the mystical buko

My former supervisor has quite an adventurous spirit. Last March, she convinced our director to conduct the brainstorming of our Project Completion Report in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bataan. The place is simply breathtaking - a theme park of sorts, dedicated to create a Spanish colonial getaway. The park houses various 16th and 17th century homes, reconstructed to look like the original. Some houses are even built from the same materials, shipped from their respective locations in the country. The photo below shows the "center" of the park, with the reconstructed houses from Escolta in the background. I will write a more elaborate photo blog some other time.

In old places such as this, I can't help but feel nostalgic. Since the park lies on the seaside, I frequented the beach. As I was walking along the shore, this caught my attention:


To those of who who are unfamiliar to this green thing, that my friends, is a baby coconut. In tagalog, bubot na buko. The sight of this coconut brought me to when I was a wee little bubot kid in the province. I used to play a lot with this things, pretending that they are some mystical artifact enchanted with magics of the olden times. I would go about, searching for unusual trinkets that I believed were laden with powers beyond belief.

While I was reminiscing on the beach, I tried to recall how this childhood nonsense started. Then it hit me - I used to watch an old cartoon called... uhm... and I'm not proud of this... Princess Starla and the Jewel Riders.

Here's a clip of an episode called "song of the rainbow". Here, Starla and the Jewel Riders secure the rainbow jewel - one of the crowned jewels of the kingdom. The episode starts with Starla and Tamara fussing over what to wear for the fair that they are hosting. As the magical animals are about to perform, a traveling minstrel approaches Tamara with a harp (harp ba yan?). Tamara then starts to perform, the music enchants her and turns her into a zombie bard. And the rest of the story is so typical that I won't even bother to tell it.




Come to think of it, "Princess Starla and the Jewel Riders" would be a great title for a group of drag queens.

Yes, I used to be in TV.

One by one, out of the bus we were gone.
I skipped down the stairs with my little feet, anxiously chatting with anyone I meet.
There it was, foreboding but magnificent - the building where happiness is evident.
I got my little blue ticket, and put it in my pocket.
As we all seated at the big hall, the lights brightened up the wall.
Men and women scampered about, doing their business no doubt.
Then a kind-looking lady came and asked, "Hey kid, wanna be part of the cast?"
I asked, "Mam, what will I do?". She said, "Smile and hold this shampoo!"
So then they sang, about cleanliness and bang!
I was suddenly in Batibot, the kid named Chanot.

Believe me, I tried to look for footage of the said episode but to no avail! I remember that we had a Betamax copy of it but the film was eaten by mold. All I have was a picture of me in the bus. (Yes. I am well aware that doesn't prove anything.)


And since I posted a baby pic, let's keep 'em coming!

(a-liiiiiiine!)

(i love and miss my lola!)

(see? the hat obsession started young.)

(you can't be any groovier than that! my mom thinks so!)

(me and my dad in our ancestral home)

(I don't want a picture! I wanna ride the bike.)

(I was upset that it wouldn't move. I got MORE upset when it did.)

(Looking like a fool with the pants on the ground!
Me and Tita S)

(Me and Tita A.
And no, not all of my aunt's names are single letters.)

(LOL. What the hell am I doing?
That's Tita D, btw.)

(I wonder where that hat is now? hmm...)

(Hahahahahaha! Kaya pala.)

(Got a problem with me?)

(My cousins! The white chair says it all.)

(Back in the day, I was a male escort.)

(How you say no to that face? loljk.)

If anyone can ask Kuya Bodjie about the episode, lemme know! =)

♫♪ Pagmulat ng mata, diretso sa kubeta. Mag-Baaaaa ♪♫