Christmas in Leyte
Christmas in the province is a simple but beautiful affair in a way, with the people going around the neighborhood singing Christmas carols.
The kids pump a lot of energy into it and it sounds good.
In the cities Christmas starts in September and lasts until the 3rd or 4th weekend of January.
Workers collect extra pay and bonuses and everyone expects something to come their way.
Taxi drivers will tell you “Christmas is fast approaching, sir” in Sept when they are fishing for tips, but I use it to my advantage and request the “Christmas price” when buying things and sometimes get an extra discount.
Most people in the provinces, (or out in the country or outback) are usually short on funds and just do the best they can with what they have.
Those that have family members working overseas usually get money sent home for the holidays.
I was invited over to a town about a half hour into the hills from Ormoc in Leyte. I picked up some lechon baboy, (roast pig) for 240 a kilo and brought it up to the mountains knowing that they would be short on food.
We brought along a bunch of vegetables and it turned out to be a nice feast. That pork skin especially is loved by all.
I stayed 3 or 4 days but tried to make the trip into town every day just to break up the monotony.
Horses and Cows in the mountains of Leyte – youtube video of the ranches in the mountains above Ormoc City
The Filipinos have a real ability to make excitement out of simple things like playing basketball without a hoop and badminton without a net and just singing or hanging around and gossiping with friends.
For a foreigner that is just passing through it can get a little bit boring and you can see how they get in the habit of sitting around a bottle of Tua, drinking palm wine all night and laughing at the same joke that they heard just 5 minutes earlier.
Everything turned out ok in the end and everyone has a good time.
Christmas
Climbing Mount Apo
General Santos
Growing Orchids
Judy's Resto Bar
Logging with Motorcycles
Mount Mayon
Balabac Island
Biri Island
Calbiga Cave
Capul Island
Mangrove Swamp Palawan
Mikes's Resort
yeah.. the good old folks of ormoc. I get to see them almost everyday since i was a kid. Its like a habit for most of these guys to wake up early in the morning and sweep the leaves in their yard, tend to their roosters dreaming of a win on the next cockfight, and drink tuba in the early mornings. The days are slow for these people who lives in the countryside maybe because there is nothing else besides tending their gardens and farms. So most of the days you will see them just hanging around together in a shack maybe play the guitar or just talk about the old days.
I miss the times when it was like that in the city of Ormoc. Where kids can play in the middle of the streets whereas now its either not safe anymore or the kids now are more into computers so you wont most of them running around the streets.
Cant wait to get home…
I love Ormoc it is so serene and peaceful, it is really nice, the only way it could get nicer is if people stopped littering, oh and if they added a zip line