halfwhiteboy

I don't know how the color blue came to be associated with sadness because just look at this blue-themed Holiday decor . Isn't it so festive? I love how my outfit matches the setting, or rather, how the setting matches my outfit.

Christmas caroling with some reindeer in scarves. Nothing much going on with my outfit really; just maroon shorts (which, being close to red, evokes some connection to the holidays--or at least I think it does), an old white tee with a graphic pixelated print, and some gray sneakers. It's a getup that's very relaxed and fit for some malling. And oh, what fun did I have at the mall! The kid in me was unleashed yet again, thanks to Shangri-la Plaza's reindeer-themed Christmas decor . I went a little crazy as it was reindeer everywhere.

Love how these teddy bears look so expressive. While driving home from Malabon on Christmas Day, we decided on a whim to drop by The Manila Hotel for some snacks. I haven't been to the hotel since my oath-taking as a CPA ages ago, and thought it was probably time to check it out once more. I know it's a very old hotel but I was also curious how it is today. It was chaotic the moment we pulled up at the hotel entrance. There were lots and lots of people and cars moving about. It was Christmas after all. It also took a while for a valet to come for our car. But never mind because the moment we stepped in, I realized the hotel takes Christmas decorating very seriously. A gigantic gingerbread house installation that doubled as a shop stood between the doors and the rest of the lobby. It instantly brought out the kid in me. To be fair, I think the kid in me comes alive with every Christmas installation I come across with ( like the impressive  winter castle of the Makati S...

"Hear ye, hear ye!" That's me declaiming. Or delivering an oratorical piece perhaps? What about delivering a message of good cheer to the king's constituents? Haha! Whatever, I just have to have my photo photos taken by this glorious Christmas installation. But before anything else--and even before I dressed up as a Christmas tree --my colleagues and I recently attended ISACA Manila's Christmas party at the Makati Shangri-la. The theme was winter wonderland, and they specifically stated that we follow a blue, white, and silver motif . They also said that ladies were encouraged to wear a hat and the guys, bow ties. Now that's confusing because how are bow ties and ladies's hats supposed to fit in a winter wonderland setting? But never mind, because I obliged.

It's the reindeer's time to sing this year. I often say that I love Halloween more than Christmas but it doesn't mean I don't love Christmas. Maybe it's the dressing up in a Halloween costume that appeals to me so much that makes me say such things. With Christmas, on the other hand, it's the festive decor that I enjoy a lot, and I always appreciate whatever anyone puts up. One of the decors I look forward to each year are from Power Plant Mall in Rockwell , Makati City. They won me over four years ago when I first saw their  stuffed animal holiday display , which drove me nuts. Talk about polar bears, pandas, penguins, and white tigers fitted with animatronics! All the cuteness will kill you and the kid in me naturally took over. Some of them even learned how to "sing" over the years (just go see them and you'll get what I mean). Last time it was a polar bear that did the singing; this year it's a reindeer. Now watch this:

And 2016 has begun! Before the clock struck midnight, though, we managed to squeeze in a little family portrait for New Year's . We were all complete--me and Kwittiegirl in our ugly but cute Christmas sweaters , and our four cats Kwittie Boy, Foreman, Thordis, and Little Boy. We haven't done this in a really long time and our last attempt two years ago was a total disaster. It was already difficult doing a Halloween family portrait back when we only had two cats--how much more with four! They've got claws for chrissakes! Getting that usable photo above took quite the effort. First I had to set the camera up since I'll be using the timer. Next Kwittiegirl had to position herself with two cats in the frame before I start the timer, grab the remaining two cats, and get ourselves in the frame. And then of course we had to control all four of them for a good couple of minutes. Here are some outtakes (or should I say bloopers?) from our little amateur shoot:

Our workplace, Dec. 9, 2011. We all need a little Christmas, don't we? To cheer us up perhaps. I just miss this time back in 2011 when we held a department-wide Christmas decorating contest at the office. Cubicles were clustered together to form groups and people were basically given free rein on how we wished to spruce up our respective areas for the season. It sure was a lot of fun and I must say I really enjoyed the resulting vibe at work. We invited some respected individuals from other departments to judge our work and determine the top 3 based on a set of criteria. Here's a look at what people have come up with.

Nearly a year after My Bibe and I moved in together, we got our first tree for Christmas 2006. As with practically everyone else in the Philippines, it was a plastic tree. In this part of the world, not everyone can afford, or would choose to have, a real pine tree since it would have to be imported from halfway around the world, not to mention it would be very costly. Our lowly tree, squeezed in between the TV and the bookshelf. Both of us were in agreement that we didn't want a small tree. Maybe a 5-foot one would do, we thought. However, we were faced with a dilemma in that space was a bit of a problem in our new apartment. Luckily we found a slim-fit tree. Yes, it's not just pants and shirts; Christmas trees come in slim-fit designs, too.

