Christmas celebrations.

First of all, Merry Christmas, everyone!

I was planning to post a year-end entry, but I decided to put it off for another day. Maybe the day after tomorrow when there's nothing planned for the day, hehe.

Last Wednesday, my mom and I went to Tita Elvie's annual Christmas party, which was held at her house in Indang, Cavite this year. We didn't get to go to last year's party because we were so busy with my brother's wedding.

Ate Luz left my mom in charge of thinking of parlor games for the people to play, and my mom in turn asked for my help. I kept drawing blanks, so I would sometimes ask friends online, hahaha. Eventually we came up with a bunch that were still subject to Ate Luz's approval. We headed over to Ate Luz's after lunch so we can all ride from there. While waiting for Ate Gringa, Kuya Roger, their kids, and Kuya Gil, my mom showed Ate Luz her list of parlor games for her to approve, then we got to talk to Kuya Totoy, who was calling from Jeddah. More waiting, so I snacked on a chicken leg and slices of bread, which eventually evolved into 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hahaha. Finally left for Indang at around 3:30, and I managed to sleep in the car because I knew we were in for a long night.

There were already lots of people at the Indang house, Tita Elvie included. Her workers (a whole bunch of men who sew uniforms for the Philippine Marines) were all over the place, cooking and making all necessary preparations for the party so Tita Elvie didn't need to lift a finger. Aside from relatives, people living nearby were invited to the party, as there were lots of food, plus prizes for the raffle and games later that night.

One requirement for the party was that everyone has to wear red. It was pretty nice seeing everyone decked out in red shirts and blouses. I changed into my red candy-cane hoodie after grabbing my first plateful of food.

There were a lot of people already gathered near the buffet area and the videoke, and after my mom and Ate Luz had gotten the neighborhood kids to sing a Christmas song, everyone gathered together for a prayer, and finally it was time to let loose for the parlor games. My mom made this kids play this sort of follow the leader game, which didn't fan out very well in my point of view, so after a break, Ate Luz got them to play musical chairs. Things got even crazier when she got the adults to play their own round of musical chairs. Every time there were only 2 chairs left, she would grab both and make a run for it when the music stopped, hahaha!

After musical chairs, we took a break from the games for a while. All this time, while I was watching, my mom would always see me heading to the buffet to grab another piece of lumpia or another drink. 'Tis the season to be chubby, hahaha. Because there wasn't much to watch by then except for a couple of people at the videoke machine, I headed up to the balcony with a book. Yes, I can still be such a nerd sometimes.

When I heard that Nina and the rest of her family arrived, I finally put away my book (heck, I was only reading for about 15 minutes anyway) and joined them at the buffet. But by the time Nina, Twinkle, Sunshine and Ate Cherry had filled their plates, they were called out by Ate Luz to come join the apple dance contest. And they drafted me to join as well, hahaha. Arg, the apple dance. The one parlor game I used to hate because either the apples were rigged with oil, or they get smooshed from too much pressure being lodged between 2 foreheads. I was one of the first set of pairs to drop out from the game, hahaha.

Us girls went up to the balcony and decided to finally have some alcohol, but that was when we noticed that they were only serving Red Horse and gin. Nina and I got Bob to drive us to the nearest 7-Eleven for some vodka and Shakers. Yay, drinking time. Nina, Twinkle, Sunshine and I were joined by Ate Cherry and Kuya Bong. But before we were about to pour the drinks, it was time for to toss out the random gifts (plus money) from the balcony to the guests. So Ate Luz got all of us to help toss them out so there would be a lot going on at the same time.

Inuman time! Huwaw, si Sunshine pa talaga ang pinaka-sunog baga sa amin, hahaha! While we were taking turns, she would even take a photo of each of us. By the time we were almost finished with the vodka, we were told to come downstairs, where everyone was already taking their turns at the videoke machine. I was already feeling a buzz, thanks to the balcony's spiral stairs, and I wanted to get rid of it. Before I knew it, I found myself grabbing the microphone for a turn at the videoke. That was when Tita Elvie turned it into a contest between us girls and her workers. Hahahaha, it was so crazy. Sunshine was super competitive, jokingly taunting the guys with us behind her all the time. Eventually the videoke contest evolved into a dance contest, and Sunshine was still at the top of her game, hahaha! I love this kid.

It was well into the wee hours of morning when it was time for them to go back home, as Nina still had early morning duty. So while they were in one of the bedrooms prepping up to leave, I gave Nina, Twinkle and Sunshine the shrink plastic earrings I made for them. Thanks to Nina, I found out what the other 2 girls' favorite colors were, hehe.

My mom and I were staying overnight at Indang, and we stayed in Tita Elvie's room with her. Fell asleep at around 3 in the morning, and woke up four hours later to my mom's voice telling me to get a move on because everyone else was already getting ready for breakfast.

It's been years since I had attended one of Tita Elvie's parties, and I had forgetten how loud, crazy and fun they always were for both young and old alike.

Our Christmas at home was way, way quieter. No Noche Buena on Christmas eve, just a simple dinner with my mom and aunt, as my dad had to serve at the Christmas mass. We celebrated Christmas dinner this evening, with the usual menu of steak and green salad, plus these huge shrimps and red wine. Yum.

More celebrations await tomorrow, because my cousin Pacita (Ate Ching) is getting married. Yay! Too bad our annual barkada Christmas get-together/outing got postponed, but at least I'm still getting together with my 2 best friends on Sunday.