Do you remember the Pink House in Loyola?

The Pink House on Park 9 Street in Loyola Heights

The Pink House was home to several pool tables and a counter where one could purchase cold San Miguel's and yosi. The scrappy building was a far cry from the hallowed grounds of the Ateneo campus across Katipunan road. "Pool boys" racked the table before each game for a nominal tip at the end of each round. They also functioned as servers when you needed another round of San Miguels. 

In grade school, this was the place to seek refuge after eluding the Ateneo security guards by gate 2. Some students, through bribery and charm, would convince their drivers to take them there during school. For others who did not

The Lost Portraits: Ateneo Class 2D

Yeyet Estrada

In November of 1979, my mom gave me my first "real" camera for my 15th birthday.  I took these series of portrait photos of my classmates in 2D that same month with my Nikon F2A. These are priceless moments that are accompanied by a million stories from our days at the high school. While most continued on to graduate in 1982, I abruptly left for the states in my junior year. It was a good move for me, though I do regret not graduating with my batch mates whom I've been friends with since we set foot on the campus during our prep year.

I particularly love Yeyet's picture above. It shows a serious side of him which we all know was hardly ever visible during those crazy days in high school. I remember one late evening when Yeyet picked me up in a motor cross bike to attend

Christmas in Manila

Cha Cha and the Filipinos

How do you get an entire Filipino party on the dance floor?

Play Love City - ...If there's life, I would like to be there...I take a bus or a train to love city. It's the only place I feel at home - and you are guaranteed a cha-cha dance exhibition unlike anything you've ever seen before. Left, right, shuffle, left, right - there isn't a ballroom dance more endearing to Filipinos. We also have an affinity for Brazilian music especially songs written and sung by the godfather of modern

My Favorite TV Shows

Back in the 70's, channel surfing wasn't associated with watching TV. You knew which days and times your shows were on. Simple as that. My Tito Oking Tapia and I were big fans of the 70's police and detective shows. His favorites were Streets of San Francisco starring Karl Malden as detective Mike Stone and the young Michael Douglas as Inspector Steve

Cousins Who Filled The Void

Since I didn't live with my siblings, my cousins and close family friends filled that void. It was the primary essence of my childhood I cherish the most. We played outside a lot - Marco Polo in the pool, playing games like patintero, taguan and freeze. We rode our bikes and even went horseback riding in the city with cousin Dennis' horse, Randy Roo. Boys played

If Michael Pedicin, Jr. Only Knew

Sometimes I get very stubborn when I want something. It's just one of those silly things about me. Such is the case with my collection of jazz songs on my itunes.  It was about ten years ago when I embarked on this mission to transfer all my CD's into itunes. I reached about 6,000 songs when I decided that all the songs that I couldn't live without were already on

Just Say You Love Me

Just like Never Existed Before by Minnie Riperton, Patti Austin's Say You Love Me is one of those classic 70's jazz vocals. End of a Rainbow is Patti Austin's debut album released in 1977. While the album didn't reach the top of the jazz charts, this one

The Best Love Song of 1979

The year 1979, in my very humble opinion, delivered the best collection of female jazz love vocals of all time. Angela Bofill, Patti Austin, Hillary Smith and Minnie Riperton led the pack with smash hits after smash hits in Manila. Okay, I have to admit that it was the year of many crushes and my very first girlfriend. Perhaps, that could be the reason, but I

The Swing Song That Started It All

How can one forget the song that started it all in 1979 - Souvenirs by Voyage. I just completed my freshman year of high school and by the time Souvenirs hit the radio waves that summer, my social life was in full swing. Soirees have become a weekend staple during the second half of the school year. Get together's at Nolet Soliven, Milet Landicho and Frances

Rainy Sundays in Manila

Back in the 70's, switching songs wasn't as easy as a click of a mouse like we do today. If you were listening to a tape, fast forwarding and rewinding took a long time. And if you were not "skilled" in the use of the tape player, especially in the car, you ended up listening to the whirl of the fast forwarding tape and the constant clicking of the fast forward, stop and

When OPM Became Cool

When the song Manila came out in the mid 70's, it revolutionized the way Filipinos viewed local music. Our colonial mentality favored Western songs as more superior and Filipino songs were considered low class and not worthy of our attention. Tagalog songs were for the maids, drivers and the promdi's (Tagalog slang for "from the provice"). At least in

Feel So Good

I still remember the day when I met Chuck Mangione. I was in college at the University of Iowa working as a server at Swans restaurant at the Holiday Inn. He was virtually unknown to my co-workers so I had no problem convincing my manager to assign me to deliver his room service order.

I was so nervous from the anticipation of meeting Chuck Mangione in person - it was probably the equivalent of meeting Paul McCartney or John Lennon for most Americans. I pictured walking in the room and witnessing Mr.

Love + Basketball

Basketball became an obsession for me during my grade school years. There were other sports, but basketball reigned supreme.  At home in Loyola Heights, I would place the small plastic garbage containers on top of the corner desk in my room and shoot baskets with a hard plastic ball pretending I was a pro or an Ateneo basketball player. The constant ball bouncing off the wood floor, the thump from my Francis Arnaiz jump shots and the sound of the hard plastic ball

Do you remember your first slow dance?

Ahh...Bridges by Flora Purim. My first slow dance.

The Maryknoll grade school batch '78 hosted a year end party at Trixie Castro's house on Katipunan road right across the Maryknoll campus that summer. I don't recall whether it was an exclusive Ateneo-Maryknoll soiree or if the boys from "the other school" in Greenhills were invited. Regardless, it was a soiree I really looked forward to attending.

