Ways to celebrate your 'oh-so 2021' Christmas parties
In your head, The Osmonds are already probably singing, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. We're having a (Christmas) party!" But how do you make it fit the COVID-19 bill?
PhilSTAR L!fe has listed down some oh-so 2021 Christmas party ideas, be it virtual or actual, that you and your loved ones may wish to consider for your upcoming merrymaking.
Be responsible enough, however, to inform yourself about the latest COVID-19 news and health protocols, as the pandemic is still far from over.
Book an Escape Room session with Don Papa Rum and LOST Philippines
To keep the high spirits this December, Lost Philippines has collaborated with Don Papa Rum for "Sugarlandia," an island-themed escape room with rum-drinking to boot in order to play hard and party harder. Head on over to lost.com.ph and schedule a date and time for the Escape to Sugarlandia virtual room.
Very soon, you can also experience Escape to Sugarlandia in person at Lost PH’s Greenhills Promenade branch! To stay updated, follow Don Papa Rum and Lost PH on Facebook and on Instagram.
Mind that it's for 18 and up only.
Visit Bonifacio Global City
Bonifacio Global City or BGC may just be your next Christmas party venue, as it's Beginning to Glow like Christmas there.
BGC has a variety of indoor and outdoor dining options showcasing different cuisines you and your loved ones may indulge in.
There, parties don't have to be rowdy and rip-roaring. Your group may be better off admiring its relaxing ambiance provided by its holiday lights and festive decors along the streets, whether you're all sitting pretty or taking a stroll.
Moreover, the Christmas fun may be shared with your adorable furbabies. You may gift them a pet passport, if not a limited edition pet bandana. BGC residents, meanwhile, may enroll their dogs for training. What a paw-fect holiday celebration!
Check the Facebook pages Bonifacio Global City and Bonifacio High Street and/or message them for more details.
Go further and travel to the South
Ayala Vermosa
Perhaps your family is thinking of capping the year off somewhere outside of the metro, especially that you have long been glued to your seats and beds and just want to shake off the cabin fever so badly.
For your Christmas party, perhaps it's high time to get a breath of fresh air, bask in the sunlight, and dip in cool waters, since the quarantine period has prevailed for the longest time. Ayala Land's Vermosa in Imus Daang Hari in Cavite is offering exactly those things.
Vermosa is a 700-hectare estate bolstered by sports and fitness amenities, bike paths, and green open spaces. It also brings together residential, retails, and business spots all in one.
The recently reopened Vermosa Sports Hub has an Olympic size swimming pool, track oval, and a complete indoor training facility.
You and your folks, meanwhile, can enjoy safe shopping and dining experience at the Vermosa Food and Lifestyle Market, which showcases gift ideas, goodies, trinkets and the best of local flavors among 60 food and retail merchants.
Visit Ayala Vermosa’s website for more information. Contact 0967-405-5782 for reservations in the Ayala Vermosa Sports Hub.
Hold an E-Secret Santa via DrawNames
What's a Pinoy Christmas party without exchanging gifts? Whether you call it Secret Santa, Kris Kringle, or Monito Monita, one thing's certain: you want to give something to your friend, family, or colleague inasmuch as you want to receive something from them, and free Secret Santa online generator DrawNames.ph is here to help you with that.
On DrawNames, you may enter the names of participants and add details like gift budget and celebration date. You can then send the invitations via email, Facebook messenger, text message, and more.
Once the invitations have been sent, the drawing process begins.
DrawNames doesn't allow you to draw yourself. More importantly, you may anonymously ask your recipient questions like their wish list or address.
From there, the ball is in your court now, whether it's an add to cart on your go-to e-commerce app or a "pm sent" to your tried and tested online store.
Host a watch party/theater via Scener
Perhaps your kind of Christmas party is watching movies with your people.
But since you want to err on the side of caution, you opt not to go to the cinemas or to your host's house to prevent mass gathering.
Well, lucky for you Scener is here. It's a Google Chrome extension that allows you and your companions to simultaneously watch shows from Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, hulu, Prime Video, Youtube, Funimation, and more.
Scener offers a room, where up to 10 people can watch together with video, audio, and text chat capabilities, and a theater, where an unlimited number of guests can join as text chat-only participants alongside up to 10 co-hosts on camera.
As you watch your favorite flicks at the comfort of your respective homes, you each have the liberty to slouch or lie down, munch popcorn aside from partaking of a plateful of handa, and slurp large soda if not gulp ice-cold beer that would have otherwise been impossible in cinemas.
Play a holiday-themed trivia quiz game
Why not do Game KNB? mode with your companions, particularly a holiday-themed one?
Whether it would be held in your host's place, at a reserved venue, or simply on Zoom, it's definitely easy to organize. Let one or two attendees serve as quiz masters, while the rest may be split into teams or go free for all.
Questions may range from Simbang Gabi history to Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Other categories may cover movies, food, mythology, even non-Christmas topics like pop culture and local celebrity news. As Lhar Santiago's catchphrase goes, "Updated sa showbiz happenings!"
Jingle bells, even makeshift tansan tambourines, may pass for buzzers. Everybody will not only gain new knowledge but will also become exhilarated.
You may also consider a Name That Tune-esque kind of game and evaluate your Christmas song expertise (Jose Mari Chan entries are automatically excluded!) If it's a Singing Bee type, you may want to refresh your lyrical memory on Parañaque Rebels' Jingle Bells parody, Santa Klaws, May Facebook Ka Ba?, among many others.
There are endless possibilies as to how you'll celebrate your Christmas parties. As you are mulling over some of the ideas we've listed or thinking outside the box, you may want to check out our list of al fresco dining spots for your intimate holiday gathering.
