Childhood Memories
Two posts back I said that my best childhood experience was full of adventure. And it’s because I was always out of the house somewhere. Laagan kaajo, sa Bisaya pa or gala in Tagalog. I’m just glad I had my own share of happy childhood. It’s a great blessing knowing that many kids are deprived of this. I’m grateful too that during my time as a kid having fun meant playing in the great and even wild outdoors by myself or with other kids. Today a lot of children confine themselves with their pc games, playstation or TV for fun. It’s sad. These kids don’t know what real fun is! Here are some of my fun-filled childhood memories I like to share.
Catching Spiders
I remember going with my brother into the woods to find the most unique and strongest spider there is in order to win the spider fight which was big thing especially among the boys. Using a stick we made the arachnids come inside an empty match box. The more the better and we’d nourish them with flies and other insects. It’s gross but that was how we prep them up for the fight.
Full Moon
Every time the moon was bright and full, all the kids were out in the street playing patintero, hide & seek and spin the bottle (truth or dare). We played until we’re dead tired. And there was no fear of getting kidnapped or something. That wasnt even heard of back then in our province.
Swimming Lesson
I learned to swim by myself at the pantalan (pier). With a bunch of other kids we were there almost every Saturday. We didnt mind the scorching heat of the sun which was why I was so dark skinned and my hair was brownish. (Histurang taga-dalagit jud!) We liked it even better if there was a ship docked at the pier. We’d climb up to the front deck ( a la Titanic), jump off and make a huge splash in the water. The adrenalin rush was unmatchable, we kept on climbing back up!
Tree Climbing
I loved climbing trees to pick ripe bayabas, santol, mangga, sampalok, tambis, caimito, balimbing ...name it, I got it! One day during recess me and two of my classmates decided to pick santol. No, actually we decided to steal santol after learning that the owner was away. I climbed up the tree first. One more branch to go and I’d reach that bunch of golden goodies. All of a sudden I heard a loud buzzing. I’ve stirred up a beehive! In a flash I slid down the tree, ouch! and ran away as fast as I could, furious bees behind me. I didnt get any santol. What I got were long red scratches from my chest down to my tummy.
Labada Day
Washing clothes wasnt my favorite thing unless we did it at the river. For me it was more of a picnic day than laundry day. Aside from the huge plangganas, sabon and palo-palo we also brought with us rice, kamote, ginamos and fish, and cook them right there by the river. My task was cooking our lunch and rinsing the clothes using palu-palo which was actually my favorite part of the very tedious, manual and primitive way of washing clothes. When my service wasnt needed I’d wander around enjoying the waterfall, catching shrimps or snails or swimming. We’re done usually late afternoon, and of course I didnt mind carrying planggana heavy with wet clothes on my head because I had so much fun.
Hill Top
There’s this hill close to our house of which I was a regular climber because of the many guava and kalachuchi trees up there. I just loved the sweet smell of kalachuchi. I picked the flowers and turned them into leis or takyan ( sipa in Tagalog). One day my aunt asked me to babysit her son. She said not to go anywhere until she returns but the super laagan (gala) that I was, I took my 4 year old cousin with me up to the hill. Realizing that I was gonna be in big trouble if my aunt found out what I did, I kinda threatened my cousin. I saw that he enjoyed the hilly adventure very much so I told him that he must not tell his mom or anyone or else I wouldnt take him up there again. He agreed! We climbed the hill a couple more times later. And he never ever really told anybody until years later.
Well, I can go on and on with more pero siempre hanggang dito na lang kasi super haba na. You may want to share some happy experiences from your childhood too.
It’s late, good night!
.
Catching Spiders
I remember going with my brother into the woods to find the most unique and strongest spider there is in order to win the spider fight which was big thing especially among the boys. Using a stick we made the arachnids come inside an empty match box. The more the better and we’d nourish them with flies and other insects. It’s gross but that was how we prep them up for the fight.
Full Moon
Every time the moon was bright and full, all the kids were out in the street playing patintero, hide & seek and spin the bottle (truth or dare). We played until we’re dead tired. And there was no fear of getting kidnapped or something. That wasnt even heard of back then in our province.
Swimming Lesson
I learned to swim by myself at the pantalan (pier). With a bunch of other kids we were there almost every Saturday. We didnt mind the scorching heat of the sun which was why I was so dark skinned and my hair was brownish. (Histurang taga-dalagit jud!) We liked it even better if there was a ship docked at the pier. We’d climb up to the front deck ( a la Titanic), jump off and make a huge splash in the water. The adrenalin rush was unmatchable, we kept on climbing back up!
Tree Climbing
I loved climbing trees to pick ripe bayabas, santol, mangga, sampalok, tambis, caimito, balimbing ...name it, I got it! One day during recess me and two of my classmates decided to pick santol. No, actually we decided to steal santol after learning that the owner was away. I climbed up the tree first. One more branch to go and I’d reach that bunch of golden goodies. All of a sudden I heard a loud buzzing. I’ve stirred up a beehive! In a flash I slid down the tree, ouch! and ran away as fast as I could, furious bees behind me. I didnt get any santol. What I got were long red scratches from my chest down to my tummy.
Labada Day
Washing clothes wasnt my favorite thing unless we did it at the river. For me it was more of a picnic day than laundry day. Aside from the huge plangganas, sabon and palo-palo we also brought with us rice, kamote, ginamos and fish, and cook them right there by the river. My task was cooking our lunch and rinsing the clothes using palu-palo which was actually my favorite part of the very tedious, manual and primitive way of washing clothes. When my service wasnt needed I’d wander around enjoying the waterfall, catching shrimps or snails or swimming. We’re done usually late afternoon, and of course I didnt mind carrying planggana heavy with wet clothes on my head because I had so much fun.
Hill Top
There’s this hill close to our house of which I was a regular climber because of the many guava and kalachuchi trees up there. I just loved the sweet smell of kalachuchi. I picked the flowers and turned them into leis or takyan ( sipa in Tagalog). One day my aunt asked me to babysit her son. She said not to go anywhere until she returns but the super laagan (gala) that I was, I took my 4 year old cousin with me up to the hill. Realizing that I was gonna be in big trouble if my aunt found out what I did, I kinda threatened my cousin. I saw that he enjoyed the hilly adventure very much so I told him that he must not tell his mom or anyone or else I wouldnt take him up there again. He agreed! We climbed the hill a couple more times later. And he never ever really told anybody until years later.
Well, I can go on and on with more pero siempre hanggang dito na lang kasi super haba na. You may want to share some happy experiences from your childhood too.
It’s late, good night!
.
1 Comments:
At November 14, 2007 8:53 PM,
Anonymous said…
i ill always remember the big santol tree in ront o our house....i used to cimb that tree every aternoon, pagkakain ng lunch.......
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