2967 Kakarong Street

i can still remember my very first home address: 2967 kakarong street, makati, metro manila. our house is a two-storey apartment located at the corner of kakarong and montojo streets in barangay sta cruz, very near the south cemetery. our family lived there from 1976 to 1987. and yes, i have so much childhood memories in that place i once called home.

right across the street lived our relatives, the family of my dad’s cousin. there, we have cousins (8, all male) who were already adults while me and my brother jayvee were still kids. we remember going to their place, eat our heart out from their variety store, and play with the kids in the street while our cousins closely watch over us. no kid dared to bully me or my brother because of our adult cousins. kinda cool, huh?

our neighborhood is very interesting. there are about 10 variety stores within the 30 meter radius from our house. talk about free enterprise! how could have they survived the competition? store owners may be very keen with their merchandise mix and services rendered. i can also observe the so many people loitering in these stores, exchanging stories, gossips, sharing alcoholic drink (rhum was the in-thing that time), everyday, rain or shine.

drug addicts are a common sight. our family can never forget the night when one drug addict mistook our place as the house of one pusher, heavily whacking our gates, waking not only our family but the whole neighborhood, shouting at the top of his lungs, demanding for drugs. my dad shouted back, telling the man that he got it all wrong, and asking him to stop or he’ll shoot him. good thing my cousins came (all 8 of them). and when the man saw my cousins, he ran off for his life!

let’s talk about streetfood. fishballs, taho, banana-cue, turon, balut, chicharon, penoy, popcorn, peanuts, and kropek are available everyday! they are sold by street peddlers coming from i don’t know where. there’s also this one vendor, who asks for old newspapers and bottles in exchange for the yummiest cheese puffs (better than jack and jill’s cheese curls).

our childhood games? we played patintero, tumbang preso, siyato, luksong tinik (or baka, depends on whose the taya), trumpo, piko, text (three 1-inch cards flipped into the air, played like cara cruz, gets?), langit-lupa (cops and robbers in the village, agawan base for the middle class), and a game we call kickball (played applying baseball rules, but with a plastic ball rolled by the ‘pitcher’ to be kicked then run to 4 bases in the diamond). interesting? very innovative, i say! no one in the neighborhood has a family computer, atari, or video games that time. our games are very interactive. all are very competitive, played with so much intensity (pawis na pawis and amoy araw talaga kami!).

oh, and there’s free water running in the faucet near our house. its provided for the public by the local government. many folks line their water drums to collect free water 24/7. some even take their bath right there (yes, even women). we can drink straight from the faucet! try drinking from any faucet nowadays and you’ll get diarrhea! hehehe.

teenagers have their bikes. wow! i really dreamed of also having one of those bmx bikes when i was a kid.

i also remember one man, whose one leg was amputated and is in crutches, trying to make a living by washing the public utility jeepneys after a day of operation.

taong grasa are a common sight. i can talk to them like any ordinary person. their stories are incredible! once, me and my mom felt so sorry for one taong grasa for she was so drenched in the rain, protecting her ‘little treasure.’ we approched her and asked her to spend the night in our garage, at least. she didn’t understood us and asked us to leave instead.

streetfights are also common. me and my brother watch from our window the so many violence happening around. one man running for his life because he’s chased by another with a bolo… two men trying to stab each other with pocket/butterfly knifes (balisong po iyon)… two groups throwing rocks and bottles to each other… a man on a jeepney, chasing and firing his gun to another man in a tricycle…

brace yourself to my next story… whenever a neighbor transfers residence to another place, the house they’re leaving will be canibalized to the last nail! no kidding! give the house at least two days after it was vacated and you’ll see it disappear like magic, leaving nothing but debris on the lot.

i think that’s all i can say about our very first home. yeah, neighborhood may be horrible, but it has become a part of who i am. i once lived with these people whom many are scared to. i learned to survive the ordeals of everyday violence. i learned to value love and peace. i learned that it is important to really have a genuine concern to one another in a community, to make it a compelling place to live in. i learned to live a simple life. i learned to be creative. i learned that the world is still a beautiful place to live in. i learned that God will always provide, and will protect us from any harm or evil. all these i learned when i was i kid.