The World of Second Chances

Buenos Recuerdos: Old Balanga

July 31, 2021

Life & Love

Fifteen years ago, I was using a brochure-type map whenever I went to some unknown locations. Today, travelers rely on Waze to give them traffic updates and route suggestions. There is also Google Earth for those who prefer to see how the location is. Take note that Google Earth is updated every five years; the landmarks could be outdated.

Google Earth lets me revisit the past places where I lived or visited. I’m pretty sure that I am not the only person who does this. As I grow older, I have a strong feeling to reconnect to my roots. Whenever I think of my hometown, my recollections were about its past images and landmarks.

Jose Rizal Street

The Balanga that I remember had a creek on that spot. Mang Tinoy’s Lechon stood on a wooden platform above the creek. The lechon stall was later transferred in front of Denbel’s. Lysa’s Snack House was popular for the beer-drinking male customers for their boys’ night out. Live bands performed on its rival pub house “Pista sa Barrio.” To keep up with the competition, Lysa’s had the jukebox for their customers’ music. Farmacia Angelita, one of the oldest pharmacies in Balanga, used to occupy a one-storey building before. I can’t remember what was there before on the Mini-Stop spot. Bank of the Philippine Islands used to be a local restaurant that served the best-tasting banana split and chicken mami. If my memory serves me right, it was called “Magnolia Ice Cream House.” I am not sure if there used to be a bowling alley along this side of the road. What I am sure of is on the opposite side of the road, there used to be a bowling alley on the spot where Vercon’s is erected now. My friend’s parents had a small eatery beside the bowling alley.

We used to see the church’s tower from our house before.

I think that Galleria Victoria is better without the bridge-like connection to the The Plaza hotel.

Galleria Victoria was completed in 2011 but before that, there was no building to block the horizon of the Talisay, San Jose, and Poblacion areas. We used to live nearby and if we wanted to check on the downtown traffic, it was easier because of the open space at the intersection. The Balanga Arcade used to occupy the Gallery Victoria spot. If you are facing the arcade, you could see Michell’s Bakeshop on the left side, Johnpel’s Drughouse in the middle, and a dental clinic on the right side. Michell’s Bakeshop is a Balanga brand and it dominated the Bataan market before Red Ribbon and Goldilocks put up their stores in there.

Forget about the stalls in the picture. I got it from Google Earth. That area is much better now.

The building with a clock on it is the Plaza Hotel Balanga. As far as I know, it was originally a one-storey building that Bataan Community College used to occupy. The school was transferred to Diversion Drive in the mid-80s beside Michrom’s. In 1991, Balanga welcomed its first Jollibee branch on the Bataan Community College spot. Before we had our first Jollibee, Cindy’s (The Place To Be) used to be the only big fast-food restaurant available. I loved eating at the first Jollibee branch because you could see the panoramic view of the landscapes from there.
In the plaza, Jose Rizal’s monument used to face the municipal hall (it’s now a city hall). Today, his monument is facing the Galleria Victoria. His monument has sentimental value to me because one of the workers who helped build the plaza was my great-grandfather. His name was written at the back of its platform. (I hope it’s still there). The intersection arrow on the picture was a busy road in Poblacion before. The northern part of the arrow will lead you to Ibayo, the southern part to Poblacion, the western part to San Jose and Capitol Drive, and the eastern part to Talisay.

That river used to have a lot of water lilies.

This is an ongoing construction of Capitol Square Building when Google Earth captured it. It used to be a Pantranco (?) Bus Terminal in the 80s. I can’t remember exactly if it was Pantranco or Philippine Rabbit because bus stations in Balanga used to move out a lot.

J2

It’s the J2 Food House! The original one was made of native materials like sawali. J2 is famous for its delicious lutong-bahay. My high school classmates used to eat there during our lunch break. Ironically, I have never been to J2 and I’m looking forward to eating there someday.

Kumusta na kaya si Sir Triguero?

