The tricky thing about Christmas in New Zealand is that because the season falls on a southern hemisphere summer, it’s like being in the Philippines- though more than ever, tropical typhoon season has crept closer and closer, and for some like the people in the Visayas and Mindanao, it’s celebrating the season in the destructive and tragic wake of a typhoon.

I wish I could stay longer, but the kids are all grown up; they don’t really need anyone. And Chini- the baby who made the last six Christmases joyous and happy is no longer a child. So I’m left to my own devices which suits me just fine- no chores to do, could finally relax a bit, caught up with a bunch of shows.

And the meals- they do bring you home. All those lazy afternoons with a feast of grilled pork and fish, a seaweed salad with green mango and tomatoes or sauteed mung beans thick with fat slices of ampalaya and malunggay…

mmmmmmm..