My first Christmas

Watched in the big screen.   A nice Christmas movie.

Experiencing the holiday season in Manila for the first time after two years of spending Christmas in Africa is worth savouring.  As claimed, the Philippines has the longest Christmas season in the world - from September to the 1st week of January.

Lost identity.  If only this statue could complain.

Christmas in the Philippines is like a big stage play where everyone starts to prepare for it shortly after the last one ends. The stage is set-up.  Every type of prop and decoration,  from simple to lavish,  gets displayed.   Nothing - animate and inanimate objects alike - is spared from displaying the Christmas colours.  Road congestion anytime of the day starts to build-up.  Even elevators take longer to service the floors as gifts and food are loaded and unloaded.

Now my eyes can feast on the abundant Christmas lights.

The actors?  You can see them in shopping malls, churches, eating parties, programs.   Carrying a gift bag or a nicely wrapped box is as ubiquitous as the cell phone.  The plot or the story line?  Well, it's the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and the climax occurs on the 24th of December.

On my first Christmas, my stage was simple.  I cut all the used ribbons that I had saved for years and used them to adorn the lemon trees in my garden.  I attend, when I could, the Misa de Gallo (though early evening) at the Ortigas Park.

Christmas carols fill the air in Ortigas Park

In my previous life,  I  used to receive Christmas presents from  bosses, staff, peers, service providers.  Now that I have no corporate credentials anymore,  I am no longer in their gift list or in their budget.  Except for a few,   I was probably just a number or a box in the corporate directory then.  I could imagine the truckloads and monetary value of the Christmas gifts that President Aquino, in his capacity as President of the Philippines, had been receiving to date.

They look pretty at night.

Better than lights.  A 24 x 7 Christmas decoration.

Well, I am not complaining as I feel very happy to give Christmas tokens to those who probably receive less during the Christmas season.  Amidst the noise and glitter, each one will surely find the answer to why he/she celebrates Christmas. 

Have a blissful Christmas with all dear to you.

It's great to have a family picture taken during the Christmas season.

Citizen Eve

Look,  no rubbish

A mural at J. Co Doughnuts

Returning to Manila at this time, after two straight years of living in rural Africa changed my life style.  I now enjoy “footing” despite the smog because the roads in my neighborhood are well paved and clean.  Pedestrian lanes abound and motorists generally yield so I swagger like a queen without fear for life and limb.

Pedestrian lanes all over Ortigas Center  

Because I enjoy exploring the streets now, I can choose to eat in a hole-in-wall eatery or in fast food chains – all offering a variety of dishes, whenever and wherever I am hungry.

Sunday is a car-less day in Pasig City

But what gives me real joy is my newfound personality – an empowered ordinary citizen.  I am not sure if I am just reacting to how most civil servants treat the citizens nowadays  as a result  of the “You are my boss”  mantra of  President Aquino’s administration.  Or I confidently demand to be served as their boss for fear of being treated like most of the powerless citizens  in Uganda.

Ambulant vendors across Pasig City Hall

I am impressed with the quality of services that I got from the local governments of Makati and Pasig  - no noon breaks, process flowcharts are displayed, and employees are generally courteous.  Desktops are prevalent that even old-timers appear comfortable in using computers. 

An SSS member scratching her back while on queue

The Citizens Charter seems to be real.   The system works, too, at the offices of the Social Security System and its members' website.   I have never before felt this good about my country whose recent economic growth rate is at 7% and whose stock exchange main index had recorded an all-time high of 5,700. 

Brought my son to a stock trading 101 at the PSE

The positive things may have been there all along, but I was not looking before.  I did not know a good thing until I lost it.... even temporarily.

An evening along Julia Vargas and EDSA (SM Megamall)