My youngest brother took this picture of the family's New Year's Eve Media Noche table spread. It included
- pandesal
- pansit
- queso de bola slices
- tsamporado
- cassava cake
- mechado
- creamy fruit salad
- sweet ham > custom-made by my sister-in-law (yummy!!)
- pansit
- queso de bola slices
- tsamporado
- cassava cake
- mechado
- creamy fruit salad
- sweet ham > custom-made by my sister-in-law (yummy!!)
There was also freshly-brewed coffee and Mexican hot chocolate. My brother brought two bottles of wine but they remained unopened.
In past years, we also had bibingka and puto bumbong. However, the dense crowds for Media Noche shopping in the specialty stores made my parents skip the purchase of those delicacies.
Before midnight, my brother and his family in Seattle, Washington put on skype for an interactive greeting. It was nice to see my niece Grace. She seems to grow a little more each time (babyhood to toddler-hood)! When the clock struck at midnight, she was hopping, skipping, and jumping!
We saw the 2011 ball drop from Times Square in New York on TV during the countdown. My nephew missed it since he was already in deep sleep. Last year, though, he was wide awake and banging pots and screaming at the top of his lungs.
Greeting the New Year in the states is very unlike the LOUD, colorful, and festive sizzles, pops, bangs, and booms of fireworks and firecrackers in the Philippines. Still, the family was together (near and far) as we celebrated and look forward to a new year and new decade ahead!
LIKE! (ala FB).
ReplyDeleteThankfully, my family is complete this year to "celebrate" the New Year, with my brother from Arizona still here and the brother joining the Army on a break before being shipped to TX tomorrow. But unlike your family, we just gathered at the kitchen when the clock struck 12 and drank Asti or the French lemonade we bought from Aldi.
There are tons of food from family gatherings but we didn't feel the need to formally celebrate that night. I do know that deep down, my parents, especially my mom, cherish these moments we have together while we can, for as long as we can, before we go our separate ways again.
May 2011 be a brighter year for us, wishing for continued good health, love, peace and happiness within our families.