***Very very late post…
This Christmas was more eventful than the previous ones. Dati kasi tulog kami hanggang hapon 😉
My husband and I, with the help of my cousin Buds, organized an outdoor Christmas party for some relatives and friends. We initially planned to have a small get together lang. However, midway our preps, we decided to invite more people. We thought, since nag-abala na rin lang kami, why not make the party bigger and merrier.

With my husband’s prodding, I created a Facebook event and invited several people. I then asked them to invite whoever they wanted to add.
Preparations
Party planning was more stressful than I thought. Being the organized person that I am, I really wanted everything to be perfect — from the menu, t-shirts, decorations, etc. However, given our limited budget and time, we had to forego a few things and keep everything as simple as possible.
Anyway, here’s a peek on how we prepared for the party.
On 23rd December, we drove to Abu Dhabi to buy several pieces of SNYGGIS mugs from IKEA which only costs AED1.50 per piece. I wanted to give away a small token to everyone and those mugs were just perfect.
As soon as we entered the store, my father sort of warned us already…
Papa: Pustahan tayo, mapupuno yang trolley na yan pero hindi nyo mabibili yung mugs na sinasabi nyo!
Hahaha
And so Christmas morning came…
My target was to be at the venue before 10 am in order to secure a nice location and start setting up. I was also planning to make this balloon arch from scratch.
I got up at 7 in the morning and started prepping. We still had a whole batch of shanghai rolls to fry and so many more other tasks to do. Rence took over the kitchen and I went ahead and made sure all our stuff were packed. Zabeel park is almost half an hour drive away so it wouldn’t be practical to go back and forth in case we forgot something.
While having breakfast in the kitchen, we handed out each other’s gifts and had a good laugh when we realized that we all received shoes! lol!
10 am passed, then 11 am and we were no way near ready! I began feeling worried because the party was supposed to start at 1 pm. By the looks of it kasi, we will no longer have enough time to set-up once we reach the park.
My husband saw how upset I was and kept reassuring me that everything will be ok.
Ian: Paskong pasko, problemado ka masyado. Hindi ba pwedeng masaya lang? At huwag kang mag-alala, Pinoy lahat ng bisita natin. ‘Filipino time’, remember?
We finally left around 12 noon. Hay, salamat naman!
Zabeel Park
We parked by Gate 3 and unloaded all our stuff. After that, my husband had to leave right away to pick up the food from Buds. Entrance fee to Zabeel park, by the way, is AED5.
Picture muna before we enter the park…
As soon as we entered the gates, we were greeted by groups of families and friends who were also having their mini-parties. Buti nalang Zabeel park is unbelievably massive. There were already hundreds of people inside pero we still managed to find ample space to move about comfortably.

Gino setting-up the tent that would house our valuables
While waiting for the food, we quickly finished setting-up and made the venue look as festive as we could. At the same time, I gave up all hopes that we would be able to come-up with a balloon arch. hehe
Then one by one, the guests started to arrive. We handed out their t-shirts and apologized for the delay. They didn’t seem to mind though because they spent the idle time catching up with each other 🙂
Christmas Lunch
By the time Ian and Buds arrived, I could feel that everyone was already hungry. We hastily placed all the dishes on the table and called everyone for a prayer. After which, we took a quick group photo… and then finally, it was time to eat!

Jerome, Ian & Bayan
Games
Right after lunch, our party hosts gathered everyone in to play some Christmas themed games. For the first one, the whole group was divided into 3 teams…

Team #1: TEAM DUTERTE

Team #2: TEAM MIRIAM (walang maisip na group name. haha)

Team #3: TEAM UNICO HIJO (for obvious reason)
You can watch the group cheers on the video below. They were hilarious!
Here are more photos of us in action…
It was amusing to see everyone competitively participating in all the games. Akala kasi nila mamahalin ang prizes! hahaha
Before sunset, our official photographer took another set of group photos.
Ang saya diba?!
After our energy-draining games, we proceeded with the exchange gifts and rested a little before we wrapped up and called it a day.
Here’s a 5-minute clip summarizing our Christmas Party. Enjoy!
Awesome pictures! Blessings, Emma
Ang saya naman! galing! 🙂