Ray's Metro Pics & Balikbayan Distortion

Your pics of the Metro reminded me of the
remarks of my Balikbayan sisters who went
home for my Grandma's funeral last March
after having stayed put in the U.S. for over a
decade.
They said that its impossible for them to drive
a car in Metro Manila as the streets and
thoroughfares appears to have SHRUNK from
the last time they were here.
I find that to be an interesting observation
as even their memories of Manila streets seem to
have been distorted with their prolonged exposure to
wide American freeways and 6-lane suburban roads.

So did you experience the same distortion when you
went back here?

Where it all began

Looking at those AHS pics should make us feel neglected during our time.
That's because I don't even remember the HS having a fresh coat of paint
during our 4-year stay there. :-D

The changes in the quadrangle are courtesy of Class 80.

It's been said that the bad vibes imprinted in that classroom in 1977-1978
(when it was known as 1-D) still reverberates up to this day. Legend
has it that, through the years, students in that classroom inexplicably
have the urge to (1) howl and jump up & down like caged wild monkeys,
(2) blow up toilet bowls with 5-star firecracker and (3) curse the janitor
with "P@#$%a mo, Apollo!!" :-D That's probably why they made it into
a 4A Classroom, the Dorkiest of all Dork Classrooms, to exorcise the beastly
and bestial vibrations left there by 1-D in 1978.

From the Old to the New - Where it All Began

Hey Tony,

Allow me to post some pictures of the new Metro Manila which I took when I was in Manila last month. Times have indeed changed. I have included too some pictures of the HS. Our 1D class room is now 4A.

1973

I just uncovered these pics buried deep inside my hard disk
and I just thought that I should share this as I felt so
refreshed just by looking at it.

Is it me or is life getting to be more complicated as we
age? As our parents/grandparents die off, our kids grow
up and our careers get more challenging, we can't help but
long for the simpler times.

1973. We were 9-10 yrs. old. Grade 3.
I don't remember worrying about anything then.
My baon was P 1.00. I could buy 1 bottle of Choco-Vim
and one burger at the Ateneo GS Cafeteria with that.
May sukli pa enough to buy a bag of Clover chips
or a sticker or a trumpo or some pieces of "teks".

2:30 pm ang dismissal. Sakay sa school bus derecho uwi.
Pagdating sa bahay, kain ng merienda sabay nood ng TV.
"Herculoids" ang palabas...in black and white. On weekends,
pasyal sa Cubao...sa C.O.D. ..afterwhich comes a great treat
at Magnolia Dairy Bar in Aurora Blvd for "Banana Split",
"Peach Melba" or "Ernie and Bert".

Those were nice times, huh?

Magnolia Dairy Bar 1973


Cubao 1973


EDSA 1973

Ortigas Avenue 1973

Makati Automat 1973

Hooters

Hooters Girls should dump their stockings
so that customers can enjoy looking not
only at their hooters but at their other
assets as well.

Hey, Bud. There's this place in Texas
called "Bone Daddy's", much like Hooters
but the girls don't wear stockings, have
much skimpier uniforms and they
actually sit down beside you for a chat.
That place was packed with redneck
takuzas at 4:30 in the afternoon!!
Nice to know that the Takuza is a
universal brotherhood. :-D