I Never Knew Halloween 'Til I'm Old

This is a fact for me. Trick or Treats and Halloween parties are western cultures we have learned to adapt here in my country. The children of these days now enjoy these kind of celebrations. During my childhood, I never really knew about Halloween, honestly, what we have here in my country is the All Saint's Day every November 1st and All Soul's Days every 2nd of the same month. But I've had my share of fun memories of our own "Halloween".

Watching Magandang Gabi Bayan's Horror Special.

Horror stories are popular at this time, so every year it is a tradition for this popular documentary show to feature true horror stories that won't make you sleep at night. I would remember my cousins and I would sit down the couch and watch this yearly, then hide our faces if it's getting so scary. We have food in front of us and would sometimes shout altogether if an ugly creature would appear on the re-enactment. We will also share our own "make-up" ghost story as well (because now I know it's all made-up hahaha!).

Buying candles and flowers for our dead loved ones.

It is our tradition to visit our loved ones who has already joined our creator in the cemetery every year, so during the eve of this day every mall or market are jam packed because every one's buying flowers and candles. It's not like the fun you feel during christmas shopping but still its a hype. I've always love choosing colored candles and the prettiest flower arrangements until now.

November 1st.

There's only a few November first in my life where I have not gone to the cemetery to visit our dead family members. It also serves as a mini reunion too because everyone's there and it's always a holiday.
There we bring flowers and candles, we also pray. It is almost always a festive atmosphere because everyone's there, former classmates and friends, you will see them walking around visiting their dead as well or buying food because there are also vendors everywhere.

November 2nd.

Not much event during this day but this used to be a holiday so we always have our much needed rest from all our ghost stories and imaginations that there were really creatures of other dimensions everywhere and they were more powerful during the night. hahaha!


These dates, I've been seeing Halloween activities on kids school, trick or treats on villages plus there are also a lot of mall activities. Nonetheless, the Halloween I knew back then was fun too.

This was a photo of my nephew two years ago during a school Halloween event.