1 - New Year

A Holiday is where we have the time to rest and be with our family and friends, Everyone makes plans for a trip to a place or a meal with the people we love. 

We all look forward to celebrating these festivities, It can be Halloween - wherein children dress up as a scary ghost or sponge bob for trick o treat at school or for a program-, Christmas Eve - where we’ll witness people doing last minute shopping at the mall, families decorating a Christmas tree, having a get together with relatives or friends and people exchanging presents with their loved ones- and other celebrations.

One of my favorite holiday is New Year's Eve. It's a time for a new beginning and the noisiest time of the year. You'll witness people getting crazy with fireworks and papered trumpets.  But why do we need to make a commotion? Well, we need to end it with a big blast! They say, we need to make as much noise as possible to get rid of the bad vibes from last year.

My relatives would be envious of how wild the Philippines become when it's time of the year because in the place they're living or are associated, they use fireworks in only one or two location and the only people who could use it are those who are permitted. You, as a citizen, can only watch the fireworks display and eat the food you brought with your family and friends in a distance. At the end of the day, you will drive home and go to bed.

Philippines celebrates this holiday differently; you will witness everyone - adults and children - using fireworks in the streets, people honking their cars to increase the noise, it's also a must to wear a shirt with the color red and as the older people say, "Jump and you will grow taller!"

When I was young, My family and I would stay at my grandparents house to celebrate New Year's Eve. Every year, its been a tradition that my grandfather would buy various kinds of Fireworks - such as "Sinturon ni Hudas" , "Kwitis" , "Bawang", Fountain. He would put a lot of effort into it that at the strike of 12 am, everyone would be outside helping my grandfather lit the fireworks he bought one by one. Even my neighbors look forward to "Lolo's big show", as they call it. I would be so proud and mesmerized by the fireworks that I would insist of standing beside my Grandfather.

As soon as nothing was left, we would all go inside and eat an array of food in the long table. Then, there would be activities for children such as the coin shower and eating contests. When my grandparents comes down and gestures all their grandchildren to fall in line, it's a sign that they'll be giving away money. Later on, Everyone will be singing in karaoke with alcoholic beverages in hand and we would be playing until we get tired and fall asleep.

For me, The reason why it's my favorite holiday is because i'm surrounded by the people I love and its  another festivity to witness the traditions of my family and the importance of spending time and catching up with them.