Tamahiin ng Bagong Taon (New Year's Superstions)
There are many superstitions that Filipinos associate with the New Year, many of them derived from the country's Chinese influences. By following these traditions (courtesy of tagaloglang.com), it is said that one can expect a happy and prosperous new year.
ON NEW YEAR'S EVE
1. Make as much noise as you can to scare away evil spirits.
2. Turn on all lights so that the coming year is bright.
3. Open all doors, windows, cabinets and drawers to let good fortune in.
4. Debts must be paid off. Fill you wallet with fresh peso bills. (Filipinos believe that whatever your financial state is in at the stroke of midnight, so it will be in the new year.)
5. Clean everything.
6. Wear polka-dots. Anything round signifies prosperity.
7. Scatter coins around the house, on tabletops.... inside drawers…
8. Jump twelve times at midnight to increase your height. (Observed by Filipino children.)
FOOD-RELATED SUPERSTITIONS
9. Prepare 12 round fruits, one for each month of the coming new year.
10. Have a very round grape in your mouth at the stroke of midnight.
11. Eat a native delicacy made from sticky rice to make good fortune stick in the new year.
12. Eat long noodles (pansit) for long life.
13. Don't have chicken or fish. They are associated with the scarcity of food.
ON NEW YEAR'S DAY ITSELF
14. Don't clean anything! You might sweep away the good fortune that came in on New Year's Eve.
15. Don't spend money at all. Your thriftiness on the first day of the year will augur your money management in the coming year.