1. Ask Facebook
Type "Who's in Manila this Christmas break?" and see how many of your friends will be sticking around, then meet up with them! If you and your friends decide to meet at each other's homes, you could arrange for a Christmas-themed potluck! Have fun being creative (take a look at these brownies) and you could do a gift-exchange. To make it more interactive, try playing games like Mafia, Connect, Charades... and even App games which can involve everyone, eg. Heads Up, Psych!, Trivia Crack, etc. This is not necessarily celebrating Christmas - I mean, 'Tis the season to be jolly! so make it fun!
2. Watch Christmas light shows
- Ayala Triangle, Makati every night until January 7th (every 30 minutes from 6pm - 10pm) I featured this in the last part of my Christmas vlog last year:
- Policarpio street, Mandaluyong - a whole street of houses covered with LED lights!
- Cultural Center of the Philippines, Roxas Boulevard Manila - there's a giant Christmas tree there that's lit every night from 6 -11pm
- Mall of Asia Grand Festival of Lights - it's not just about the lights, but there are also mascots, music, fireworks every Saturday of December (plus Christmas day) at 5:30pm
A little bit out of Manila:
- Cainta Christmas Home - Filinvest Homes East, Marcos Highway, Cainta Rizal. The whole house is covered with lights, and surrounded with magical. Hundreds of visitors go everyday
- Nuvali Magical Field of Lights, Sta Rosa, Laguna every night until January 7th (6 - 10pm).
3. Take a tour of Intramuros
I highly recommend Carlos Celdran's intramuros tour (if you haven't been there yet!) What better way to spend time in Manila than to explore the heart of the city! Intramuros is a place I never get tired of. Carlos Celdran is a very funny historian, his tours are very entertaining! It's so easy to "hate" Manila because of the traffic every single day... but we have no choice, we gotta live here, so this will be a good chance to rekindle your love with the city, and appreciate where Manila came from.
4. Read!
During long holidays, I love reading. Your friends will probably be away, enjoying themselves... you don't want to feel jelly that you're just staying at home, so switch off your internet and pick up a book. Not only is this healthy for the mind, but you need all that inspiration for the next year. I'm not going to tell you what to read - you could either stick to a genre you like, or try something new! I love buying second hand books (so Book Sale is one of my favorite places - because I always give my books away after I read them since I also don't have any shelf in my room to keep books) so that's what I would recommend - second hand books are also much cheaper.
5. Go Shopping!
No, don't hit the malls. Go to the bazaars. I'm a big fan of bazaars (do I ever stop talking about my Rooftop bazaars last year?) because I love supporting local/home-based entrepreneurs. Also every bazaar is unique, so expect different things at each one. Here's a list of some upcoming bazaars where you can buy gifts for yourself or for your friends/family:
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| (a lot of celebrities will be selling some of their pre-loved favorites here) |
6. Stay at a hotel
If you really don't want to be at home, but can't travel out, then spend a night or two at a hotel in the city! Pick a place that has a pool, so you can wind down. Here are two condominiums which have rooms that can be rented on a daily basis:
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| Parañaque |
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| Makati |
Or better yet, a hotel by the bay and an aquarium in your room!
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| Hotel H20, Luneta |
And if you really really want to spend, then splurge at:
7. Take a walk in a park
Just like Holy Week (in March/April), All Saint's/Souls Day (in October/November), I guarantee you Manila will be deserted! So you don't have to worry about traffic; you can freely move from one end of the city to the other during Christmas week. So head over to that park you've always wanted to visit, and enjoy it because it'll be all yours! Manila is a concrete jungle; we don't have enough parks and gardens which is a very sad thing. So seize this chance to immerse yourself in the few nature parks that we have - doing this will help take your stress and anxiety away, leaving you relaxed, refreshed and inspired afterwards.
Take a stroll in Quezon City Wildlife Center (nature park) - it's very beautiful!
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| I can't find my photos; so here's an arial view I found online |
or plan a picnic at La Mesa Ecopark
(it's a huge place, with so many fun activities so tag your friends/family along!)
8. Tidy up your space
With school or work out of the way, you no longer have an excuse for keeping your place messy. Take some time off to clean up your house and revamp your room... I love re-organizing things all the time; I find it very therapeutic (repositioning the furniture in my room or changing the posters on my walls get my creative juices flowing). Another great thing you can do is to go through your closet, set aside things you don't use anymore and give them away! For 'tis the season for charity!
You can donate your second-hand (or even new) items to charities like Caritas Manila, Philippine Red Cross or the Citizens Disaster Response Center.
OR simply just go out and do it yourself! Put a smile on someone's face😊
9. Volunteer
If you don't have physical items to give away, then give your time... your talents. If you're a Christian, consider volunteering at your Church because I'm pretty sure all Churches will be busy around Christmas time - perhaps they'll need help cleaning up, organizing charities and masses.
If you're a Bahá'i then there's definitely an intensive study circle somewhere in town (you know it! haha). Get in touch with your Regional Council and see what activity you can join. If you're not up for studying, then volunteer to help with the cooking or preparing the study materials.
Sign up with iVolunteer Philippines and find opportunities. I say this a lot to my friends, because personally, volunteering always does wonders to my soul. I volunteered a lot here and there during my University days, and right after my studies I also took a year off to serve...but it still doesn't feel enough. I believe that no matter how old you are, you should try taking some time off once in a while - even one hour a month... to work for free (no certificates, no grades, no money). It's very easy to get carried away with our day to day struggle for survival, to feed our wants and needs... but there's more to life than that. Serving others selflessly is a very noble and humble experience. Christmas holiday also means we're heading in to a New Year. Every one wants change, everyone hopes for a better year. Volunteering with a cause is one of those things which will impact our minds and souls so strong and affect our attitudes as we dive into a New Year.
"Your efforts must be lofty" -Abdu'l-Bahá
10. It doesn't always have to be ten