Christmas Illumination in the City of Naga, Cebu, Philippines

Hi, Hive friends! My previous entries showed you a few countries I've been to during the cold season or Christmas season. This time around I will show you my hometown where I grew up and what it looked like in 2013. This is my entry to the #winterchallenge.

I lived and grew up in my humble town, Naga. It became a recognized cityhood in July 2013. The City of Naga started its illumination on September 8, 2013, to celebrate Mama Mary's birthday.

Our City became like Disneyland

This was a water fountain. They stopped the operation of the water fountain. Used to have some sea turtles and tortoise swimming in here. They let go of the turtles done by the previous mayor. This was a skating rink. As a skater myself, I enjoyed skating around here.

My mother and I took a walk to the plaza of the City of Naga. It is just a walking distance to our house. This is what I love living and growing up in my hometown. Everything is accessible to the school, the local market, and the plaza. As the city progresses, many businesses pop up.

I was happy to bring my Nikon D5100 using the 50 mm 1.8G lens. It is good to take photos without flash or low light.

Perfect timing it was a full moon.

The trees were adorned with several Christmas lights.

You can see the old gazebo and some pop-up tents by food sellers.
Because of the Christmas lights, we considered it like a little Disneyland. Haha!

This was the old Municipal Hall and it is now converted to a museum, Museo de Naga.

The Cry of Balintawak monument with the national hero, Andres Bonifacio. Beside the monument used to be a sports complex and converted into a supermarket.

I am happy to see this photo again because my mom was here in this photo. I missed my mom, so much. You can see the trees, gazebos, and the water fountain.

When not traveling, our plaza is one of the best places to chill and relax every Sunday. We are near the sea. After church, families flocked here to enjoy snacking with siomai, hanging rice or puso, barbecues, fruit shakes, and juices.

The plaza is a good stopover by motorbike and car drivers. They could bring their own portable tables and chairs to have their picnic with their families.

You can see the gazebo and the water fountain, and behind is the Church of Saint Francis de Assisi.

Tuktuk drivers park here waiting for passengers to bring them home.

I love the abstract effect.

Every year, there is a contest for who has the best Christmas Nativity Scene Decoration in our plaza. You can see here a family enjoys their time here.

Just be creative, different Nativity Scenes were made of scraps, recycled, and upcycled materials by different companies, schools, or barangays.

I even gathered some high school friends to have a mini-reunion or meet-up. We had our exchange of gifts and picnic Christmas celebration.

It's free to come and visit. Just pay for your snacking or dinner with family and friends.

This is to give joy to the people living and passing by our town/city.

This is a simple nativity scene made of wires.

You can see a stage here blocked by two persons in the front. This is where dancing with lights is presented by different dancers during the Festival of Lights or Dagitab Festival.

This Nativity Scene is made up of cemented cylinders.

A lot of people take photos here like an imitation of a house made of rocks somewhere in Europe.

This Nativity Scene is made up of metal scraps.

Anyway, let me just end this blog with a black-and-white photo where a group of friends enjoying their chitchat under the tree.