Side gate going to the grade school and 1st year HS classrooms (not sure if the HS classrooms are still there)

Tdel (Tomas del Rosario College) used to be the only private high school in Balanga. The main gate used to have little privacy when I was still a student. The walls were 30% lower and were secured by a cyclone fence to discourage trespassers. The tall building on the left was just one-storey before. There was a quadrangle in the middle of the school where we held minor school programs. The quadrangle appeared to be a garden now, I have no idea where they hold their programs now. During my time, we seldom used the main gate. We passed by the side gates where the guard could easily filter students who were not wearing their proper uniform. Male students were allowed to wear denim pants and a white shirt only on Fridays for our CAT (Citizen Army Training) activity. The school has better facilities now like better classrooms with air-conditioning. I don’t know if the golden shower trees are still around as they add character to the school.

VHS days. That was a long time ago.

We were allowed to leave the school premises during lunch break. There was a time when Rhonna and I went to the VHS rental during our recess. The place was a five-minute walk to our classroom, we told the guard that we needed to run an errand. Of course, VHS is a thing of the past now. JT Express occupies this area in the present.

Old Balanga’s simple joys.

Speaking of a public swimming pool, forget about the slides, artificial waves, variety of food and souvenir shops to choose from, and water activity sports. We did not enjoy these bonuses when we were growing up. The nearest (paid) public swimming pool available was in Dona Francisca, the Joyous Resort. What Joyous Resort could only offer was a kiddie pool and a half-Olympic size pool only. The cottage area was close to the fishponds and you would have to climb a few steps to get into the swimming pool area. I found the shower rooms isolated and prone to security issues. Joyous had private cottages, too for those who wanted an overnight stay at the resort. The structure on the photo served as a restaurant in the morning and a disco house in the evening. The last times I’ve been there was when I attended Rowena and Roland’s wedding and when I celebrated my birthday with Meliza and Shellah.

Reminiscing the old days does not necessarily mean that I resent what we have now. I am proud of what our town has become from being a sleepy town to a busy commercial place. We’re moving along with the changing times. But yes, structures do not last a lifetime. Twenty years from now, our children or grandchildren will witness a different image of Balanga. And when that happens, they would probably tell stories of how it was like in Balanga before.
Bus Memories

July 23, 2021

Life & Love

Photo taken from the web.

It took me to reach my 30s before I finally dared to admit that I have a severe case of biyahilo (motion sickness). They say that Asians are more prone to motion sickness than the other races. My earliest memory of experiencing motion sickness was when I was five years old. It was a long queue of passengers at the Pantranco Station in San Jose, Balanga, Bataan. I probably fell asleep while on our way to our destination so I didn’t feel the motion sickness. But on our way back home, no amount of guava leaves and White Flower oil could ease the motion sickness. My grandmother said that the motion sickness would disappear once I grow older. In between five to eleven years old, I avoided riding on a bus. My jeepney and car rides were equally nauseating but those were short trips as compared to a bus ride. Therefore, my recovery time was also shorter. Because of this limitation, I was never a well-traveled child.

I was in Grade 6 when Ma’am de Dios announced that the top 15 students of the class were invited for an educational trip to Clark Air Base, Pampanga. Of course, I was very excited and forgot about my motion sickness. To boost my confidence, my grandmother gave me some pocket money for the trip. We were traversing the Roman Highway when I felt a little sick. Ma’am de Dios noticed my pale face and commented that I was probably imagining my motion sickness. She knew about my condition because I backed out of a choir competition the year before. The stop-over in San Fernando, Pampanga allowed me to wash my face in the restroom before going back to our bus. While waiting for the coach captain, I told Donna that I was not feeling well. Worried, she asked our classmates if there was anybody who could lend me a face towel. Maybelle did not only lent her face towel to me; she was also the one busy wiping my forehead with the wet face towel. I took a piece of Bonamine tablet and hoped that it would end my misery. It did. The Clark Educational Trip was one of my memorable trips in Grade School. I wouldn’t make it without the help of Donna and Maybelle.

I survived my bus rides in college with the help of total strangers. Those were the days when nobody ever thought that travel time could be reduced to 4 hours when you use the SCTEX-TPLEX-Pozzorubio Exit going to Baguio. Those were the days of lahar and floodings due to the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991. A seatmate asked why I looked pale and I told him that it has been hours since my last meal. At first, he thought that I had no enough money to buy food and drinks. Then I told him that I don’t eat when traveling to lessen my motion sickness. During our stop-over in La Union, he gave me something to eat and drink. Maybe out of appreciation, my motion sickness stopped.

