The House of Queens: Christmas

Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

The Baguio City Christmas Tree

I think this series of Christmas post will not be complete if I don't feature the Baguio City Christmas tree that can be found on Session Road. It gets lit up on December 1. I like this year's tree - I actually prefer it over last year's tree.

The GIF version was created by Google when I uploaded the original photo.

Camp John Hay Techno Hub - Nutcracker

I'm trying to catch up on my Christmas posts before the season ends. Another Christmas decoration that keeps the holiday festivities alive in Baguio are the Nutcracker soldiers standing guard at the Ayala Techno Hub in Camp John Hay.

Baguio Christmas Decorations

While walking along the streets of Baguio - you will find interesting Christmas decorations. These are two of my favorites. They can be found along Leonard Wood Road ( that's near Teacher's Camp ).

One of the houses have this on their front yard. It's a nice Holy Family scene. In Filipino - we call it Belen.

During the day - it's already pretty - but at night - it's even better with a Star lit up making the scene complete. One thing to note - I think St. Joseph should have been placed on the left because in this position it seems like he's turning away from St. Mary and baby Jesus.

Another display that I like is from the Mountain Lodge. They seem to have great displays every year. Note - twinkling lights were added by Google when I uploaded the photo - they created a GIF version of the photo. How awesome is that?

This year - they have a Choir setup in front of their hotel. The whole hotel is also lit up.

Don't you think the Angel Choir look pretty?

Saint Louis University Lantern Parade 2013

The most festive time of the year in the Philippines is Christmas. Here in Baguio, the season actually opens up with the traditional Lantern Parade organized by the Saint Louis University. It is held on December 1 and coincides with the lighting of the Christmas tree on Session Road. The parade starts at 7:00 PM. For the past two years, I've stationed myself on Upper Session road to take photos of the event.

I try to be early to take photos of the participants during daylight. Some of their attire are very colorful - and you can't really see them when it gets dark.

The Senor Sto. Nino seems to be making an appearance this year.

Session Road is a winding road --- which makes it ideal for capturing the trail of lanterns.

Some lanterns have a repeat performance. I've seen these flowers ( tulips? ) from last year's parade. I can't blame them for reusing it -- they look pretty.

This one is new. Fish-shaped lanterns.

The Jellyfish lanterns are also great to see.

The students seem to take great pride in representing their groups in this parade.

I wasn't able to see the S formation this year --- I think I was further down the road last year. I can only capture a C formation.

Remember my 2nd photo at the earlier part of this post? Here are the lanterns lit up resting on top of the students' heads.

The parade ends on Melvin Jones Grandstand. I think - I'll try to go there next year - to see how the parade looks like from that point of view.

Look - some dogs take part in the parade. Maybe I should take Midori, Char Siew and Brita next year.

Starbucks Planner 2013

The tradition of Starbucks Planners lives on in the Holiday season of 2012. This year - I was able to get just one planner. Ever since I switched to drinking tea - I rarely go to Starbucks. I was actually thinking that I might not be able to collect all the stickers to get the planner. I actually did - thanks to times when I bought coffee for some friends and family members.

Did previous planners come in a box?

Sosyal. Wrapped in White wrapping Paper.

I got the white planner. Other options were brown and green.

Opening to February - you see quotes about friendship, relationships.

The freebies. Err - not all are free - you need to purchase something to get the freebie.

This magnetic bookmark is so cool

Got the pen. It's not free - you have to pay for it.

The pen comes with two refills.

You might ask - what Christmas Starbucks drink do I order? I typically order a tall iced, non-fat, no whipped cream, decaffeinated, toffee nut latte.

My dear readers - did you get a Starbucks planner this year? How many did you collect? What's the color of your Starbucks planner?

Happy New Year

The year 2013 is finally here. The year 2012 was full of blessings. We are thankful for all the good things that the past year has brought our lives. We, at the house of queens are definitely looking forward to more blessings in this new year. We wish all our readers good health, prosperity, and peace of mind all year round!

Saint Louis University Annual Lantern Parade

A colleague alerted me to the annual Saint Louis University annual lantern parade. The queens trekked to Session Road to grab some shots of the event. There were too many people at lower session road - so we decided to stay at upper session road where the parade starts. I'm happy we did ( we caught it where there's a bit of a zigzag on the road - which allowed us to capture s-shaped lights.

Next time you're in Baguio in the month of December --- try to catch the event. It starts on Upper Session Road and ends at Burnham Park.

Merry Christmas from the House of Queens

Christmas 2012 is here. We're celebrating this joyous occasion in our home in Baguio. My family is driving up from Manila. When we were young, our parents have always intended to spend a Christmas or two in the city of pines -- to experience the chilly weather ( without flying overseas ). So today - is a day that everyone in this household has been looking forward to.

To the readers of the House of Queens - we hope that you are enjoying this holiday with your family and friends. Please continue to drop by our blog - as we intend to revive the regular posting schedule - so you can keep up with the stories of the queens and the household fur-babies.