Gypsy Witch

* photograph from amazon.com

Gypsy Witch was the signature deck of Lola Gunday.  She had a certain knack for  divination and fortune-telling, much so that she correctly predicted the exact date of the Liberation of Manila and the facial features of the American soldier that would liberate the family from the Japanese soldiers at the Philippine General Hospital in 1945.

I don't know how the cards are played or how exactly the divination sequence works, but when I was a kid, I would see Lola entertain her friends with card readings, and some of her readings were said to be correct!  The cards are not exactly Romani in origin, and I read somewhere that the system was actually devised by a French lady.  It was introduced to wider audiences in the early 1900s and has become one of the most popular fortune-telling methods around.

I saw a deck being offered on the internet, and the more I read about the online offer, the more I realized that a there is renewed interest in cartomancy and tarot readings among the internet-savvy youth.  Nice touch there!

The Hennessy Cigarette Bottle

Restoring an Easy Rider

I must be absolutely nuts, spending P4,500 to restore my old easy-rider when a new mountain bike costs only P3,500.  Kong bought this easy-rider for me in the early seventies, and he can still remember the smile I had on my face when we walked out of the old Arcega's Department Store along Aurora Boulevard.  I had Mang Andres paint the batalla (wheelbase) with some Pylox paint, and I took the bike to the nearest bike shop for add-ons.  Aside from the batalla, only the handlebar and the tenedor were salvaged, and everything else, including the seat, pedal, tires and chain were replaced.  It was in that bad a condition--what do you expect for a 40-year old bike?  However, today it's a beauty, and I am so happy whenever the kids ride it. Easy to handle, sturdy and practical. And with it comes thousands of kilometers of riding enjoyment (and unfortunately, some mishaps too).  I love the memories and I wouldn't trade it in for any those fancy expensive bikes (some are priced at P160,000)!

Where Else?

Where Else?

I've written before about the good times we had at the Intercontinental Hotel in the Makati Commercial Center.  I remember queuing up at the Where Else discotheque to gain admission, drinking till the wee hours of the morning at the La Boulevardier, having a midnight snack at the Jeepney Cafe.  I remember the good food at the Bahia, and the roast beef at the Prince Albert.  Fun times, wild times, distinguished times.  Most especially memorable times.

I heard that the hotel will be torn down at the end of the year.  Of course, a phoenix is expected, but things will never be the same.  When the bar is set very high, the new entrants to the market will find it difficult to make a name for themselves.

I attended a forum on corporate governance there last week.  Stepping into the hotel was near freaky experience, like visiting a friend suffering from the big C, stage 4 at that. Such a dreary thought.

Where else will we run to, you ask?  The Fort?  Entertainment City?  What does Metro Manila have to offer?

Mid-life crisis, you might say.  Let's reinvent ourselves, re-tool, re-polish, re-invigorate. For such is life--as the song goes, constant change.  Ahhh... the exuberance of youth!

Ciao, good old friend!

Harabas

Driving along Otis St. over the weekend, I somehow trailed an old familiar silhouette from afar.  I managed to give chase and upon reaching the Quirino stoplight, my suspicions were delightfully confirmed--it was a Harabas Asian Utility Vehicle (AUV) which was released by General Motors in the early seventies.  This specific unit I saw is probably one of the last surviving (and running) vehicles of its kind.  The driver was kind enough to give me permission to take a photo, as I explained to him that during my student years, I was a struggling car salesman for GM & Isuzu. 

To give you a brief background, the Harabas was one of the first locally manufactured AUVs under the ASEAN car production program (the Ford Fiera and the DMG Sakbayan were the other two).   As an engineer, Kongkong was quite involved in the development and assembly of this vehicle.  Compared to the AUVs built today, it looks like small and crudely made, but then again, you have to consider that except for the engine and the drive train, the whole vehicle was locally designed and produced!  The second generation AUVs already included the Isuzu KC-20, the Toyota Tamaraw and the Chrysler Cimarron.  Over the years, the workmanship and the construction of the AUVs have evolved to what we have today (Mitsubishi Adventure, Isuzu Hi-Lander & Crosswind, Toyota Revo & Innova).

