Set during the Christmas season when people from all social classes come together and find connections in various ways, the world of Nilo, a young, struggling factory worker and family breadwinner, examines the diverse culture of Filipinos around Metro Manila. Like his work at the quality control room, this underprivileged man who is determined to support his family in the province sees through the vicious cycle of poverty, while being a stone's throw away from the two sides of the economic spectrum in a third-world country. His character exposes a critical look at the depressing social issues happening in his generation.
As the observant Nilo travels to work and back home everyday, he rides the jeepney, and he gets to see the two sides of the metro: the rich and finely-lit buildings, the Christmas music enlightening people's moods, the beautifully crafted Christmas lanterns and trees adorning highways, the colorful billboards promoting the exciting Filipino traditions of gift-giving and "Simbang Gabi" (nine days of devotional Christmas masses), and the able ones' Yuletide shopping sprees vs. the beggars knocking doors of cars for some alms, the street kids' Christmas carols, and the dirty alleys of depressed areas. The Christmas season makes his eyes ponder more every time - on how to make life much better for him, for his family, and hopefully for others as well.
Traveling often allows people to contemplate on life's many facets. It may bring some realizations coming from one's subconscious, whether receiving some physical stimuli from the outside world or not. It may also raise some questions such as, "With delivering the best you can be and the best you can do, how fair or unfair can the world ever be?" Indeed, a life's journey is a struggle all along.
