MEDIUM RARE

ETA (estimated time of arrival) 12 a.m. Dec. 25, 2023.

But for many of those who witnessed the lighting of the tree at Manila Hotel last Thursday Nov. 9, the Blessed Day – or its Eve – has arrived already, in spirit if not in numerical accuracy going by the calendar’s 30 or 31 days. So what if Thanksgiving Day was still 14 days away? Shouldn’t every day be a day of thanksgiving just the same?

A few other hotels have had their tree lightings, true, but there’s no hotel lobby like the one at The Manila, ergo no tree lighting like this one. Rachy Cuna, stylist, compressed (and, I think, crumpled) recycled paper to make it look like fabric, turning the golden-looking material into giant ilang-ilang flowers to decorate the huge tree facing the lobby entrance. The flowers occupied pride of place on the tree with native, star-shaped lanterns and woven balls of reeds and weeds instead of the more “traditional” Christmas flower known as poinsettia.

The switch-on ceremonies were led by a row of VIPs, including the US ambassador, Nigerian ambassador, the mayor and her vice mayor, and Miss Philippines Air. Carols filled the air, it was easy to fall under the spell of an early Christmas, especially when merienda was served, bibingka, puto and cheese, noodles, tea or coffee – the taste of “simbang gabi” in November.

The myth that Christmas arrives early in the Philippines, whose people do not have the habit of being punctual, was shattered this year when Harrod’s, London’s iconic department store, inaugurated its Christmas shopping season in July. But don’t worry, Rustan’s and our wall-to-wall malls are doing a great job of catching up. Why, SM’s mega lighted decorations have spilled onto EDSA.

How did the tradition of lighting a Christmas tree start? One legend gives the credit to Martin Luther. He was walking through the woods under starry skies one Christmas Eve when he saw a tree and imagined what it would look like with lights (like stars) decorating it. He cut the tree, brought it home, festooned it with lights, and his children were overjoyed. That was in Germany, in 1535, according to a book in my collection of Christmas tales, The Twelve Teas of Christmas (1999).