What Colour is a Christmas Tree?

In a country where the fir or pine tree does not grow, there seems to be some confusion about the colour of the Christmas tree...for your viewing pleasure, here are just a few examples of what is decorating stores and malls, and for sale:

 

 



If you don't know what to do,
 hang flat screen tvs!




...or add any toy you can think of!



The typical Filipino decoration is a star in a circle like this one....

quite beautiful, actually








Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas full of the joy and hope of the gift of Jesus....we certainly did, and will share the pictures and stories soon of Christmas on the beach and under the water.

Miss you all, especially at this time of year,
Linda, Jeff, Sarah and Chris

an addition...they did get one tree right ! !

Christmas in our Neighbourhood

Hello All,

I must confess, though the calendar says it is December 11th, my heart has trouble believing it.  I have been hearing Christmas songs since September, singing them in church since advent started November 28th and singing them with my choir since December 2nd...here is a shot of the Asia Minors, a wonderful women's choir made up of people from all over the world (I am the only Canadian):

But as I walk around, though it is beautiful in our neighbourhood, things just do not seem right.  These are shots from the block or two around our condo - and they answer the age-old Canadian question "how do you decorate a palm tree?"

 

 

The answer is, quite beautifully !

From our window 37 stories up, this is what we see:

Spectacular, but not bringing me any closer to feeling like Christmas.  As I headed into the mall near us, I was greeted by huge Christmas trees both outside and inside (however, you must realize they are fake...no real pine tree to be seen anywhere)

 

In the mall, attempts were made to make it seem more winterly (we think), however not quite sure what white tigers, snow leopards and giant pandas have to do with Christmas?

 

Even the Santa display confused me with two standing Santas and one Santa head in the chimney......

The mall itself was beautifully and tastefully decorated....

 

 

Even Jolly Old Saint Nick was there !

 

 After wandering the mall, hearing the music, seeing Santa Claus, I felt like Christmas was seeping into my heart.  A text from Jeff reminded me that though he was in Hong Kong, he would be back here in five days.  That meant that Sarah and Chris would be here in eight days.  Okay...that really means Christmas is coming and my heart felt lighter.

I got back to our condo, sat down - less "grinchy" but still not quite in the joyful Christmas state of mind and heart I usually am at this time...and then it happened.....the hope and promise of Christmas

A reminder bought in Bolivia, kept in Canada and unwrapped in the Philippines, surrounded by angels that brought hope to Haiti.  The 'good news of great joy for all the people' was right here with me ! 

Christmas is arriving, and my heart truly and deeply believes it!



Christmas in Malaysia

I know we promised you pictures of Christmas decorations in Manila, but Jeff and I are just finishing spending the weekend in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and have pictures from here to share with you.  Jeff is part way through 17 days away from Manila, so I thought I would join him for the weekend and explore a new city. 

Malaysia is a mix  of religions - 60 % Islam, 19 % Buddhist, 9 % Christianity, 6% Hindu and the rest other.  The official religion is Islam, though they have freedom of belief here.  What we learned from a taxi driver today (who is Hindu) is that if he bought a house, he would put down 10% and borrow 90%.  If he followed Islam, then he could borrow 100% and get a 10% on the rate of borrowing.  Hmmmmm - this is when I greatly appreciate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms where all are treated equally!

Anyway, seeing that Christianity is such a minority in this country, we did find a few Christmas decorations to share with you....have a look (they seemed rather sad and 'Charlie Brownish' to us:



Outside Mercedes Benz dealership



In Sentral Train Station





In store



In Central Market (huge shopping area)





With random Christmas decoration

To prove Jeff was out enjoying a well - needed break from work, here are some shots of him with random things:

With image of CN Tower (a taste of home)





With random cow outside steak house







At beginning of walk in the jungle in the
middle of the city







Holding up the roof of
the cave - my hero!



On the 272 stairs heading
into Batu Caves



Tomorrow I fly back to Manila and Jeff flies to Hong Kong until Dec 16th.  Next post - Christmas decorations from the Philippines (the only 'Christian' nation in Asia) 

Love you all, Happy Advent

Linda and Jeff

End of November Update (Christmas is almost here!)

We thought we would share one more random observations post before sharing about Christmas in the Philippines.  It is really escalating!

