Simple Minds' Alive and Kicking : My Favorite Song This Month

Can’t shake that great 80's nostalgia. Lately I’ve been listening to 80's songs and this song Alive and Kicking is on my repeat mode. Why Simple Minds is one of my most favorite 80's group is really self explanatory.

With haunting lyrics and melody, our young hearts sang along to every word of this song to tell the world our fears in a way that we wanted to be heard. What you gonna do when things go wrong? What you gonna do when it all cracks up? What you gonna do when the love burns down? What you gonna do when the flames go up? Who is gonna come and turn the tide? What’s it gonna take to make a dream survive? Who’s got the touch to calm the storm inside? In the final seconds who’s gonna save you?

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More 80's angst. The punk rock , the origin of new wave. Aahh. The new wave songs from the new wave era. It was a time when everybody (boys and girls!) wanted to look like Robert Smith. After 20 years it's funny to still call them "new wave". I call them the best wave. Xmal Deutschland's Matador sure brings back a lot of girl power memories. ...Your grace and your pose, knows only one target. Legend, masquerade forevermore.... Here are more of my favorite songs from this era including the Smith's How Soon Is Now, the original CHARMED themesong. ..I am human and I need to be loved just like everybody else does, Boomtown Rats' I don't like Modays ... I wanna shooooot the whole day down...(Oh yes, the sentiment still applies to this day)... and finally what I consider the best The Cure song of all time, the poignant Just Like Heaven.

You.. soft and only. You.. lost and lonely. You.. just like heaven.

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And then there’s the other side. The dark side (hehe). There were new wave songs and then there were Rick Astley songs. The blazer. The Miami Vice shades. The striped shirt. The hairstyle. The dance moves. Yep. It’s the ultimate 80s pop song. With close to 11 million hits on You Tube we gotta give it to this guy. So…. let’s hear it for the boy…the ultimate 80's boy... the man who's no stranger to love....give it up for Mr. Rick Astley.

Pisay Homesick

LOST IN EMOTION

Going back to my old high school was a bittersweet experience. As soon as my sister, my friend – Gigi, and I entered the gates of Philippine Science High School last September 6 to attend our school’s Grand Alumni Homecoming, a flood of emotions came over me ---- nostalgia, excitement, a bit of sadness, and a lot of homesickness. This school was my home for four years and the friends I had here were my immediate family during those challenging years.

PSHS Main Campus.
During our time, this was not known as the Diliman campus as this was the only campus in the country. Top students from different regions shared the same struggles, the same triumphs, and the same growing pains in the same grounds.

With my friend and sister, I walked around the campus to take some pictures, trying to re-live the memories of the past and recapture the feeling of belonging… I could not believe that it’s been twenty years. It seemed just like yesterday. A lot has changed yet the memories remain.

The Soccer Field.
Ilang leg cramps kaya ang na experience ko dito? Maglaro ka ba naman ng soccer sa ulan at putik? Ito rin ang venue of some unforgettable na Pisay Fairs, whole-year-round na INTRAMS, at ilang “Sir! I wanna faint, sir!” na PASAMASID. Dito rin ako madalas mapaos sa pag cheer sa aking favorite soccer team (yiii). But my best memory here is our batch’s own version of Happy Hour. Aaah… what a good place to be…

Campus "Stroll".
Stroll/strolling – ang ginagawa ng mga dormers after kumain ng dinner --- maglakad paikot sa school campus ng at least one round. Pag medyo masarap ang kwentuhan pwedeng more than one round. Ginagamit din na excuse ng boys para manligaw or ng mga magsyota para nag-aminan.

The Front Lobby.
The externs’ tambayan. After school hours, the externs (non-dormers) and interns (dormers) go their separate ways. The externs go the front lobby to wait for their sundo. Ito ang tambayan ng mga Manilenos, ng mga rich kids, at mga Manilenong rich kids. Bawal magtagalog! Students here speak English with that distinctive slang one only gets from attending exclusive schools, residing in posh subdivisions, or living/traveling abroad. Avoid this place at all costs kung ayaw mong dumugo ang ilong mo.

The Back Lobby.
The interns or dormers converge at the back lobby (station 1). Malapit kasi sa canteen (station 2) at sa dorms (station 3). Ibang slang naman ang maririnig mo dito. Kanya kanyang dialect at punto --- Bisaya, Ilonggo, Bicolano, Waray, at erpmeys, Datkilab na salita.

