power company, usually has really nice light displays during the holiday season and this time they had the Meralco's Maliwanag ang Pasko and Liwanag Park. We went to see it last night. Free entrance, anyone can just go in. I brought my camera to take photos but guess what, after a few shots the battery ran out. I forgot to charge it. So some of the pics are not that clear because I took them with the camera on my mobile phone. This is the entrance here. I took this photo as we were leaving actually.

There was a train ride, again FREE! The train seats 16 people and goes round the track about 5 times or maybe a little more. It sure was fun.

There were several structures made to look like houses and churches.

Meralco's Maliwanag ang Pasko and Liwanag Park is really a great place to relax and enjoy the cool night air. This nativity scene is huge and this it the last photo I took with my digicam before it ran out of battery.

And....here it's time to go home because Via stepped in some mud and got here feet and shoes soaked in mud. But we had fun at Meralco's Maliwanag ang Pasko and Liwanag Park. I am looking forward to next year's light display.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

C

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Do You "Feel" Christmas?

I have seen a few status of my friends' status on facebook that they do not yet feel Christmas even if it's just one day away. What is it to like to "feel" Christmas? I suspect that what they are talking about has nothing to do with what Christmas is about. I am guessing that the Christmas "feeling" that they are hoping to experience is all about the excitement of gifts and parties and Noche Buena preparation and such things. I admit I used to be like them until than a decade ago and maybe it all started when we were little and believed in Santa Claus.

But really, these FB friends who are my grade school and high school classmates are now approaching middle age like me and they are still talking about that Christmas feeling. I have stopped "celebrating" Christmas more than ten years ago. By celebrating, I mean stressing myself with buying gifts until the 24th of December, standing in line at the grocery for the Noche Buena, doing a lot of cooking and pushing ourselves to the point of exhaustion just to keep up with tradition not to mention spending tons of money to have that Christmas "feeling."

Of course, I always went to mass on Christmas day and for some people, completing the Simbang Gabi gets them into that Christmas spirit as well as celebrating the real reason for Christmas, which is the birth of our Savior. All those other things we do are mostly from tradition. That we should do this and have that. It took a lot of hardship and trials to make me realize that what some people do to celebrate Christmas does not really mean anything and has nothing to do with what it is about. And sometimes what it is all about is forgotten amidst all these preparations because we get carried away by the "feeling."

My life is a lot better now but I continue to not "celebrate" Christmas. I have no decoration at home. I haven't bought gifts. We do attend parties and take them as that, parties the way we have the rest of the year.

P, being of a different faith (although he is also a Christian) from me has a different belief about Christmas. If I had not gone through what I have, I would not now have shared his view of it which is all centered on Him. I am considering converting to his faith next year. What did we do? Christmas eve is on a Saturday this year and Christmas day is on a Sunday. Via and I went to church just like we always did on Saturday to worship and on Christmas day, well, my Aunt whose husband passed away recently, has invited us for lunch. So we went and visited her.

I have not told Via about the Santa Claus of my youth. How I used to think that all those gifts were really from Santa Claus and he was real just like other children. Such fairy tales make it more difficult to deal with realities of life. Especially now, we are celebrating all these things that are just driven by big businesses like halloween, etc. Halloween never used to be celebrated in this country. Malls and hotels started promoting it in the 90s I think. So what do I tell the Twerp about Santa Claus because she does see him at the mall and on TV. I say he's a cartoon character just like Winnie the Pooh and Micky Mouse. I don't think I'm depriving her of anything by doing this. She is a happy and well adjusted child and very perceptive.

A lot of people will not agree with me and that is all right. This is my opinion and that I find some of those FB status really absurd.

Wishing you all happy holidays!

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