BISDAK SA NETHERLANDS CELEBRATES CHRISTMAS 2016 PAYS TRIBUTE TO THEIR FIRST PRESIDENT
Woudenberg, The Netherlands
December 6, 2016
An evening with a cocktail of good food, live music, dancing , surprises and non-stop laughter makes the BISDAK Christmas party, once again a very successful celebration. December 3, 2016 was a rather cold Saturday as the temperature plunged to 2 degrees.
Yet Bisayang Dako (BISDAK) friends and guests will not be hindered by the cold winter climate as they all eagerly proceeded to the Austerlitz Restaurant in Woudenberg to celebrate Christmas. Everybody knows - its gonna be one great party again!
The party hall was full with beautiful people, happy faces, eager, enthusiastic and all too ready to party the night away. The sparkle on their eyes the moment they saw the mouth- watering vast variety of Filipino food, is a treasure. Everything was cooked and prepared with love by Bisdak officers for all the guests to banquet. This humble Filipino culture and hospitality never ceases to impress our other foreign friends.
After the lavish dinner, the party started with acapela singing of the Philippine National anthem. As everybody stood and Filipinos having their right palms pressed to their left breasts, I realized the intensity of the song. Singing our Pambansang Awit have never been so sublimely meaningful as when you are singing it in a foreign land. It does make your hair stand on its end and makes one proud of being a Filipino.
In a true spirit of Christmas, singing the Christmas carol (Panaygon in Bisaya) is the best way to kick off the celebration. Unrehearsed, BISDAK officers sang Bisaya caroling songs and asked everybody to join the singing. Marvelous! Some were singing it to the top of their voices in Bisaya and some in Tagalog! But it altogether sounded astoundingly beautiful! Wow. Its like being transported back to our homeland again. What a great start.
When Nitzky Rabino and her band started playing, the crowd jumped straight from their seats and hit the dance floor. The party has now begun, and everybody is ready for it! It seems like the dancefloor is not big enough to accommodate everybody at the same time. Just overwhelming. Its a cue to move that body, wiggle that hips, swing those arms and just let go!!
A game of Chair dance contest spiced up the evenings party. Starting with 15 jolly contestants and just 14 chairs, it was so hilarious as DJ J played and then suddenly stopped the music. The mechanics of the game is very simple. Contestants must dance as they move in circle while the music is playing. But the moment the music stops, they must be seated properly. The person left standing is out!. Then one chair will be removed and it goes on and on.. until there will be just two contestants left fighting for one chair. The most thrilling part of this final round is that a guy is already seated in the chair. Meaning that they will have to sit on his lap! Awkwardly hilarious!!!
The turn out of the Christmas party last Saturday was even more than we expected. We are extremely happy and thankful to all our families, friends, supporters and new friends who spent their Saturday evening with us as we celebrated Christmas together.
It is always with great pleasure to see everybody enjoying the meal, having fun, seeing friends again and just letting themselves go even for just one night. The Filipino spirit of Christmas getting together, sharing, loving and rejoicing will always be with us whereever we may be in this world.
And here in the Netherlands, BISDAK is keeping the tradition alive. Until next time...
Photos courtesy of: Jecay Cultura-Ligan, Chelita Korthouwer-Capilitan, Nanelia-Vissers-Perocho and Simarc Sinajon