Rachelle Ann Go and Mark Bautista

Rachelle Ann Go: “We had Christmas dinner at my place. I prepared the cheese platter and, with friends, cooked pasta, gammon, roasted vegetables, baked salmon, sausage rolls and turkey. Mark brought carrot cake. So much food, but I still missed lechon!

“We celebrated Christmas in British fashion. We played games and sang carols nonstop.

“The best part was, I got to Skype with my family in Manila.

“It didn’t snow so I haven’t experienced a white Christmas. It was a lovely sunny Christmas Day.

“I got everything I wanted this year. A friend gave me a huge stocking filled with presents. I also got a voucher for cooking class. This is it! Make way for Chef Rachelle!”

***

Mark Bautista: “It was my first Christmas Eve alone. My housemates went out; I cooked fish and baked carrot cake for noche buena. I did Facetime with my family; they’re in Cagayan de Oro. They seemed so near yet so far.

“There’s usually a grand reunion at home during the holidays. I missed the usual feast—sweet spaghetti with cheese and hotdogs, grilled seafood, embotido, kakanin…

“Christmas is different here. It’s quiet. There were no buses; I had to take a cab (£45, or roughly P3,500 one way) to Rachelle Ann’s place.

“When I got there, Shin (Rachelle Ann) and her friends were playing Christmas songs, which got me in the mood. Everyone was busy in the kitchen.

“We played a British dinner game, ‘Christmas Crackers,’ pulling on a candy-like object to win gifts and paper crowns. I won a stylus for my iPhone. Shin got a star-shaped cookie cutter. Then we opened gifts. I got a sweater; Shin, a onesie.

“We played Jenga and Pictionary. Then we ate again! It was so much fun, a great way to forget our homesickness.” Bayani San Diego Jr.