The Philippines holds the world record for having the longest Christmas season. When the first "ber" month begins (September is the first "ber" month), malls start playing Christmas carols and selling Christmas decor and gift items. It's always amusing to find Halloween costumes being sold side by side with Christmas trees but that's how it is.
In groceries and supermarkets, traditional Christmas food has started to make an appearance too. Ham and queso de bola (Edam cheese) start to fill the freezers and shelves. The hot chocolate is made from local tablea, which is a ball of ground-up cacao beans. It's usually heated and combined with water to make a traditional Filipino chocolate drink. The ham and cheese are often enjoyed with pan-de-sal, which is a Filipino bread roll made from flour, eggs, yeast, sugar, and salt. These are Noche Buena staples.
Noche Buena? It's Spanish for "good night", literally, but in the Philippines, Noche Buena is steeped in cultural and religious significance. Three centuries of Spanish colonial rule included the imposition of Catholicism on the nation, creating a deep and lasting religious legacy. For Filipinos, Noche Buena is the night, and the feast, before Christmas Day. More specifically, it is the meal eaten after hearing the midnight mass to welcome Christmas Day.
Paella
Rice is, to Asians, especially for Filipinos, what bread is to Westerners. If you have an extra budget for preparing food in Noche Buena, Paella is the best because you can put all your favorite main dishes on top of your rice and make sure you will finish it on that day because Paella is a very sensitive dish it can be easily spoiled. For important occasions, rice is served in a very special way. While paella originally made its way into the Filipino diet as a byproduct of Spanish colonialism, it has since become a staple dish.
Chicken Galantina
This is one of my favorite dishes during Noche Buena. Chicken Galantina is a Whole deboned chicken stuffed with ground pork, sausages, and eggs, among other things, chicken galantina is also known as chicken relleno. The sheer amount of time and effort required to make this dish has given it a reputation as something only for special occasions.
Fruit Salad
When looking for holiday sweets on a Filipino menu, fruit salad is the number one choice. Filipinos have a peculiar way of serving fruit salad. It's most often with a drained canned fruit cocktail, cream, and sweetened condensed milk. Until now I am still making fruit salad even if it`s not Christmas. This is the dessert that I can eat whole year round.
Fruit cake
Finally, even in the Philippines, there's fruit cake. Personally, I don’t like fruit cake. But, Filipinos said that fruit cake is the main star in Noche Buena because it gives a festive feast on Christmas Eve.
But nowadays, time is changing. Some families don`t follow this tradition anymore they don’t have Noche Buena at home, instead, they just go outside and eat. But I am lucky that I experienced this wonderful tradition in the Philippines.
Advance Merry Christmas. 
JOHN
