How to Celebrate a Filipino Christmas
- 1). Play Filipino Christmas tunes such as "Pasko na Sinta Ko."
- 2). Attend "Miso de Gallo," which is a Mass held before dawn on December 16 to mark the start of the nine-day novena.
- 3). Use "parols," or star-shaped lanterns that have candles inside, to light your way to the church in the dark.
- 4). Purchase native foods such as "puto bumbong" (rice steamed inside a "bumbong," or small bamboo tube), "bibingka" (rice cake with salted eggs and fresh coconut meat) and "suman" (steamed rice wrapped in banana leaves) outside the church.
- 5). Expect "cumbancheros," or carolers, to visit your house with musical instruments to serenade you and your neighbors.
- 6). Expect to watch the "Panunuluyan" in the town plaza on Christmas Eve. This is a re-enactment of the Holy Couple's journey to Bethlehem and portrays the lack of hospitality they encountered along the way.
- 7). Attend midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. This is always a special event that children wear new clothes to.
- 8). Gather with friends and relatives for "Noche Buena" after the Mass ends. This is a festive meal followed by the exchange of gifts, which lasts through the next morning.
- 9). Arrange to visit family and friends on Christmas Day.
- 10
Remember that the holiday season draws to a close with the Feast of the Three Kings on the first Sunday of January; the kings followed a star to find the manger where Jesus was born.
Source...