Nine Days of Christmas
The Christmas Season fully launched here in the Philippines yesterday. In Bogo City there were carolers, lights, sales and fireworks too. Bogo City really loves their fireworks. But, central to Christmas in the Philippines is the nine days of prayer. Early every morning, Filipino by the millions head to their local parish to pray. This is called misa de gallo which means mass at dawn. Dawn is too early for me. LOL
Here in Bogo City, I think they do that every day as the church bells ring between 3:00 to 3:30 AM.
Last night we went to the BBQ by the Bay and the whole city was alive with lights. Dancing lights, static lights, Christmas decorations everywhere. I’m going to try to get out tonight and take both video and still shots of it all. I hope they don’t turn them off, I hope it wasn’t a one night thing but I doubt it was just for one night. I wonder if there will be more fireworks. Hope we know in advance this time.
Yesterday, Jessie and I went out Christmas shopping. She was so happy and she’s still being such a child playing with the kids toys. She spent hours wrapping things last night. She keeps wanting to keep the mega water guns we got for the kids. The stars in her eyes tell me she’s still a kid too. 
Which I love to see. Seeing her happy makes me want to give more but we’ve already blown through out Christmas money. It really goes much further here than it would have in the states. Its hard to find inexpensive toys now a days in the US. We bought a ton of toys that cost less than $3.00 each. We a also bought both boys a bike and we got them a kid tough digital camera from Fisher-Price. We ordered the camera from the states.
We need more decorations though, a wreath, a star and I really want a Nativity scene. I have my own tradition of buying one a year but so far the only one I’ve seen is about P400 which I consider to be a lot of money and I want most of the money to go the boys but I also want some Christ in Christmas. I’ll have to get one. I’m surprised Prince didn’t have them marked down more. I may walk down to the market today to see if I can find one there. They may also have something in Gaisano.
I went to the market yesterday, didn’t look for that, we did buy more Christmas decorations though. There is one type of decoration I’ve not seen else where. I think it is native to the Philippines. I’m not quite sure how to describe it. I’ll get some pictures of them soon. They might be Chinese influenced. I saw some that had tubes in them that I think could be packed with rockets to make them spin around. They are not very expensive but don’t know if I want to load them up with fireworks either.
I intend to soak up as much Christmas as I can. The weather has been cool, by Filipino standards. I hope that keeps up. Humidity feels way down. There is a typhoon off our east coast but it is expected to head east and then break up. I hope it is just a little cooler and the typhoon doesn’t have a lot to do with it. Jessie has told me that December and January were the coolest months in the Philippines. She was cold at the BBQ last night, i was not burning up.
My camera’s battery was dead yesterday so I didn’t get any pictures. I’ll try to do better today and tonight. It looks as if it will be a very merry Philippine Christmas.
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Advance Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year Rusty!!! Please extend my Christmas greetings to your beloved family! God bless…..
Merry Christmas Nel. I hope you are not too home sick and that you have family in the US that you can spend time with. Even if it is an extended family.
Jessie reads most of the things here, I think she still does anyway. I just can’t get her to write.
huhuhu i realy mis the cristams party in cebu and the enw year activity. Guys meery xmas and have a wonderful new year
Hi Ulan,
Christmas party in Cebu? Cebu City? What do you mean? Tell us more!
hi merry xmas to you and family from Auckland new zealand ,my philippino partner joined me 4 mths ago ,with her 2 kids 8 and 4 ,it’s their first christmas away from cebu ,and they find it very quiet ,big houses .with few people about ,little decorations and fireworks .but the food is much better and the power staybut s on lol also the water .i have travelled 3 times to cebu and spent a few months there ,the cost living is much lower .an example dickies t shirts in sm mall,for about 300 pasos ,thats about $10 nz here cost is $30 d ollars ,it summer here temperature is 15 to 30 degrees ,so first job i had when they arrived is buy warm cloths ,we use electric blankets ,on beds as gets cool at night ,tess my partner was a high school teacher in cebu ,but getting work here is hard ,as the economoc position is effecting the job market.nz has a small population off approx 4million ,we have many asians now as new arrivals .i like the philippines ,but am not sure i could live there full time ,but may consider it ,houses are cheap by our standards here ,but if the 2 girls are to have decent prospects in the future they need a western education ,so we keep an open mind ,even with a degree ,salarys are not high ,tess has a degree took 4 years to obtain and her salary as a gov’t employed high school teacher was 8000 pasos a month less deductions .this is approx $180 us dollars a month ,her best friend from cebu has moved to canada she works as a waitress at a fastfood chain earns 1050 canadian dollars 2 weekly ,her family are to join her soon .well i wish you all the best .god bless you all
I’ve always wondered what school teachers made, underpaid every I see.
