Davao City High School Batch 1988

STILL dreaming of a white Christmas? Unless Pinatubo belches another load, you’re in for a reality check. This is the tropics, we’re smack in the middle of the equatorial belt and we put on sunscreen and skin whiteners to feel decently dressed up.

Forget about Santa Claus sliding down the chimney. Except in Baguio, we only have smokestacks blighting the landscape, and can you imagine the jolly fat guy shimmying down those ozone busters? He’d be toast. Rudolf and Prancer and Blitzen and Dancer? Ummm, we don’t mean to be a Grinch, but they’d make for fine pulutan the moment they venture out in the open.

But far from being a Scrooge or a Muggle in these days of seasonal cheer, we’d like to suggest a more homegrown celebration — scaled down, sure, but with all the trimmings, glitter and cholesterol overload of Christmases past. Not to mention uniquely Pinoy as well. So find the familiar in this grab bag of ideas guaranteed not to bust your budget, burst an artery or drive you to Prozac.

1. Tiangges all over the place (the better to load up on aguinaldos, and don’t forget to haggle!)

2. The Pampanga parol (or its substitutes, made of capiz, cellophane, papel de Hapon, old newspapers or Dixie cups)

3. Escayola belen, the bigger the better, with a manger made of sawali and nipa

4. Bah, ham (bug)! Make it a Majestic, available by the kilo in wet markets

5. Puto bumbong at tsaa (preferably taken after Misa de Gallo)

6. Piping hot bibingka with salted eggs and native cheese

7. Tsokolate eh paired with suman

8. Potluck family dinner (check what the rest are bringing so you don’t end up with endless bilaos of pancit or three versions of fruit salad)

9. Queso de bola — if you shirk from the expensive imported versions, they’ve got edible local versions

10. Misa de Gallo, never mind if they’re sometimes held the midnight before

11. Damit pamasko: must be new and in na in

12. Castañas, fresh from the street peddlers’ steaming cauldron of sand

13. Fruitcake (or its poorer but more appreciated cousins: brownies, food for the gods, carrot cake, lemon squares, chocolate chip cookies, etc.)

14. Pancit (of all kinds: bihon, Malabon, luglog, habhab, canton, molo, etc.)

15. Puto (sapin-sapin, maja blanca, with salted eggs and cheese, puto ube, etc.)

16. Haleya (home-cooked ube, thick and chewy, with a dash of dayap just like Ima used to make)

17. Leche flan (with burnt caramel on the bottom)

18. Sinamay angels, rubbing wings with the papier mache Santa and reindeer made of rattan twigs

19. Christmas tree (green, plastic or white-painted twigs, with complement of wrapped gifts, walang laman ang iba)

20. Christmas lights: pin lights and rice lights in all colors and shapes, sometimes lighting up the whole house

21. Carols (live, as in the roving brass band or the parish choir, or canned, as in synchronized with the blinking lights on your Christmas tree)

22. Street kids jangling tansan tambourines and chanting, “Piso lang po” when your car gets stuck in traffic

23. Improvised Christmas wreaths (of sinamay, papier mache, resin berries, silk leaves and flowers, walis tingting accents and gold or silver paints)

24. Balikbayans (relatives, friends, boxes na amoy Amerika pa!)

25. Tricycle loads of inaanaks clutching the toy of the moment (Harry Potter accessories, Zoids, PowerPuff Girls, etc.)

By Inquirer News Service

STILL dreaming of a white Christmas? Unless Pinatubo belches another load, you’re in for a reality check. This is the tropics, we’re smack in the middle of the equatorial belt and we put on sunscreen and skin whiteners to feel decently dressed up.

Forget about Santa Claus sliding down the chimney. Except in Baguio, we only have smokestacks blighting the landscape, and can you imagine the jolly fat guy shimmying down those ozone busters? He’d be toast. Rudolf and Prancer and Blitzen and Dancer? Ummm, we don’t mean to be a Grinch, but they’d make for fine pulutan the moment they venture out in the open.

But far from being a Scrooge or a Muggle in these days of seasonal cheer, we’d like to suggest a more homegrown celebration — scaled down, sure, but with all the trimmings, glitter and cholesterol overload of Christmases past. Not to mention uniquely Pinoy as well. So find the familiar in this grab bag of ideas guaranteed not to bust your budget, burst an artery or drive you to Prozac.

1. Tiangges all over the place (the better to load up on aguinaldos, and don’t forget to haggle!)

2. The Pampanga parol (or its substitutes, made of capiz, cellophane, papel de Hapon, old newspapers or Dixie cups)

3. Escayola belen, the bigger the better, with a manger made of sawali and nipa

4. Bah, ham (bug)! Make it a Majestic, available by the kilo in wet markets

5. Puto bumbong at tsaa (preferably taken after Misa de Gallo)

6. Piping hot bibingka with salted eggs and native cheese

7. Tsokolate eh paired with suman

8. Potluck family dinner (check what the rest are bringing so you don’t end up with endless bilaos of pancit or three versions of fruit salad)

9. Queso de bola — if you shirk from the expensive imported versions, they’ve got edible local versions

10. Misa de Gallo, never mind if they’re sometimes held the midnight before

11. Damit pamasko: must be new and in na in

12. Castañas, fresh from the street peddlers’ steaming cauldron of sand

13. Fruitcake (or its poorer but more appreciated cousins: brownies, food for the gods, carrot cake, lemon squares, chocolate chip cookies, etc.)

