Christmas in Biga 2006: We all got hit

This time we really got hit during our 5^th Christmas party on the beach. It all started so well as we had made a real effort to prepare the party better than in the previous years. Everything was there: food and drinks for the entire village, small gifts for everybody and prizes for the top players in the games. The Christmas party is a very nice event since a whole village gets involved: the kids not only play lots of games but they also show their latest dances. The adults are happy to see their kids have fun and enjoy the yearly lechon.

The party was on 10 December 006 and it had rained all night. Typhoon Seniang was still in full swing. We never thought that Biga or Batangas would be hit again since 3 super typhoons in 2006 (Caloy in May, Milenyo in September, and Durian in November/December) had already left a wave of destruction in the area – and Seniang was reported as to be on its way to Palawan on Saturday afternoon.

This time Biga has lost most of its sandy beach and corals replaced the sand. Quite a number of buildings were destroyed by falling trees. Around 12 noon, the rain stopped and we decided to hold the party. It was easy to get all the villagers to come over and we played a few games (for example hit the pot, pictured above) before the rain came back…

Even Santa Claus had to change his plans. He could not wait until sunset and just came in the rain. But the kids loved him.

Needless to say there was no big bonfire on the beach this year…