UMPHA TELL ME YOUR MEMORIES III

What a balmy day in San Diego again today...It looks like Mother Nature in her fickle mind does not know what to give us. In spite of that, I think we are very lucky as not to have snow-bound highways and communities like they have in Colorado and elsewhere in the East Coast. It was predicted that it will rain today and tomorrow but we will have some sun for the playoff of the Chargers and the Patriots Sunday. Not that I care, I am not a sport enthusiast. Putting the Chargers' loss in perspective...once again, San Diego sports fans have had their hearts broken by a local professional team. But let's keep our perspective - this was not a lost opportunity to find a cure for cancer, not a lost of opportunity to feed the hungry children of the world. It was after all, just a game - a game owned, coached and played, for the most part, by millionaires. The reality is that whether won or lost, the outcome would not have changed our lives in any significant way.

The memories I am going to write here will the continuation of my childhood. I find this enjoyable...remembering those yesteryear's of my life. We didn't have television, just a radio. Although we always had bicycles that my father used, I never did learn how to ride a bike...sound funny? It did not matter to me those days. As we lived on the main street of the city where buses and the electric tram came and went, plus the horse drawn "caromatas" and "calesas." Going places was not a problem. We walked! I started riding the electric trams and buses when I was seven years old. My father would deposit me on the bus or train and away I went to visit my grandparents in Pasig. It was a big fuss about that because some people thought I was too young for that adventure. As I grew older and bolder, I used to ride the trams without paying my fares...When I'd see the conductor coming, I go to the other side of the car thus avoiding to pay. I could jump from the train while it is moving. I could ride the bus all by myself and go to Tanza, Cavite to visit my paternal relatives there...and that was a long ride. Yes! We lived close to the main train station...When I was a bit older, there was always three of us that went together. We would wait somewhere far from the station but close enough that we knew the train would slow down going to the station. The trains that we targeted are the ones that came from the provinces and carried cargos of sugarcane, coconuts and other commodities on the open cabooses to be sold in the city. We would all jump up on the train and get what ever they have... just enough sugarcane for us to munch and coconuts to crack...to pass the day.

The first movie that I remember seeing was a Shirley Temple classic. I don't remember the title but those days Shirley Temple was very "big." When I became a little bit older, I was allowed to see movies on the weekend. I enjoyed the "Mark of Zorro." My friends and I fashioned swords from split bamboo poles and did a mock sword fight in the street. I remember at one time, a group of kids from another district came to our district and a sword fight was arranged. It was a sight to behold...at least no one was injured. The cartoons of those days were "Mickey Mouse," "Betty Boop," "Felix the Cat" and some others that are very classics if you happen to see them on TV.

MY TOYS:

I didn't have too many toys. The one toy that sticks in my mind was a scow boat that when a short stub of a candle is placed somewhere in the boat, it would activate the propeller and run on water. We made our own toys...Milk cans were saved to make cars and boats that you could pull with a string. We made kites from bamboo sticks and Japanese tissue papers. We folded newspapers into a boat and let then float in the gutter or in the river if we had the chance to be near one. As a child we were not allowed to play with regular cards...that is a no-no! Gamblers had bad reputations and especially my grandmother, opposed the idea that we played with regular cards. So we saved and hoarded bubble gun cards (they were like those that we have today with mostly comic characters on it) The game "Pitik" was the game to win or loose your cards. Two guys would bet on each others' cards by placing two cards on top of one's thumb and the next finger, flick the card in air, and then wait till it hits the ground. Two cards with either both of the face side or the back side lands at the same time...you win. "Tunbang Preso" (topple the prisoner) is another game where a can is utilized. The can was placed on a certain spot on the ground and with the approved distance of the players one would try to topple the can by throwing a flat stone directly to the can. This was always played by several kids at the time and the "it" preselected by the means of "jack and poy" (like scissor and stone game). The "it" was responsible for placing the can in its place when toppled. A good "pamato" (a flat stone the size of one's fist) was a must and we were always on the lookout for such stones. "Tatsing" is game similar to (spelunker). Sea shells was also a big part of some of our games. We collected soda pop caps for this game. We played hide and seek at night. This gave one a big chance to hide himself in the dark and avoid being the "it." A bicycle wheel rim without the spokes was very much coveted. You could have the envy of the other kids in the block while rolling it on the curb with a long strong wire curve at the end to maneuver. These are mostly boys games. The girls have their own games. We amused ourselves with simple things. Going to the mountains or hillsides to climb trees and pick guavas, tamarinds and berries. We'd always carry a packet of salt when we'd go fruit picking. The fruits always tasted better with a dash of salt. We went to farms that just harvested the crops...whatever was left we picked. The sweet potato farms after harvest a week or so were the best and when it rained, sprouts would come out and you could be sure that there would be a sweet potato for you to dig and cook on an open fire. We went fishing with just a bamboo pole and a safety pin. Catching frogs in the rice field brough us some frog legs "Tinola" with green papaya for dinner. I don't think I can cut the head of a frog these days. It was easy then without any qualms ...that's the only way to remove the skin.

