Our Visit to Santa’s Academy at the Mall of San Juan

December 4, 2015 by Raul Colon

My daughter is turning 5 soon.

Before she was born, we did not celebrate Christmas. Once she was born, we were not sure if it was appropriate to create a fantasy out of the entire Christmas experience. With time, we both gave in and let our daughter enjoy the magic of Santa Claus.

The past few years, getting my daughter’s picture with Santa has been more of a hassle than you would think. Instead of waiting for the season to get busier, we decided to get her picture taken at the beginning of the Christmas season.

Our Visit to Santa’s Academy

This year we decided to choose the Mall of San Juan.

The prices of the pictures are more affordable and attractive than other malls around us.

But the full experience even before you get to see Santa was well worth it.

Many malls have chosen to have an independent vendor as a photographer. Santa becomes a revenue source instead of a marketing opportunity.

After watching the movie, Miracle on 34th Street, I see how the Mall of San Juan gets it right. Like Kris Kringle, they create an experience making you want to return to them.

The complete experience incorporates technology and old holiday traditions. The Santa’s Academy is free of charge for anyone visiting the mall.

The Mall as a Partner of their Tenants

The Mall of San Juan is a partner and brings holiday shoppers near their tenants. The Santa’s Academy experience brings more people to the mall. Parents like me are easily influenced by their kids. I am sure that I overheard my daughter tell her mom she wants to return to Santa’s Academy last night.

On our visit we had some lunch at our favorite vegan-friendly restaurant, Kona Grill. We also visited some of the newer stores that opened up. I fell in love with the awesome space created by Anthropologie. The decoration was creative and artistic. It made me want to stay in the store longer to keep browsing their inventory.

I love how easy it is to park. At every other mall, I feel I am battling other holiday shoppers for a parking spot. The Mall of San Juan still creates the most relaxed environment of any mall here on the Island.

Grateful for the Digital Image Option

The biggest plus of the experience with taking pictures, was actually having access to a digital copy of the image.

For years I have asked photographers at the mall to sell me the digital copy. I have even told them to name a price.

As a photographer, I see the value and understand what they do. Yet every other photographer ignored my request and just sold the prints. On one occasion, we waited about an hour just to get the pictures printed. I wonder what they do with all those digital images.

Once there was a photographer who told me he would send me the file later just to get rid of me. After many emails and calls, I gave up. That was Christmas of 2011, I am still waiting for his response.

I am grateful to finally get my digital copy of the photo with Santa.

There are various packages at affordable prices.

Two of those packages include a digital jpeg image. With the other lower tier packages, you can include the option for an extra fee. Our package also included a Shutterfly gift card.

Why I favor Digital over Print

As a Minimalist, I rather have digital files than a bunch of actual print photos.

I can also backup digital photos in many places. It will also make it easier for me to send pictures to all my loved ones; many of them are outside of the Island. If I forgot someone, I can order a few extra prints, mail directly from my online photo print shop of choice, and right to their home. I hate packing photos for delivery. I rather have professionals take care of that.

Great Job Mall of San Juan

I have to commend the management and those creating the complete Santa Academy experience.

Great Job!

Daniela, Lucy, and I had an awesome time.

Disclaimer: I was not given any type compensation for this blog post. I paid for Santa’s photos with a big smile because of the great service.

Daniela and Santa

Not so Secret Santa

December 17, 2013 by Raul Colon

You can Be Santa

For three consecutive years, a 12 year old girl name Kailah, has been dreaming about getting a musical keyboard so she can play music she loves. At the moment she is borrowing one that is a bit worn out.

She is grateful that for the one she has because it allows her to practice and learn. This holiday season let’s help her with her Christmas Wish.

As a kid I remember I wanted a computer in order to help run my small business ventures. I was able to buy what I wanted but the cost of the computer was something out of my budget and also something my parents could not afford.

When I entered the military the first thing I did was grab a loan for a Compaq Presario. From that moment on, I started building my first website (which for some reason Tripod still has up) and I was journaling (what blogging is today).

You Can Make the Difference

We can all make a difference. By contributing what you can to ESCAPE, Kailah and a few other families (which don’t have basic needs this holiday season), will have something to celebrate on Christmas Day.

Can you Help ESCAPE and I?

