The “holidays” have begun in the Marketman & Family household. From here, the pace accelerates towards Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, and it is a time of extensive food, wine and entertaining. Halloween is a good starting point, with thousands of kids trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. We always like to have a bowl of appropriately themed chocolates laid out for guests in the run-up to Halloween, though I think the Teen and I often consume more of it than we would readily admit! :) Many of the chocolates in the photo above were from Rustan’s grocery, at reasonable prices, considering their short “shelf life” and holiday nature.
I also brought several large bags of other Halloween themed treats in my luggage after a recent trip to the U.S. It amazes me how groceries and other stores in the U.S. get so hyped up for the holidays, but the flip side are these wonderful, colorful treats which NEVER FAIL to brighten up kids’ faces when they drop by our home.
For family, friends and kids of crew members, we prepare “loot bags” filled with as many orange colored goodies as we can find locally and elsewhere. Chocolates are handed out separately (and straight out of the fridge) as they tend to melt in our tropical heat. A heavy merienda is set out for the late afternoon festivities. Even though some of the “kids” are now well into their teens, I doubt that we have ever registered a voluntary “absence” from the holiday that practically guarantees they go home with several thousand calories worth of sugar and artificial food coloring. :) I have to admit that there are two tiers of goodies, those for friends and family, and for everyone else there is a handful of assorted candy.
For a bit of the “icks”, how about a plastic cockroach nestled in with the chocolates. Just PHP3 for each ipis in Divisoria. Real roaches would be cheaper, I know. Hahahaha… Happy Halloween to all of you!
Previous Halloween related posts:
Halloween 2005
The Kid’s Couture Halloween Costume – complete with very minor rant in the comments section when a reader takes exception to adopting foreign holidays…
Triple Chocolate Halloween Cookies
Halloween 2006
More foil-wrapped Halloween chocolates
Happy Halloween 2007
Happy Halloween 2008
30 Responses
Ha! HA ! HA!. I like the ipis on their way to the chocolate. EEEEEEEKKKKK!!! So very Pinoy Halloween!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO MM, THE TEEN AND MRS. MM AND ALL YOU NETIZENS VISITING MM.COM!
Happy Halloween everyone!!! Tomorrow when the kids go trick or treating, we will be bringing
home candies and other sweets which is equivalent to maybe a year of supply…………..Just glad the kids do not have cavities from eating all those sweets.
have fun, everyone!
Happy halloween MM and family!
yeeeeey! candies! HAPPY HALLOWEEEEN MM AND FAMILY!!!! keep safe! :)
for a moment I thought the roaches were real! LOL!
Looking at how cute your candy is, I now feel bad that we just bought the regular local candy at Puregold. None of it is Halloween themed. Your vampire mouths are especially awesome!!
happy halloween! :)
Lucky kids, you have some of the best loot I’ve seen!
Me and hubby also end up eating most of the treats the kids get to bring home, esp. the chocolates, heehee.
Those roaches are the best! LOL! My girl actually has one of those :)
I love Halloween because of the candy, the kids in their scary costumes and most especially because it is my birthday!
This year, my hubby is dressed up as “Mr Bacon” while I am “Mrs Egg”. It will be fun seeing the kids’ faces when they see all the candy and they see us.
I’ve celebrate Halloween with friends and family even when I was living in the Philippines. I will continue to celebrate this fun holiday even when I am old!
the Holidays are MM’s favorite time of year!!! have a wonderful time, MM and Family!
Happy Halloween!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!!!!
Halloween is pretty much the gateway to the holidays…enjoy!
love the vampiire mouths! happy halloween to you and your family, MM!
love the ipis….Happy Halloween to all!!
Happy Halloween to all!!!
love the cockroaches :D…although i would be mortally terrified if they were real!
Bought exactly the same candy from Rustan’s…brought it back from Manila to Cebu. Saved the cardboard tubes from toilet paper, stuffed them with the chochies. Used orange and black crepe paper to roll them up, fringed the ends, stuck pumpkins and bats cut out of colored paper and away they went to the Halloween extravaganza last night! Now need a whole day in a dark room!
MM, your humor never fails to put a smile on my face! :) Happy Halloween everyone!
I love Halloween too, as like Joy above, it is my birthday! My family and I used to make a big gathering with friends and complete with a costume party every year but ever since we moved down to the States from the North It has gotten so we do not have any kids at all coming to the door for the candies. We live out in the boondocks and no younger generation around here.So it is just us mature ones. I miss those times. MM, I love your selection of goodies. And the ipis too. I am scared of them. Happy Halloween everyone!
@ Joy, you are the second one I know who has a Halloween bday. Have a good one.
Happy Birthday to you too Fards! Enjoy your day!
Halloween has finally become popular here too. It’s funny though I sometimes see bananas, apples and oranges in the kids’ baskets!!!
Happy trick or treat to you mm and the crew!
The dentists’ favorite holiday! LOL
Joy and Fards, Happy Birthday to both of you!
Thanks Marketman!
Teachers beware. After Halloween night, next day will be an ordeal. No one will be paying attention to the lessons. All the kids ate candy and there are all hyped up. Candies affect children’s attention span. I am not kidding. Have fun, anyway.
Hi Marketman,
I’m interested in those plastic cockroaches, did you get them at the “the building that has several floors of toys” you mentioned in your Christmas lunacy post? I’d appreciate your help. Thanks!
Lara, I think I got the roaches at 168 or on the street in Divi, PHP3 each…