Loving Christmas Food : Puto Bumbong and Bibingka!

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We Filipinos love our Christmas foods, with combination of puto bumbong and bibingka! 

On December 16, the Christmas season formally starts in the Philippines with the ushering of the nine-day dawn masses that are held as early as 3 a.m. in the many Filipino Catholic churches. Simbang Gabi in Filipino or Misa de Gallo in Spanish.The eagerness for Christmas day among Filipinos builds up on those nine days when they troop to their local churches to show devotion to and seek graces from God. 

After attending the dawn masses, many people take pleasure in eating puto bumbong and bibingka. I love both with grated coconut, cheese, butter and sugar. 

Bibingka  is traditionally prepared with rice flour and coconut milk and made tasty with salted eggs and butter. It is round-shaped, soft and spongy rice cake and yellowish in color.

Puto Bumbong  is a Filipino dessert that usually comes in purple color and eaten with grated coconuts and sugar cane sweets. Puto Bumbong  is made from sticky rice and prepared in cannon-shaped steamers.

New P1 Coin Commemorates Jose Rizal’s 150th Birth Anniversary

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I have read that there's a new P1 coin to commemorate Jose Rizal. There will be ten million pieces of the new one-peso coin to be issued this month to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of the Philippines national hero. 

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said its Monetary Board and the Office of the President approved the issuance of the commemorative coin as legal tender.

  

It has the same size, 24-millimeter in diameter and weight 5.35 grams,  as the current P1 coin in circulation.

It's a round , grayish, nickel-plated coin with the bigger portrait of Rizal  and the markings “150 years”, “Republika ng Pilipinas” , and “1861-2011″ while the other side has the new BSP seal, “1 piso” and “2011″.

This is just an addition to the current circulation of P1 coin.

Here are some pictures of old P1.

Making Your Own Christmas Gifts on a Budget

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Christmas is a very special and exciting holiday. This is a time of year to get together with friends and family to talk about activities, fun times, eat great and delicious food, appetizers and delectable desserts and to exchange Christmas presents.

Christmas seems to get more expensive every year. To save money, you can start making some of your own gifts, and it is not as hard as you would think!

Everyone is always having trouble finding gifts that are different or gifts that will be remembered.  Just try to have an easy, stress-free Christmas.  Think simple gift ideas for everyone on your list. Be sure you make a list of all the people you need to buy gifts.

Christmas presents can either be store bought or they can be homemade. This choice depends on the mood and creativity of the gift giver. This mean more to people because they are something that you took the time to prepare. Homemade Christmas gifts that anyone  appreciate it and would enjoy and feel happy. These gifts express love that you could possibly give. It is from the heart.

There are homemade gifts that will be appreciated and chances are you'll save money in the preparing it. Making it now and while everyone's still shopping, you'll be enjoying Christmas happy days instead of getting tired and fighting holiday crowds.

I’m thinking to make a simple gift basket ideas. Why buy an expensive gift basket when you could make a much better one for anyone on my list. Boutique Christmas gift baskets are expensive. It is much more economical to make our own gift baskets. We are really  going to stores. We see in the groceries and supermarkets  many items to make a great Christmas gift baskets. Buy items to be put together in a gift basket, preparing for someone's favorite items or treats.

Another gift suggestion, is food, the favorite dish. If you know how to cook , think what is probably a dish that is their favorite. This is  great homemade gift that will make them very happy. It is just a fact that people love to eat.

Chocolates and cookies are great.  This is really an  easy homemade Christmas gift. If you know how to bake and make a chocolate, that’s great! If not, just buy them from the stores and make a mix of it. Put in a box or can or include it in the homemade basket gift.

Very simple and will deeply appreciate is a compact disc of music. It’s an easy to download music and favorite songs you can compile in a compact disc. Sometimes there are songs that remind you of your gift recipient. This homemade Christmas gift is something that anyone would love and treasure forever.

There are many ways to make easy , creative and economical gifts for our love ones and people we care.

Enjoy make the homemade gifts and happy holidays! 

The Best Holidays, Fujidenzo Gifts this Christmas!

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Looking for the best Christmas gift?

I’m sure you are busy doing shopping for Christmas gifts to your  family, love ones, relatives, friends, god children and even our wish for ourselves!

