Cebu Office Christmas Party 2008
The last time I featured an office Christmas party three years ago, it was for 40+ staff at a small hotel in Panglao, Bohol. We had a lot of fun at that party and the parties of the following two years were far more subdued. This year, despite such a gloomy economic environment, I thought we should splurge a bit and treat everyone to a party with prizes, contests, presentations and food… So for roughly 14 staff who brought their spouses and kids (a total of 50 people in all!), we held our annual office Christmas party last Friday in Cebu…
The highlight of the party were two presentations by the administrative staff and maintenance crew. I must say, nobody does outrageous like Pinoys do outrageous. From cross-dressing to impersonation, liberal lifting from popular movies and action packed skits, this was just too amusing. With Mrs. MM, The Teen, myself among the judges, and with a substantial cash prize at stake, it was worthy of a video on youtube, but that would mortify some of the crew…. :)
The maintenance crew donned innovative “little people” costumes as well as doing a skit, and while they elicited a great deal of laughter, the administrative group won hands down with a flashy and well rehearsed number.
We had several games and prizes for the kids, and hung 3 different pabitins so that the kids could be grouped by size/height and have a good chance of getting the goodies they wanted. I am a big fan of pabitins, and you have seen them on this blog before, and I love them at parties with children… When I was younger, whacking a palayok was still very much in vogue at children’s parties and I distinctly remember getting bonked on the head with a large piece of pottery so I am NOT big on palayoks filled with candy… :(
The kids of the crew were wonderfully behaved, so incredibly polite and with such twinkles in their eyes! It was a pleasure to meet all of them and for all of them to get together and meet each other.
Of course we had to have an ice cream cart. And a cart that could easily provide 350 cones with LOTS of ice cream was parked on one side of the yard. The Teen was so amused to note this kid, God bless his hearty appetite, coming back to the ice cream cart for at least 7 heaping ice cream cones throughout the night! :)
And wanting to simplify the preparations, the smartest thing we did was to bring in a caterer, Cafe Laguna, that took care of all the set-up, and lots of the food. Solid pinoy fare at very reasonable prices. We also had lots of waiters who made the evening really easy on our own crew.
But of course, the crew wouldn’t have any other lechon but their own… they prepared two medium sized lechons, one to eat, and one to divide and take home. We also did a lechon de leche without accupuncture treatment that turned out splendidly… It was a terrific evening and a pleasure to see everyone having a good time. On behalf of my two brothers, two sisters and my own immediate family, I would like to thank our family office crew for another year of dedicated service and wish them and their families a truly Merry Christmas!
Looks like a fun evening! Merry Christmas to you, Mrs. MM and the Teen! Have a Blessed 2009 and I look forward to your future posts on food and life :)
December 23rd, 2008Nice post MM. I’m not big on pabitins, coz of personal memories of getting wood splinters from clawing at the “pabitin”. :) I prefer wacking a palayok with a bat, though i’ve never been a victim of palayok fall-out
December 23rd, 2008They seemed to have enjoyed the night! Merry Christmas to you, Mrs. MM and The Teen and great year ahead!
December 23rd, 2008Seemed like a great party, Merry Christmas, MM! I was wondering though when you would be posting about your Gingerbread houses… i’m really looking forward to that. =)
December 23rd, 2008Merry Christmas MM, Mrs. MM and The Teen
December 23rd, 2008tipat, soon… :)
December 23rd, 2008Merry Christmas to you and your family MM!!
December 23rd, 2008Merry Christmas MM!
Merry Christmas everyone!!
December 23rd, 2008Merry Christmas MM!
December 23rd, 2008i could see their faces from here. i’m very sure they had a wonderful christmas fun. i could have been the kid coming back for more ice cream! i miss that.
MERRY CHRISTMAS MM and your family and of course to your staff. i always enjoy their company.
December 23rd, 2008MM, you and your family have such a good heart to your staff. May you be blessed a thousand fold in 2009. Merry Christmas to you, Mrs MM and The Teen.
