Post-Noche Buena Blues

For Filipinos, Christmas would not be the same without the Noche Buena meal (Spanish term that literally means, "Good Night"). For Pinoys, this is THE meal that families would partake on the stroke of midnight --or around that time-- after the last Misa de Gallo (Spanish term that literally means "Mass of the Rooster"). See my previous post.

For Pinoys, a family would mean everyone that's remotely related to you. For example, your cousin Dingdong would be there. He's related to you because his maternal great-grandmother and your paternal great-grandfather were siblings. That sort of thing.

For kids, it would be a great excuse to attend the Misa de Gallo AND the Noche Buena because you can already open your gifts (yahoo!). Otherwise, if you happened to sleep through midnight on 25 December, you'd be the last one to open your gifts on Christmas morning (boohoo).

For adults, Noche Buena means license to forego your Atkins/South Beach/hi-cal/lo-cal diet for a day or so.

Attending Noche Buena also gives you license to sleep through most of 25 December. Hehe. Which is what I did. Ahh... I love Christmas in the Philippines.