In grade 6, my good friend, Edmund Zialcita and I planned a soiree with Assumption grade school which didn't turn out as we had planned. While girls showed up, I believe we just ended up watching Star Wars despite the plans for an all

The First Love Song

It really irritates me when Whitney Houston is credited for this song which was originally recorded by George Benson nine years prior. Don't get me wrong, Whitney sang this song beautifully. But in defense of jazz artists, this was GB's song. The Greatest Love of All was released in 1977 as the main title song for movie, The Greatest, documenting the life of boxing

Saturday Night at the "Where Else?"

"Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl..."

I'm sure most of you can sing the rest of the lyrics to this 1978 disco smash hit by Barry Manilow. You've got to admit that he definitely knows how to write the songs that make the whole world sing. His distinctive voice along with his showmanship and incredible knack for writing lyrics to songs we can all relate to contributed to the

1977 belonged to JT

1977 marked the year when music had become a necessary component of my daily life. I listened to my tapes while I got ready for school. In the car, I would cue my "song' for the short ride to school - making sure that the best part of the song would be blasting when I got off the car. My cassette player was a constant companion in the shower. I read Jingle magazine religiously to learn the lyrics to popular songs. Jingle magazine's "Kulangot" cartoon was also my source of shallow entertainment back then. I would tape (and re-tape) American Top 40 over blank TDK and Maxwell tapes. 


I had my share of Bee Gees, Chicago, Barry Manilow and Earth, Wind and Fire cassette tapes, but this was the year when my my musical taste expanded beyond the Top 40

My first vinyl record

It was 1973. The country was in her first year of Martial Law. I was in grade 3 at the Ateneo de Manila.

Back then, life revolved around three things: basketball, football (soccer) and Filipino playground games such as turumpo, teks, shato and gagamba. 1973 was also the year I bought my very first record - a 45

rpm with The Carpenter's "Top of the World" on side A and Bread's "Aubrey" on side B. "Top of the

What were you doing when this song became number 1?

I hate to admit this today but I fondly remember the day when this song became number one on American Top 40.  I was about to take my turn at Chinese garter with my cousins Gigi, Dennis, Ricky, Triccie and Katrina in the basement of the Eala family house on C. Apostol in Loyola Heights when Casey Kasem announced "the number one song in the land" as "Afternoon Delight" by Starland Vocal Band. I remember all of us screaming for joy as our favorite song finally conquered the airwaves in July

Were you afraid of Jaws?

Ateneo Grade School Pool

Every Atenean knows that grade 2 marks the year one learns how to swim. As a prep student, I feared grade 2 for this very reason. My idea of swimming was holding on to the gutter and going sideways. Death by drowning was just not going to be an option for me. But I would rather drown than to be caught naked inside the changing rooms by your entire class - which almost always caused quite a stir. 

Maryknoll High School Soiree Invitations

Class 314 Soiree Invitation

I was the social chair of our high school class my freshman and sophomore year. This designation meant that I was responsible for the social "well being" of our class. The job was quite simple. Create cool invitations, hire good DJ's, serve good food, introduce shy classmates to girls, teach fellow classmates the latest dance steps, invite hot chicks from Assumption, Teresiana, St. Paul, St. Scholastica and Maryknoll. Outside of class parties, the social chair must proudly represent Ateneo at all other parties and disco's. Simple!

A typical soiree was usually held on a Saturday night, at a designated house big enough to hold 50 or more people, with lots of good food, punch (and the occasional spiked punch) and dancing. Some soirees were flops, but then there were the memorable ones complete with disco lights, pulsating bass

Yosi tayo, pare

Jojo Camacho and Tad Abello puffing away in the 2-D classroom

In 1970's Manila, smoking was as natural as eating. Everyone smoked - your lolo (grandfather), your tito (uncle), your driver, the fish ball vendor along Katipunan road, the pizzamaker at Shakey's, the teachers and the priests in school- they all smoked. In that kind of environment, no wonder we were experimenting with smokes in grade school.

It starts out from the experimental puff from a tito or an older cousin; usually after dinner at a family get together when all the boys are outside hanging out by the cars on the street. A swig of San Miguel beer

Do you remember the Hardy Boys?

There was no other collection of books bigger than The Hardy Boys when I was growing up. Brothers Frank, 18, and Joe, 17, would take on unsolved mysteries their detective father, Fenton, was working on. Other characters included their mother, Laura, and Aunt Trudy. The original series of 58 books and "The Hardy Boys Detective Handbook" written by ghostwriters from 1927 to 1979 had a cult like following at the Ateneo. We talked about Bayport, New York, as if if was a short ride from Katipunan. A Hardy Boys book was a common birthday gift for friends and cousins. 

     

I, on the other hand, was never big into reading fictional books. I loved biographies of US Presidents and European kings and generals. Plus, I always questioned how Frank and Joe could solve all those

Why I Write

I had no idea that my life would take a dramatic change during my older sister's wedding in the summer of 1980. I was fifteeen, heartbroken, and for the first time in my life, I felt dejected.

My sister and I grew up in two different worlds. She lived in the province while I grew up in the city. Our parents divorced after my birth. A struggle broke out between the two families shortly after. My father and his relatives stormed my Lola's (grandmother) house and snatched my sister away so she could live with his relatives in Cavite. He would move to Califoria, remarry, and pursue his architectural career - leaving my sister behind. My mom also remarried. She remained in Manila; at least for a couple