Ang Canteen.
Alam kaya ni Gary V na sikat na sikat sya sa lugar na to nung 1987-88? Magdala ng cassette player. Mag-jamming with batchmates. Mag-abang ng crush. Magtiyaga sa chili con carne. Mandiri sa fried rice. Magka-phobia sa adobong pusit. Mapaso na mamantikang tinola. Magsawa sa palabok. Mangamoy sa tapang pusit.

Most Pisay parties were also held here. Nung pinagbawal sa mga scholars ang mag”disco”, nagtiyagang mag”disco” ang mga estudyante ng alas kwatro ng hapon. Nagdikit ng dyaryo sa glass walls, naglagay ng strobe light, nagsayaw ng walang humpay. We got to fight for the right to parteeee!

G.R.H.
If walls could talk, this dorm will have lots of stories to tell. The Girls’ Residence Hall. It’s name now has the word “MAIN” attached to it . Wala pa kasing annex during our time. We simply called this building GRH or girls’ dorm. I can’t believe I was the GRH president on my last year in Pisay. I’m sure magpo-protesta ang mga pinuslit naming bottles of Miguelito beer. We learned how to open a beer bottle without using a bottle opener… a special skill I am soooo tempted to put in my resume. It’s still very useful up to now kahit wala nang Miguelito…

The TV Room/Sala/Piano Room.
Dito nagaganap ang mga foodsale ng Dunkin Donut, ham sandwich, at burger na may coleslaw na binibili sa Queens. This was also where my roommates and I would gather to watch Regal Shockers or Twilight Zone on Friday nights. TV viewing was only allowed during weekends. We didn’t mind, we do other stuff….Remember…there were no parents! This was also where, visitors, visuitors and bwisitors would wait for the girls. Pag off ang TV, asahang may nagpapaka-Mozart sa piano.

The Stairs.
Ang hagdan papunta sa kanya kanyang selda, hehe. If I could count the many times I walked up and down these stairs. The hand rails are still wobbly as I remember them to be.

GRH Room 301.
I miss my roommates, my water heater, my dipper, my double deck bed, the heavy floral curtains, the dusty window screens…

The Boys' Dorm.
Kala nila sila lang ang may binoculars … ! Girls know how to have fun, too! And have fun we did! Like I said, TV viewing was allowed only on weekends… hmm .. what to do? what to do….?

The Payphone.
Wala pa nong text…! Wala pa nong chat…! Telebabad was a dormer’s favorite pastime. The pay phones were witnesses to a lot of love confessions, heartaches, break-ups, make-ups. And yes, naabutan namin ang (mabigaaat na) red PLDT phones na ginagamitan lang ng four 10 centavo coins to place a call. “IN” ito long before sumikat ang kantang Tatlong Bente Singko ni Dingdong Avanzado. Calls were not metered then. Forty cents meant “up to sawa” lambingan or away with bf/gf/crush hangang umusok ang tenga mo at ng kausap mo sa init ng telepono. And because we prided ourselves as the smartest students in the country, we devised a way to actually make calls using only two 10 centavo coins! ... a little savings goes a long way…

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

By 8 pm, my whole reminiscing experience culminated in a Grand Alumni Homecoming Program hosted by Batch 83. The program recognized outstanding PSHS alumni, but in the spirit of a true Pisay party, nauwi pa rin sa sayawan ang lahat. We danced for almost two hours straight! Yeah…Play that funky music, white boy….

After sharing strange stories, more secrets, and juicy revelations over coffee at Bo’s Katipunan, I bid my old friends goodbye but with a happy heart --- even though I know my Pisay homesickness will stay with me for a while.

We promised to keep in touch and get together again soon… So, until then….! Cheers to PSHS and to Pisay ‘88!

“it’s that little souvenir of a colorful year which makes me smile inside….”
-here’s where the story ends (sundays)-

Thanks to Elsa for lending me some of the pictures.

The Restitution of Pisay '88

SHE BLINDED US WITH SCIENCE

Friday, Sept 5. The Restitution of Pisay '88… that was the name of the event that would bring me closer once again to long lost friends ---- to share old memories and new stories. The manager of Absinth Bar where the event was being held could not help but ask… “Excuse me, sino yung nasa picture?” … I call her “The tie that binds”… our physics teacher. And yes, she blinded us with science.

CHAMBER OF HELLOS

Before the event, some batchmates (whom I’ve remained friends with) and I run through names of other batchmates we wanted to see and hoped would attend the reunion. These were mostly the people we haven’t seen in a long time, those we’ve lost contact with for several years. I had my list of “lost friends” and my own reasons for wanting to see them again, but I never anticipated what happened at the actual reunion.