The phrase "pang Harabas" in the vernacular means that you will use something for rough and unglamorous (even reckless) usage.  This means that the product or material has to be able to adapt to tough environments and that it has to have a "cowboy" attitude--not needing polished refinery to uplift the ego.  The root of the lingo can be traced to the Kenkoy pre-war comic strip (Harabas was his family name), and the concept was solidified with the reputation of the Harabas AUV!  The vehicle was meant to be a workhorse.

If you look at it in the context of the local car industry, the Harabas was an experimental effort to get the jeepney into mainstream vehicle production.  Unfortunately, however, the AUVs today are mostly built in Thailand and Indonesia, because by the early eighties, the Philippines had lost its pole position as the ASEAN center of car manufacturing (in the sixties and early seventies, the manufacturing might of the Philippines was second only to that of Japan).  By the late eighties, the Malaysians had come up with the Proton, and today, the Chinese and the Indian car manufacturers are releasing new models that rival those of the Koreans and the Japanese.

Sayang!

Love and Berry

Time flies by so quickly.  Monique, Angie and I walked past the Time Zone at the Robinson's Ermita Mall, and we spied a couple of Love and Berry machines.  Throwback!  This collectible card game was the craze a few years ago, and the girls just loved it!  If I remember correctly, it was Luisa who first got hooked on the fad, and shortly thereafter, Monique and Angie followed.  I remember the madness--swipe after swipe, in search for those precious cards.  Guess what, it was a game of dress-up and the girls just loved it!

Color Your Tub

This is one of the many joys of being a kid at heart--colored bath water from Alex Toys!  Practically all my children, nieces and nephews shrieked in delight watching the tub water turn into swirls of rainbow colors.  After 20 years of play, I found the last few tablets and I will pass these onto to Anita's kids, whom I think will enjoy them as much as their cousins.

DOTA

More on Monique's game addictions.  After she turned into a teenager, Harvest Moon was left behind, and she joined her cousins in the multi-player game of DOTA.  I don't have any idea what it's all about, but for two or three summers, all I could hear from them was how to conduct a concerted attack on their enemies!  The kids are all grown up now, but I still remember the days when they'd cross the street to play in the neighborhood internet cafe! Time flies so fast...

Harvest Moon

Spotify can take you so many years back in time. Sometimes, however, not in the context of the song's genre.  Harvest Moon of Neil Young somehow made it to my playlist, but the song didn't make me reminisce about the seventies.  My thoughts drifted to the Nintendo DS game that Monique was so addicted to around ten years ago.  It's a farmer simulation game that teaches the value of care and nurture; no one plays this nowadays, but I remember my daughter's screen concentration and glee whenever she'd win a prize.  Absolutely picture perfect in my mind!

Vitalis

I got a Viber message from a good friend of mine; he was touring across the United States and he came across Vitalis hair tonic, something that we haven't seen in town for ages.  We used this product extensively in the seventies, to keep our hair firmly in place, even "when the wind blows."  I'd use it once in a while, but he was a firm believer in the product, and he wouldn't leave home without it! 

Calcium - Sandoz

This is one vitamin supplement that I haven't seen on the local market for quite some time now Calcium-Sandoz.  Kong Kong used to buy this very often when we were kids, and these orange-flavored effervescent pills were just like any other soft-drink for us.  I understand that the supplement is now marketed by Novartis, and that the packaging is different, but I don't think they sell this locally anymore.  I miss this stuff!

Kung Fu

"Snatch the pebble from my hand..."

In 1972, we went crazy over the television series Kung Fu, which starred David Carradine as the Chinese-American Shao Lin monk Kwai Chang Caine, who wandered around the Old American West doing good deeds for common folk while being chased by lawmen.  In the series, Caine's teacher was brutally killed by the Emperor's nephew, and in rage, Caine retaliated.  Forced to flee Imperial China for the United States, Caine began a long journey to find his next of kin, armed with only his fist-fighting techniques and his spiritual discipline. Kong Kong and I would wait for each episode like cult-fans and we'd watch each episode together, and he would occasionally interject stories from his childhood in China.  I remember I would try as hard as I could to imitate the Grasshopper and snatch the pebble from his hand (well, he was too fast and I couldn't get the pebble, except when he'd let me). In Chinese, the words "Kung Fu" literally means a skill that is acquired through hard work and constant practice, and Kong made sure that the adage "Practice Makes Perfect" would be drilled into my psyche.  It was a time of good father and son bonding, a time of enjoyment as well as learning.

