(Partial) Memories Of An 80's Childhood

Signing on

There are some times when I am alone with my thoughts doing nothing, procrastinating or just engaging in my confined solliloquy, or read some books for the nth time, or snoozing; but besides all that I mentioned, there's this one pastime that I would consider my most favorite; going on a trip back memory lane. Being a nostalgic fool that I am, going for a sentimental journey has become my hobby. A trip where I don'nt have to be physically out of my house. Where my time machine is my recollection about the past and my experiences that comes with them. Where all it takes is to hop in and go with the spiral and spin, spin, and spin around, and around, and around, and around....

"Pagmulat ng mata, langit nakatawa sa Batibot" Ahh, how could I forget that song. And the place. The neighborhood every kids my age wished they lived.Where they can play with the childish, hulking Pong Pagong and the gravel-voiced Kiko Matsing. Where they can listen to Kuya Bodjie'sstories. Where they can learn their abc's... or in this case, a-ba-ka-da from Ate Siena. And the puppets;the siblings Ningning and Ginging, Irma and Tikyo, the bickering aliens Sitsiritsit and Alibangbang and other crop of characters whose names I can't recall anymore. All in all, Batibot is perhaps the fondest memory every 80's kid like me has in our respective childhood. And don't forget, Batibot is shown twice a day, everyday; the morning run is aired over channel 9, the afternoon run is aired over PTV 4. Weekend kiddie variety shows means either Uncle Bob's Lucky 7 Club, Pen Pen De Sarapen or Star Smile Factory.

Cartoons. There were lots of that on TV then than now. Especially during weekday afternoons. When ABS-CBN resumed broadcasting after the EDSA revolution it showed robot cartoons every, if I'm not mistaken, 4:00 o' clock in the afternoon. The daily roster is as follows: Monday, Mechanda (?) Robot; Tuesday, damn I forgot! But that is my most favorte among all (I know that it involves computers, that is the clue); Wednesday, Daimos; Thursday, Voltes Five. Friday, on the other hand, is for the live-action super sentai Bioman. That was also the time when there are cartoons being shown on primetime. Bet that you could remember watching The Real Ghostbusters every seven o' clock in the evening on channel 2

Weekend Saturday mornings mean Saturday Fun Machine on channel 9, not to mention the adventures of the Superfriends which is light and campy in demeanor ccompared to the edgy approach of the recent Justice League. Other Saturday staples include channel 7's M.A.S.K and Spiral Zone and channel 2's Pole Position and Visionaries. Channel 13, which was the dominant station of the time,had Looney Tunes, Transformers, G.I. Joe, Denver the last Dinosaur, Widget among others. When primetime comes the fun didn't stopped, rest assured that I have my fill of the Thundercats and Silver Hawks on channel 7.

( to be continued)

Signing off

Class Days and Rainy Days

Signing on.



When I was a kid whenever there is news of a coming typhoon, we already had our ears glued to the TV or the radio, expecting to hear what would be every student's best wish: suspension of classes. WAHOOO!!! That would perhaps be a break to a rather another dreary day in school. But for some reason, as if the heavens conspired with nature, the day that should've justify the early announcement by DECS didn't turn out as expected it to. Instead, it turned to be a perfectly fine day. Even the sun peeks through the clouds. Bummer! On the same token, when they announce that there are classes, the opposite happens. While inside our classrooms in the middle of discussion, all of a sudden..





CRASSSSHHH!!! BOOOM!!!


KA-BLAAAAM!!!



Just our luck. I remember when I and my two sisters are studying in a private school in Pasay when that happened. We couldn't get a jeep, so we rode a tricycle and we got stranded before we could reach our home. We ended up threading through flood. Good thing the level is only knee-length, so is was okay for us to wade through. I thought that that would be the first and the last time that I will go through that. Or so I thought.

Fast forward: College



It was Saturday and I was a sophomore then. That was just a regular day for our ROTC and the weather was not a fine one then. After the drill as I was inside the jeep heading for home rain began to fall down heavily. When I am about to board another jeep I heard that the water level has reached to chest-level because the nearby dam has released a considerable amount of water for it can no longer contain it; the road is right beside the river. Since it was the only way home, I was forced to wade through it. The current is strong but managable, as I slugged through the water for hours. It was finally nightime when I finally reached home.



How I wish DepEd and CHED were accurate in announcing the suspension of classes to spare students from trouble. Just like what happened to me.

Signing off