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  • Thursday, 12 January 2012

    After School Specials

    Recess & Dismissal-- school kids' best hours in a day. When I was a youngin' myself, I loved the sound of the recess bell. I'd run excitedly to my lunch box/loot to unwrap my day's baon (snack) and make rounds, asking who-brought-what and whose-baon-is-better. (Yes, at a very young age I was already a foodie) 

    I don't really remember much of my preschool snacks but grade school was the most memorable.

    In grade school, unlike our peers, my siblings and I didn't get money for snacks. Not having money to buy snacks somehow made me envious of my classmates during those times because we weren't allowed to by nor eat candy. While everyone was spending their cash buying those Php1.00 snacks like Invaders/Nutri Star/Cheeze It or stuffing their pockets with Bazooka, we had to make do with our sandwiches/cookies/juice.

    We seemed to have an abundance of tetra pack juices back in the day. Mum and dad always bought boxes of Zesto during Sunday grocery day for our snacks. I always enjoyed picking out which flavor I'd bring for the day. On lucky days I'd convince my yaya to put milk in my jug. But since she was quite lazy, she'd opt to throw in the packed juice in my lunch bag.

    One day, in a desperate effort to make my own chocolate milk, I accidentally scooped spoonfuls of coffee with milk. Pleased with myself, I was bragging to my friends at school that I had the best drink of the day. But karma boomerangs fast and the first gulp from the jug made me feel sick.  I was sad--really sad.

    Morals of the story: 1) Kids should always consult with elders 2) Do not brag. Haha.

    The best part of my gradeschool dismissal days was when my dad would pick us up from school. While waiting for my mom to get off work, he'd take us to the nearby shopping building Trendline (that was within the vicinity of our old appliance shop) to have zip juice and siopao. I love recalling my young self amazed with the pyramidal orange juice box and talking to my dad about how my day went.

     When we were a bit older, he'd take us to Oro Shawarma for some off that roasted goodness. Young as we were, we were already exposed to different cuisine. We were just very lucky that our parents were foodies themselves. Shawarma wasn't even a big hit in the 90s! 

    It was during our later years in grade school/high school when we were given money for baon. That was a big step of maturity for us-- having been trusted by mom & dad to spend our money wisely. During those times, I only had Php 20.00 for snack money. That time, my friends were already well on their way spending Php50.00-Php100.00. Unfortunately, during the time that we were given baon money-- that was the time when we had to tighten our belts due to a fiscal crisis.


    I spent my Php20.00 wisely. My usual snack combo would consist of cheese Magic Flakes (Php5.00) and juice (Php10.00) or bananacue (Php 3.00) and iced water (Php1.00). 

    But these weren't sad foodie times. Mind you, my friends always had more than I did so they usually had Piattos Roadhouse or V-Cut chips with iced tea for snacks. Since I was very sociable in high school, I always found a way to strike up a chit-chat with friends (snacks in tow)  I meet in the hallway. While the conversation would go on, almost always-- that person offers some of his/her snacks to me. Who would refuse an offer like that? Haha.

    I get to try different chips with different friends on different days despite not  Taste a bite or two of sandwiches prepared by their mums. Pinch a part of someone's Mister Donut twist. All these without having to spend a single cent for it.

    I didn't really have to spend for anything else during school days. My dad always brought us lunches. He would be waiting for us at the gate a huge smile on his face carrying our hot lunches. Whenever the bell rings and we all rush down to the canteen-- someone would always let us know if our dad was there. I never really felt impoverished during that time because my dad always managed to whip up the best lunches. We didn't have much that time but dad grew his own spices so we enjoyed meat marinated with basil & rosemary on some days. 

    We were still also very fortunate that our old delivery truck was still road-worthy, saving us expenses on transportation. That's  why the Php20.00 baon we had could still be stretched throughout the day. 

    After school, some thrifty friends and I would pool in our remaining funds of the day to buy Php1.00 Superstix and green peas snacks with iced water before our choir/theatre practices. Food, no matter how expensive or cheap, is best shared with friends and family.

    Though my dad couldn't take us out anymore after school, he'd always make it a point to buy a couple of bananacue or turon sticks for us to munch on at home. We'd laugh about our funny classmates, exchange thoughts about the lessons we've learned, and consult him for ideas about our projects.

    When we didn't have much-- we had more stories to tell. More dreams discussed over simple meals. When I had Php20.00 I never complained that everyone else had more. I felt sad at times, but I never took it against my mum and dad. 

    Now that I'm done with school and we're doing much better than we did back then, I still look back to the days when recess and dismissal were like puzzles to solve. How much should I spend or not save? How do I make myself feel great even during tough times? 

    Those were fun times. 

    Hey, it's almost 5 P.M. Dismissal time! 

    I wonder what I'll be eating after work. Haha.








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