  I decided that I would attempt to make my trip to Nueva Ecija tonight, in spite of the hair-splitting major traffic jams in all roads out of the capital today. Imagine about five million people trooping out of the city to visit their dead tomorrow. Apparently, nearly a qarter of the city's population is composed of immigrants (such as myself) from the provinces. And during major holidays, everyone is just raring to get out of the city to visit loved ones (and for this particular holiday, their dearly departed).
Last Saturday was Mama's 50th birthday, but I could not visit her. She knew that I'd be home this weekend, so we would have a somewhat delayed birthday celebration for her. Last night, I bought her a pair of shoes that she could wear to work. That, and a silver trouser for myself on sale at 70% off! Haha! It was weird that the Palace did not announce a nationwide holiday for today, even if All Souls Day is still to come.
Usually, it announces that October 1 is also a public holiday to give the population the time to travel to the provinces (or sometimes, to the cities). But this time, only government employees were on paid vacation. *sigh* Check out this site which discusses the urlLink origins of the Halloween celebration . 
