We have always had a Christmas lantern (parol) diplayed in front of our home even before we had our daughter. We felt it just wasn't as Christmassy without the parol even if we had a nice tree and decorations in our house. Since I always have out of town trips for my projects, I had many opportunities to get a parol from Pampanga and Tarlac during fieldwork there. The first big parol we had was from Tarlac in 2004. I bought it at a roadside shop (MacArthur Highway) where they manufactured and sold lanterns. I actually bought two - one for the office and one for our home. The office lantern survives today and is displayed in front of our building. It just needs some repairs including replacement of many bulbs.
We noticed our lantern was also already needing some repairs and it seemed not big enough to be prominent on our balcony after we moved into our new home almost 3 years ago. And so the wife made it part of my mission during a trip last November to find us a new parol. I did find one in Pampanga where they make really good lanterns. A roadside shop in Mabalacat was the maker of our new parol and my colleagues also got theirs for their homes from the same shop.
Here's a very short video of our new parol. It's attracted quite a number of admirers already and among them children doing their Christmas carol gigs around the village.
A Blessed Christmas to All!
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