Our family was what you could classify as middle-class. We didn't have it all yet we felt like we had enough. Kids are easy to please; as long as we had something to play with, we were good.
Case in point - we played baseball during summers with a bamboo bat and a tennis ball. Our bases were actually big flat stones. Our family friends from Malabon Manila, Israel and Josel Santos, spent two summers with us in Cagayan. Baseball was one of our favorite pastimes.
If we weren't playing soldier or police games (see earlier post), we were most likely running around the living room and/or dining room. I remember cousin Pia and I would often hide under the dining table and tap on the aunts' and uncles' feet and giggle.
Our grandmother had kept a scooter, skateboard and a bike in the rooftop, I remember. We had taken it a few times to the MacArthur park nearby and I remember enjoying it. But, sadly, all three were stolen.
If you consider fighting a game, then there were lots of it too! Pia was whom I fought with the most and most of the time, our grandmother was referee. We were both headstrong little girls. I don't think there was anyone that our eldest cousin, Tina, didn't fight with. She remembers me hitting her palm with a toy saxophone - she bears the scar from that fight to this day. I couldn't be closer to these two cousins today.
When it rained, we were in the rooftop. We loved the rain! I remember laying on the ground, pretending to swim with my cousins and night was encroaching the sky. Our grandmother pulled us out and shoved us in the bathroom before we could catch cold.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
at the Movies
Movie-watching was a big part of my childhood. Movie ratings were wildly disregarded then - my nanny could drag me in whatever movie they wanted to watch. These movies though were mostly Filipino movies and I was quite fine with that. I knew that the movie was about to begin because they would start playing the Marca Leon cooking oil commercial.
Movie-watching in Velez were especially fun. My uncle had been based in the US in the 80's and he'd send betamax tapes of movies he recorded. All the tapes were kept in a wooden cabinet in my cousins' room. The tapes had white labels on them, with a black ink of the title of the movie. Looking back, I realize that my uncle did diligently record these movies from TV; I remember seeing the HBO and FOX opening before the movie started. A favorite of the cousins were the following movies:
Commando (featuring a young Alyssa Milano)
the Terminator (yes, we were Ah-nuld fans)
Aliens
the Goonies (this was especially a favorite because we easily identified ourselves with the characters)
the Delta Force (I could never forget my aunt saying that my dad looks like Chuck Norris)
Big Trouble in Little China (gotta love me some black magic),
Cocoon
E.T.
the Sound of Music
Favorite animated movies included the Sword in the Stone, He-Man and She-Ra: Secret of the Sword, the Chipmunk Adventure, the Little Mermaid, the Seven Swans and the anime version of Jack and the Beanstalk.
The Police Academy series was also a favorite! So much that the cousins identified themselves with each of the major characters in the movie. We played police in the Velez rooftop or played soldier, whichever movie we wanted to imitate. I remember my cousin Bonjo quoting Ah-nuld from Commando - "The sonofabitch must pay." He, of course, didn't understand what that meant. The aunts were especially shocked at the profanity that was coming out of the little boy's mouth.
My grandfather loved kung-fu movies and from time to time, we'd watch Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee flicks in their room.
When we weren't watching the tapes sent by my uncle, the cousins would rent tapes from the video shop Altiva. We'd watch recorded wrestling matches of Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, Jake the Snake etc. These tapes would be in shiny red or green cases and of course, the quality of the video was poor. That was the least of our concerns back then.
Movie-watching in Velez were especially fun. My uncle had been based in the US in the 80's and he'd send betamax tapes of movies he recorded. All the tapes were kept in a wooden cabinet in my cousins' room. The tapes had white labels on them, with a black ink of the title of the movie. Looking back, I realize that my uncle did diligently record these movies from TV; I remember seeing the HBO and FOX opening before the movie started. A favorite of the cousins were the following movies:
Commando (featuring a young Alyssa Milano)
the Terminator (yes, we were Ah-nuld fans)
Aliens
the Goonies (this was especially a favorite because we easily identified ourselves with the characters)
the Delta Force (I could never forget my aunt saying that my dad looks like Chuck Norris)
Big Trouble in Little China (gotta love me some black magic),
Cocoon
E.T.
the Sound of Music
Favorite animated movies included the Sword in the Stone, He-Man and She-Ra: Secret of the Sword, the Chipmunk Adventure, the Little Mermaid, the Seven Swans and the anime version of Jack and the Beanstalk.
The Police Academy series was also a favorite! So much that the cousins identified themselves with each of the major characters in the movie. We played police in the Velez rooftop or played soldier, whichever movie we wanted to imitate. I remember my cousin Bonjo quoting Ah-nuld from Commando - "The sonofabitch must pay." He, of course, didn't understand what that meant. The aunts were especially shocked at the profanity that was coming out of the little boy's mouth.
My grandfather loved kung-fu movies and from time to time, we'd watch Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee flicks in their room.
When we weren't watching the tapes sent by my uncle, the cousins would rent tapes from the video shop Altiva. We'd watch recorded wrestling matches of Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, Jake the Snake etc. These tapes would be in shiny red or green cases and of course, the quality of the video was poor. That was the least of our concerns back then.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Swimming at the Beach/Pool
Summers were always spent at the beach. My cousins from Butuan, Paolo, Pating and Bonjo, made their way to Cagayan and spent their summers with us. Our grandfather, Daddy Ongcs, would take us to Opol beach (San Pedro beach that later became Marvilla beach), pay the $2 entrance fee and park the owner-type grey jeep by a little hut. It was almost always Saturdays whenever we did this and we usually left the house at 8 or 9 a.m. We would play in the water up until 3 p.m. and almost always, we'd be black as soot. We had two lifesavers (salbabida) to play with. Daddy would sometimes bring his sailboat. It was almost always just the kids with Daddy and no one else.