• speaking of escalating and escalators - we both made the same observation independently that Filipinos tend to hesitate before stepping onto an escalator, both top and bottom.  We both thought we were being overly picky about life here, until we began hearing the same thing from fellow expats.  It's a little odd and, in a land of millions of people, this can cause unexpected congestion and bumping into people.  Try it out....when you go to the mall, hesitate, one foot over the stair but not stepping down for 5 seconds and see what happens.
• update on the Philippine Air newspaper ad we shared on Aug 21, 2010.  Click here for the shortcut back there. Jeff learned that the mandatory retirement age for the flight attendants is 40 years of age.  This is now a subject of contract negotiations in which they speculate the age may be bumped up a "few" years.  Imagine being put out to pasture at the age of 42!
• Does anyone else think this sign on a clothing store window is a little odd:  18% of people check their email while in church*OMG!!!
• did you catch the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2010?  Basically "The CPI 2010 is calculated using data from 13 sources by 10 independent institutions. All sources measure the overall extent of corruption (frequency and/or size of bribes) in the public and political sectors, and all sources provide a ranking of countries, i.e. include an assessment of multiple countries."  Click here for report.   You will be proud to know that Canada is ranks number six (in a positive way) with an overall score 8.9.  We were not surprised to learn that the Philippines ranks number 134 with an overall score of 2.4. Actually, there are nine countries tied for 134th place - so the Philippines ranks with Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Honduras and Nigeria to name a few.  (AND - US was ranked number 22 with a score of 7.1)

This is another "Mothers, stop reading now" moment

Guns, guns, guns...living in Manila guns are a part of everyday life.  Police, security guards and army personnel are all packing a range from pistols to fully automatic weapons.  We are beginning that realize that guns are much more prevalent than we first thought. 

• The banks have a sign on the front door that says "Please leave your firearm with security".  As past bankers, Uncle David and I appreciate this!  And Cathy C, still appreciates this. 
• During elections it is illegal to carry your firearm  (another wise move).  Recently in the paper the police said they charged 153 the day before with gun possession during a local election.  The next four pages of the paper were full page ads for the Manila gun show.  Do you see the disconnect?
• Jeff heard on the radio a list of the guns confiscated during the local election time period - the list went on for quite some time as they detailed exact model numbers, ending with "four handmade guns"
• Number one gift for kids in the Philippines this Christmas?  Toy gun replicas....seriously
• This story from the paper reflects why having guns everywhere is wrong - One man was taking too long with his turn on the karaoke machine, and the next in line pulled out his gun and shot him - dead. 

Enough of guns we thought, until today....while driving in Makati, this was what we saw ahead of us:

(by the way, the Armalite in the middle of the sign is a rifle supply company for M16 type guns)

Any ethical issue advertising that on a Baby on Board sticker, with baby with a gun?

That's it for now...hope you were well entertained like we are daily.  Love you all,

Christmas pictures start next week! 

Adventure Into the Jungle of the Aeta People

On Thursday, Oct 28th I was fortunate enough to join an adventurous group of people who headed to a school opening.  The school is part of the EVACF (http://www.evacf.org/), an organization that helps facilitate many things for the Aeta people, an indigenous tribe in the Philippines.  This school was made possible through funds donated by MMQ, an organization that raises money for a variety of organizations through drama presentations.  Okay, enough back ground, onto the adventure!

Leaving Manila at 4pm, we travelled by car for about 2 hours north of Manila, picked up a few people from the Indigenous People department of government, and after another hour or so, arrived at the end of the road.  There we were met by some guides and other people, plus our official guides as seen in this picture.  Yes, the Philippine Army was going to travel with us (they do protect the white people well in this country!).  So off we went - army guys in front, behind, interspersed and I believe on the sides of us somewhere in the jungle.

The 2 1/2 hour hike was incredible......



Eventually we arrived at  the Mt. Terranus Bayan-Bayanan community, home of the new two-room school.  This community of 65 families has no running water and no electricity.  Some of the children attended a school in another village, but had to live away from home to be able to do that.  This school has transformed the future of these children.  The impact is immense.

In the Aeta tradition, there was the scaring of the evil spirit ceremony performed by the elders.  Have a look - note the hand made 5-string guitar that needs a second person to carry it, the blood on the doorways and the screams to scare the spirits as they enter the rooms.  WARNING - a rooster was harmed in the ceremony.

After that rather disturbing ceremony, there was dancing, lots of speeches, and a feast. 

In this picture, you will see some of the students with the MMQ representatives (on the left) and the teacher of this school on the right (man in white shirt).  The teacher lives in this community during the week and returns to his home (down the mountain) on the weekend.  True dedication!  The government does not build the schools, but will pay for the teacher once it is built.

 The children also received needed school supplies.  These are not provided by the government and these people, who truly farm to live, have little left over to buy any school supplies.

One last hug before we started the trek back down the mountain...out of the peace and quiet, the simple and contented life of the Aeta people. 

Our army men prepared (I just love this guy with the IPod)

and we were on our way home.

A few hours later, at the end of the trail, we thanked out army buddies (the one in charge, Pete, was very friendly and soft spoken.  He did one of the many speeches at the school opening, and commented on what a joy it was to help with this project because it was so positive compared to what they usually did...see why we loved him!) 

A few hours after that, we fought our way through Manila traffic, remembering the quiet simple life of the Aeta people - their joy in life despite having nothing (no shoes, no toys, no electricity).  Their overwhelming joy at a school - something we all take for granted.  The organizations, MMQ and EVAC certainly live out Jesus' words "I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these, you did to me".  I leave you to reflect on these faces - and seek out "the least of these" in the faces you see in your own city.  Love you all - Linda