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Christmas At Home or Christmas on Vacation |
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Written by james
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Wednesday, 10 December 2008 11:27 |
Christmas is traditionally celebrated with family and friends, at least in the Philippines, and for Filipinos. It is usually that one time in the entire year when everyone comes back home to where they grew up. Maybe this is a sub-conscious desire to go back to being a child and receiving gifts and meeting parents and uncles and aunts and cousins and grand parents. After the usual family gathering, we then go out and meet with friends.
Then there's the group of people who we can categorize as the "nagliligawan" or "bagong mag-on". These couples usually take advantage of the long vacation and grab at the chance to spend more time together by going out of town on a romantic vacation. It's a wonderful experience to be with a loved/desired one on a strange/different place, away from anybody else who might recognize them, where they can concentrate on enjoying each other's time and attention.
Typical destinations are cold mountains and warm beaches. Baguio remains as the most accessible out-of-town experience for most people in Metro Manila. Sagada is still under-rated but is definitely a must-see. With beaches, Boracay is still the number one destination, Palawan is a distant second. My personal suggestion is go to Bohol. The people are nice, there are lots of sites to see, and there are so many churches to visit.
After all, Christmas is about the birth of Christianity's Saviour. It is first and foremost a religious event and let us not forget that. He actually died for us! And it was not just a simple painless death, mind you. It was a horrific torture that Jesus Christ went thru just to make sure that each one of us gets a chance for salvation.
So if you ask me about going home or going on vacation this Christmas, I'm doing both! I'm going home to the province, the boondocks, the place where I grew up, the ancestral home, good old San Pablo City. This is so I can be with family and old friends. But I'm staying in one of the resorts in the area, this is so I can call it an "official" vacation as well! Me and my spouse are going to visit tourist spots in my hometown that we've always taken for granted. And we're going to visit the local churches, and we're going to celebrate the birth of our Lord in an out of town vacation where all the family and friends will be there as well!
Happy holidays, everyone! |
Life
A great man once said, "Be a lotus." Which means, no matter how ugly, how evil, and how sinful everyone around you might become, do not allow yourself to be stained. A lotus remains beautiful even as it lingers in the filthy waters of the pond. Don't be contaminated, do not be influenced by worthless means, remain radiant among the shadows of darkness. Be a lotus. It has to start with one, to fill the pond with more.