Other than missing out on their culture, the girls will be better off in NZ, not much doubt about that. You’d probably do better here. I’m surprised your partner is not freezing to death, mine is constantly telling me she is cold. I tell her what she told me, get use to it. LOL
I have a good friend that lives in Christ Church. Though I’ve never met him in person, I’d have to say the old codger is my best friend. He’s a grumpy old man. LOL LIke me I suppose.
Thanks for stopping buy and commenting. I hope to hear from you often!
Hi ,what is new year like in Bogo? i miss Philippines already especially CEBU but am so glad am here in NZ this christmas and new year at last. I miss the food ,the friends and the family off course,my partner didnt agree with me about the food he think is yuk,lol,i can understand that,and i sure u do too,lol,but kidding aside,the food here in NZ is better as fresh and well presented,standard is very high ,but home is home off course,I miss the life where we can see lots of people around, color and noise,i mean ,in NZ u can hardly see any people at all not even your nieghbor, all though auckland has over a million people living here, christmas feels dead as people go away for holiday mostly out of auckland,new year is a half dead as i hear a little noise from the fireworks,lol, unless u go to one of the holiday spots where they have to put many extra police on for safety of the crowd. but in general,me and kids are happy here and never having a regret of moving and i have a great partner who treats me and kids with love and respect,which is not common to many filipino men, Philippines is very lively place to live but sad to say is not great for living conditions unless u have money and secure income.By the way, if u dont mind,what is your wife work?how long have u been in the philippines? My nz partner and i consider returning to Philippines after I get permanent residency as makes evrything easier,he says he is only interested if we can live near the water as he thinks city is too over crowded and polluted.we lived in white sand in mactan for few months and he enjoyed it except when the power and water went off and no aircon ,lol,which really happened to often,Hope u had a happy new year with your filipino family, i sure is much different from USA,wishing u all the best,regards
Hey Tess, just a quick reply for now. Thanks for taking the time to comment! I posted an article about New Years on the site. Due to the rain, I’m not getting out but I still learned a bit.
hi well i have read much off what is written here ,and like any caring person who visits philippines ,you can’t not be concerned about the poverty and corruption.tess and i went to fly out off cebu to hongkong ,we got to customs counter ,and they refused to allow tess out off country ,reason she never had a letter from her employer giving her permission to leave ,my blood pressure went up to an unhealthy level ,but tess being phillipino handed the customs officer 200 pasos in her passport and we got away on our trip .this is the sort off petty corruption that is practiced .my son is married to a philippino and on leaving with his son for Australia ,had to pay 7000 pasos to a customs official to get his 1 year old son passport stamped .i could relate more stories the same .tess applied for annulment this took over 2 years to complete and about 150,000 pasos .we had to give our lawyer 20.000 pasos to give the judge so every thing would proceed smoothly .i was never certain i would ever get her and kids out off philippines .and made sure she had money to pay bribes ,at airport in case off problems .but unbelievable ,she and kids sailed through without a hitch .resigning from her gov’t teaching job was a nightmare .took months and many interviews before her resignation was accepted ,the philippinos are mad on paperwork and making everything complicated ,we are selling Tess house I bought her three years ago .wow what a night mare so far the sale has taken four months and so many documents to lawyers ,my advise to any foreigner is check out everything you can ,even the most simply end up complicated ,should u enter into any contract, buying,selling even leasing. but like most foreigners i find the filippino people decent and friendly ,they smile and laugh at circumstances we cant imagine living under .i think if you are looking for a partner ,the filippino girls have much to recommend them ,sure we all hear the bad storys .but all in all my experience is the philippines is a facinating place ,vibrant and full life .just wish the government would have a national clean up week once a year ,this may help the tourist trade . i have written the minister off tourism suggesting this ,no reply .anyone flying into manila the first time is in for a culture shock ,but i would never have missed any off the experiences i have had on my trips to philippines,sure makes me appreciate more of what new zealand gives me . we in the west are very fortunate .im not a great typist so please ignore mistakes lol
Tess, we don’t have too much trouble with power and water in Bogo City nor in Talisay when I lived there. No problem at all with the water here in Bogo, it has never been out.
The power is a bit more of a problem, I will get a generator for that problem. With no fan and no aircon that’s pretty hard on me. Your partner would likely get more accustomed to the heat over time. I did. But they cut the power off in Bogo one Sunday a month, on most months. When they do that, I go to a location that has a generator. I go to Jolliebee’s. Surely SM mall has its on power for blackouts. I’d be on my way there if they power went out.