As I grew older, I learned that the trick to not having motion sickness is to take a Bonamine tablet on an empty stomach an hour before traveling. This level of security helped me get through my job interviews in Manila. One time, I got an interview invitation to Kraft-Paranaque. I prepared to wear my black blazer, white blouse, black slacks, black shoes, and some pieces of jewelry. It was obvious that I was a job applicant. My seatmate smiled at me and guessed it right. Her phone rang, answered it and both of us laughed.

“Did you understand what I said to him?” she asked.

“Only that part,” I answered.

“I’m an entertainer in Japan. He is my boyfriend,” she said.

She told me a little story about her vacation and how her Japanese boyfriend kept on checking on her. I told her about my job hunting and she replied with a worried look on her face.

“Why don’t you keep your earrings and necklace for the meantime? Then just wear it back once you reached Kraft.”

She had a genuine concern about how I looked so vulnerable in the city. As soon as she unboarded in Cubao, I removed my earrings and necklace. The passenger behind her sat beside me and asked me if I was going to an interview. I confirmed and asked him if he knew of a jeepney ride from Pasay to Paranaque. He said that he was also from the province so he had no idea about it. He asked for my cellphone number and I gave it to him. He unboarded the bus in EDSA-Mandaluyong while I went straight to Victory-Pasay. After realizing that it was not the right time to explore, I took a taxi to get to Kraft. The seatmate who unboarded in EDSA-Mandaluyong called me up to ask if I was okay.

I was on my way home in April 2007 when my seatmate had to courage to ask me if I was visiting Bataan or going home. I was not in the right mood to be friendly so I just said “whichever.” We were stuck in traffic in Guagua and maybe most of the passengers were either bored or pissed off so I finally warmed up to him. I gave him half-truths of the details that he asked about me. Later on, he asked for my cellphone number. I gave him an imaginary number that he found out right away when my cellphone failed to receive his call.

“Magtiwala ka lang. Alagad ako ng batas,” (Trust me. I’m a law enforcer) he said.

“Ikaw ang wag magtiwala sa akin. Terorista ako” (Don’t trust me. I’m a terrorist) I said.

We became text mates after that. He said that I probably gave him a false name and false address because he looked around for me and nobody knew the name that I gave him. One time, I was on my way to San Fernando, Pampanga when the bus stopped in Hermosa, Bataan for an army checkpoint. If I remember it right, those were the times when the reds were active and even burned down a Bataan Transit bus a week earlier. An army soldier went inside the bus and I heard that familiar voice. Because I was just three rows away, he quickly saw me and went near to where I was seated.

“Ingat ka, Ms. Kung Sino Ka Man,”(Take care, Ms. Whoever) he said.

Aside from nice seatmates, I was blessed to have encountered nice bus conductors. After graduation, my first job was in a company in Subic Bay Freeport Zone. Mang Basalio, the bus conductor, knew that I was already employed yet he always charged me with student fare. When I moved to my second company, I tried to look for him but he was not always around. With my second company, bus riding became challenging because I had to be wary of hold-uppers in the Bonifacio area. The bus conductor never failed to reserve a seat for me.

Chaos and greed are everywhere but kindness still prevails in the hearts of many.
Why I Never Felt How Strong the 1990 Earthquake Was

July 17, 2021

Filipino Culture

Image taken from the ABS-CBN News site

Natural disasters and heinous crimes were familiar news headlines in the 90s. The series of misfortunes started on July 16, 1990, when a deadly quake hit most parts of Luzon. What do I remember? I could start the story by recalling the events that happened from that Monday morning until the evening. They say that in the absence of modern equipment that could predict an earthquake, we could rely on the changes in animal behavior for some clues. I remember that during the weekend, there were more ants than usual and our dogs appeared restless. But other than that, there were no signs of a forthcoming disaster like a small earthquake. Back in the 90s, July and August were the peaks of the rainy season. But on that particular month, the rainfall was lighter than the previous year. I should know because our barangay has always been the catchbasin and our yard was dry when the earthquake happened.

