During December, I am always proud to bring out and show off this Christmas lantern (parol) that I bought from Manila in 2003. I hand carried this precious lantern, protected it’s packaging from the wild throng of crowd in the airports and our stop over, and was lucky enough to snag an airplane seat for my dear package. Thus, the lantern arrived in Germany, without scratches and functioning.
The only real problem? We didnt realize that my sister, who bought it for me, got one that has a different watt than what we use here in Europe! But this was a problem quickly solved as we have a neighbor who deals with such things. After a day, he gave us a transformer for our precious lantern. And it’s been blinking with myriad of colors every December.
In the Philippines, a Christmas lantern is a must. You could find them in different materials: in plastic, in papel de Japon, in crepe papers, etc –but the most famous would be those coming from the Christmas capital of the Philippines, Pampanga; where the parols are mostly made of capiz (a native shell found only in the Philippine sea) and are filled with different colors and lights.
Our lantern is the real scene stealer in our street. Old or young, they cant help but be mesmerized when the play of color brightens the dark night. One very foggy afternoon, the kids’ eagerly took faster steps back home because they said they know where our house is: the lights from the lantern beckoned them home.
We simply love our lantern. My husband wanted to buy one more. Well, he doesnt need to nudge me. I am for more of these lanterns, actually!
Would love to see a picture of your parol all lit up from your house…
I miss our parols. Out here, its strings of lights and swaing Santas and reindeer…
Comment ni MarysMom — Disyembre 18, 2007 @ 2:04 hapon |
I love the Christmas lantern or the “parol”. They are so colorful and I love the bright lights.
Comment ni Heart of Rachel — Disyembre 18, 2007 @ 4:59 hapon |