A Very Red Christmas

Christmas is always a special time of the year for our family. Sadly, however, we do not have many specific family traditions like Kendall's family. Every year is different. We eat different foods, sometimes we all go to church as one big family, sometimes we open our presents right at midnight and sometimes we wait until nighttime on Christmas Day.


But there are things that never change--the same faces seen, the same emotions of love and cheer felt, the same songs sung, the same (sometimes embarrassing) family stories retold over and over again, the same nostalgia for the true Filipino Christmas.


Well, first of all, Christmas is always a family thing. That much has never changed since I can remember. Ever since I was little, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are two special days when the whole family gets together to do two of our most favorite things: cooking and eating. We enjoy each other's company in the kitchen and around the dining table, laughing at each other's jokes and stories, teaching each other new things about foods and whatever, trying out new recipes and improving the old. Having a good time, basically.


Then there are the pictures--we always have to have the traditional family pictures.


And, of course, there's the phone call. My parents and our aunts and uncles all call home separately beforehand, but when we get together on Christmas Eve (which is Christmas Day in the Philippines--time difference), we have to make one as a whole family. It's a bit sad because we all miss home and everyone there, but it's amazing when we pass around the phone so that everyone can say something for everyone on the other side to hear. Every year, we practice our Ilocano, say hi, ask what they did for Christmas, send them our love and try as hard as we can not to miss them so much.


One of the things I miss the most about the Philippines is the taste of warm bibingka during Christmas. Not the delicious bibingka that people make throughout the year, not the soft and creamy ones that we always buy from our favorite store, but the round and white bibingka that vendors labor over during December dawn masses so that it's ready and wrapped in banana leaves by the time churchgoers come out. My favorites were the ones that were burnt and black at the bottom--the taste would be deliciously bitter at first but then the bibingka would slowly melt in your mouth and the bitterness would be replaced by warm and coconutty sweetness. Mmmmmmmmm.....


We didn't go to Christmas masses very often when we were little (because we couldn't wake up very early, try as hard as we might), so those who went would bring home treats for us, just in time for breakfast. We'd come down in the morning to find bibingka and puto bumbong waiting on the dining table. When we did go, I always had to have the bibingka.


The last time we all went back home for Christmas in 2007, our plane touched down in Manila late at night. Then we immediately got on a bus for the long ride home. We arrived at the house at dawn and after the initial greetings, one of the first things I tasted was one of the bibingka that I found on the kitchen table. Amid the tight hugs and exclamations of "JEN! You're all grown up!" and tears of joy all around me, it was that simple round and burnt piece of rice cake that really welcomed me home.


As you can probably tell, I love Christmas. And I miss having the Christmas I used to have in the Philippines--the lights, the parols, the carolers, the food, the church time. But having it here, surrounded by so much love and family, is still a good way to celebrate and spend the season.


Some of my favorite presents this year? I got 366 day's worth of happiness for 2012, a chance to change the world (which was red), the feeling of being a part of 1/10 of 1% (!!!) and a J Scribble to prove it (also red), three full hours of intense concentration and meticulousness with tweezers and an art knife, two candidates in my life-long search for the perfect water bottle (more red!), hands that will never know germs and will always be fresh and scented, approximately 10 full days to complete all of my college apps and essays, and the heavenly yet very sinful taste of chocolate and raspberry all truffled and everything (genius--also, partly red) among other things. Oh, and of course, the traditional shirt from whatever store's big at the moment (re--nope, tricked you! Purple!). That's also one thing about Christmas that will probably never change. And I'm glad it won't.

Risks taken: 11 

Hugs: 0 (I'm sick--congested nose, slight fever, coughs, blargghhh--so no one wants to get near me...)

Current food cravings/obsessions: CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP AND ORANGE JUICE PLEASE

Playlist(s) of the Week: "This Is What It Feels Like"