I need your help with supporting ESCAPE, a local non for profit that works with victims of domestic violence and child abuse, and turn Kailah’s dream into reality.

Enjoying the Holidays, Fireworks, & Consumerism!

December 25, 2011 by Raul Colon

Here in Puerto Rico Christmas Eve better known as “Noche Buena” is celebrated a bit more than Christmas itself. Last night was extra special because one of the members of our extended family was also celebrating her 80th birthday. It gave me the opportunity to spend time with Mom, Grandma, Tio Irving, Lucy, and my beautiful Daughter.

Once we got back home I greeted Christmas with the surprise of a poor female dog who had gotten lost and ended in my backyard. At 2am in the morning I ended up visiting the other gated communities trying to identify if someone had lost their dog. Curious enough I ended finding many dogs that due to the firework that where being launched where extremely scared and where looking for refuge. Sadly not every pet owner is responsible enough to look out for the well being of their pets. At about 4:30 am after trying to find the owner of the dog since she walking along me at one point she found her way back home.

A lot of Noise & Fireworks can Misdirect

The poor female dog as many other dogs lost her sense of direction like many humans also do during such a special Season. For a dog it might be fireworks or loud noises for a human it can be pure consumerism and attachment to material Things.

The last 3 years during the Holiday season we have had some very complicated and difficult economical obstacles. When people are working hard to fill their trees with gifts they sometimes lose their sense of direction. I see individuals that are so focused on the material aspect makes it very easy into losing perception of what truly is important.

I sincerely try to make the best out of every day and that gets easier when my friends and family are healthy. Last year was one of full emotions I was waiting to become a Dad and my Grandma was in the hospital during the holidays. Thankfully she recovered and this year I lost my other Grandma a few weeks prior to christmas. Grandma America is in a better place now Cancer really took a toll on her and it makes me enjoy even more my time with Grandma Lydia.

There is nothing more important than enjoying my time next to my loved ones.

Focusing on the Gifts

Depending on my economical situation I decide how much Budget I can spend on gifts. This year I was only able to give to a few individuals that are very close to Lucy and myself. That does not mean that if you did not get a gift we don’t appreciate their friendships.

Nintendo Ruined Someone’s Christmas

Earlier today I read on how supposedly Nintendo was at fault for ruining a little boy’s Christmas. I completely understood that the person was upset since a family member had gotten a wii that was not working. What a great opportunity for us as adults to teach our children that sometimes in life things will not go as we would like. I am more than sure that the experience was not a very pleasing one but it can makes us all grow. I really think that once the Wii gets replaced the child will be able to overcome the small mishap and enjoy his gift forgetting the issue completely.

Mute the Fireworks & Noise

So the rest of this Christmas Season (Puerto Rico celebrates the longest holiday season in the world) make sure you block out all the things that make you lose direction. Prioritize those things that are sensitive and critical in life. Don’t miss out on great opportunities because you are focused on the materialistic part of what some people call the holidays.

Today I enjoyed filming my daughter Daniela open her first Holiday Gift. She was more amused with the wrapping that what was in it. It really did not matter what was in the box what mattered was the fact that I experienced my daughter opening her first gift ever.

What things should we all prioritize and make important in our lives during the Holidays?

Happy Holidays from my family and me!

For those of you that left the boxes of the gifts lying around you might be experiencing what the @papaheroes Christmas Comic Strip published today.

Assaults & Longest Holiday Season

December 28, 2010 by Raul Colon

Well actually it is not that kind of Assault you might be thinking of. In Puerto Rico we have one of the longest Christmas and Holiday seasons I have heard of. We start celebrating days before Thanksgiving and Finish the Holiday Season way into the end of January just about when we start our Carnaval Celebrations.

The assault is very common during the Holiday Season!

I will let you all see a related video that will give a better explanation on what an assault is.

@lucymfel was able to get this video thanks to @franklogic.

I have found a few effective ways to deter from assaults better known as parrandas.

Become Vegetarian – Most Puerto Ricans are not big fans of living a vegetarian lifestyle. Pork is a major part of the Puerto Rican Holiday Diet. I have not seen many vegetarian options that are traditional holiday plates. Even most of the Christmas songs are not vegetarian friendly.

