Christmas in the Philippines

These are photographs taken with an Apple QuickTake 100 digital camera and posted on the Internet in December 1994. The Internet had reached the Philippines in March of 1994 and I'd gotten on it almost immediately with webmaster level access at Mozcom, the first commercial provider.

On weekends I'd hop on my bike an head south of Manila, often making a 70-mile round trip to Taal Volcano. Along the way I'd pass through Imus and Dasmarinas, Cavite. During the holiday season each Barangay would decorate the roadside with its own distinctive style of Parol and string hundreds of meters of overhead streamers.

Parols are made out of a variety of materials and range in size from six inches to twenty feet or more. Traditional Parols are made from bamboo and lacquered paper. This year many of the Parols are made out of creative arrangements of plastic coat hangers, or combinations of items such as plastic strainers and baskets. The one above on the right is made out of empty toothpaste boxes! My favorite is the MTV Parol, a 20 footer between Imus and Dasmarinas.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all in SCF and others around the world on the net.

Chuck Gardner s