The Grinch And Some Movie Characters 2014 Christmas Party!

Our theme for our 2014 Christmas party was originally Christmas movie characters. But some friends wanted to stretch it to non-Christmas movie characters as they thought characters from the Christmas movies were limited; I stuck to Christmas movie. Why? I had an interesting idea.

In 2000, Ron Howard turned Dr. Seuss' tale into a fun movie starring Jim Carrey. I thought How The Grinch Stole Christmas was a good idea. 

So, last month, before it went all freezing in Seoul, I roamed the Dongmyo and Dongdaemun areas in search for the Grinch costume that was easy to put together. I wasn't prepared to spend a lot as I didn't have the costume budget of Universal Pictures. Ha-ha-ha! But I was prepared to face-paint like a real Grinch; I got this idea during the 2014 Asian Games when Gilas Pilipinas fans face-painted ourselves in the spirit of fun.

I didn't know it was that easy. The Grinch face, that is. Thanks to Arlene for her huge living mirror and red lipstick, the Alpha stationery store for the face-paint colors, a Grinch photo from the internet that I copied, and of course, my steady right hand. Yes, I did it myself. Do I get an Oscar nomination for best makeup for this? Ha-ha-ha!

And it was party time!

Last year's Christmas party was an easy one. This year, the Murphys came as The Scarecrow, Dorothy, The Lion and The Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz; the Nardos were the Minions, the Orchards came as the Shrek, Fiona and Baby Shrek; the Sabados were the Flinstones, Minerva came as Katniss Everdeen, Wendy as Mary Poppins, the Woods were Tarzan, Jane and family, and the Garcias were snowmen from Frozen, and Forrest Gump.

          (Yes, that's me. How I wanted to walk home wearing 
           this and see my neighbors' reaction. Ha-ha-ha!)

                                       (The Minions)

                                       (The Tin Man)

                      (The Tin Man, the Lion and the Grinch)

            (The Scarecrow, Dorothy, the Lion and the Tin Man 
                                   from Wizard of Oz)

                                 (Frozen's Olaf snowmen and Forrest Gump)

                                          (Tarzan, Jane and their babies)

                        (Shrek, Fiona and Baby Shrek)

                         (Mary Poppins and her wards)

And as in any Filipino party, we had games for the kids, exchange of gifts with all the families, and lots of food for everyone! Roast beef, fried lumpia, lasagna, paella, chicken, salad and a few more dishes my memory has forgotten, but my palate has not. Ha-ha-ha!

For us, this isn't just a party, where everyone gets together to have fun, but this is a special occasion for us to celebrate our friendship and be thankful that we all survived another year of living away from our home countries. 

                                 (The kids were happy with their prizes)

                                    (The Grinch, the Tin Man and the Lion 
                     tabulating the votes for best costume)

                 ("The Grinch says....give your mums a hug" game!)

                               (The Grinch wasn't pleased as the Shrek 
                         and Fiona won the best costume)

Although our Christmas get-together was meant to be fun, we were a bit sad that some friends are moving on to other countries, which means....next year, we may see new movie characters in our party! :-)

(The Philippine Ambassador Raul Hernandez 

graciously  dropped by our party and joined 

these movie characters in a group photo) 

And to everyone in Korea and anywhere else around the world, my friends and I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Enjoy your holidays, too!

P.S. Thanks to Vanji for some of the photos above!