Pinoy camaraderie fills Finland holidays

A gathering of Filipino friends in Finland entertained netizens with their celebration of Christmas imbibing liquor in a backyard while enduring temperatures of negative five degrees.

In an interview with DAILY TRIBUNE on Wednesday, Renjo Inguillo, Owen Padernal and Carlos Padernal, who study and work in Finland, said their friends in the Philippines who were also celebrating the holidays asked them to take pictures while they were drinking, as a way of having them join their Christmas celebration back home.

"It was the 24th of December when we were having our drinking session in our backyard. One of our friends asked us to take a photo in the snow because they were also taking photos while drinking. At first, we thought it would only be a photo, but then we opted to take a video as well. We posted it and were surprised when it went viral," Renjo said.

Never short of ice

Renjo said he believed that many Filipinos could relate to their predicament since the common problem of Filipino drinkers is running out of ice.

"Many people can probably relate to that because, in the Philippines, our main problem when we drink is that we run out of ice. Here in Finland, we have unlimited ice until March," Renjo happily shared.

The group of friends said they have adapted to the cold climate of Finland. When asked about their plans to return home to the Philippines, they said it depended on their schedules as students and workers.