December 23rd, 2008Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 23rd, 2008merry christmas, everyone!
December 23rd, 2008You certainly know how to put the “merry” in Merry Christmas, MM.
Merry Christmas to all!
December 23rd, 2008merry christmas to all.
December 23rd, 2008Merry CHRISTmas Mr. MM, Mrs. MM and the Teen. Merry CHRISTmas too to all your readers!!!
December 23rd, 2008Happy cholesterol-filled and sugar heaven feast to each and everyone on mm’s blog. MM, kalami gyud sa imong lechon pics. Thanks again mm for sharing your friends and family to your blog fans.
December 23rd, 2008Merry Christmas! Looked so much fun! I miss that kind of fun during parties. Here in the rural US, it’s boring, the most I could do was to “force” my FEW guests to sing karaoke and their kids to do Dance Dance Revolution. We also had monito monita for the kids and the adults. No pabitin or palayok (although I usually get the Mexican version pinata for birthdays).
December 23rd, 2008I noticed your crew are also creative…mana sa boss!
Wishing MM and family and the wonderful people in this blog a joyous Christmas and a better 2009!
December 23rd, 2008Thanks for another year of great posts and interaction with regular commenters. The sense of community in this site is admirable. I’ve never seen more generous people in terms of sharing recipes,tips, sources of ingredients, even ensaimada pans and what have yous. Generosity really is contagious and can extend beyond the confines of this blog as evidenced by the success of the feeding program. Mabuhay at Maligayang Pasko sa lahat!
December 24th, 2008merry christmas to mr. mm, family and crew….and to all who visit this site (regulars, lurkers and all…) :-)
December 24th, 2008MALIGAYANG PASKO PO SA INYONG LAHAT…MULA SA AMING BAHAY AT KUSINA, NAWAY ANG INYONG MGA PANGARAP AY MAGKATOTOO AT HANDUGAN KAYO SA SUSUNOD NA TAON, NG KALIGAYAHAN, KAPAYAPAAN AT KAGINHAWAHAN!!!!
Heto Marc! …alang alang sa iyo, TINAGALOG KO LAHAT!!!!
December 24th, 2008MERRY X-MAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR to ALL.MM, I will continue reading your site and more blessings to you,your family and staff
December 24th, 2008Nice Christmas prelude to them and very generous way to reach out to them and their family.
December 24th, 2008Merry Christmas everyone!! It looks like everyone had so much, kids, adults and adults at heart! :) I have had great memories of xmas parties while growing up, i always look forward in joining diff games, although a bit nervous at first, but when i think of the prizes awaiting to given away, all butterflies in my stomach seems to go away! :) I love pabitins, and hataw palayok, and luckily i haven’t had any unpleasant experience aside from not being the one who cracked the whole thin open i guess!
Happy Holidays!
December 24th, 2008i remember during one fiesta at our barangay that there was this big palayok filled with coins. the kids started whacking it violently lured by the ka-ching of the coins. the eventual winner, or should i say victim, had the whole palayok - which strings snapped - shatter on top of his head! the boy i heard had to be rushed to the hospital and get some stitches. No to Hataw Palayok! i prefer sack hopping, spoon-egg race and fastest eating contests.
Mapayapang Pasko Sa Lahat!
December 24th, 2008Merry Christmas MM!:)
December 24th, 2008Holiday Greetings to all!
December 24th, 2008Merry Christmas everyone! :)
December 24th, 2008nice party.. merry xmas to all….
nice lechon.. ^__^
December 24th, 2008FELIZ NAVIDAD PROSPERO ANO FELICIDAD!!!! (wave my son loves singing this song although he just hums through some of the lyrics)
December 25th, 2008Great party!!
December 25th, 2008God bless everyone on this wonderful season. Thank you Mr MM,Mrs MM and the teen…sister and bettyq for providing wonderful insights and recipes and tips on this blog.
To all the lurkers and regulars–may the spirit of the season permeate your households. Here’s wishing everyone a Blessed Christmas!!
Maligayang Pasko at Manigong 2009!!