My Adventures -- Happy New Years

This was one of the best experiences... EVER!

Why?

Well because, celebrating New Years in the Philippines is completely different than how we celebrate here in Calgary. Yes, I guess everyone has a different way of celebrating such a holiday but the way that I got to celebrate it in the Philippines was never like how we usually celebrate it here. Not only is my entire extended family in the Philippines but neighbors will come by and it's a huge feast (potluck) with so much food everywhere. You were never able to say I'm not hungry because everything was soo delicious.
The thing is in the Philippines, we have a ritual/tradition; we would take a large plate and place 12 different kinds of fruits and an extra one for good luck. Beside the plate of fruits we would place two candles on either side, a bowl of uncooked rice -- for a good harvest--, A bowl of salt, a bowl of water and a bowl of money. These were all are little ways of hoping for the best for the future and for good luck.
Not only is that different, but a bunch of light makers and fireworks are bought for the evening and for when the click hits midnight. The men would set up the fireworks in the order they wanted to set everything off just about an hour before midnight hits. Yes, it may be kind of dangerous considering there were some fireworks from the ground... But it's all done in a safe manner and in good fun.
It was beautiful to do the countdown and yell Happy New Years as the fireworks shot up and brightened our night sky. It's amazing how in the Philippines you can put on you own light show and not have to worry about it hitting other houses or going in the wrong direction.
After watching the beautiful display of fireworks... can you guess it? Yup, the karaoke is brought out... we Filipinos love karaoke. As long as we have our karaoke... we will party hard.
The party never ends till 6am the next day. I really want to go back to the Philippines just so I can re-experience the New Year feeling. In General, I hope to visit the Philippines soon again because I miss it so much and still have so much to explore. Maybe in time... when I have saved up enough money I will go. In the meantime... got to stick to school and work! (: