How early is too early for Christmas decorations for you? In the Philippines, Christmas season officially starts on the 1st of September. You’ll hear Christmas songs on the radio, Christmas decorations everywhere around you (be it a public or private area) and the countdown for the big day begins as soon as the ber-months start. For a predominantly Catholic country, it’s an understatement to say that Christmas is a huge celebration in the Philippines.
And I thought no other place will come close to it until I moved to London. Whilst putting up Christmas decorations on the 1st day of September might be an overkill and will most probably receive a huge backlash from the public complete with a rally in Trafalgar Square against it, the city started dressing up for Christmas much earlier than its neighbouring countries. Natural History Museum Ice Rink was set-up and opened as early as October 19th which for many is extremely early specially since Halloween hasn’t even gone yet. I was delighted though because it meant that I got to spend my birthday at the ice rink. #octoberbaby
It’s definitely my favourite Christmas ice rink in London, the beautiful façade of the Natural History Museum as the backdrop of an already pretty ice rink makes it a lot more atmospheric. Although the skaters glided to the tune of Bon Jovi’s Living On A Prayer (they hesitated to play Christmas songs that early I bet) the festive spirit can still be felt. I sure hope though that the staff at the bar will have enough time to train and ready themselves for all the Christmas tourists that will flock London soon because the service was in absolute shambles when I went there.
Merry Christmas everyone!
