When I was a kid a real pine tree would take pride of place in the sala by early December (which, by today's timeline, is really late; these last few years I put up the decorations right after All Saints' Day). The tree exuded a wonderful pine scent and would shed needles that had to be swept up every morning. We had "snow" from a can sprayed on the branches. When we moved out of the old house in the family compound on San Rafael street we stopped having a live tree – I'm not sure why, maybe because by then we were no longer little kiddies awed by the office truck bringing in a real tree.
In the house on Piña street we had a tall plastic tree – until one night it came crashing down into a tangled mess of branches and strings of lights, the ornaments smashed to smithereens. Since then we've not had a tree.
Since moving to a condo unit two decades ago the decorations have had to be scaled down. I bought a 12-inch tree made of coconut branches painted gold at a Negros trade fair. A friend gifted me one Christmas with a 24-inch gold-hued tree, which is still around but which I am repurposing this year into other forms of decoration.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 30, 2024 من The Philippine Star.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 30, 2024 من The Philippine Star.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
What celebs would ask famous people in the great beyond
With All Souls’ Day just around the corner, I posed this question to celebrities: If you could talk to any famous person who has passed away, who would you choose, and what would you want to ask him or her?
QCINEMA RETURNS WITH 77 FILMS ACROSS 11 SECTIONS
THEMED \"THE GAZE,\" THE QCINEMA INTERNATIONAL FILM Festival (QCIFF) has returned for its 12th edition with another notable lineup of local and global films to be screened across Gateway Cineplex 18, Ayala Malls Cinema at Trinoma, Red Carpet at Shangri-la Plaza, and Powerplant Mall from Nov. 8 to 17.
REMEMBERING LIAM PAYNE AND THE DEARLY DEPARTED
As the old joke goes, somebody up there must be forming a band to provide music for some heavenly event. So, some of the best were taken to do that forever gig. This month alone saw the loss of heartthrob balladeer Jack Jones; Mitzi Gaynor, lovely star of movie musicals like South Pacific, Les Girls and Golden Girl; and Liam Payne, pop idol and founding member of one of the greatest boy bands of all time, the One Direction.
ALL THE STARS ALIGN AT NUSTAR
Christmas is the time of year where things go into overdrive. For some hotels, it's the time to spend money on trees and decorations —and yes, to make money.
SEATTLE SIGHTSEEING
Seattle in Washington State is known for its coffee culture, the birthplace of Starbucks, the grunge music scene, the headquarters of Amazon and Microsoft, and one of the best food markets in the world - Pike Place Market!
UN SOIR À PARIS
On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of The Friends for Cultural Concerns of the Philippines (FCCP), a sumptuous evening of food and music was hosted by the officers and members of FCCP at the grand ballroom of the newly renovated Makati Shangri-La, which used to be my halfway house for at least a couple of decades, since I lived in New Manila and worked out at Makati Shang
SI, SPANISH FOOD SECRETS & MORE!
A slab of anchovy on top of charred mashed eggplant was the perfect introduction to a dinner in Cantabria.
HAI! AN ALL-JAPANESE FOOD HALL
Dining in a food hall works best when you are dining with a big group and everyone has different cravings and preferences.
'Disruptive' S'pore home builder enters Phl market
Singapore-based Homeqube is targeting to put up 1,000 houses in its first year of operations to help address the housing problem in the Philippines.
STI earnings soar on higher enrollment, cost management
Earnings of STI Education Systems Holdings Inc. soared by more than half for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, on the back of higher enrollment and efficient cost management across its schools.
