Some Filipino Birthday Culture

The birthdays in Philippines are really important to celebrate every year. It is one of the celebration that we don't want to miss in our whole lives. It only comes once a year so we really put a lot of value to it. We love celebrating birthdays even we don't have money.

In Philippines, we do not need a kind of grand celebration to celebrate our birthdays. We can celebrate them anywhere even under the bridge. We can celebrate our birthdays in the beach, in the farm, in the house, in the school and anywhere where the important people in our lives are present. We also don't need to spend too much for a birthday, sometimes having a drink and a piece of food is already enough.

Karaoke

In Philippines, we really love karaoke so much. In fact, this is the apple of the celebration. A lot of Filipinos love to sing in the microphone. We will turn on the TV and the CD/DVD and look for a songs in the catalogue. We will flash the song digits to the screen by the remote or we can get an automatic karaoke in our flat screen TV. Everytime Filipinos sing, they sing like nobody is listening.

Lechon

Lechon is a roasted suckling pig. It is the most popular food served in birthday occasions. The pig is stuffed with lemongrass, garlic, onions, chives and other spices. It is roasted in a large stick spit over an open fire. The most delicious part that every Filipinos love from it is the crispiness and the pork belly.

Drinking

In Filipino culture, drinking beverages and alcohols will never go missing. It is the time that everyone bond together and it makes the celebration a lot memorable. Filipinos love to drink beers even it cost a lot to their pockets, if it makes everyone happy then there's no guilt of spending a bucket of money for a couple of bottles.

Mañanita

Mañanita is from a Mexican culture that was adapted in the Philippines. In Filipino birthday celebration, a mañanita is a kind of celebration where the family and relatives serenade a birthday celebrant with a special song at dawn to wake up the celebrant.

Lighting a candle at church

Filipinos are one of the most religious people in the world. Everytime we celebrate our birthdays, we go to the church to light a candle and dedicate a prayer. Most of our prayers are about gratitude. Gratitude for the life, good health and we also ask guidance as we go on in our lives in this world.

Pancit

We Filipinos have a belief that eating and serving Pancit in our birthdays will lengthen our lives. Pancit is a traditional noodle dish in Filipino cuisine. In fact, a birthday celebration is incomplete without it. It is the number one dish that Filipinos never forget to prepare. I don't know where the Pancit belief comes from but for us, pancit in birthdays means long life.

Giving leftovers

We Filipinos are not thrifty when giving food to our visitors. After they eat, there will be fun activities. After the entire celebration, if there are leftovers from the birthday we will pack them and distribute to our visitors. This is how hospitable and generous every Filipinos to their visitors.

Every country has a unique way of celebrating birthdays and here in Philippines, we like to celebrate them with many people. We feel lonely when we are the only ones celebrating it alone or when no one is wishing us a happy birthday. In our country, it doesn't matter if you have no money to spend on a celebration as long as you have the most important people in your life. We value memories and people more than we value things.

October 15, 2022

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