This Christmas, give the gift that keeps on giving through any of Fujidenzo’s home and commercial appliances. Whether you’re looking for the ultimate gift for your parents or a great prize for your company’s raffle,  Fujidenzo will surely bring its recipients a grateful smile and cheer.


Fujidenzo appliances promise ‘Quality above all,’ assuring a high level of quality control in the products’ manufacturing process. Purchase power is not an issue since Fujidenzo assures its affordability to the average Filipino family with its reasonable prices. Thus, buying your parents a new refrigerator or purchasing several twin tub washers for your company’s raffle giveaways won’t drastically break your budget. It’s a win-win situation for you, whether you’re the giver or the receiver.


Fujidenzo’s product line-up includes refrigerators, washers and dryers, microwave ovens, and cooking ranges. There are also appliances that can be used for businesses such as chest and upright freezers, chillers, bar fridges, and wine coolers.

Other products worth considering as either a gift or for your company’s giveaways are small appliances such as electric fans, food steamers, electric kettles, coffeemakers and tea brewers.

Through its balance of quality and affordability, every Fujidenzo appliance will surely be treasured and loved since it has a useful purpose in every home. They also come in a sleek and modern design that can match any kind of kitchen design.


So this holiday season, give the perfect Christmas present. Give a Fujidenzo product today.


Happy shopping !

"Villancicos Ng Paskong Pilipino" , a concert at San Agustin Church in Intramuros

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I enjoyed watching  "Villancicos Ng Paskong Pilipino" , a concert featuring Spanish and Filipino villancicos, held at the historical San Agustin Church in Intramuros  last night, 
Dec. 6.

The “villancico” is an old music form from Spain and Portugal that has come to be associated with Christmas. This hopes to create awareness about the Filipino villancico heritage and to bring back memories of Christmas celebrations in the Spanish era. Aside from the traditional songs introduced into the country by the Spanish religious orders, Filipino composers have also tried their hand in writing villancicos. Among these are those discovered in Santa Clara Choir Books that date back to 1871-1874. Many of us heard this for the first time in the concert.

Novo Concertante Manila

Performing the villancicos were the Tiples de Santo Domingo and the Santo Domingo Male Chorale known as the oldest boys’ choir in the Philippines conducted by Eugene de los Santos and the Novo Concertante Manila with Arwin Tan as conductor.

Santo Domingo Male Chorale 

Also performed were Thea Perez, soprano and Cynthia Sy, soprano; and Alejandro D. Consolacion as the organist.

Tiples De Santo Domingo members continuing their tradition and celebrating musical supremacy since 1978.

The program  showed the traditional Nacio Nacio Pastores, a Villancico from Calahorra; Villancico A Pastores de Belen by Marcelo Adonay; Pastorale by Johann Sebastian Bach featuring Alejandro Consolacion II on the organ. Villancico Pilipino, La Virgen Lava Panales, Que Tranquilla esta la noche and Silencio pastores by Rosalina Abejo featuring soprano Thea Perez; Payapang Daigdig by Felipe de Leon; the traditional Noong Araw Ng Pasko and Noche Buena; Simbang Gabi by Lucio San Pedro; Pasko Na Naman by Felipe de Leon; and Ang Pasko ay Sumapit with Consolacion on the organ.

The finale song was Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit originally by Vicente Rubi in Cebuano and later given Tagalog lyrics by Levi Celerio is one example. So is Felipe de Leon’s Pasko Na Naman.

We were surprised by the great performances and feel Christmas carols , historical and Spanish traditional. I hear and sang inside my heart, the harmony and melody  thru the church and liturgical use of Christmas carols.

A little history of Villancicos: 

The first specifically Christmas hymns that we know of appear in fourth century Rome. Latin hymns such as Veni redemptor gentium, written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. Corde natus ex Parentis (Of the Father's love begotten) by the Spanish poet Prudentius  is still sung in some churches today.

In the ninth and tenth centuries, the Christmas "Sequence" or "Prose" was introduced in North European monasteries, developing under Bernard of Clairvaux into a sequence of rhymed stanzas. In the twelfth century the Parisian monk Adam of St. Victor began to derive music from popular songs, introducing something closer to the traditional Christmas carol.