Onwards to a bountiful year of the Water Tiger

The Chinese has a name for everything and as an Asian country, we are influenced by them. This year is the year of the Water Tiger. I'm not going to talk about that though but rather what happened the previous days.

New Year's eve before finally heading back home, I walked around our town and went to see how did the town prepare for the holidays.

The photo on the left is one of the churches here near the provincial capitol. St. Joseph Parish Church was blaring Christmas songs on a broken speaker such that it hurts the ear as you get nearer. I almost backed out but I pursued just to take that photo. There were less lights than the previous years.

The Christmas tree on the bottom left was the capitol's tree. This is better than the previous years as well. Our town is not that grand in spending when it comes to decorations.

The top left photo is a KFC station. We don't have a branch of that fast food here in the our town. I think they are doing a marketing study to see if if it feasible to open up one but this is positioned not where the public can easily see. Best of luck to them. I for one is not so keen about having it in our town. I'd rather support local businesses.

The town hall's Christmas tree was overshadowed by this display. Aside from this, there were nothing else of much interest that can be seen aside from lights coiled around tree trunks or hang haphazardly in bushes.

These are the cakes that I ordered online baked by my former boss' daughter. I had to let my brother pick it up for I still had work that day and the shop closes early. I was focused on the Fruit Jelly Cake for how colorful it was. I love all the fruits in their. The strawberry is the only thing that I don't like but it's flavor was overshadowed by everything else. The other cake is Burnt Basque Cheesecake with blueberry on top. Just now, the baker chatted me and asked my review on it. I said that I love how the sweetness is just right for the elders in our house have enjoyed it too without worrying about the sugar content. She then informed me that that was her target this season - that even those with sugar concerns can enjoy it. That's really thoughtful of her. She informed me when I was chatting her about my order beforehand that the sweetness is only light. She gave me the option of increasing it but I said no and it was the right decision.

I then headed home after my walk and helped with some of the preparations. Before midnight arrived, we decided to eat. Even though I thought there were not enough food, we barely touched half of what was prepared because it was cold and were all of the mind to sleep it off.

We saw some fireworks but it was not as what it was the previous years. It didn't even last long but it was definitely more noisier than last year.

A lot of our neighbors were singing their hearts out on karaokes but we were not bothered by it for we slept with full stomach and tucked in our blankets. Our house is not finished yet. Two of the rooms were the only ones done. The windows for the living room and kitchen were still gaping wide with no windows but just plastic for covering, not enough to block the wind and cold so we rather retired to the warmth comfort.

Me, my brother and nephew decided to sleep in a tent which was cold of course but we have enough blankets and sheets to keep us warm.

After a few hours of sleep, I decided to go for a morning walk and sunrise viewing in the city.

Everyone else was sound asleep but I was able to bade goodbye to my mom.

It was still dark when I went out but the neighbors are still on with their nonstop singing.

I thought there will be no taxi to take me to the city but I was surprised how busy the road was at that time.

At the viewpoint, there was a couple when I arrived and then more came as the day progressed such that I had to leave when it became too crowded for some were not wearing masks at all! We can't be that complacent still for cases are starting to rise here in the city.

As I left, the sky became colorful but I still was able to enjoy it at another viewing point where I usually had my walk.

I was able to make 12k steps before deciding to go home to our apartment and slept it off. In the afternoon, we visited a friend and had fun eating and chatting.

Now that I have time, I decided to renew my sponsorships as promised here in read. I am maximizing my time before heading out to meet with friends again later on.

So that is how my New Year celebration was. I find it funny that when I went for a walk, the people I met, in general, seemed to be sad. There is that sense of loneliness unlike the previous years. It can't be helped that we feel somewhat down but let us be hopeful and do something about finding our happiness.

Have a blessed year ahead!