It is almost Valentine's Day. Others have sworn it off as a petty commercial holiday. But out of the context of aisles and aisles of Hallmark cards and thousands of pounds of those cute little Sweetheart candies, I decided to take this opportunity to reflect on the force behind the holiday: LOVE.
Also, enjoy my current playlist, "Kilig," a tribute to songs that I consider as classic Tagalog love songs! :)
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Sunday, December 9, 2007
TOP 5: Christmas Caroling
(As reminisced in 2006)
One of the biggest "celebrations" in the Philippines is "All Souls' Day," commemorated every 1st of November. We usually waited until it was over before we sang Christmas carols to our neighbors. My brother, my sister, and I would join forces with our best friends in the neighborhood: We would make tambourines out of bottle caps and hangers, drums out of empty cans, and drumsticks out of spoons that we didn't use anymore. Of course, we had this giant jar that held all the money we earned from singing Christmas carols from one house to the next.
Every night, after we've all done our homework and after we've had dinner, we would meet at our usual spot: at the corner of Acacia and Tanguile Streets (Casimiro Village, Las Pinas City, Philippines), where the lamp post and street signs were. There we would plan out our everning round: which streets and houses to cover, who's going with whom to which house, and such. I remember how we used to shove each other, "You go first." "No you go first!" But once somebody starts singing our favorite opening song: "Sa may bahay, ang aming bati / Merry Christmas na malwalhati..." Ah, yeah... it's all down hill from there... At the end of the evening, we would all count the money from the jar and divide it amongst us. We all had a blast!
Unforgettable moments? You bet!
Once, we've been singing for like forever at this one house. And then they said, "Patawad," which basically means, "Sorry, we have nothing to give you; go away." So we started singing, "Tenkyu, tenkyu. Ang babarat ninyo. Tenkyu!" (Thank you. Thank you. What a cheap a**! Thank you!) Before we could run away, they threw a banana peel at us! We all just laughed hysterically all the way to the next house...
Another time, we started singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" at this one house. We actually started from the first day... So by the time we got to the seventh day, the youngest child from the house came out and gave us money. But we were just so determined to finish the entire song. I mean, why stop at the seventh day, right? So we kept on singing, and the child came out again and said, "Here's more money. My mom said please stop singing." After that, we decided that it would be better for us to sing that song starting from the twelfth day...
Oh, memories... (sigh)
One of the biggest "celebrations" in the Philippines is "All Souls' Day," commemorated every 1st of November. We usually waited until it was over before we sang Christmas carols to our neighbors. My brother, my sister, and I would join forces with our best friends in the neighborhood: We would make tambourines out of bottle caps and hangers, drums out of empty cans, and drumsticks out of spoons that we didn't use anymore. Of course, we had this giant jar that held all the money we earned from singing Christmas carols from one house to the next.
Every night, after we've all done our homework and after we've had dinner, we would meet at our usual spot: at the corner of Acacia and Tanguile Streets (Casimiro Village, Las Pinas City, Philippines), where the lamp post and street signs were. There we would plan out our everning round: which streets and houses to cover, who's going with whom to which house, and such. I remember how we used to shove each other, "You go first." "No you go first!" But once somebody starts singing our favorite opening song: "Sa may bahay, ang aming bati / Merry Christmas na malwalhati..." Ah, yeah... it's all down hill from there... At the end of the evening, we would all count the money from the jar and divide it amongst us. We all had a blast!
Unforgettable moments? You bet!
Once, we've been singing for like forever at this one house. And then they said, "Patawad," which basically means, "Sorry, we have nothing to give you; go away." So we started singing, "Tenkyu, tenkyu. Ang babarat ninyo. Tenkyu!" (Thank you. Thank you. What a cheap a**! Thank you!) Before we could run away, they threw a banana peel at us! We all just laughed hysterically all the way to the next house...
Another time, we started singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" at this one house. We actually started from the first day... So by the time we got to the seventh day, the youngest child from the house came out and gave us money. But we were just so determined to finish the entire song. I mean, why stop at the seventh day, right? So we kept on singing, and the child came out again and said, "Here's more money. My mom said please stop singing." After that, we decided that it would be better for us to sing that song starting from the twelfth day...
Oh, memories... (sigh)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
My Christmas Playlist
Christmas is undoubtedly my favorite time of the year! I have childhood memories of Christmas time that will keep me warm until I am old and gray. And I am creating new memories now with my family, hoping that these lasting impressions of Christmas would keep my children warm and fuzzy until they are old and gray, too.
I keep my Christmas playlist on my iPod all year long. And even in the middle of April, I sometimes catch myself playing some Christmas songs just for fun. For about three years now, I've been keeping the playlist - editing and updating only when there is a new Christmas song that I feel has got to make it to the list:
I keep my Christmas playlist on my iPod all year long. And even in the middle of April, I sometimes catch myself playing some Christmas songs just for fun. For about three years now, I've been keeping the playlist - editing and updating only when there is a new Christmas song that I feel has got to make it to the list:
- Let It Snow (Jessica Simpson)
- Last Christmas (Hilary Duff)
- Santa Baby (Eartha Kitt)
- All I Want for Christmas is You (Mariah Carey)
- My Grownup Christmas List (Kelly Clarkson)
- Christmas is My Favorite Time of the Year (Kenny Rogers)
- Merry Christmas, Darling (The Carpenters)
- Baby, It's Cold Outside (Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey)
- Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays (*Nsync)
- It's Christmas All Over the World (Sheena Easton)
- Hark, the Herald Angels Sing (Christmas Carols Album)
- O, Holy Night (Josh Groban)
- Christmas in our Hearts (Jose Mari Chan)
- Another New Year's Eve (Barry Manilow)
- Kiss Me at Midnight (*Nsync)
A little bit of fun, a little bit of nostalgia... these songs. Oh, I can't believe Christmas is 35 days away! I DO still feel like that little girl waking up at dawn to see what Santa has left for me under the tree... and then slowly realizing that the best gift of all is what's right in the middle of it all - the Baby in a manger.
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Edward's Masterpiece @ 6
2/4/08: Artist - Rufi "Nono" Vidal; "Crayonist" - Edward Balingit