After school, I went home and started doing my assignments. It was around 3:30 PM when the statue of the Sto. Nino started dancing. I got scared and thought of it as a paranormal event. I realized that there was a strong earthquake when the figurines began moving. Being prone to motion sickness, I jumped up and down to prevent myself from feeling the quake. As a consequence, I did not have any idea of how strong it was and thought of it as one of the regular quakes we had. My mother checked me on the phone; I assured her that I was good.

“Malakas ah. Hindi ka nahilo? (It was strong. You didn’t feel dizzy?)” she asked.

I assured her that I was okay. She asked if my brother was home. I told her that he was still in school. I was home alone. The aftershocks lasted for another 30 minutes. I went out of the house and saw neighbors on their windows. They were alarmed but they did not look scared. After another 30 minutes, my father came home and if you knew him, you could imagine the tension on his face. He asked about my brother and I told him that he was not home yet. He checked on his walkie-talkie and found that it was muted. (I muted it because I was doing my homework earlier). I expected him to get mad at me for not hearing him but he left the house and probably went to check my brother in school.

Since we were not yet in the age of social media or advanced satellite reporting, I had no idea about the damages in the other areas. We knew that some parts of Luzon were affected but the recorded footage was shown on TV the following day only. I could not remember if our school suspended the classes for one week or two weeks. I used those times to listen to the news or watch TV about the rescue operations in Baguio, Pangasinan, and Nueva Ecija. Unfortunately, it became a retrieval operation later on.

I have yet to confirm it but it was said that Bea Lucero was among those who were checked in in either Nevada or Hyatt. She survived when she used her athletic skills to run as fast as she could. Years later, I saw the remaining rubble of these hotels. What I could not forget until now is the interview of a young high school girl whose lower body was trapped under large debris. She was lying face down and was obviously in great pain. Before she passed, she said “I love you” to her parents. It would be any parents’ nightmare if a similar thing happens to their child.

The Big One can happen anytime soon so we should learn from the 1990 7.7 magnitude earthquake. We should teach our children about what to do during and after an earthquake. We should inspect our house for structural defects like diagonal cracks. The same goes for our children’s school. We may not prevent another big earthquake but with stronger structures, we have a chance to survive.
Alcohol and Me

July 14, 2021

Life & Love

This photo is taken from the web. Subic Hard Rock used to occupy the 1st floor of the building next to the police precint.

“Tagay hanggang mamatay” is the catchphrase of Sharon Cuneta’s latest movie, “Revirginized.” My story has nothing to do with her movie but of my own experience in the city that never sleeps, Olongapo City.

I was a late-bloomer in anything related to alcohol. Most of my college friends and acquaintances spent their Friday nights in Spirits Disco while I preferred the solitude of fog watching and stargazing in the veranda of my first boarding house. The first time that I felt the kick of alcohol in my system was one boring January night when my equally non-alcoholic roommates decided to buy San Miguel Beer bottles for our consumption. I ended up tipsy but not entirely intoxicated. From thereon, I realized that I would never really learn to love any beverage with alcohol.

When I say today that the last time I tasted alcohol was 13 years ago, I mean it in all honesty. Take note that I have nothing against those who consume alcohol for fun or social drinking; I just went back to my old non-alcoholic self.

Alcohol is nothing new to me, my father was a heavy drinker and so were some relatives. I was exposed to this kind of celebration at an early age yet I didn’t acquire a taste for alcohol. In addition, while my father indulged in alcohol, he was against women drinking it. We had a patriarchal set-up at home and women were expected to behave accordingly. This was for this reason why I was in my early 20s when I first went into a bar.

