When I was still a child, I really thought that Christmas starts when the calendar month ends with 'ber'. That could be as early as September, which in reality still to far from December. But for a young boy growing up in a far flung remote village of Central Mindanao, the thought of Christmas brings unusual excitement and joy. It means good food - that only comes ones a year - like smoked ham, crispy pata, special adobo (with quail eggs), cases of bottled coca cola, and lots and lots of grapes and apples. Gee, the mere thought of it was an ecstasy!
Do you know what I like most with Christmas? It was the excitement of making a Belen, stars and lanterns. I used to compete with my neighbor by boasting the best lanterns hanging on our window. My father thought me how to create small doves, balls-of-fire, and falling stars out of bamboo sticks and Japanese papers. With little ingenuity and lots of patience, we could light our lanterns by hiding small candles inside it. Hehehe... there was a time I almost burn our house because my lantern catches fire. Then at night, me and my father would sit on a hammock and watch the stars in the bright evening sky and wait for occasional falling stars.
Christmas was just simple but full of life and excitement. We don't have electricity and we don't know what Christmas lights are and we didn't know that we can buy cheap lanterns and stars from local shopping malls. But we were very happy.
Things had changed! Now I am old, I don't see lanterns anymore. Almost everyone hang Christmas lights and adore there homes with Christmas tree. Gone are the Belens and the old fashion stars. Much more here in Singapore! 
You don't see or feel Christmas until you go to Orchard. There, you could hear Christmas songs played on shopping malls, see giant Christmas trees displayed on mall facade, or watch millions of Christmas lights littering almost every corner of the street.
Tonight, I went to Orchard to see how it looks like at night.
While walking along Wisma Atria, I saw this little Christmas decors hanging on tress. It amuses me because it reminds me of my little doves and balls-of-fire. They are shiny, come with different colors, and glitters because of the tiny little lights inside or beside it. They are beautiful and come in thousand. Whew, if my father was still alive, he would surely share the happiness that I felt tonight.
As the sun started to disappear in the horizon, millions of tiny little lights started to illuminate the Orchard road. They are like stars that were taken from the sky and were attached to strings and tied together. They are beautiful to look at... but they are too common that it just doesn't give me the 
Christmas spirit anymore. Whew, I miss those times that I have to watch the heaven to see stars.
