All Saints Day (or Halloween)

Until recent years, Filipinos did not observe Halloween in any way similar to Americans. All Saints Day, on November 1, and All Souls Day on November 2, are days that Filipinos pay homage to their dead. On November 1 & 2 they all go out to the cemeteries to honor their deceased relatives. They take plates of food, flowers -- in bouquets as well as wreaths -- and candles, and place them all on the graves for the dead. Churches are opened all day until late at night for those who wish to light candles to honor their deceased loved ones or to offer prayers. Plates of the deceased's favorite food are placed on the tombs in the belief that their spirts visit the earth on this day and look forward to the special meal. The cemetery is prepared days in advance by having the tombs and tombstones whitewashed or painted, the grass trimmed and incense left burning to give the site a fragrant smell, and a priest goes around and blesses and sprinkles holy water on all the graves.

Today, in addition to all of this and because of increased Western influence, many Filipino adults and children now dress up in costomes and have neighborhood Halloween parties and costume-judging contests similar to those in the USA and other countries. Generally, it is mostly those who are financially well-off or who are doing it simply for the entertainment of the children.

Also, in the Philippines, it is fast becoming a favorite holiday for the bayots (gays) who are now using the Day for a dress-up celebration to show off their bonga gowns and to compete in Gay Beauty Contests.

Lizards of the Philippines

In the Philippines there are about 100 species of lizards. Fortunately, none of them are venomous. The most common is the gecko or "house lizard." (left) These are anywhere from about an inch to five inches long. They often gather around a ceiling light in the evening to catch any flying insects that venture into the house. That is why it is considered Good Luck in the Philippines to have a house lizard.

While having any house lizard is considered a good fortune, having a Tuko, (right) a lizard nearly a foot long, living in the house is considered the best luck of all. This creature, reddish-brown with freckeled stripes, gets its name from the sound it makes in the darkness of night: "Tu-ko," "Tu-ko"

Kids and Trees

In the Philippines, children learn to climb trees at an early age. In addition to playing a variety of games in the trees, they quickly learn at a young age that once they can climb a tree, they can get a snack. Such knowledge becomes an over-whelming incentive.
Although many of the fruit trees are low and wide and easily accessible, the Mango and Coconut trees on the islands are often quite huge, but I have seen kids -- both boys & girls -- no more than nine or ten years old, shimmy up those trees so fast I could hardly get my camera up in time to photograph it.