And they will start giving away Christmas pressies today.
Yes, we start attending Christmas parties this weekend. Since some of our Filo friends are leaving for Manila by the first week of December, Christmas parties are usually organized as early as November so we’d still all be here in Sydney. Ganyan ang buhay naming mga Pinoy dito pag Pasko. We have to consider friends’ leaving for Christmas holidays in the Phils because we all want to be together and celebrate before we say goodbye to 2009. Our next get-together with our friends is when they come back from their holiday trip.
That is also one reason why we start shopping for Christmas pressies early. Chris and I start shopping as early as October/November…and I do bits and pieces at the start of June every year. We want all gifts to be ready by December because we hate being part of the crowds in malls and we always want a stressful free Christmas. We don’t want Christmas time to be about finding gifts and being stressed. We like that Christmas be relaxed so we can focus on spending time with family and friends and celebrating the birth of Christ (which is the true essence of the season).
Other than shopping early for pressies, one of our Christmas traditions is creating our own personalized tags every year and picking out a color for christmas gift wraps.
This is our tag for this year (below) and our theme is silver.
Chris designs whatever artwork we need and our Christmas tags are one of his creations. My role is to supply the words to be written on the tags. Teamwork.
What about you? How are things going with your Christmas preps?
8 Comments
witsandnuts
This would be the first time I’m celebrating Christmas and New Year away from home. It’s a little disappointing because I can’t find a good Christmas tree here because of the culture. Although I/we have already made plans on where to spend the Christmas and the following day. I think that would be sufficient for now.
I like the bearistas! I’ll check later if meron din nyan sa Starbucks dito.
kay
My family is INC so they don’t really have Xmas decors and the like. I can’t wait when I have my own place and I can decorate it with Xmas decors … I have not started buying anything … as stressful as it is, I kinda love being part of the crowd and jostling and pushing and trying to find that perfect gift. Weird no?
Hotchiqqa
The Filipino family I’m staying with had put up their Christmas tree as early as end of September!Excited much!
It is also my first time to celebrate Christmas and New Year away from family. Frustrating because it’s already the end of November but I still don’t feel the cheery feeling that Christmas brings.
I’m just glad two of my cousins decided to tour here in Singapore over the holidays and spend it with me. I sure need to save a lot not for shopping lists but for tourist spots to take them.
Cute the bearistas ah. Sana someone will buy it for me. Haha! 😉
Eds
this would be the first christmas that we will celebrate in our new home. we already requested our parents and siblings to come over instead na kami ang umuwi ng probinsya. but sad to say, hindi pa ako nakakapagshopping for the gifts. so good luck sa akin. hehehe
ruthi
You are lucky to have Filipino friends around. That is something that I miss. I have only one Pinay friend here and much to my desire to throw a party it’s not fun to have only one guess… so we ended up shopping together instead… and Christmas party with family will always be online… on webcam… on different time zones.
bursky
they’re so huggably cute!!!
and the tags are so nice! kesa nga sa mga nabibili sa bookstores na generic. i like ’em kasi pinaghirapan at pinag-isipan talaga. 🙂
Leah
Hi Ibyang! Now I’m braving the malls, ngayon lang yata ako inabutan ng Christmas rush. Kasi I was out of the country for more than a month so di ko nagawa all the gift buying which I normally do pag October.
So you are based in Australia? I’m just glad we connected.
Ibyang
@kay: no, i don’t find that weird at all. some people really feel more inspired to shop when in a rush. by the way, what’s your website addy?
@witsandnuts:they have better bearistas this year!!! not sure if it’s universal though.
@hotchiqqa: hope you still feel the love of your family back home. i’m sure you and your cousins will make the most of the holidays.
@bursky: thanks!!! i’m glad you liked the tags
@ruthi: awww hugs! i know how that feels. when i moved here the first christmas was the hardest one. hope you’ll still feel the warmth of holidays
@eds: good luck! you still have time, don’t worry
@leah: yes, i’m based here in Sydney. happy to pass by your blog and meet you 🙂