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The Philippines has always been known to be a country of festivities, a nation full of hospitality and resiliency. Every year, even with the onslaught of natural calamities, price hikes, and political crises, Filipinos still manage to pull together a small but, more importantly, meaningful and intimate celebration for both Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Growing up, I was accustomed to a more or less traditional celebration of the two most important occasions of the year. Noche Buena always meant hamon and queso de bola, while Media Noche was always met with a bang. Fireworks were always present and come midnight, every street begins to be filled with noise from kids blowing their torotots, moms clanging their best pans and kalderos, drivers blowing their horns, and, of course, smoke from the quintessential paputok. Being distinctly Filipino, New Year’s Eve was always spent inside our home with the whole family; this year, however, turned out to be different.

While everyone was busy cooking and preparing for the night’s upcoming event, my family (well, at least the family members present) and I were inside our car looking for a place to welcome 2012. We had no plans whatsoever (blame it on Mom and Dad trying to be spontaneous) and were trying to play it by ear.

First stop on our list was Bonifacio High Street, which, unfortunately, did not host a New Year’s countdown. Disappointed but not defeated, we hauled ourselves back into our car and looked for another destination.

The next best thing we found was Resorts World. We were all stoked to welcome 2012 when we learned that the Newport Mall wouldn’t be hosting a fireworks display. At the request of my elder sister (she’s nine years older than me and still wants to see fireworks exhibitions); my whole family settled again inside our car and made our way to Eastwood.

We were inside our vehicle, traversing C5 when the clock struck midnight. As we were passing by, fireworks started exploding left and right. It was different and weird being crammed inside a car while celebrating the first minutes of the New Year. Nevertheless, it was memorable and fun witnessing the best fireworks displays of the metro.

We arrived at Eastwood at exactly 12:45 a.m. The whole city walk was buzzing with excitement! With the suggestion of my not-so-little brother, we decided to belt out to our heart’s content by going to Red Box. Three and a half hours later, we decided to finally eat our Media Noche/breakfast at Johnny Rockets. Burgers, hotdogs, fries, and milkshakes for our first 2012 meal spelled pure bliss. It was actually fun seeing my parents shed their uptight exterior even just for a night.

Looking back, I don’t think I would ever trade the once-in-a-lifetime experience I had this past New Year’s Eve. Sure, it wasn’t like the ones I had in the previous years; but that’s what makes it special. Besides, it’s not the celebration that matters, but the people you share it with.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 2nd, 2012 at 5:20 pm and is filed under Happy Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.