Halloween 2014

May the Force be with you!

Here's TheHusband's costume for the office Halloween Party. He only wanted to wear the mask and carry the Lightsaber, but you know me and my motto, GO HARD OR GO HOME...so I sewed him a cape, bought a pair of gloves, ruined a jacket to make a top where I attached Darth's circuit board. By the way, the mask has a mechanism that changes the voice to Darth Vader's, and there are buttons on the circuit board for Darth's heavy breathing. Got the mask with the circuit board, as well as the Lightsaber, from an ukay. Winner, ano?! I wanted to buy a pair of boots, but that's when TheHusband put his foot down (hehehe, pun unintended). Sayang daw pera. Oo nga naman.

My not-so-little mummy.

Meanwhile, Sharkteeth's outfit was a total dud. She was supposed to go as a mummy, and I wrapped her in bathroom tissue, but before the party could start, tinanggal na namin ang costume nya. Na-sense ko discomfort nya, pero ayaw nyang magreklamo kasi I told her na huwag syang mag-arte-arte pag suot na nya yung costume. Ayaw na ayaw nya ang "I told you so" [that is, pag siya ang sinasabihan. hehehe]. Tapos pinagtitinginan sya kasi sya lang yung ghoulish ang costume in a sea of Elsas, fairies, and superheroes. Na-self-consious. Saka hindi na raw sya makahinga sa dami ng tissue sa mukha nya. I asked her kung gusto na nyang tanggalin, and ayaw pa nung una. "But, Mymy, you already paid for the entrance..." So there, tinanggal na lang. I got a bit sad, kasi baka next Halloween she'd be too big for trick or treating na and might not join anymore. Haaaay...oh well.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2008

Halloween, or at least the Western version, crept through Philippine culture slowly, but steadily---I think it started in Ayala Alabang or some other posh Southern Manila village. Well, before all these candies, and costumes, and more candies my throat is already begging for mercy, there was pangangaluwa, which I believe is a purely Catholic practice, as it was based on the belief that souls in Purgatory also need material comfort aside from the spiritual one. And so the nangangaluwas, who sing songs begging for prayers and alms, word has it, steal chickens, piglets, or whatever animal they fancy from an, I'm assuming, unwilling home. I even heard of a group stacking up firewood against the door of a home when the owner didn't give them any, well, "treats." So there, trick or treat Pinoy style circa 1950s or 1960s, maybe even earlier---I really couldn't be bothered to fact check tonight...lots of homes to visit!
By the way, the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse? Me! I was sorely tempted to knock on each of our neighbor's door and say, "See you same time next year!"