What I Love About the Christmas Season

• Not having to get up early in the morning!
  
  
• Parties! And dressing up for them. And dancing! =)
  
  
• Videoke! Not like we don’t do this often enough throughout the year. But Dad bought a new videoke system and had speakers and mics set up in the garden, so people were singing from noon til night. We didn’t have a live band this year (Tito Nyori left his guitars in Baguio and the Tampincos didn’t bring their drums!), so The Boxer was notably missing from the Martin repertoire.
  
  
• Raffles! Kylie has a knack for winning something at every family raffle. Lucky girl! Hopefully one of these years we’ll hit the jackpot (we never do). =)
  
  
• Noche buena! Annual must-haves: A wheel of Gouda and Swiss chocolate from Santis, my parents' favorite Excelente ham, and champagne! I once bought a Dom Perignon and new flute glasses, and we were all trying our best not to wrinkle our noses after the first sip. =p So much for the opulent life. I guess we’ll be sticking to the likes of ASTI Spumante and Bucks Fizz. Hehe…
  
  For holiday midnight snacking, try boursin cheese and chorizo de pamplona (both available from the Salcedo Saturday market) with rye bread. Or get a whole platter of cold cuts from Terry's for P1000 (you can save about P90 by bringing your own serving plate).
  
  
• Lechon and red wine! And roast beef and crispy pata and all things high in cholesterol. In my dad’s side of the family there was one Christmas where the older Palos had to line up and get their blood pressure checked before they could be allowed to touch the food. Now the general attitude is: Carpe diem!
  
  
• Presents! Santa Claus made a quick stopover at midnight on the 24th and dropped off some high-tech gadgets for the kids. Diego is also now the proud owner of a happy little blue iDog, which took Dad and Anton weeks to find.
  
  
• Banishing negative thoughts and just basking in everyone's warmth and joy. =)
  
  
• Pictures and smiles!