Christmas Traditions

Follow the team’s Christmas enthusiasts, Em and Sophie, through their lively Christmas traditions!

Written by: Erlina Calubayan & Sophie Loh

Em

Christmas begins in September for a traditional Filipino household like mine. By November, the house will be brought to life with all manner of specially-reserved Christmas ornaments, trinkets, snacks and even curtains! 

The days leading up to Christmas Eve are hectic and full of anticipation as it coincides with my mother’s birthday (her name is Carolyn, a Christmas pun). 

It’s a bilingual-Christmas-songs lockdown as last minute gifts are bought, the hams and poultry meats arrive, the log cakes refrigerated, and a storm is cooked up, all ready for the party after Christmas Eve service at the Church of Saint Alphonsus at 10pm. 

On December 24, dressed to the nines, either in all pinks or greens or whatever colour my mother fancied that year, we set off for a night of song and celebration as my mother’s birthday ends and Jesus Christ’s begin under the tall marbled walls of the church. 

We’d reach home, excited and hungry, tearing into gifts and meats and alcohol and, before long, the sun will rise again to a household nursing hangovers with leftovers. 

Sophie

My family has a loose Christmas tradition where we travel home to Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, then fly off to another country of my parents’ choosing for the rest of the holiday.  

It’s a flurry of last minute present shopping and travelling in the days leading up to Christmas, eventually ending in KL where we will spend the week with loved ones. While in KL, my entire family will attend a church service to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. 

Christmas Eve is a huge family affair, while the family watches a Christmas movie, and as my mother and aunt cook up a feast. Before long, the family will gather around the feast and say grace, giving thanks before celebrations begin, and food and presents are plundered.