In my first job, they had this Friday night gimmick wherein the goal was just to go to the bar to bond with their officemates. It was a rainy August night when finally, a friend convinced me to try to go with them to the Subic Hard Rock. More nervous than excited, I followed them and mimicked whatever they did to conceal my amateurish actions. The place was badly lit as most bars were expected to be. The deafening music of the live rock band plus the cigarette smoke in the air left me with a sore throat for days. In my half a decade of stay in Olongapo, I’ve been to the other bars, too like Blue Note, Pier One, Gigolo (hahaha!), and some forgettable ones that were beyond my photographic memory. The only reason why I went was because of “pakikisama.” If I had my way, I would have loved bonding over a tall glass of frappe coffee. This dream bonding happened in my late 20s when I reconnected with some high school friends. Sometimes, we went to the bar in Balanga just for the sake of drinking. I realize that the more you grow older, the less you become excited about going to the bar. Like, when you’re younger, you have wandering eyes to check on who to hook up with but that looks awkward when you’re approaching your 30s.

I stopped my bar life and alcohol bonding when I started a relationship with the boyfriend who became my husband. He had nothing to do with my decision, I just felt that drinking was never really my love language to stay with a friend or boyfriend.
Ring…Ring..

July 13, 2021

Life & Love

When I was still connected to my previous company, they issued a Globe postpaid cellphone to me. Voice and data communication were the least of my worries because I also have my Smart postpaid and wifi connection at home. Looking back to the days when technology was not as complicated as we have now, I was ten years old when we had a telephone.

In my previous blog post, I wrote a bit about Ms. Anita Hipolito, the principal in my grade school. For some strange reasons, I found myself in the company of Almalou going towards the principal’s office. She asked permission from Ms. Hipolito if we could use the phone, and the latter allowed us. I heard her talking with her mother that we needed to bring clay the next day for our Art subject. This gave me an idea to call up my mother at work to tell her about the assignment. Then, I realized that I didn’t know how to dial her office phone number! Hahaha! Almalou seemed puzzled why I wasn’t talking so she asked if everything was okay. Out of embarrassment, I told her that my mother’s office phone was busy. We thanked Ms. Hipolito and continued with our recess.

Months after that, we had our first telephone. It was an ogre yellow and white phone with the receiver on the left side. Our number was 7-3X-XX; those were the days of the 5-digit PLDT number in our province. A telephone in the 80s was a luxury, and true enough, it left a dent in our monthly budget. The challenging part was, our party line was always busy using the phone because they were a commercial establishment. When I learned how to dial a telephone, I became addicted to making calls; serious or prank. It was in the mid-90s when PLDT introduced the caller ID phones in our province. Pranksters had the time of their lives before that.
If I remember it right, dial 109 was meant for domestic operator-assisted calls while it was dial 108 for international-assisted calls. It was in 1992 when I had to tell my Tita Jocy about my great-grandmother’s demise. She was then living in Makati with her family.

“Hello, Operator, I would like to place a long-distance call to Mrs. Jocelyn C. Her number is XXXXXXX,” I said to the operator.
I could hear the other end of the line ringing, the operator successfully connected me to Aunt Jocy’s number; it was up to her if she would accept my call.
“O, Iris, what happened?” it was Tita Jocy.

I told her about the bad news and the next thing I remember was seeing her at the wake.
When Ate Gina’s husband passed away, I was the same bearer of bad news to Tita Jocy.

There were good times, too like talking endlessly with Shellah (my friend since childhood) over the phone. I was a late-bloomer in terms of love so nothing came out of my Friday night calls with some callers. I was just in the process of enjoying my life as a teenager by getting to know more people.

My first relationship was between the expiration of the old technology (analog phones) to the introduction of the new technology (digital/texts). While the world was busy preparing for Y2K (year 2000), we were worried if it was the end of the world! (Don’t laugh, we didn’t realize that Kiribati and Australia were already celebrating their New Year at the time we were so worried about it).

11:59 PM, the phone rang and a familiar voice greeted me.
“We have 60 seconds left. If the world ends after this, I would like you to know how much I love you,” he said.
Of course, the Y2K bug did not happen but the relationship ended five months later. It was May 2000 when I bought my first cellphone. When everybody in the family had our owns cellphones, we decided to terminate the landline contract to save on phone bills.

Trivia, my phone’s ringtone today sounds like a ringing analog phone. I miss the old times but I am happy with the present.
BES(T) Grade School

July 9, 2021

Life & Love

I got this photo from Poweradio 104.5 FM – Bataan | Facebook. The architecture and style suggest that this building belongs to a public school. This is one of the buildings in Balanga Elementary School. This building holds half of the grade 6 classrooms. The last time I went there was in 2013 when they used some of the classrooms for the 2013 Election.

