Saturday, November 26, 2011

It's that time of the year again

Our office decor

 Christmas seems to have crept out of nowhere this year, I feel totally unprepared!  But that didn't stop me from putting up xmas decor a few weeks into November.
I was so elated to find this very retro cut-out "3D" belen at a small religious store near Don Bosco Makati for P25! This is the belen I remember from my childhood in Pasay at my titas' place. I love the simplicity of it all. I had actually been looking for a Filipino belen, with Mary and Joseph in traditonal baro't saya and barong but none of the stores had it, not even Balikabayn Handicarfts or Papemelroti.  Every belen I've seen are very white, almost blond and mass-produced from China and horribly made. I'm almost tempted to buy some Pinoy dolls from SM Kultura and make my own belen.

Too bad I inquired too late at Papemelroti's facebook page, but they  said they'd try to make one next year.
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Edited to add: I finally found a Filipino belen on a newspaper article. A store called Liturgica at the megamall sells a belen with a Mary in a baro't saya and Joseph looks like a farmer. And it seems unconcerned about being politically correct. One of the wise men is a muslim and the other one is an aeta whose skin is black, not even dark brown, but black. There is also a lechon being roasted while another pig looks at the baby Jesus (probably praying that he's not next on the xmas menu)
 The bad news is that when I called to ask how much it was, the salesgirl said P13,950!!! I think I'll just wait for papemelroti's version!

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Lucky for me, most of my shopping is done. I've bought Pinoy story books for my godchildren . I just needed to pair it the puppets from my earlier post .

Check out their new innovation: You can now go online and have someone read the story to your child when you're not around.

For my nephews, I had to find cool toys to go with their books. Last year, I was proud that I found a great Lego-like toy vehicles which would encourage their imagination. This year, I had to give in to nostalgia and buy some GI Joes, which have come back into the public's consciousness because of the mediocre movie. I noticed that they have eschewed realism in favor of neon colors so I'm a bit disturbed to see soldiers carrying red or yellow guns  and backpacks.
 I'm glad they kept the Commando profiles of the soldiers. My cousins and I used to talk about who would get what so we wouldn't have the duplicate characters. My cousin Dexter was assigned to keep all the profiles we clipped from the box. Wonder where they are now?
And finally, it's also the season for indulging in food! Bibingka and puto bumbong and salabat! There's nothing like a Pinoy Christmas!

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