The English Teachers

I recently learned that they had set up awards in memory of two of my English teachers, Fr. Cornelius Pineau (junior high school) and Fr. Daniel Clifford (senior year).  When I heard the news, memories of youth came like a bolt of lightning, flooding me with mixed emotions.  Happy (those were great times), sad (I miss the both of them), lucky and privileged (they don't make teachers like they used to).  I distinctly remember the experience of being under these two lovable priests, a welcome honor.  "Tip of tongue to tip of teeth," Fr. Pineau would remind us when we'd pronounce "th" as "d," and we'd spend hours analyzing sentence structure with the use of diagrams (I don't think English teachers do this anymore).  This kind Canadian would often catch me sleeping in class, but he never got mad.  Instead, he would look at me like a grandfather would, and would merely send me to the lavatory to wash my face for a second wind.  Fr. Clifford. the American, was a tad stricter, and I remember him telling us that staying in the Philippines for so long had gotten his accent off, such that every time he'd return to the States, his relatives would complain, "Gee Dan, you talk funny!"  Both lovable teachers, devoted priests, and kind gentlemen.  Awards for outstanding faculty, named after two of the best of the best!

RSD Merienda

What's brewing for merienda at the main house these days?  Shades of many a past afternoon's delight!  Gwammy cooked some hot binignit (also known as ginataan), with plenty of sago (tapioca balls), langka (jackfruit) and bilo-bilo (balls made of rice flour).  This is the absolute favorite of Anita, who was able to finish 3 bowls in just one sitting.

Michaela came in with lots of purchases from a panaderia--kababayan, colored pudding rolls and pan de coco.  Although the breads were good, it seemed to me that the bakery we bought from when we were kids made better tasting stuff.

Vicky gave some palitaw, which is flattened bilo-bilo, usually swathed in grated coconut.  In this case, the palitaw came with syrup and latik (sweetened coconut meat).  Monique contributed her Toaster Pops, although I don't think we had the time to pop it in the oven toaster!  We had fun bonding over 45 minutes of afternoon merienda, and it seems that whenever we meet, all we do is eat, eat eat!

Down Syndrome

Down Syndrome, or medically referred to as Trisomy 21, is a genetic condition that affects some 0.1% of the Philippine population, one of the most common birth anomalies.  Usually, a person inherits 23 chromosomes from the father and another 23 from the mother (a total of 46), but in some cases, the 21st tandem carries an extra chromosome.  This brings the total chromosome count up to 47.  Children with Down syndrome have very recognizable facial and body features such as upward slanting eyes, small ears, small mouth, single crease in the palm of the hand, wide short hands with short fingers and decreased muscle tone.  DS children also have delayed mental and emotional development and can also throw temper tantrums.  But if you treat them right, DS kids are totally malambing!

*genetic karyotype from Wikipedia, notice that there are 3 chromosomes in the 21st pair

Pipay (Andi's nickname) has Down Syndrome, and while she is already 11 years old, she is our forever-baby.  At dawn, her usual routine is to come close and cuddle up close to either myself or Vicky, and it seems that whenever she grabs my arms to put around her, she recognizes the most important part of living--being loved as part of a family.  She is practically deaf, and can't talk.  She plays with her saliva all day.  She'd pull the hair of her classmates and give off her silly laugh.  Her thyroid under performs, so she's still the size of a 2 year old kid.  She can get cranky at a whim.  She'll never read or write.  But most important, she crawls up to me and Vicky each morning, and demands that we place our arms around her.  She completes our family.

When Pipsie was born, we wept and asked "How Come? Why?"  Kong Kong immediately told me that we just have to love her more, and with that, came acceptance.  To medical science, geneticists and statisticians, it's called a birth anomaly.  To me, it's a regular part of my family, no cause for alarm, no big deal.

I just wanted you to be aware of that.