MY PETS:

When we were staying in Makati; the dress shop across the tram station, we had a white mongrel named, of course "White." I had been bitten by a dog behind the knee when I was young and I think this gave me a phobia and didn't care for any dog that much. I had to have rabies shots because in the Philippines a dog is a dog and very seldom pampered like here...One could not be sure if the dog that bit me was rabid or not, so I had to have the shots . I think they were several shots that I had to take. By the way, the dog was killed. It is amazing that the pot bellied pigs have been a rage here recently. I had one when I was young. Her name was "He-Chang." It was black and she knew her name. She was a good pet...but ended up being slaughtered and up on the dinner table.

HOLIDAYS AND SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS:

CHRISTMAS - Being brought up as Catholic, I think now, Christmas was celebrated in the Philippines as part of the church's ploy to ensure the validity of the religion. The church knew that the Filipino people love "pomps and pageantry" and they used that to their advantage. Nevertheless, Christmas was not like Christmas as we have today. There was not much commercialism then. The Filipino houses had their "Parols" (lanterns made of bamboo sticks and colored tissue paper) that were hung on the window. They almost looked like the "pinatas" of the Mexicans, but they are in the shape of stars to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem. This was one project in schools that all the students in the Industrial Art class would do. Gifts were not as lavish as we have now. Christmas trees were seldom seen in the house during that celebration. Pine tress grow in the mountains of Baguio, the summer capital of the Island. The fun of the holiday begins on the first day of Christmas with the "Misa de Galo.'' People will brave the morning chills going to church when the cocks are starting to crow for the start of nine days novena before Christmas day. The funnest thing here were the food stalls that would line the street of the nearby church. They catered early breakfast treats, like "Bibingka," rice cake cooked in a terracotta dish, lined with banana leaves with charcoal embers glowing on top and below the dish. "Puto Bonbong," a combination of purple rice and sweet sticky rice, milled and ground, dried to remove most of the moisture, placed in a small bamboo, and steamed on a special cooker until done. Both of them are accompanied by freshly grated coconut, brown sugar and sesame seed. The drink is always "Salabat"or a sweet, piping hot ginger tea. There are other goodies to be bought and expected that one will buy something to go, for the people that did not go to church. Christmas Eve is the "Noche Buena" when a feast of after the midnight mass was celebrated. Hot chocolate (a real one from the trees - no Nestle; "Hamon de Punda, " similar to the Virginia Smithfield ham but this one is from China; whole stuffed boneless chicken with force-meat; beef rolls with Chorizo, the Bilbao and other things. Dessert is always "Leche Flan" and "Halaya," purple yam cake. Oranges, apples, grapes and the assorted nuts are imported. ..these items will come from my "step-grandmother" second wife of my paternal grandfather. She maintained a stall in "Divisoria," wet market in Manila. There were always chestnuts served. "Tikoy" (mooncakes made of sticky rice) came from the Chinese where my father bought his gold and other dental needs.

Gift giving was not the norm back then. A child or a kid could go visit their Godfather or Godmother and expect to be handed a few coins. I never did go to any of them. I guess I was a rebel and nonconformist then as of today that I thought doing that was stupid or like an imposition.

NEW YEAR:

This is the time I liked the most. We could buy fire crackers and meet the New Year with a bang. As a kid with my friends we'd scour for a fat bamboo pole and make it into a cannon. The concept was like the old cannons that has been used in the olden days. We'd make a hole somewhere below between the segments of the bamboo tube ,which was propped on something sturdy, put kerosene inside, do some hard blowing and light it from the hole. KABOOM!!!

FOURTH OF JULY:

Since the Philippines was still a Commonwealth, we celebrated the 4th of July with lots of firework displays. The ones I have seen in the States are not as good as what I experienced back then. Of course there was a parade too.

MOTHER'S DAY:

There was no card to give...Mothers were honored by the children by pinning a corsage on their chest. Pink flower (Kadena de Amor) if one's mother was alive and white flower if deceased. Father's day was not celebrated then.

EASTER:

No egg hunts, no Easter eggs and no chocolate Easter bunnies. The celebration is again another church affair centered on the Resurrection of Christ. We were told that when we hear the church bells ringing, we have to jump to grow tall...another one of those old wives myths!

MEMORIAL DAY:

As far as Memorial Day, I can relate this to the "ALL SOULS DAY" and "ALL SAINTS DAY." "TODOS DE LOS SANTOS" is a big event in the Philippines. Like in Mexico, people start to clean the graveyards, white wash the tombs to honor and remember the dead. We have a special cemetery in Manila that the Chinese -Filipino use. There you can see elaborate mausoleums and tombs. Some of these are big, complete with all the accouterments of a house. During the celebration, people will bring food, candles, mahjong sets and tables to play. The locals in the regular cemeteries will bring flowers and candles. They will stay all day and through the night in vigil. This is the time to visit friends and at times, it was the time for lovers to elope...especially those where the family does not approve of the woman or the man to be the right person to be included as family. "TODOS LOS SANTOS" is the time to raid somebody's chicken coop and steal one of the their chickens. I did not steal a chicken but I must admit I was accomplished in stealing a duck. We cooked the duck and ate it. This is equivalent of trick or treat but the trick was done without the knowledge of the victim. Also at this time a group of children will serenade houses; expecting some coin handouts. If the owner of the house did not give them anything, the children would have a song that will depict the owner as a very stingy person for all the neighbors to hear.

There is no; Armistice Day, Labor Day, and we didn't have Thanksgiving day too. There are only a few Holidays that we celebrated those days. I guess that was different among the Americans that lived in the Philippines at that time.