What I Miss About the 1970’s and the 1980’s

1. With a salary of 200 php a month, you could already purchase home appliances and furniture sets.


2. One hundred pesos will have you leaving the supermarket with 2 paper bags full of grocery items.

3. Bomba films (though I never got to watch any of those starring Rosanna Ortiz, Scarlet, and Stella Suarez)

4. Afternoon cartoon shows like The Super Friends, Batman and Robin, Superman, Yogi Bear, Shazam, Spy Shadow, the Herculoids, Moby Dick, and Mightor.

5. Prenoontime shows like Cafeteria Aroma starring ApengDaldal

6. The evening radio programs of Johnny de Leon and Ngongo (Ba’angMa’amis!), Ben David’s Dr. Horror, radio programs of IndayBadiday, Ike Lozada, Helen Vela, EspieFabon, Eddie Ilarde, and Eddie Ilagan

7. Playing “turumpo” , “teks (cards which are like cut up comic strips), “agawang base”, “habulan”, and “taguan”

8. Racing Popsicle sticks with designs

9. Lips and Tweet candies

10. The slides, swings, and seesaws at the back of the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta Park.

11. The sight of the double deck buses passing by Rizal Park.

12. Watching movies at State, Ideal, and Universal theatres along Rizal Avenue or Avenida

13. Swimming at the beach near Baclaran Church( when it was not yet a reclaimed area)

14. Real balanced programming of Channels 2, 7 9, and 13 meaning English TV shows are shown along with Filipino shows.

15. TV shows like Combat, SWAT, Charlie’s Angels, The Twilight Zone, Free Spirit, Alf, the Working Girl, The Champions, UFO, the Gemini Man, Little House on the Prairie, and The Six Million Dollar Man.

16. Filipino TV comedy shows like AngBiyenan Kong Mangkukulam, GinangMilyonarya, Si TatangKasi, Si Tatang Sa.., ManaMana, My Son My Son, John and Marsha, Super Laff-in, Plaza 1899, Padre de Pamilya, and KuwentongKutsero.

17. Filipino TV suspense shows like AngMahiwagangDaigdigniDoray, Gabi ngLagim, Limbo, and Malikmata

18. Filipino action and fantasy TV shows like OraEngkantada, Monza, and Apollo at Kidlat

19. Johnny Hero action figure which you can dress up in different sports gear.

20. The sights and sounds of Quinta market during the Christmas Season.

21. Jingle Magazine

22. Big number of bands during the Quiapo Fiesta

23. Family gathering during the New Year at our home in Mandaluyong

24. Family excursion and swimming at Pansol, the original resort with red rocks on the bottom of the pool and hot steam at one side of the pool for old people.

25. Bruce Lee movies

26. Family gathering in Pakil, Laguna for the Turumba festival.

27. Going up Mount Ping-as in Pakil, Laguna with my brothers, sister, and cousins and having a picnic at the top of the mountain.

28. Family VisitaIglesia

29. Fiesta Carnival

30. Magnolia ice cream in canisters with dry ice at the bottom

31. Animated Christmas display at COD and at San Miguel Brewery near Malacanang

32. Attending the Apalit festival and waiting by the riverside for the image of ApongIro on a boat to pass by.

33. TV Times magazine

34. Buying 45 rpm records

35. Shell Action Transfers. You rubbed images from sticker sheets onto backgrounds like the sky, the jungle, field ,and battleship

36. Going with Papa to Avenida to buy new clothes for Christmas

37. Tagalog comic books like Aliwan, Happy, PinoyKlasiks, and Wakasan

Filipino Films Today

     If you are the kind of Filipino moviegoer who enjoys seeing your favorite actors or actresses on the big screen and swoon over their “kagwapuhan” or “kaseksihan,” or you are the kind of moviegoer who enjoys being tickled pink, then you would surely love the kind of films being churned out by local movie outfits , most of which aim to build up the career of budding young actors and actresses. But if you are looking for real action, drama, and hilarity, you would find these in international films. After Fernando Poe Jr’s demise, production of Filipino epic films ground to a halt. Way back in the 1960s and 1970s, film outfits like Sampaguita pictures and Nepomucenoprouductions came up with films that would really make you proud to be a Filipino moviegoer. Directors like Eddie Romero also directed films that could be at par with most Asian if not, with western films. The kind of Filipino films that are being produced today are limited only to the following genres: drama, comedy, and suspense. If producers could come up with nice films which are shown only during a film festival, there is no reason why they could not produce good films the whole year round. I am waiting for some movie producer or scriptwriter to come up with a film that would glorify the heroism of Filipino soldiers in the battle of Bataan or feature the horror of the liberation of Manila during World War 2. At present, the only kind of Filipino films that have sense in them are the indie films.

Doing Business with Salesmen

     As much as possible, I avoid buying from or doing business with guys, especially with Tagalog guys. Most of them do not know how to entertain customers. Unless you are a pretty girl, you would not be attended to by a salesman or sales representative unless you call his attention. I guess guys were not born to do the selling stuff. When you talk to most of them, it’s as if they do not really see you. I like buying from girls and Muslim guys who sell DVDs. They look at you straight in the eye and make you feel important. Sometimes, they flatter you and you can feel that they really want to sell .

My Wife

     Before I met my wife, I really thought I was not gonna meet the girl of my dreams. When I saw her, she just swept me off my feet. I started going after her and I forgot how I was slowly losing my hair. All that mattered was me winning her heart. How did I court her? Old style which people would call "baduy." I courted her with flowers, chococlates, Jollibee,and KFC hehehehe. I got turned down by her thrice but I kept on getting up. I did not stop until I captured her heart.

Life is a Journey

     I thought the last school I worked for would be some sort of final stopping point for me before I retire. I worked there for 12 years. But then something happened. Just when you thought you found your nest, God does something to rouse from your relaxed position. The school got sold to new owners who at first promised they would take in the old teachers. I thought I was gonna be the new boss of that school but when they got settled in, the new owners turned back on what had been agreed on. What's painful about it is that I just got married and was already 40 then. Talk about getting screwed. So after I got paid for helping them out, I was out on the raod again.