As early as September, you will start seeing signs of the holiday. You can see some very excited decorators or the promotional songs in the advertisements on TV and radio stations. After the All-Souls Day and All-Saints Day or the Halloween that Christmas decorations will start to invade our homes and personal spaces, with sparkling lights of the Christmas lights, lively songs of carols(especially Jose Mari Chan's Christmas jingles), or the red and green balls in the Christmas trees. The songs will surely make you sing and feel the vibe of the season.

Simbang Gabi(Misa de Gallo)

Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, largest in the Asia. It's holiday's religious aspects will hold the center stage during the awaited celebration; therefore, the church and mass is the most important means of the celebration. Attending the Simbang Gabi, or Misa de Gallo in Spanish tongue is one of the highlights of the month, it's traditionally starts 9 days before Christmas day, it means it will start on December 16. The mass will be held around 3 or 4 in the dawn or before the sun will shine. It will continue until the Christmas eve, December 24, with its concluding mass before midnight on the Christmas eve.

Yes, the traditional looks like causing us insomnia, but it's the tradition. Elders say that if you completed the 9 days of mass, your wishes will come true—I did tried before, honestly.

Caroling

The Season also signals the start of the children's caroling. They will patiently standing in front of every house and sing for almost five minutes and either handed them coins or foods, or be shouted "patawad"/sorry, depends on the supposed to be giver's mood. It usually starts with the 9 days traditions. But before them, organized adults started ahead of them for a charity or church purposes.

Ninang/Ninong

December 25 come, Christmas day, the caroling will quickly turn into hunting of "Ninong" and "Ninang" (Godparents). That sometimes occur until the New Year's.

Family Reunion

Another highlight of the holiday is for the Filipino family; it's the tradition of getting together the at least the immediate family members if possible. Family reunion is common among the Filipinos during the season.

Noche Buena

The mother of all the highlights(it seems that I didn't run out of highlights), after the mass of the midnight on the 24th, people will go back to their homes and then have their Noche Buena. It refers to the meal or feast in midnight before Christmas. This is the point of reuniting of the family during Christmas season. And then you will look forward to next week when the new year approach.

Talking about the Noche Buena, you will see colorful and delicious food on a Filipino dinner table. You will see Pinoy spaghetti, macaroni salad, crispy lechon, morcon, and these two round things on the table: the round ham and the queso de bola(round cheese wrap in a red wax). Other spherical fruits are also on the display: oranges, grapes, apples, melons, etc. And yes, those fruits are so expensive due to the season's demand.

Parol(Christmas Lantern)

Now, let's talk about the iconic shape, aside from the round ones on the table, Filipino also used to put parol or the Christmas lanterns in the shape of a star; although, many lanterns are in different shapes, star-shaped lanterns are the most iconic among them. The star symbolizes the guiding star which guided the 3 kings into the infant Jesus' manger. Lanterns usually made of bamboo strips and covered with colorful papers or plastics. Others are so creative that they used some recycled material or even put decorative lights to make it more attractive.

Perhaps, those are the defining characteristics of a Filipino household from other countries that celebrates Christmas. It's our identity that, for me, stands out among the others. The seasons of love is also a season of family. The warmth of togetherness shall diminish the coldness of the holiday.

Thanks for reading.

Maybe I miss some, can you give other Filipino traditions during Christmas in the comments?

Lead photo source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/theculturetrip.com/asia/philippines/articles/how-to-celebrate-christmas-in-the-philippines/%3famp=1