HOW IT WAS.

Compiled from my previous Facebook posts. 

Basic school implements when I was in grade school. Mongol brand of pencils was the only pencils then. Bic ballpens and “Golden Gate” notebooks. Any other brands were unusual. It was sheer pleasure as mom started to buy all these “tools” before the start of classes in March. I didn’t always have a new “book bag” in case my old bag was still okay. Of course, we wore uniforms; khaki pants and white “polo” shirts for boys. Do you remember the abacus? (Photos: CTTO.) ✏️📝🖍

Nutribun is a bread product used in elementary school feeding programs in the Philippines to combat child malnutrition in the 1970s, when I was in grade school or high school. The base bread of the original 1971–1997 program was designed at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University between 1968 and 1970. It was made of a wheat blend flour and non-fat dried milk donated by the United States under the PL 480 Title II Food Aid.

🍞🍞🍞

In my childhood because I was the younger brother, I had to content myself as Robin to my bro Alberto’s Batman. Superheroes were part of my childhood. Escape, refuge, shelter. Children don’t have to be real all the time. I am against parenting when all the pains of adult life are shared to kids. Let them be and stay responsible as a parent. Your reality isn’t theirs. They will course their journey their own way but your grownup guidance is imperative, of course. 🦸👶🦸‍♂️

I was born into and grew old in a Pacific archipelago where 100 degrees temp is an ordinary day. So my summer snacks were all about “ice.” Ice candy. Ice “buko.” Ice cream in a bun. “Halo-halo.” And “Samalamig,” a collective term for various sweet chilled beverages that usually include jelly-like ingredients. They come in various flavors, and are commonly sold by street vendors as refreshments: “Gulaman” and tapioca pearls, “kaong,” nata de coco, and coconut. 🥥🇵🇭🥤

Natural water flowing from Mt Banahaw, gathered by townspeople and visiting “pilgrims” for their medicinal value. Of course, the “religion” aspect is cultural. The water is pristinely medicinal in the sense that it is not “contaminated” with chemicals and other agents. Growing up in the mountains, we relied a lot on water from brooks, streams, rivers, rain, deep well. Tap water from the faucet was either unavailable, scarce, or expensive. So we had less ailments then. (Photo: CTTO.) 🌬💨💦

Neighbors in the barrio used to gather in front of the convenience store or “sari-sari” store for a round of “tsismisan” (gossips) or ordinary life banter. For sure, in between brags, rumours, and “news,” jokes are tossed. Laughter, in general, punctuated the easy, instinctive convergence. I am sure this cultural reflex is still observed back home in the Philippines but not as much. The old tracks are lost as the young went online. But that was community, then. (Photo: CTTO.) 🗣👥😂

Pomade? Scented ointment applied to the hair? Old pomade brands were George Clooney/Ulysses Everett’s Dapper Dan (2000 movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”) Murray's Superior Pomade, Sweet Georgia Brown, or Royal Crown? Brylcreem? When my dad was feelin’ rich, he had Tancho Tique; when broke, Supremo. When he’s really broke, he’d usher me to the store to get as “utang” or loan/IOU this eerie pomade with The Beatles as brand name. 👨👨‍🦰🧔‍♂️

Bell-bottoms are a style of trousers that become wider from the knees downward, forming a bell-like shape of the trouser leg. Of course you know that. In the 1960s bell-bottoms became fashionable all over the world. Often made of denim, they flared out from the bottom of the calf, and had slightly curved hems and a circumference of 18 inches at the bottom of each leg opening. They were usually worn with Cuban-heeled shoes, clogs, or Chelsea boots. 📺☎️📸

While most kids were running around outside playing all sorts of games, I was in a room, reading. I read anything and everything: Books, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, “komiks” etc etcetera. My dad had to “discipline” me for reading too much and not minding practical thingies that he tried to teach me, like electronics stuff and auto mechanics. I realized later on that dad was right. But I was/am still reading. LOL! 📚📰📚

In those days a shiny pair of shoes was elegance, good-grooming, and social status. I used to “shine” my father’s shoes with “biton” (wax shoe polish) and brush. Shoe-polishing was also a job then. Dad also enjoyed attaching a metal thingy on the soles of his shoes. When he walked it’d sound like he was tap dancing in slow motion. These days, I now see men in fine suits paired with sneakers or “tennis shoes” with “just jumped off the bed” hairdo. 👞👢👞