Never keep a lot of Liquor stored at the house. If you hardly ever drink like me, make sure to let everyone know you are not a fan of drinking. Also let them know you never buy or store alcoholic beverages

Never Decorate your House on the Outside. By decorating the outside you are making an open invitation to a parranda. Not only will you save money on the electricity bill, help the planet. it will deter people that might have thought of bringing you a parranda.

Do you have any other ideas on how stay Parranda Free during the holidays?

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7 Reasons Why Santa Claus Stays Away from Social Media?

December 8, 2010 by Raul Colon

I have been a Fan of Santa Claus since I was a kid. Each time I see an image of Santa, it brings memories of my childhood. I hope that magic will return once Daniela comes into our World in the next few days.

I spend a got amount of time on twitter & other social media platforms and I was able to find a @santaclaus account on Twitter to have very few followers and not linked to the Real Santa.

Being a Twitter Fan I saw a huge disconnection since in Real Life Santa Claus has built a huge following for centuries. Not many of us have the advantage of being a legend without loosing influence. Good old St. Nick has kept his influence over history.

Thinking of Christmas, Santa Claus, and Social Media made me I started think of 7 reasons why Santa Claus might not be as active on Social Media platforms.

1. Excess of Followers.

Santa has a following that even @ricky_martin would fall short of (I invite you to Learn a Few Lessons on how to use Social Media from @ricky_martin). Having build community for such a long time and keeping so many people engaged social media might really not add to value to his effort.

2. Omnipresent.

Only St. Nick has the ability to be at multiple locations. During the Holiday season Santa is at the mall, parades, department stores, or even the near the corner of the street. For most of us trying to contact multiple people at the same time can be difficult since we can only be at one place at a time. So if you are not Santa Claus it might be a good idea if you use Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, a blog, or any other channel to get your message across.

3. Letters take more than 140 characters.

Most people when they make their letters to Santa use more than 140 characters. This causes Santa to have less time for social media platforms and it makes it ineffective for him to communicate via twitter.

4. Multiple Identities.

Santa Claus is known by various names such as but not limited too Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, San Nicolas, and my favorite like the pronounce it here in Puerto Rico Santa Cló. It would be difficult for him to settle on one user name per platform and handling multiple account would only take more time away from his preparation for Christmas.

5. Multiple Image Make-Over.

Throughout history St. Nick has been given multiple image makeovers. It is recommended to keep an Avatar that is the same in across all platforms. Not only does St. Nick have previous images, which differentiate themselves from each other, I have seen multiple variations of St. Nick at the mall, pictures, parades, and other areas where his image is shared. I think having just one image to identify him would make him lose his magic (and might put in jeopardy his ability to be omnipresent).

6. He is always giving.

Santa keeps his followers and community close by showering them with gifts and never asking for anything in return (other than asking you to behave which should be done anyway). Given his long-standing reputation he can still grow his community without using social media. If you feel like working on giving please click here & donate to one of my favorite charities @serpuertorico.

7. Influence.

Can you think of anyone that is expected to visit once a year and is more influential? When we where kids I remember how when it got close to Christmas they would manipulate and control us by only mentioning Santa Claus. I have a good friend who resembles Santa Claus very much and during the Holiday Season he would wear a Santa Hat and have candy canes in his pocket. You cannot imagine how when kids where acting up at a restaurant with only their parents would point our way and by John ( I mean Santa) looking at them it would quickly fix their behavior.

n516462347_282653_4895 7 Reasons Why Santa Claus Stays Away from Social Media?

Me and My Good Friend John Duncan’s Santas Helper (December 2006)

I hope this post helps you evaluate and identify if you have any of Santa’s attributes or resources. If you don’t then you really need to start using social media platforms to get your message across.

I might have missed other reasons if you think of one get into the spirit of sharing and feel free to share any other reasons why you think Santa might not be active in Social Media?

There is a chance for you to have something in common with Santa: you can share the spirit of giving. You can donate to your favorite charity or one of my favorite charities like @serpuertorico, which is running a great online fund raising campaign.

Feel free to click the next image and find more information on the campaign.

PS. A special thanks to @robertbravery who wrote a great post on the 10 Blog post ideas for this December, Christmas Season and inspired me to write this one.