From the time my friends and I arrived at the bar, I could not refrain from shrieking with surprise and excitement at the sight of the first familiar faces I saw. And for the next three hours or so, the shrieks of “Omigaaad!” , “Shuuuucks!” “Kamusta ka naaaa?” with matching talon talon at yakapan went on and on and on.

TURN BACK THE CLOCK

As soon as the initial exchange of shrieks was done, we moved on to the next questions like “may asawa ka na?” at “saan ka na ngayon?” or statements like “alam mo, hindi ka masyadong nagbago!” at "tumaba/pumayat ka...!" .Then we started reminiscing about the good ole days. Elsa, a friend whom I haven’t seen for maybe ten years started calling me “Ate Lyn” again, and I remember all of the fond memories I had at the dorm with her and my dormer batchmates. I guess, you'll never realize how much you missed your old friends until you see them again. All of a sudden I remember specific memories I associate with them. Dami kong namiss. Daming nakalimutan na, dami ding naalala ulit.

PARTY LIKE IT'S 1988!

Walang kupas. Nobody does it better. Trust Pisay 88 batch to come up with the most fun party! All we needed was the first two notes of the song “State Of The Nation”, some free drinks, a taste of bearsclaw, old loveteams, and yeah...everybody stated acting like high school students again. As Ms. Basas would say “you girls keep on giggling and giggling…” It’s nice to be in the company of fun people.

ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER

As if it wasn’t enough, we moved to Red Box next door for more fun…. The rule was to sing 80s songs only… bawal ang the Corrs or Daughtry! “We’ll always be together … however far it seems….we’ll always be together, together in electric dreams…”

Somehow, eight hours cannot make up for 20 years of being apart…

To my Pisay 88 batchmates ---- nice knowing you again…. ! See you in 2013!

"There is a face deep in your mind, one that your heart won't leave behind. Memories are cold-empty of laughs and all that remain are photographs...." -different seasons (johnny hates jazz)-

Thanks Elsa and Erwin for the pictures.

Damaged Goods : Pisay Gym, Atbp

Twenty years after graduation, I went back to my old high school last Saturday to attend the grand alumni homecoming. The event was held at our school’s gymnasium --- a campus fixture that took many years to complete. It was half complete when I was a freshman and remained unfinished until we graduated. Our batch never experienced using the gym for PE classes but we were the first batch to hold our graduation rites there. Pinilit na pinturahan ang loob para maganda sa picture.

While lighting a candle para ipaanod sa pool of the school's gym as a symbolic ritual (daw) for the alumni, I commented at the changes in the campus of what some might consider the best high school in the country :

Me: Wow! At least naman may pool na sila ngayon!

Two young alumni overheard my comment and reacted:

Totoy Alumnus 1 : Ay bakit po? Nung time nyo walang pool?
(Sabay tingin sa nametag kong may nakasulat na ’88)

Me : Wala, eh!

Totoy alumnus 1 to Totoy alumnus 2 : Astig pareeeh… wala silang poooool…!

Totoy alumnus 1 : Talaga po? E san po kayo nagsu-swimming?

Me : Sa BIR….! Pumupunta kami dun para mag swimming…!

Totoy alumnus 2 to Totoy alumnus 1: Waaaaw… astiiig pare! Punta silang B-I-aaar….!

Siguro nga astig… Sabagay it was a good chance for us to go out of the campus, especially for us dormers. We grabbed every opportunity we get to go out. Astig -- takas kami after PE, nood kami sine sa Delta, kain kami cheesedog sa Bread Connection.

Dami na ngang nagbago sa Pisay…. may pool na sila, may magandang basketball court, covered walks everywhere, may pergolang tambayan, napalitan na ang benches sa canteen, luma na ang humanities building, may annex na ang girls' dorm, tiled na ang grandstand, wala na akong makitang drinking fountain, iba na ang uniform ng mga estudyante, at bumaho na ang creek.

Pero madami ring gaya pa rin ng dati…buhay pa ang piano sa GRH, hindi nagbago ang mukha ni Ms. Mijares, maputik pa rin ang soccer field, and after 20 years, di pa rin complete ang construction ng gym. (Buti pa yung Office of the Ombudsman sa tabi... astig.)

Hmmm... naisip ko lang... nagsu-stroll pa rin kaya ang mga dormers sa gabi?