14. Pancit (of all kinds: bihon, Malabon, luglog, habhab, canton, molo, etc.)

15. Puto (sapin-sapin, maja blanca, with salted eggs and cheese, puto ube, etc.)

16. Haleya (home-cooked ube, thick and chewy, with a dash of dayap just like Ima used to make)

17. Leche flan (with burnt caramel on the bottom)

18. Sinamay angels, rubbing wings with the papier mache Santa and reindeer made of rattan twigs

19. Christmas tree (green, plastic or white-painted twigs, with complement of wrapped gifts, walang laman ang iba)

20. Christmas lights: pin lights and rice lights in all colors and shapes, sometimes lighting up the whole house

21. Carols (live, as in the roving brass band or the parish choir, or canned, as in synchronized with the blinking lights on your Christmas tree)

22. Street kids jangling tansan tambourines and chanting, “Piso lang po” when your car gets stuck in traffic

23. Improvised Christmas wreaths (of sinamay, papier mache, resin berries, silk leaves and flowers, walis tingting accents and gold or silver paints)

24. Balikbayans (relatives, friends, boxes na amoy Amerika pa!)

25. Tricycle loads of inaanaks clutching the toy of the moment (Harry Potter accessories, Zoids, PowerPuff Girls, etc.)

By Inquirer News Service

The Davao City National High School (DCNHS) Batch 1979 is inviting all classmates to attend their forthcoming Grand Alumni Homecoming this December 12 (Sunday) to be held at the NCCC Convention Hall in Matina.

This Homecoming is a yearly activity by DCNHS Alumni to renew friendships as well as reestablish connections among former classmates, whose majority have now become successful in their respective careers or as entrepreneurs. In addition to the preparation of the homecoming activities, the host batch also conducts projects for the benefit of the students currently enrolled at their alma mater. In this regard, Batch 1979 recently spearheaded a Free Dental Mission last Oct. 28 with a team of fifteen dentists led by Dr. Evalyn Ramos-Lantion and Dr. Caridad Reloba-Armada at the DCNHS Grounds through the generous support of sponsors such as EEA Enterprises, AMES-CO, Interdent, and LZ Dental Trading. Likewise, the class 1979 for its school project has scheduled a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the construction of a perimeter fence for the DCNHS on Dec. 11 (Saturday) to be held at the school grounds at 9 a.m.

According to Atty. Cecilia Jover-Angeles, one of the active batch organizers, “We are actively campaigning for the registration of the members of Class 1979 of DCNHS for our forthcoming Grand Alumni Homecoming. As of now, I am overjoyed at the support given by our batchmates as well as those who have pledged to come. I know that with our concerted team effort, this Grand Alumni Homecoming and our projects will be successful.”

For more information regarding this year’s DCNHS Grand Alumni Homecoming, contact the 1979 Batch Secretariat at 224-0519

The Davao City National High School (DCNHS) Batch 1979 is inviting all classmates to attend their forthcoming Grand Alumni Homecoming this December 12 (Sunday) to be held at the NCCC Convention Hall in Matina.

This Homecoming is a yearly activity by DCNHS Alumni to renew friendships as well as reestablish connections among former classmates, whose majority have now become successful in their respective careers or as entrepreneurs. In addition to the preparation of the homecoming activities, the host batch also conducts projects for the benefit of the students currently enrolled at their alma mater. In this regard, Batch 1979 recently spearheaded a Free Dental Mission last Oct. 28 with a team of fifteen dentists led by Dr. Evalyn Ramos-Lantion and Dr. Caridad Reloba-Armada at the DCNHS Grounds through the generous support of sponsors such as EEA Enterprises, AMES-CO, Interdent, and LZ Dental Trading. Likewise, the class 1979 for its school project has scheduled a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the construction of a perimeter fence for the DCNHS on Dec. 11 (Saturday) to be held at the school grounds at 9 a.m.

According to Atty. Cecilia Jover-Angeles, one of the active batch organizers, “We are actively campaigning for the registration of the members of Class 1979 of DCNHS for our forthcoming Grand Alumni Homecoming. As of now, I am overjoyed at the support given by our batchmates as well as those who have pledged to come. I know that with our concerted team effort, this Grand Alumni Homecoming and our projects will be successful.”

For more information regarding this year’s DCNHS Grand Alumni Homecoming, contact the 1979 Batch Secretariat at 224-0519