It was my first new year celebration in Singapore! It might be my last to spend an actual new year away from home… because nothing beats spending it with family back in Cavite. In the suburban Philippines, the skies light up… the sounds of fireworks echo across the horizon for several hours… and my mom does her parade around the house with lusis in hand.

That said… my first new year celebration in Singapore wasn’t bad at all. We decided not to squeeze ourselves into the crowds at Marina Bay (where some of the only fireworks in Singapore can be seen). We stayed at home. I also didn’t want to spend SGD 80.00 (almost PHP 3,000) on party tickets at Siloso Beach.

My housemates and I prepared a little buffet… my goodness busog kung busog. One of my housemates ordered a puto platter (100 pcs for SGD 30.00 or roughly PHP 1,000). They also cooked tokwa’t baboy (tofu with pork) which had a spicy kick. My favourite was the lumpiang shanghai (Filipino-style fried springroll) which was my months-long craving. There was also fruit salad.

I told my housemate she could start up an underground catering business. Make money off cooking these Filipino classics.

We skipped the beer this time and instead had Jim Beam with Coke Zero. I also a few glasses of red and white wine.

I was on Skype with my parents minutes before the countdown. This was my first New Year celebration away from my family.

We watched the fireworks at Marina Bay from the comfort of our little HDB flat. Happy New Year Singapore!