What to Do During Karoling Season

Sa maybahay ang aming bati, “merry Krismas na malwalhati.”
Ang pag-ibig ang siyang naghari, sana araw-araw ay magiging Pasko lagi.
Ang sanhi po ng pagparito, hihingi po ng aginaldo.
Kung sakaling kami’y perwisyo, pasensya na kayo kami'y namamasko.

I bet that many of you (if you are in the Philippines) already heard that popular Christmas song this time of the year. Well, it is Christmas Season, which is the perfect time for enterprising kids to brandish their tambourines made of tansan (bottle caps). It is also the perfect time for them to visit your house to croak their angelic voices for some coins.
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Improvised tambourine. (Source: Think!)

Karoling is Christmas tradition in the Philippines. Karoling is the Filipinized rendition of the word caroling. Karoling is not just being done by the children as there are adult carolers who use real musical instruments like guitar, tambourines, etc. Children carolers are much simpler because their musical instruments are tambourines made from bottle caps and tin cans that serve as drums.
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(Source: Life's Memoirs Online)

People have many reactions when it comes to karoling. Majority of these reactions, I believe, is that of annoyance. This kind of reaction is understandable because these kids has the habit of returning to your house night after night until Christmas Eve if they discovered that you are generous in handing out coins.

So, how should you deal with these children? Here are the things that you can do when they are karoling at your house:

1. Hide and Ignore – This is highly recommended for ninongs and ninangs who have the habit of hiding from their inaanaks (godchildren) every Christmas. You should always keep in mind that carolers are attracted to Christmas lights like the way moths are attracted to the flame. Don’t decorate your house with Christmas lights to avoid being noticed by these kids.  If you’re uncharitable enough to not want carolers to visit your house, I suggest that you turn off all the lights inside and outside of your house and pretend that you are asleep.

2. Give them Coins or Scold them – Another way to deal with carolers is to follow a sort of “merit system.” You give the carolers a reward (a.k.a. coins) if they sang their Christmas carol well. Avoid giving them any coin if they continue croaking like frogs instead of singing. This is a good way motivating carolers to improve their karoling. Bad-singing carolers will avoid your house because they think that you demand so much just for a few coins.

3. Give them treats – Give the carolers candies or food if you don't want to give them money. This alternative is similar to the Halloween “trick or treat.” If you don't like their karoling then you trick 'em but I guess that is not in accord with the Christmas spirit.

4. Let the dogs out – Do this if you idolize old Scrooge but be prepared to be hacked with jungle bolo of the children's angry fathers.

There was a time when karoling is taken seriously. That was the time when kids put an effort to sing well. Nowadays, the children carolers don't care if their singing is out of tune or no one understands what they are saying. This is the reason why many people think that karoling is annoying.
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(Photo by Rowell Ang)

I also noticed that these children took karoling to the streets. They climb jeepneys and buses to ask for coins after they sang their Christmas carol. What they are doing is very dangerous. I will not be surprised if there will be a road accident that involves them.

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Christmas Shopping at Divisoria

The only thing that I can never forget in my first visit to Divisoria is the stench. Recto Avenue, within the Divisoria, is one of the smelliest areas that I ever visited in my whole life. I believe that the smell emanates from the decades-long accumulation of odor that was never removed because Recto Avenue never got the chance to be cleaned by street sweepers of Manila. But don’t let the stench of Divisoria turn you off because this is still the best place to go to for affordable Christmas items.

I recently visited Divisoria to look items that I can buy for my godchildren. Fortunately, it was not my first time to visit Divisoria so I know what to experience in that place. An American visitor of our office commented that Divisoria is worse than the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. He had a hard time navigating Divisoria because the streets are too crowded. He had no choice but to give up his comfort zone and walk side by side with buyers and vendors in Divisoria.

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Vendors hogging the streets of Divisoria.

My first stop is Divisoria Mall, which is located at the corner of Commercio and Tabora Streets. The mall is just an oversized Raon or the common palengke. The corridors are too crowded and some of the vendors placed their merchandise outside their booths. It is in this mall where I discovered that Divisoria is the place where tons of the cheap toys from China are delivered. The toys will then be bought and brought by retailers to different markets all around the Philippines. Now I know where to go if I want to buy toys for my godchildren.

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The next mall that I visited is the 168 Mall, which is the most popular mall in Divisoria. This mall is less crowded that Divisoria Mall. Near this mall are the 999 Mall and other malls that are named after lucky numbers. I went to 168 Mall to look for an affordable DVD player with TV.

Divisoria is one chaotic place. I always get lost whenever I visit the place. One time, I reached Andres Bonifacio’s monument in Tutuban while I was looking for a way out of Divisoria. This time, I reached Ongpin Street while I was looking for a way out of Divisoria. Well, getting lost is the reward for those people, like me, who doesn’t ask for directions.

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