I don't know why I haven't posted this sooner. Anyway, there's still a few days left before the Christmas season is over, which means there's still time to catch the really cute stuffed animal holiday display at the Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, Makati. That's one really huge panda! Yes, pandas! When we went there last Nov. 30, I instantly became a kid again the minute I saw the pandas. They might be just stuffed toys but they're undeniably cute.

Finally! Yes, finally My Bibe and I caught the lights and sound spectacle at the Ayala Triangle here in Makati, however unplanned -- and on Christmas Day at that! We went there for an afternoon meal and by the time we left the restaurant, the show was just about fifteen minutes away, so we thought of staying. Razzle-dazzle with lights it was! We've been wanting to see this annual display for years now but we just weren't able to. Ironically, our office isn't really that far away. Anyway, we're glad that we did. The show, which showcases a bevy of Christmas lights dancing to a medley of Christmas songs, starts at 6pm and runs every 30 minutes until 9pm. Even if Christmas is over, you can still catch it until Dec. 30.

Christmas may spell horrendous traffic and long lines at the mall that I really don't fancy driving around town but there's no denying that I love all the lights and the decor that go with the season. Last week, however, My Bibe and I drove outside the comforts of Makati City and ventured into rather unfamiliar territory (at least as far as driving goes) into the Ortigas district to check out Meralco's Liwanag Park . ( For the benefit of my readers outside the Philippines, liwanag literally translates to light. ) I just love Christmas lights! We went on a Saturday night and thank heavens traffic was not a problem. And though we had a bit of a problem with the GPS, I was all smiles once we got there. The Meralco building's facade was fully bathed in LED lights.

Attack of the gigantic me! Sorry for the late post. I've been busy last Friday because of our little Christmas decorating contest at the office. The atmosphere was so festive, I didn't have time to blog. My weekend, on the other hand, was restive and I still didn't have time to blog. The least I was able to do was sift through megabytes upon megabytes of images to use in this post. Festive as the day was last Friday, I was clad in black that day. My colleagues in our group all wore black to be consistent with our black Christmas theme. Here's how it looked:

I just wrote about us dismantling Christmas decorations at the office and what the setup looked like before tearing them down (see related post here ). Well, here's how My Bibe's area looked like last Christmas: Yup, I've made angels out of these foul-mouthed South Park kids. I borrowed Kwittie Boy's angel wings for Cartman. I thought that since he's the grumpiest of them all, I'd give him these fluffy wings. I'm pretty sure he'd hate the fact that he's forced to wear such a thing and that there's absolutely nothing he can do about it. Was supposed to make three more similar wings but I wasn't able to find any feathers. Didn't have time to look elsewhere. So I thought some white cardboard and glitters would do for Kyle... Stan... and Kenny (of course he always dies in every episode so he has to look this way)! It's not the first time I've used these stuffed toys for decorating My Bibe's area, as you ca...

We bought a  Hello Kitty  collectibles set from a McDonald's in Hong Kong last year. It consisted of one stuffed toy, a dozen small ones in different costumes, and a bunch of stickers, cards and coupons. My Bibe wondered what she was going to do with them but she wanted them anyway 'cause they were so cute. So an idea came up and this was the result: We used all kitties to decorate My Bibe's little Christmas tree in the office. She tells me a lot of people who've seen it would take pictures (of course I'm proud!). We fondly call the mini-kitties "Hello Kuto" because of their size. The boxes said "Cosplay Hello Kitty" so each doll was in a different costume. See each of them after the jump.

Been toying with brightness and contrast with this photo of japanese paper being ripped off from our cubicle in the office. Made them look like ghosts. I used lots of them to decorate our area for Christmas last year. Yep, we finally took down our decorations last Monday. Our cubicle used to look like this: We basically set up LED lights then covered the panels with japanese paper to diffuse the glare. I used blue LED for the base part and white on top. I plastered photos in an anti-symmetrical pattern on the panels. The japanese paper that were meant to frame them also gave the photos an embedded look. Here's my 3-foot tall tree given loads for it to handle. The blue poinsettia, balls, silver twigs, and LED lights we used at home for the last two years. They're far more expensive than the tree (which only cost Php 99.75 if my memory serves me right). The overall feel was cool and uplifting. Don't worry, this tree has been handling similar...