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Few Last Days at Convergys San Lazaro
In the Philippines, New Year's Eve (Bisperas ng Bagong Taon) is a non-working holiday. Filipinos usually celebrate New Year's Eve in the company of family or close friends. Traditionally, most households host or attend a midnight feast called the Media Noche. Typical dishes included holiday fare, pancit (for long life) and hamón. Lechon (roasted pig), is usually prepared, as is barbecued food. Some refrain from serving chicken, as their scratching and pecking for food is unlucky, being an idiom for a hand-to-mouth existence.
Many opt to wear new, bright, or colourful clothes with circular patterns, such as polka dots, or display sweets and twelve round fruits as the centrepiece, in the belief that circles attract money and fortune and that candies represent a sweeter year ahead. Several customs must only be done at midnight: some throw about coins to increase wealth in the coming year, or jump to increase their height, while some follow the Spanish custom of eating twelve grapes, one for each month of the year. People also make loud noises by blowing on cardboard or plastic horns, called torotot, banging on pots and pans, playing loud music, blowing car horns, or by igniting firecrackers, in the belief that the din scares away bad luck and evil spirits.
Urban areas usually host many New Year's Eve parties and countdown celebrations hosted by the private sector with the help of the local government. These parties, which include balls hosted by hotels, usually display their own fireworks and are often very well-attended. Some popular locations for celebrations include the area along Manila Bay at Roxas Boulevard or Luneta Park in Manila, the intersection of Ayala and Makati Avenues in Makati City, Resorts World Manila and SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, Quezon Memorial Circlein Diliman and Eastwood City in Libis, Quezon City, and Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.