Since I am heavily involved with my children’s education, I know much about their school: from the foundation day to the school hymn to the founders. Ironically, I could not say the same knowledge about my former schools. I just did not try to find out. Shame on me!

Balanga Elementary School is in Talisay, Balanga City, Bataan. It is a 15-minute walk from our old place. I was six years old when I started going to school by myself. Of course, I’m talking about the 80s when it was safer to allow young children to be that independent. Those were the days when there was zero to very light traffic, when people knew each other, and when minds and actions were unpolluted. The school is big and an ideal place for adventurous kids. My mother always reminded me not to explore the whole school because I might get lost or kidnapped (haha!). We had sections 1 to 9 during my time; the estimated student population was less than 1,900.

Whoever did this volcano-shaped furnace is a genius! In Grade 1, I spent my time watching the top of the volcano emit smoke instead of socializing with my classmates. Of course, there was some humor too, when a snake went out of the crater! The school had several mango trees and plants and had nearby rice fields, making it a perfect habitat for insects and reptiles.

We had buzzers every block to tell us when it was time to start or end the class. Ms. Anita Hipolito, the school principal, only used the bell whenever she saw pupils roaming around the school ground. There was a time when I went to school late. Ms. Hipolito asked for my full name, grade, and section. She smiled when she heard my middle name. I was clueless until I told my grandmother about it. She simply said that they knew each other because they were both from the academe. Afraid of having a second encounter with the good principal, I tried my best never to be late again. (I was never a fan of “I can get away with it).

The school has a World War II Museum on it because it used to be a garrison. My grandmother said that the track and field area used to be the execution area of the Japanese. The urban legend that I heard was the ghosts of the executed Filipinos reenact the scenes. Another urban legend was the ghost of the chained prisoners walked around the school buildings during campings and overnights. I went to the Girl Scout camping twice but never encountered any of them. Not even the ghost that knocks on the door of the Grade 6 restroom.

Would you believe little has been changed on the design since the 1960s? The right side of the building contains half of the Grade 5 classrooms. We had a flag ceremony every Monday. From Grade 3 to Grade 5, my classmate Elizabeth and I used to be part of the flag-raising ceremony. She was in charge of singing the National Anthem while I was in charge of reciting the “Panatang Makabayan” and later, the “Panunumpa sa Watawat.” Frankly, I had a slight stage fright but I was more scared to say no to my Grade 3 teacher. Hahaha!

I was painfully shy in grade school so I was not able to make a lot of friends. I only knew them by their faces. The teachers probably sensed that I was the shy type so they wanted to develop my personality. In Grade 4, Ms. Pruna assigned me and Mary Ann to be Ate Meding’s store assistant during break time. There was nothing special about it except that we got to take our recess longer than usual. The duty was once a week only. I had a hard time dealing with multiple buyers at the same time. It was also around this period when I felt that I was transitioning from being a child to a tween. Somebody asked me who I thought was the most good-looking guy in the school. I answered honestly. My classmate picked it up and made a story about it. It was a harmless crush, an admiration. I was not even in love yet! The 80s was a conservative time and girls were not supposed to tell about their crush/es. I felt very uncomfortable whenever that guy was around because it was never my intention to expose him or my admiration. On the other hand, kids of today are cool about telling who their crushes are and it’s no big deal.

In Grade 6, I wore a gown that my grandmother paid for me. The shoes were bought by my father’s friend. I was excited to go to high school because, in my young mind, I would no longer be tasked to clean the school grounds before and after classes. Private schools don’t ask their students to clean the school premises. Before the pandemic, I learned that one of my children was tasked to clean the school grounds as a penalty for being late. I just brushed it off, there’s nothing wrong with imposing discipline and there is nothing wrong with cleaning. I have been there, I have done that, I survived! I was just too childish then to appreciate the task.

Credit to Poweradio 104.5 FM – Bataan | Facebook for the photos. Thank you, I remember the good old days.
How to Redeem Your HSBC Rewards

May 28, 2021

Career, Finance & Product
Note: You can check your reward points on your billing statement.