Sundays in the Park with...Lola

Swinging in the Park with Lola Dora

Sundays in the park or at any time is always a special time for a child. I was no different. My sisters and I cherished the times we went to the park; this specific one was Burnham Park. Most of the times we just played on the swings, but there are many other things to do when you got tired of the swings. There were boats to ride, bikes, or the train. You can see the train in the background. Best of all, there were always the snacks. We would either get ice cream, kamote-que, peanuts with garlic, sliced mangoes, or if we were really good (or lucky), an actual sit-down merienda at one of the nearby restaurants, and we would religiously order the same thing, pancit loglog and halo-halo.

Session Road

Session Road, Baguio City

While going through our old photos the other day, I came across this old post card. Session Road is the main thoroughfare in the previously small city of Baguio. This photo is of the area where at least three of the major streets converge, and it was literally the center of town. It was, and still is, where most of the commerce is located. The large building in the forefront looks like it was being used as a market place. The purpose to a large extent, remains the same to this day, but a shopping mall is now in its place. I am sure fellow blogger TingAling will have a better memory than I, she is a veritable walking history book of Baguio :) Her posts on her memories about growing up in Baguio brings back a lot memories to this old addled brain of mine.
When I was growing up, Baguio was still a small town where everyone knows who you are. When my sisters and I decided to run away from home, we couldn't get beyond a couple of blocks before someone who knew our parents spotted us and told us to go home. This is unfathomable now, in this day and age, but as young as 8 or 9 years old, we used to roam the city. The whole city was our playground, and parents had no worries because they knew someone was always watching us. The phrase "it takes a village to raise children"? That was apt then. When we get on a taxi, the driver would inevitably be one of our dad's many friends and acquaintances. Instead of paying the fare, we end up getting a couple of cents for a snack. When we decide to suddenly drop in on someone's home, we were guaranteed at least a snack if not a full meal. Most of the time we also got a ride home or at the very least cab fare. Everyone was an aunt or an uncle, although not necessarily biological. We just called all of our parent's friends auntie or uncle, out of respect.
My sisters and I haven't been to Baguio for over ten or fifteen years now; I hear things have drastically changed. I couldn't tell if it's for better or worse, but I will always remember it as that bucolic little town, the haunting grounds of my childhood.

That's Amore'

Ah, to be young again.... This is my mom (second from left) and my dad (far right) during their college years. My mom is from a small town, Sagunto, Sison, Pangasinan and my dad is from Aringay, La Union, also a small town. They went to Baguio to attend college, and that is where they met and fell in love. This is them with their friends, before they started dating. Already you can see the sparks of amore' flying.

Mom's Tres Marias

This is my mom and her three girls. The Clone is real! I see so many parallels.

The Rockers

Jade and I were looking through old photos, and we came across this:


Me and sister O and the famous rockers (described in entry below)
Taken at Lola Faus' house in Aringay, La Union. Sister O fell out of the front door in one of the rocking chairs, ha!ha!ha! She was ok (at least we think), the chair was not.