Days are fast approaching. Twenty six (26) days to go and it's Christmas! As soon as the calendar reached  the 'BER' months, it feels a lot like Christmas. Every year seems to go on like that. September signals the start of the Yuletide Season here. I heard it said a couple of times that we, Filipinos, have this practice of celebrating Christmas at a very early time of the year - and in my own opinion, this so interesting. When I was in Singapore, it was something I dearly missed along with the extended Christmas vacation. Sure I got to enjoy the bright lights, the grand display and the big Christmas trees in Singapore especially along the stretch of Orchard Road, but I still would think of Christmas back home. 
This year, it was 1st of September when I heard the song A Perfect Christmas by Jose Mari Chan being played in the neighborhood. I was then preparing my coffee and I couldn't help but to sing along. A Perfect Christmas is a Christmas love song. Just like Christmas In our Hearts which is Jose Mari's biggest Christmas hit duet with his daughter,  A Perfect Christmas is one I truly like  along with the rest of his original compositions like Constant  Change and Love of a Lifetime. Though the song is rarely played nowadays in the radio or in public places, A Perfect Christmas still holds an impact and remains to be one of my personal favorites among Jose Mari's compositions, which he himself sang, and revived by other Filipino female artists like Jaya and Sarah Geronimo. Here is Jaya's rendition of the song:
 

My idea of a perfect Christmas
Is to spend it with you
In a party or dinner for two
Anywhere would do
Celebrating the yuletide season
Always lights up our lives
Simple pleasures are made special too
When they're shared with you

Looking through some old photographs
Faces and friends we'll always remember
Watching busy shoppers rushing about
In the cool breeze of December
Sparkling lights all over town
Children's carols in the air
By the Christmas tree
A shower of stardust on your hair
I can't think of a better Christmas
Than my wish coming true
And my wish is that you'd let me spend
My whole life with you

Christmas here in the Philippines also means a great time for many Filipino native cakes. In my place alone, a portion of a street near one of the churches here was allotted for bibingka and puto bumbong vendors every night. As of yet I have not tried the putong bumbong or if even if I have, I could not recall its taste. Maybe one of these days this year, I would try some:-) 

It's a different thing when it comes to bibingka. My love for this native delicacy traces back from childhood. Dang Guy (Aunt Guy) would sell the same infront of their house at the price I remember - P7.00 (or even lower) . Those days she would cook and sell bibingka not during Christmas but during Lenten Season. I, with all excitement and childhood enthusiasm, would go to her to buy. I would watch her prepare and cook the bibingka. She would pour the mixture on clay pots with pre-cut banana leaves over a charcoal-lit stove. Once the mixture was poured on the clay pots, she would cover the same with special improvised oven, also lit with charcoals. I would patiently wait for the bibingka to get cooked and would rejoice in the sight of seeing Dang Guy spreading margarine and freshly grated coconut on it. Just like how my love for bread has grown over time, so has my love for bibingka. Nowadays it is a relief to know  that there are easy ways to cook bibingka. One does not have to do it the traditional way. Also, other than grated coconut, bibingka now also comes in various toppings such as salted eggs, cheese, etc.  And oh, btw, aside from Bibingkinitan outlet, there is one stall in a nearby area which sells bibingka almost year round :-)

Bibingka and the charcoal stove used for cooking this native cake

Charcoal stove - the traditional way to cook bibingka.

Different toppings to enjoy bibingka!

So there, now I'm craving for one ahehe.  Anyway, here we go. Christmas is fast approaching and very soooon it will come. Amidst the hustles and bustles that this season will surely bring , I wish everyone a truly blessed Christmas. Although we really do not know the exact date of Jesus' birth, what's important is that He is remembered with gratefulness not just this Christmas but for always. He came here on earth - to die for our sins - and that's the real thing.  Merry Christmas everyone!