Yea its all about adjustments. We westerners have it a bit better than most Filipino, that’s for certain. Life can be very hard her but your right, it is lively. I’m sure the things you miss are eased a bit by the better standard of living. Better schools for you kids can’t be a bad thing. I’m not rich like many expats so that’s the main reason I came here. My money goes a lot further now.
You speaking of what you miss helps provide some insights to the difference here. I hope you’ll continue to comment and give us more information from a Filipina’s point of view.
In my opinion, the number one reason to move to the Philippines are FILIPINA aka BEBOT.
Better standard of living is another.
Graeme
I don’t understand why Filipino have so much trouble getting out of the country. When I came into the Philippines it was via sold out 747 and I think I was the only kano on the jet. I wonder if it is harder to get out if you’re with a kano?
Hmm, I was hoping to take Jessie out of the country for some visits around
Asia. She’s gotta get her birth certificate first though. She’s got one but it doesn’t have a name on it. LOL Things can be a bit lax around here, huh?
I have to go within the next five months. Probably have to make this first trip alone.
I wouldn’t voluntarily make contact with a government official. If they feel you insulted them in the slightest way, you will be blacklisted. Foreigners speaking up about policies is always risky, it is generally seen as meddling in internal affairs. Just too risky. Even raising your voice could get you thrown out. I should probably xanax myself out so I will be mellow. LOL I’m not mellow and I tend to speak my mind, I have to learn not to do that. Its really not the Filipino way to get loud in public, or show anger. I’ve never seen that here by any Filipino.
Thanks for the info. Hope you come back often!
I have a question for you, what continent does New Zealand claim to be a part of? I think I know but I want to see what a Kiwi has too say.
hi rusty ,as far as problems leaving cebu international airport ,u will not have a problem if u write down unemployed on the immigration card ,this is exactly what Tess had to do ,she filled out a new card at the suggestion off the customs officer and the paying off 200 of my hard earned pasos ,then the bum handed Tess a note asking her to t/p him ,he must have fancied her ,the little creep lol,his attitude did not leave me or Tess with a high opinion off the airport customs .as far a nz is concerned we are a group of islands north and south islands stewart island the chatam islands are also part off nz is the cook islands they have nz citizenship also .auckland is the biggest polynesian city by population in the world .as far as i know ,new zealand can be part off australia anytime ,as old historical documents show nz as the sixth state off australia .australia was part off the ancient continent called Gwandana land ,is that confusing enough ?lol,accidentaly our politicians keep telling us that we are part of Asia,if u go out in the main street in auckland,in lunch time,u have to count the white faces as certainly more asians than whites,”on the streets”.lol
Basically in my opinion,we are and island nation,australia is the largest island and the smallest continent in the world. GRAEME
Hi, Tess here,
With regards to Jesse obtaining a Passport,what i did is i just went to a travel agency in Ayala called”adventure travel”, i ask for the requirements and they did everything for me.I supplied my birth certificate,my transcript of records,as my proof of identity,and some valid identification cards,and passport size picture,and during the apperance at the Department of Foriegn Affairs, in Cebu City, the travel company agent i used meet me in the office (DFA),using a travel agent makes things easier and faster.It took me 15 days as regular processing for 1000 pesos ,and if fast processing 10 days for 1500 pesos.We found it very easy and the travel agency are very helpful and reliable.In addition,the birth certificate should come from the National Statistic office,unfortunately,no office now in Cebu,u have to call to Manila ,or u can check on the NSO website.
In regards to your trip out of Cebu,Graeme son went to Singapore with his wife for 5 days so that he could renew his visa for further 12months in Cebu.Unfortunately,when theyre ,his wife and him,lost all thier belongings,including passport and money,i couldnt think of anything worse than being in a foreign country without money and passport. Thanks God for western union ,we had to step in and help out.
Anyway if Jesse is like me,i had never flown before i found it a very exciting experience.Wish u all the best hope Jesse goes with you on your trip.
PS.Anything question i can help u or Jesse with is welcome. TESS
Hey Tess, thanks for the info. Jessie is going to get her birth certificate completed in her home town. The one the NSO has doesn’t have a name. I have no idea how that happened. Thanks for the hint on getting the passport through travel agent. I have been using Travel Ways for my extensions so I’ll probably stick with them but its good to have a backup. Might have Jessie return home next month for a couple of days to get that taken care of.
I would like to go to Singapore too but I’m afraid it is going to be too expensive for me. I’m afraid I don’t have a ton of cash stored away.
Graeme,
I think they are now saying New Zealand is on its on continent. Its not on the same continental shelf as Australia is. Look at Wikipedia but you’re the expert and Wiki could be wrong.