Friday, December 30, 2005

LP 5: Noche Buena in Singapore

Though Christmas is just an ordinary holiday here in Singapore, we were able to make it a grand celebration in our own home for the past many years. Not only because we were so excited to celebrate it as an independent family unit, but also because we were able to understand among ourselves the meaning and importance of each other as made stronger by the relevance of the birthday of Jesus. Though of course, the thoughts of all the laughter and merriment and the joys being with relatives during Christmas made us a little bit sad, the fact that we were together as a family made us so thankful.

Having a happy family celebrating Christmas every time, I was inspired and wrote Singapore Christmas Story. In it, I was able to tell that we Filipinos celebrate Christmas with a table full of food.

Our Christmas celebration last year was so wonderful for us a family. But when I was still basking on the merriment brought by the celebration and ate a lot the next morning, I felt guilty the next moment. The time I was eating with much gusto, the Asian tsunami devastated homes and killed lives. How would you feel when every minute the number of dead people escalated into thousands?

With the memory of last year’s calamity, I told myself that I would minimize the materialistic celebration of Christmas. And maybe, it was just a coincidence, but on Christmas Eve, I really felt that there were a lot of angels around. It was really a different christmas

So for our Noche Buena, I prepared simple dishes. Just enough. For the Filipino in us. For the angels .And for Jesus. To honour Him with food we prepared together as a family.

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menudo, as cooked by my husband
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kare kare, as cooked by yours truly
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pasta as cooked by my second daughter
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potato salad as cooked by my youngest daughter

10 comments:

Ellen said...

hi there kayli!

your noche buena surely looks good and i bet they all tasted great!! i also spent one xmas in singapore and i was so surprised that shops were open and nobody really made a big deal about it. i am longing to spend xmas back home. i haven't had a pinoy xmas for atleast 20 years so i really miss it! anyway, i hope u had a great xmas and a happy new year!

kayli said...

Happy New Year to you too, Ellen!

Lani said...

Kayli, happy new year.

Christmas should always be celebrated with our loved ones especially our family.

Anonymous said...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

i believe that in simplicity lies pure joy...

but there's nothing simple about your noche buena, they're all mouth watering! and the most wonderful part was that different members of the family helped with the preparation..that's truely nice.

regards

kayli said...

Happy New Year Lani!

Happy New Year Thess!Thanks for your nice comment.

ces said...

it was surely a family affair, huh? eveyone giving a hand in the preaparation of a special christmas dinner...happy new year!

kayli said...

Hi Ces! Thanks for the visit. happy New Year to you.

Anonymous said...

hi kayli, your Christmas looks scrumptious -- but you're right -- it's the FAMILY that makes any celebration beautiful. which makes me sad thinking about the thousands out there who have to celebrate Christmas alone:(

Unknown said...

stef, thenks for the visit and yeah, it is sad thinking of the plight of those people.

Unknown said...

thanks stef. and yeah it is sad just thinking of their plight.