Things ENI  10

The girls were then active sa "Paluwagan" and when Mrs Ariola found about it, she took time to discourage the participants coz the treasurer might be tempted to spend the money which could lead to trouble.  She always recalled those times when she was a Treasurer and she could not sleep thinking if she was short or not.  She would then rouse her husband from sleep and ask him to accompany her to their office to recount the funds even if it is already midnight and just using a flashlight if there happens to be a blackout.

The INQUIRER was just a tabloid then (Mr & Ms) but it was a sought-after reading material because it was some sort of a protest material against the Marcos regime.  Also, NEWSWEEK distribution was once stopped especially after the Ninoy assassination.

One favorite "growing-up" topic among the boys was wet dreams.  A guy would never miss to mention to his friends that he had wet dreams with this popular pretty girl especially if the girl is within their sight.

The boys have then experimented wearing their long sleeves in 3/4.

That dimly-lit area sa likod sa rooms nila Mr Origin, sa ilang Ms Barot up to the Grandstand is also a favorite dating place for lovers.  Kung naa ganiy manag-uyab nga musulod didto, expect nga naay mga boys nga pasimpleng musunod or mag-atang to serve as "eyewitnesses".

The betamax copy of Michael Jackson's Thriller was a hit.  We were really awed by it especially on how it was filmed.  As realistic as the zombies rose from the dead, it elicited smiles among us when it was shown that they rose from a raised flooring and not really from the ground.  Michael was still black then.

Madonna's star was just starting to rise then.  Some of the girls didn't like her because of the mention of "virgin" in her single "Like A Virgin".  For the boys, who cares?, Madonna's sexy picture aroused our male curiousity.

When talking of HS memories, I will always remember my girlfriend. Everytime I visit her at their house, we always stay at their porch "because it's cooler there". Actually, it's also because it's darker there. Another plus is that her parents trusted me and let me stay further even if they are already going to bed early. Later on, my girlfriend checks if they are aready snoring, then we proceed to become even naughtier with each other.

In our barrio, there was this Spanish sweethearts who prefer to "love" each other at the garden. The girl's trick is to call out her parents who are in their room in the second floor saying her boyfriend is going home. If they don't answer back, it means that they are already asleep and then they proceed to "love" each other in the garden.  They don't know that my friends and I are already positioned strategically behind the plants above the fence for a free "action movie".

During SCO early morning joggings, we have to sleep at the grandstand.  Kaka had an oil that acts as a mosquito repellant. It was given to him by his in-law who was in the military. There were no mosquito repellant lotions in the market at that time so the others were hesitant.  But the good thing is that it really worked.

Since we were already in HS, we have to start showing that we are gentlemen. One way of showing that is  when walking with a girl, we boys should position ourselves at the "danger-side". Also when crossing the street, we quickly go to the side where the vehicle is approaching.  Not observing that protocol is a "mortal sin" for a guy especially if he is courting the girl he is walking with.

My friend always carries a bottle of perfume when going on a date or attending a party. Before executing a close talk with his girlfriend, he dabbles perfume on his mouth.  He also does that before asking a girl to dance on a sweet music.

During dance nights at the Osmena Park, whenever the music is disco, we can dance everywhere even in front of the stage. But we boys always take note of the music sequence. When we calculate that the next set will be sweet music (slow), we start inviting our girlfriend to roam around. The idea was that when the sweet music is already played, we are already positioned at the dimly-lit side near the narra tree. Dancing to sweet music on a dimly-lit area is more romantic that is why there are lots of lovers dancing in that area than in front of the stage.

For us with no girlfriends, we start spreading out when the sweet music set is next in line to make a survey of the girls we can possibly dance with.  After the set, we come back to our place and brag about the girl we were able to dance with, the possible chancings, how close the girl's body with me during the dance, laugh at the guy when a girl prefers to dance at the well-lighted area, etc...

Once, my girlfriend and I went to a barrio dance and to our surprise, her parents were also there.  Later, a gunshot was heard and people started to run in all directions.  My girlfriend and I chose not to run and stayed at the corner. Because she felt scared, I hugged her for protection and "romantic feeling". I came to my senses and got scared also when I remembered that her parents were around.  Good thing they did not see us.

My sad memory in HS was my boyfriend who had other girlfriends aside from me at the same time.

My neighbor classmate tipped me that one of our neighbors had some already tall "grass" plants. We took note of the times he went outside and especially when it rains. That's the perfect time when we sneak in and harvest some leaves.  We were careful not to leave marks as well as just harvesting in few leaves at a time.  We had a steady supply for a long time without him noticing.

A friend of mine shared with me some Korean bugs he was able to acquire from his neighbor who used it for his fighting cocks. It says that Korean bugs make the fighting cocks more ferocious.  Another myth for Korean bugs is that it is an aphrodisiac. This is brought about by observing how the bugs multiply rapidly by just leaving them in a bottle with just dried banana slices for food. Everytime my girlfriend and I watch a movie, I secretly add powdered Korean bugs into her softdrink. I don't know if it was effective but we really had a good time everytime we were inside the moviehouse.  It was a secret I never shared to anybody.

Our neighbor planted some Maryjanes at their open lot near their house. Unknown to him, we got wind of it. Some of our neighbors tied their goat to the tall plant to see if the goat would eat the leaves. The boys had a good laugh when the goat had a very sound sleep later on and wouldn't wake up no matter the nudgings.  They then had to carry the goat back to their house to avoid being caught by the plant owner.

Our neighbor had a scare when her mother took note of the marijuana plant at their backyard that he secretly planted. He acted ignorant and mentioned to her mother that it probably is a stray plant. Unluckily, her mother took fancy of its nice leaves formation so he quickly uprooted it before his mother can show it to their neighbors.

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