In contrast to my last post, which showed mainly residential Pasko (Christmas) lights as well as decorations in the mall in Cebu City in the Philippines, here we'll take a look the Pasko lights at the park/grounds adjacent to the Misamis Occidental (a province in northern Mindanao) provincial capitol building in Oroquieta City. I had to look up the difference between "capitol" (the building itself) and "capital" (the city that serves as provincial center of government) in this context, because it's something that I was taught long ago but just couldn't remember. Oroquieta City, the provincial capital, is a small city of about 68,000 surrounded with beautiful rural views of rice paddies, mountains (Mt. Malinadang in particular, which is still mainly covered in tropical rainforest), the ocean/beaches, and coconut plantations, various fruit trees, mahogany timber, camote (sweet potato) root crops, etc. I have a number of other posts about Oroquieta and its surroundings in northern Mindanao if you are interested in checking them out.
These photos are from my last trip to the Philippines in Dec. 2014. In Oroquieta, the weather around Pasko was pleasant (cooler than summertime) and the vibe was laid-back and relaxed.
We took a little night-time excursion up to the Misamis Occidental provincial capitol building in Oroquieta to view the lights. Lots of families with children, including us with our 11-year-old daughter, turned out to see the nice display.
We also went over to the Oroquieta City Plaza to check out the lights. They had a really nice Pasko display there as well, and had snack vendors, too. Since it's adjacent to the sea, there was a nice cool breeze. A prominent feature of most town plazas or public squares in the Philippines is a statue of the national hero, Jose Rizal.
We had a fun little outing, and enjoyed the beautiful lights and seeing lots of families out having fun being together. So I hope you've enjoyed getting glimpse of a small portion of the celebration of Christmas in a small city in the Philippines.
These photos are from my last trip to the Philippines in Dec. 2014. In Oroquieta, the weather around Pasko was pleasant (cooler than summertime) and the vibe was laid-back and relaxed.
We took a little night-time excursion up to the Misamis Occidental provincial capitol building in Oroquieta to view the lights. Lots of families with children, including us with our 11-year-old daughter, turned out to see the nice display.
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| The beautiful Art Deco Capitol building in the background, decked out with lights for Pasko |
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| Our daughter in the "Frozen" display on the Provincial Capital grounds. Does Olaf look friendly to you, or just a bit disturbing? Something about his eyes... |
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| Our daughter with her two cousins in the Oroquieta City Provincial Capital grounds Pasko display |
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| Nice decorations and parols |
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| Beautiful lights |
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| They had erected various (temporary) structures for the kids to explore, all with Pasko lights |
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| Joint Philippine Red Cross/Philippine Army/Philippine Boy Scouts Christmas display. Complete with M-16! |
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| Yeahhhh -- check out this T-shirt! |
We also went over to the Oroquieta City Plaza to check out the lights. They had a really nice Pasko display there as well, and had snack vendors, too. Since it's adjacent to the sea, there was a nice cool breeze. A prominent feature of most town plazas or public squares in the Philippines is a statue of the national hero, Jose Rizal.
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| They had built a (temporary) footbridge underneath this beautifully decorated mango tree... I really like the lights on its trunk and in its branches. |
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| Our daughter on that same footbridge. We thought this little guy was so cute; he was presumably with his Lola. |
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| Nice Nativity scene at Oroquieta City Plaza. |
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| Nativity Scene and the footbridge under the mango tree on the right |
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| Hanging parol lamps |
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| "Old-fashioned" bamboo and paper parols |
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| Oroquieta City Plaza at Pasko, with Jose Rizal memorial just left of center |
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| Jose Rizal memorial statue dedicated in 1917, Oroquieta City Plaza |
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| Snack vendor, Oroquieta City Plaza at Christmastime |
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| Snack vendors at Oroquieta City Plaza, Pasko |
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| Checking out the goodies |
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| The guy on the right was happy because my wife told him his photo would be on my blog |
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| This photo and the two below it show fish vendors on the street at Oroquieta City Plaza at Pasko |
We had a fun little outing, and enjoyed the beautiful lights and seeing lots of families out having fun being together. So I hope you've enjoyed getting glimpse of a small portion of the celebration of Christmas in a small city in the Philippines.
