Happy Holidays!!!

In just 4 days it will be XMas...  Been counting the days...  So I should not be surprise and yet, here I am still trying to figure out how time could have flown by so fast!!!  

I think really, the trouble lies in the fact that I have been trying so hard to make myself busy with work...  With the Typhoon Haiyan Charity Event am hosting on FB... Babysitting...  And in between, filling up my time with going here and there, finding the XMas spirits  in forms of Holiday displays... All in hopes of forgetting the fact that am not going to Manila again this Christmas.... 

XMas Splendours: Here, There, Everywhere Photos

 

Find them I did!!  And I must say, am pretty happy with what i have seen...  Though sadly, in Taiwan, it is pretty much on the Retail side...  Most are from the malls, department stores, and shops...  Telling us all to be Merry, give the Gift of Love - all of course, can be purchased through them...  Lol!

Xinyi Districe XMas Wonderland: Year after year, this place always keeps me Merry with their wonderful displays... SEE THEM ALL HERE!

 

Unlike the Xmasses in Manila: Where you go to church with the family for Simbang Gabi (Night Mass culminating to XMas eve)...  Then you reward yourself with Puto Bungbong and Bibingka treats - both Filipino treats traditionally served over the Holidays.;   Where everywhere you turn, houses are decorated festively - inside and out!;  Where children comes around to sing Christmas Carols in hopes of making some XMas money for themselves...;  Where every night from about a week before XMas, through the New Year Celebration, is a nite of festivities and getting together with family and friends...;  Where everyone, no matter how rich or poor, seems to be able to find happiness in these joyous days!  I miss all these..  To me, this is what Christmas is all about.

Though my last Xmas in Manila was somewhat bittersweet - with it being the last Christmas my Mom was alive - I can still look back and Be Happy...  Those days - the ups and the downs - will Forever be embedded in my mind and heart...  And I would not have trade them for the world...  It was the last time I saw my Mom lively...   It was a Quiet one (with basically just Mom, my Stepfather and myself)  but nonetheless a Happy one... We still had a pretty nice feast - with neighbours (Mom's friends) bringing over this and that...  Mom being sooo happy with each and every caroler that comes by (though it's the same ones each and every night, singing the same songs..)  Seeing the joy in her face over this little thing was enough to bring tears to my eyes....  Seeing and feeling genuine Happiness from her with having at least, one of her children with her for the Holidays....  All these are still fresh in my mind....   They have become part of those "WARM FUZZY FEELINGS" one gets over the Holidays....  This is now my Second XMas without Mom...  Am coping but I do realize now that it is True what people say: "The Pain of Loss does not go away - but it does get better."  

XMas 2011: Last XMas with Mom.

 

And I also accept the fact that "People are People"...  As much as it hurts at times, especially during the Holidays, the feeling of being forgotten, taken for granted, or being spoken badly of - I know that I must learn to let go and just move on...  Just live my life and let the

others live theirs...  To not be hurt so much with other people's words and actions...  We all have our own lives to live, and we live them the way we best know how...  

So, I focus on this: Trying to stay positive..  Making the most and being Merry with what I do have... And just keeping my Loved Ones - the dearly departed and the far away ones - at Heart!  And wish one and all the Happiest of Holidays and the Best that 2014 has to offer!!!  

Keep Safe and Be Happy All!!!