The night before Christmas: Where to go to avoid the Noche Buena stress

A Filipino Noche Buena (Christmas Eve feast) is typically a grand affair involving all-day food and décor preparations, new clothes bought specifically for the occasion, relatives traveling from opposite ends of the city, elaborately wrapped presents sitting at the foot of the tree, and a special midnight mass.

 

While this is a rich and beautiful tradition, preparing for it can easily turn the most wonderful time of the year into the most stressful; that is to say, the perfect Noche Buena does not happen out of the blue—it entails an incredible feat of juggling schedules, personalities, and kitchen tools.

 

But there are ways to make Christmas festivities a lot less taxing and a lot more relaxed. And while many will surely cling to their time-honored Noche Buena traditions no matter how much stress it may cause, there are definitely some who will consider taking on a less traditional, less nerve-wracking route this year.

 

Events

 

For those who’d rather have the glamour without going through the toil, Makati Shangri-la’s Circles Events Café is hosting a Noche Buena buffet from 11:30 p.m. on the 24th to 2:30 a.m. on the 25th. There may not be any of lola’s home-cooked dishes, and it doesn’t come cheap at P1,400/person, but you can be sure to ring in Christmas day in style. Circles Café is also hosting a lunch and dinner buffet on the 25th.

 

Culture vultures can inject some art in their Christmas celebrations as Ballet Manila performs Kutitap, a dance directed by prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, which depicts a Romeo-and-Juliet-type romance against a background of Filipino Christmas traditions, set to classic Christmas carols. Admission to the show is free for every ride-all-you-can ticket purchased from Star City. The show will run on December 23 at 7:30 p.m., on December 25 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., on December 26 to 30 at 7:30 p.m., and on January 1, 2012 at 5 and 8 p.m.

 

If you want to hear heaven and nature sing, let the little angels of the Hiyas ng Pilipinas Children’s Choir and various other choirs from across the country serenade you with their music. Hiyas ng Pilipinas will perform at 6 p.m. at the Nuvali Solenad 2 on Christmas Eve, and at the same time at Nuvali Solenad 1 on Christmas day. 

 

 

Admission to both shows are free. 

 

The musical performances continue with Our Lady of Buensuceso School (OLBS) Flute and Violin Ensemble, who are scheduled to play at Rizal Park's Concert at the Park series at 5 p.m. on Christmas day. Admission is free. 

 

Rizal Park will also have their weekly Cinema in the Open-Air special. The Christmas weekend's theme is Dickens on Film, a showcase of movies based on the stories of classic writer Charles Dickens. The event will show Great Expectations at 7 p.m. on December 24, and Scrooge: A Christmas Carol at the same time on December 25.

 

Over in Makati, Ayala Triangle Park's yearly lights and sounds symphony, Spectacular Spectrum, will continue to illuminate the holidays until the end of the month, including Christmas weekend. The show runs every hour from 6 to 9 p.m.

 

Those who dream of a white Christmas no longer have to book a trip to a far off land to experience snow as PLDT promises evening snow showers at its Christmas Village in Eastwood, which will be open even on December 24 and 25, starting at 10 a.m. to around midnight. The snow is scheduled to fall at 6 p.m and 8 p.m., and the best part is, it's open to the public! The snow showers will continue nightly until January 8, 2012. –KG, GMA News