Good morning! It's over a week since the holidays but let me post a few more of my holiday activities now that I finally had time to write. (I was supposed to post this last night but fell asleep after writing. Lol. ) I woke up really early yesterday and had my breakfast at six in the morning, the reason why I felt sluggish the entire day. But all is well because I finally settled my pending bills until April on the shopping app I always use. Seeing no pending bills gives instant relief!
Going back to the topic, I was able to visit my town's Christmas installation at the plaza during the holidays. I needed to purchase some mangoes and salted eggs at the wet market so I did a sidetrip to the plaza and food strip before going home.
I passed through this bright tunnel first on my way to the wet market. I'm not sure what is our town's theme for this year's Christmas but I love the iridescent accents. I love those hanging diamond-shaped decors. Wish I could stare at it longer but there were people arriving to take a photo as well.
Compared to the other towns and cities, I think our decor is unique. There's little red and green colors which is the common color theme for Christmas.
Coming from the wet market, I passed through a narrow path beside the plaza's stage to get to the food strip. Compared to the dim lights and stores closing at the wet market, the plaza was bright and buzzing with life. Between the food strip and Christmas installment was a kids' cart rental where kids enjoy driving at this small space barricaded by a string with flags.
From this point of view, you can see that the lights and decor were only placed in front of the municipal hall. This was much simple and little compared back in 2022 where they used up the entire space of the plaza and turned it into a Christmas village. I prefer the little and simple decor because they were able to fit the food strip inside which I think makes the perfect Christmas at the plaza experience.
I walked closer to take a better photo of the Christmas tree and other decor. The Christmas tree was glowing brightly in yellow color and accented with those iridescent diamonds. I love the simple design. I think this is the first time I gushed over our town's Christmas design.
At the center of the municipal hall, you can also spot huge hands forming a heart sign. It's nice but I can't help but notice the strips of lights covering the building. It looked like the placement of lights wasn't well-thought-out. Lol.
There's also a huge and colorful 2025 decor on the side. The colorful numbers made the corner more lively. I like it!
After taking photos and appreciating the beautiful decor, I walked towards the food strip and proceeded to look for the foods I planned to buy. I haven't taken a photo but I first went to buy a cup of lechon with rice. I can't remember the last time I ate lechon so I bought one for dinner.
My original plan was to buy tiramisu for my dessert but the store I was supposed to buy it from was closed. Looking around, a store opposite to it caught my attention. It's red theme made it stood out from the rest of the stalls and the huge red strawberries in the cups made me want to buy one.
So here's a funny story. Those cups with huge strawberries on display in front were just for display and they were fake strawberries. Lol. I felt scammed as the staff pointed at the cups with real strawberries behind the display. I still bought one because I felt ashamed to walk away without ordering.
Not far from the strawberry stall was the puto bumbong stall. Puto bumbong is a popular dessert available during Christmas season. It's a steamed purple rice cake with grated coconut, sugar, cheese, margarine, and condensed milk.
Seeing those smoking cyclinders where they steam the rice cake made me want to eat some puto bumbong too. Well, I rarely eat puto bumbong so I ordered the puto bumbong overload. The overload has salted egg and lecheflan compared to the regular one.
Food Review Time!
Well, well, well! Of course, we should do a short review of the foods I bought from the food strip!
I bought three foods: a cup of lechon belly with rice, strawberries with white chocolate sauce, and puto bumbong overload.
I'll begin with the lechon belly. A cup of it costs Php 89 ($1.50 USD). For its price, I think it's already good. The taste is delicious but I ate it two hours after arriving home. I microwaved it and it made the lechon skin soft. I was really looking forward to bite a crunchy lechon skin! Lol.
Next, is this disappointing cup of strawberry. I felt scammed after being told the small strawberries, which only filled almost half of the cup, were the real ones. The strawberries were more sour than sweet. This one costs Php 160 ($2.70 USD). At the least the white chocolate balanced the sour taste of the strawberries. Honestly, the taste was just okay but I think the portion is too little for its price.
Last, the puto bumbong overload. The photo looks appetizing, right? Well, yes, it is. But eating it made me realized that puto bumbong isn't for me. It's too sweet for me. But it's delicious and I love the lecheflan! Anyone who loves sweet rice cakes would like this for sure. This one costs Php 120 ($2.02 USD).
There goes my little trip to the plaza. I really adored the Christmas decor for this year. It emanates a simple festivity with a modern touch. The style and colors were giving gen z vibes. Also, I appreciate the food strip being placed alongside the Christmas installation. This made everything so accessible. I'm glad I was able to go out last holiday to see the lights and decor my town had set up. Wish I could do it again this year!