| I can recall from my days in England, watching | | | | everywhere, set up for the party that would last |
| television at Christmas and seeing how others | | | | all evening and into the night. I remember sitting |
| celebrated across the world. At one time I used | | | | there as they got everything organised around |
| to think about people in Australia, who seemed to | | | | me, how magical and special it all was. Just a few |
| be featured on the news every Christmas Day: | | | | months earlier I had been a resident in England |
| "it's not like Christmas, hot weather and going to | | | | and had only experienced Christmas in England. |
| the beach". | | | | Now, I was sitting outside on a hot Christmas |
| Why I used do think like that I really do not know. | | | | Eve, the sound of tropical insects a prelude to the |
| I did not like the cold once I got past the age of | | | | modern disco music that was to follow later. I |
| about 30. Or was it 35? Who cares, I hate the | | | | loved it. |
| cold now. That's one of the many reasons I live in | | | | As with most occasions in the Philippines, there |
| what many call paradise: Palawan, in the south | | | | were lots of children. Neighbours came and went, |
| west of the Philippines. | | | | people moved from one party to another, and |
| Being a predominantly Christian country, Christmas | | | | there was a constant flow of people and |
| is a big occasion in the Philippines. It is also still a | | | | especially children. Children's games were followed |
| religious occasion, which of course it should be. | | | | later by adult versions of children's games, most |
| Only a tiny percentage of people can afford gifts, | | | | of which had come from Western influence, but |
| so the emphasis is on family holidays, time | | | | Filipinos always put their own stamp on the |
| together, and for many going to church. Very | | | | foreign habits they adopt. Alcohol would not have |
| few families have anything special for Christmas | | | | been a part of the occasion, but the adults were |
| lunch, they just don't have the money. They do | | | | delighted when I offered to buy beer and rum. |
| make up for it, though, as Filipinos certainly know | | | | At midnight, I was advised to go inside. I soon |
| how to enjoy themselves. | | | | saw why. All hell broke lose with fireworks as |
| Despite the lack of money in most families, | | | | midnight approached, exploding from every tightly |
| Christmas starts early in the stores, around | | | | packed, confined little garden in the neighbourhood. |
| August. One thing they go in for in a big way | | | | Fireworks that would have been banned in the |
| here is Christmas lights. Sometimes even the | | | | UK, but I have to admit they were very loud and |
| poorest homes will be adorned with fairy lights, | | | | impressive. I was amazed, as nobody had warned |
| some having quite spectacular displays. Even in | | | | me of this tradition beforehand. |
| early November last year, as I travelled back | | | | Now, all my Christmases are tropical, and very |
| from the jungle's edge about 90km south, it was | | | | different from those in England. I sometimes |
| quite magical to see the Christmas lights as we | | | | wonder how much Christmas would change here |
| got near the city. | | | | if it ever became a wealthy country. The major |
| My first Christmas in the country was memorable. | | | | differences between here and England are the |
| I was invited to a girlfriend's house Christmas Eve, | | | | profligate spending and materialism in England, and |
| a very poor but very friendly neighbourhood with | | | | the normal subdued spending in the Philippines. Yet, |
| mostly small timber houses cramped next to each | | | | it is the Filipinos who seem more able to enjoy it |
| other; intimate to say the least. Outside in the | | | | that the English. |
| garden (a tiny yard) there were lights | | | | |