Lantern Parade

The UP Diliman Lantern Parade is an annual event that draws crowds because of the creative and colorful lanterns made by the students. The lanterns are usually paraded around the Academic Oval, after which they are judged either at the Sunken Garden or Admin Building. Prizes are usually given to the organization or college with the best lanterns. It is traditionally held on the last day of classes prior to the start of Christmas vacation. Other UP units also hold their own Lantern Parades but the one in Diliman is the biggest and most spectacular.

This year's parade was supposed to be today so I went to Diliman in the afternoon. Arriving there, I heard that the parade was cancelled! I am not sure of the actual reason, some rumors say that there was a security risk and that there were bomb threats. Others say the cancellation was a form of protest. I did'nt leave and just walked around the campus, reminiscing of my college days. There were a lot of people still hanging around (most were students from other schools, some were families with their kids, others were foreigners). There were also small kiosks/cottages/booths situated along and around the academic oval. It was sort of like a tiangge, and they were selling all sorts of food and low-priced items like clothes, toys, trinkets.

At around 5PM, some organizations/colleges still proceeded with the parade! Though not as organized and not as many lanterns were present as the real Lantern Parade, there were still quite a number that were paraded around the oval. Most were FA lanterns, I think. There were also some activist students and militant organizations that joined the parade. The mini parade was still covered by the major TV networks and dailies. I will post pictures in my Multiply. All in all, it was fun and was still worth it going to Diliman! Hopefully next year, the traditionally grand parade will make a comeback.

But of course, after the parade, I ate tapsilog at Rodic's. :-)

Tedbits...
...On the way to UPD, I passed by my sister at RCBC Plaza. We ate lunch at Piquant. They serve moderately priced yummy dishes for health-conscious people. I had the cream of mushroom soup (uses non-fat milk) and grilled tuna sandwich (with tuna, kesong puti & veggies in whole wheat pita bread).

...On the way home, I passed by Greenbelt and was just in time to see their fireworks display. It was rather short in duration but very colorful. The fireworks are on every Friday and weekends of December at 9:00 PM. Took some pictures, will post them in my Multiply soon.