One summer, Daddy enrolled us in swimming lessons at Palaro. Our teacher's name was Sir Rene. We had styrofoam boards to practice our kicks and as always, we had to do 10 bubbles after every lap. I remember one day, we were learning how to dive and because I was very nervous, I dove right into my coach's face. My cousins tease me to this day. I think I stopped by lessons because of that.
Daddy was a good swimmer. He encouraged us to be the same.
One summer, Daddy enrolled us in swimming lessons at Palaro. Our teacher's name was Sir Rene. We had styrofoam boards to practice our kicks and as always, we had to do 10 bubbles after every lap. I remember one day, we were learning how to dive and because I was very nervous, I dove right into my coach's face. My cousins tease me to this day. I think I stopped by lessons because of that.
Daddy was a good swimmer. He encouraged us to be the same.
Daddy the Renaissance Man
Our grandfather was very strict. The titas said he was actually stricter before. He was just a quiet man - reserved, cool and collected. He was an engineer, carpenter, sailboat captain, disciplinarian and a computer programmer.
He made study desks for us. It was varnished, about 3' height with just one drawer in the middle. He made one for his wife, my grandmother, for me and my cousins Tina, Ana and Ben.
I remember him having an engraver and he put this to good use by engraving his wife's initials on her silverware. Upon finishing, my mom, Linda, asked hers to be engraved too. Instead of putting her initials "LPA," he mistakenly carved "LDP" - perhaps the initials of his wife "DGP" was still on his mind.
Daddy was a computer programmer and he was the first one that I knew of. He made educational computer games for the grandkids. He had an IBM computer with the big floppy disk drive. He had this connected to a tape player (the ones with huge spools). You needed to play it, wait a few minutes while it made funny sounds then you would be able to play the games. Our favorites were the arithmetic and world capitals game. I remember him having a biorhythm? or biometric game but I'm not sure whether he had made that.
He had a sailboat in the garage. It was off-white/beige in color with a multi-colored sail. He would bring it sometimes to trips to Opol beach and sail with Manong Berdan, his Boy Friday. They would take it as far east as Carmen bridge. I was only able to ride in it once - in shallow waters. He only allowed the boys to be taken to the deeper waters.
Daddy was also an inventor. I remember him making an ink dipper in the hopes of saving money. He allowed the roll of the printer cartridge to be dipped in ink (using a small lever) and reused that cartridge.
I remember him making my science project in 6th grade. It was a series of wires to make a bulb light up. It didn't look like it was made by a 6th grader but luckily, the teachers didn't notice.
He made study desks for us. It was varnished, about 3' height with just one drawer in the middle. He made one for his wife, my grandmother, for me and my cousins Tina, Ana and Ben.
I remember him having an engraver and he put this to good use by engraving his wife's initials on her silverware. Upon finishing, my mom, Linda, asked hers to be engraved too. Instead of putting her initials "LPA," he mistakenly carved "LDP" - perhaps the initials of his wife "DGP" was still on his mind.
Daddy was a computer programmer and he was the first one that I knew of. He made educational computer games for the grandkids. He had an IBM computer with the big floppy disk drive. He had this connected to a tape player (the ones with huge spools). You needed to play it, wait a few minutes while it made funny sounds then you would be able to play the games. Our favorites were the arithmetic and world capitals game. I remember him having a biorhythm? or biometric game but I'm not sure whether he had made that.
He had a sailboat in the garage. It was off-white/beige in color with a multi-colored sail. He would bring it sometimes to trips to Opol beach and sail with Manong Berdan, his Boy Friday. They would take it as far east as Carmen bridge. I was only able to ride in it once - in shallow waters. He only allowed the boys to be taken to the deeper waters.
Daddy was also an inventor. I remember him making an ink dipper in the hopes of saving money. He allowed the roll of the printer cartridge to be dipped in ink (using a small lever) and reused that cartridge.
I remember him making my science project in 6th grade. It was a series of wires to make a bulb light up. It didn't look like it was made by a 6th grader but luckily, the teachers didn't notice.
War
Dolores Paclijan Golez, my grandmother, shared with me her past. She told me that her husband, my grandfather, Concepcion Emata Padero, was a bedspacer at their house in Manila while studying at Mapua College. She said that her father encouraged that they get married even when they were still dating because "it did not look nice" that they were intimate and not yet married.
They got married while the war was going on in September 26, 1944.
She told me about the time her father had to sell one of her most beloved rings in exchange for a sack of rice. She said she really loved that ring. She also told me of a story about men being tricked into going to a church because they were giving away food at that church. Her brother was supposed to go there but her father said for him not to. They ultimately found out that all the men who went to that church died - the church was burned to the ground.
We went to Batangas in May 1998. My parents, grandparents and I visited the school were my grandparents hid during the war. It was an emotional visit, I remember.
They got married while the war was going on in September 26, 1944.
She told me about the time her father had to sell one of her most beloved rings in exchange for a sack of rice. She said she really loved that ring. She also told me of a story about men being tricked into going to a church because they were giving away food at that church. Her brother was supposed to go there but her father said for him not to. They ultimately found out that all the men who went to that church died - the church was burned to the ground.
We went to Batangas in May 1998. My parents, grandparents and I visited the school were my grandparents hid during the war. It was an emotional visit, I remember.
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