Here in the Philippines it is already Christmas Eve. Around 8 pm when I started typing up this post. Dinner was an hour ago and I have already prepared the ingredients for our midnight meal or the Filipino tradition called Noche Buena. We probably got the said tradition and the term from Spain (our "mother" country; they colonized us for 300 years and what they left behind makes a big part of our culture).

Noche Buena is the midnight family dinner to welcome Christmas. Although the country has commercialized Christmas throughout the year (at the moment there are a bunch still out in the malls and markets not yet done with their Christmas shopping) - the birth of Christ (Jesus) is still pretty much the reason for the season over Santa Claus.

On Christmas day we go to church in the morning and probably sleep the whole day because we'll be up all night ti'll early morning.

That and this celebration will nto be complete without bright colored lights, noisy festivities and lots, lots of food.

So, however you celebrate Christmas...Merry Christmas to you all!!

Click here for the Filipino Christmas symbols (parts 1 2 3 4 5) I wrote years ago.

[In Photo: Christmas in the Philippines (Christmas Around the World) (Christmas Around the World Series) (Hardcover) from Amazon]