THE CITY OF ETERNAL LIGHTS
» 2010 December
Happy Golden Days of Yore
• • • • • Remember that time when we were kids (I’m not going to say how long ago that was, in case I give myself away… oops!), and the only thing that made a tedious schoolyear bearable was the thought that, at the end of it all, there was this magical thing called Christmas! As a kid, a large part of it was definitely the gifts… raised in a frugal and conservative family atmosphere, we were trained that hard work begot good rewards, and gifts were a luxury than a commodity… which made it even more special when we received them!
Nothing like this of course! Christmas trees these days have become increasingly complicated, but also very beautiful! This is Marco Polo Cebu’s gigantic lobby Christmas tree.
We were a family of arts and crafts, often drawing, folding, and making our contributions to the Christmas tree. My brother, who was the engineer type (and built kites in his free time out of surplus material lying around the garage) would put up complicated origami bits; my younger sister would put up flowers in bright colours, and my contribution would be paper people I’d draw and pattern after things I found in our mother’s magazines.
We’d also look to our stockings every morning, and if we were good children, we’d find something wedged deep in the toe-end of it. This was especially difficult for me, because I was known to be a precocious child and, next to my quieter sister, I was the family’s imp!
• • • • • An integral part of the Filipino Christmas set-up is the Belen », and apart from its spiritual significance and reminder, I believe there is a childlike wonder that kindles up when we see miniatures of grander things.
Our Belen at home. This is what real Christmas is—family, selflessness, light, and the nurturing of a hope that will endure.
My friends Joji and Clayton Tugonon are in many ways like Gus and myself, but their surrogate family is much, much larger. Joji has always had a little girl’s dollhouse love for miniatures, and has been collecting Christmas Village houses ever since. Every year, their village literally grows in number, finding new additions to the community, and every Christmas, when they put it up alongside traditional décor, it becomes exponentially more epic.
Joji supervising the placement of the Carnivale Quarters. The true Ringleader of THIS big top!
K helps out and replaces establishments along the rails. “We can’t put the school in front of the candy store,” she said pragmatically.
So epic in fact, that putting it together has become serious business now, with industry tricks and trade structurals included! The electronics for this project, and the urban planning (which we helped out with) felt like a micro-version of planning a real city. This was what the founding fathers and mothers of modern urban giants must have felt like.
Their friends’ children who would also come to visit would be especially entranced. In her words, they would look on for hours at the moving little people, the traveling train, the living little tinseltown. “It was good,” she said laughingly, “because they would at least be preoccupied with something!”
All ready to light up: the Christmas village is ready to be wired up and lit! I wish I lived here…
(To convince the kids to keep hands off was a different story altogether though.)
In a noble act of generosity, they decided to make their sprawling little village truly a thing of Christmas cheer, and opened it to the public. This is their second year showing their Christmas Village in the lobby of the Marco Polo Hotel », which is situated on top of Cebu’s highlands; a fitting place, since, from such a height, the whole city looks bright and shiny as well.
Blink once, and you’ll see Cebu!
Blink again, and it’s a snowy, pine-clustered Christmas village where childhood dreams are spun, painted, personalized, and sent off!
The Village pieces are open for adoption, with proceeds going to the interests of non-profit organization Kythe. The Kythe Foundation » helps children all over the country afflicted with life-changing illnesses. Various agencies and companies all over Cebu pitched in for the cause. Typically, many chose miniatures that resonated with their real life businesses; My friend and SNUG Furniture » Creative Director Maybelline Te » picked the local furniture shop, for example.
From left to right: Marco Polo General Manager Hans Hauri, Kythe’s Sr. Lucilla of St. Paul of Chartres, Joji and Clay Tugonon at the opening remarks.
We went to their official launch last 27th November, and in K’s words as she was taking photos and looking on from an upper mezzanine, “When it came alive, I got goosebumps.”
The children of Cebu International School perform a number.
A large white sheet covered the ensemble, and one could feel the excitement seeping from the crowd as the programme came to a close. More importantly, this gives all children a chance to see a Christmas village, to believe in the indescribable magic that saturates the season.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
