The Lost Generation

I got an email today that started with this: "Ito ang mga huling taon ng dekada '80 at ang mga unang taon ng dekada '90. Ito ang panahong uso pa ang makiuso. Kung ginagaya mo ang style ng mga artista, hindi ka tatawaging jologs. Ito ang
panahong tapos na ang martial law, pero malayo pa ang new millennium. Hindi pa high-tech pero di naman old fashioned. Saktong-sakto lang! Ito ang panahon natin. Pero pano mo malalaman kung kabilang ka sa henerasyong ito? Narito ang listahan na makapagpapatunay if you're one of us. R U?"

What follows is a list of personalities, TV shows, bands, events that shaped our golden years of youth (if you were born in the late 70s). And because I am turning 29 in a few days I feel a bit nostalgic and old AND swak na swak talaga yung iba so I'm reproducing some of them below with my own comments. Enjoy, I'm sure alam nyo rin lahat to.


Paborito mong panoorin ang Shaider, Bio-man,Maskman, Mask Rider Black, Machine Man at kung ano-anong TV sitcom ng Japan na isinalin sa Tagalog. - My sisters and I luvvvved Shaider and Bioman. In fact, I was Pink 5 - Julia was Red 1, Ten-ten was Yellow 4 and Marissa was Green 2. Our younger brother JC had to be given the Blue 3 role just to complete our group. One summer, I took a vacation with my Mom and when I came back my sister Julia tells me "Alam mo nung wala ka sabi ni Ate Marissa sya daw si Pink 5." A confrontation ensued. Haha.

Alam mo ang jingle ng Nano-Nano. - Yeah. "Sweet, sour and salty nano nano nano nano..."

Naglaro ka ng Shake-Shake Shampoo, Monkey-Monkey-Annabelle, prikidam 123, Langit-Lupa-Impyerno, Syato, Luksong-Tinik, Luksong-Baka, 10-20 at kung ano-ano pang larong nakakapagod. - Idagdag pa natin yung Melting Candle, Marco Polo, I love you Teddy Bear Teddy Bear...

Dalawa lang ang todong sumikat na wrestler, si Hulk Hogan at si Ultimate Warrior. Naniwala ka rin na namatay si Ultimate Warrior nang buhatin niya si Andre d' Giant dahil pumutok ang mga ugat niya sa muscle. - We were so into watching wrestling before. And to this day that old urban tale about Ultimate Warrior bursting his vein is still true in my mind. Who knows what really happened? :)

Hindi ka gaanong mahilig sa That's Entertainmentat pinapanood mo lang ito tuwing Sabado kung saan nagpapagandahan ng production numbers ang Monday hanggang Friday group. (at badtrip ka sa Wednesday group dahil pinakabaduy lagi ang performance nila!) - That's Entertainment forever! Jennifer-Romnick ako and hated Sheryll Cruz just like everyone. Can you name other loveteams? :)

Napaligaya ka ng maraming pinoy bands tulad ng Yano, Rivermaya, Grin Department, Tropical Depression, The Teeth, The Youth, After Image, Orient Pearl, The Dawn, Alamid, Wolfgang, at ang sikat na sikat na Eraserheads. - It was definitely the era of Pinoy Rock. Lagi ako nasa 70's Bistro noon every Friday pag may gig ang Grupong Pendong or The Jerks. I met so many underground rock legends I wasn't even aware of their significance until one by one we lost them to the struggle (death, insanity, poverty - the very song things they sang about). Some of them are still around though and haven't given up the fight. Those were the days...

Kilala mo ang Smokey Mountain, (first and second generation). - Hindi pa maarte si Geneva nun (Anak ng Pasig). Pero mas gusto ko si Chedi!

for little girls, hindi ka "in" pag wla kang pencil case na marameng pindutan at marameng lalagyan ng lapis at kung ano ano pa... > - I absolutely loved my gigantic pencil case with all those features. Maybe it accounted for half the weight of my St. Scholastica bag, but who cares?

Wala ka sa "fashion" pag ala kang pop swatch (ur own personal wall clock at your wrist) - I never got one but I envied my bus mates who did.

Kabisado mo ang 3:00 prayer dahil napapanood mo ito tuwing hapon, at kabisado mo din pati ung "we have just as one nation started the beautiful 3:00 habit...we hope that this becomes a daily habit with you..." - And I can still distinctly hear the voice over in my head.

I loved the late 80's and the rest of the 90's. It was the age of discovery and originality - new things were happening all the time. And yet life felt simpler then, somehow (come to think of it, life was simpler then). Maybe I'm just getting old and seeing things repeat themselves - from ideas to fashion to music - thus, the general feeling of the triteness of it all. Perhaps this was how our parents felt when we were living our time?