The Lantern Files Part 3

So one Saturday, we were home most of the afternoon.  I told Dusty that we would be working on practicing his hockey shots later that day.  I was kinda feeling lazy mostly, which is why I didn't make him do it right away.  Well, I was lazy or tired or both.  I took a nap or tried to.  

Later, he came down and asked if he could go play with his friends.  I told him yes, but then I would come to get him.  Recently, he has been going to the playground with his friends.  Usually I would come out and go for a quick walk just to check on him and confirm that that was where he went.  Sometimes his friends would spot me and let him know, "Dusty, your dad's here."  Sometimes he would see me himself and wave.  And rarely, they would all be too occupied to notice me at all.  I would then go on my way and finish my walk.

So just like all those other days, I walked past and they saw me.  I told him I was going on my walk and when I came back, he would have to come home and do his shots.  He said, "Okay."

As usual recently, I kept on the lookout for lanternflies and kept track of how many I stomped on.  When I got to the pool area where most of them are, I noticed there were some on the trees as well, so I started inspecting them a bit more.  I got nearly close to two hundred this time.  I also spotted some hanging out on the ground next to the lampposts for some reason.  I got pretty busy and occupied, and again, I was walking around with one shoe on while hunting for those little buggers.

Well, it took me nearly a couple of hours until I realized how much time had passed.  Since I had no work that day, I didn't keep checking my phone for the time.  I think I started around four o'clock and it was almost six then.  I hurried back while still looking out for easy ones to spot.  I was hoping to actually get to two hundred.

The view is really nice by the river walkway.  But recently, I haven't really taken it all in.  I have been busy hunting and trying to spot those darn lanternflies.

When I got back to the playground, Dusty and his friends were no longer there.  There were other kids, and I looked but didn't find them.  So I headed home.

When I got back, Dusty asked what happened.  I said I got carried away hunting lanternflies.  So we ended up not doing his hockey shots.  He didn't really complain though.  He doesn't really want to practice unless I push him to.  Both of my kids are like that.  Even though once we go out there, they do get in the zone and get into it.  And mostly it is a lot of fun.  We listen to music together and share jokes and talk.

But that day, we didn't get to shoot.  Because of those darn lanternflies.

The Lantern Files Part 2

So for the next few days, I kept going for my walks.  Whenever I would pass by that pool area, I would take some time to stomp out the lanternflies.  That was kind of the highlight of my walk, even though it would slow me down and I knew I wasn't exerting as much if I were to just keep going on my way without stopping.  It was kind of fun and it did take my mind off things for a while.

There are homes on the opposite side of the path.  There is a fence on each side.  The fence by the homes is higher, maybe six feet high.  And the fence by the water is waist high.  

One day I noticed something by the fence next to the water.  On top of it was a lanternfly.  It was just sitting there.  So I took off my right shoe and smashed it.  I put my shoe back on and walked further on.  I got about ten feet ahead when I noticed another one just sitting there again.  So I took off my right shoe again.  And I smashed it again.  And then I put on my shoe and walked on.  And then about another ten feet later, there was another one.  

So this went on for a while.  I would take off my right shoe, crush a lanternfly, put my shoe back on, walk a bit, take off my right shoe again, smash it against the fence, put the shoe back on, and then walk some more.  While I was doing this, I did wonder whether there was someone looking out from their home at that moment watching me, wondering what I was doing.  The lanternfly would have been too small for them to see, so I wonder if they would know that I was killing an insect.  From far away, I probably looked like just a guy taking his right shoe off and putting it back on repeatedly, while hammering it against the fence in between.

After some time, I decided to just keep the shoe off altogether.  So I walked with my left shoe on my foot and the right one in my hand.  Why the right one?  I'm not exactly sure.  I had been stomping away with my right foot.  I figured since that was the shoe that did all the killing, that shoe should be the one to continue the job.  I guess that was my reasoning, but I didn't really think too much about it, really.  I just took off one shoe and stuck with the same one the next time.

So again, there I was with one shoe on and only a sock on the other.  Hunting for lanternflies.  And I did get a whole bunch.  After a while I started to count.  Actually, I may have started counting before I noticed them on the short fences.  I think that first day that I started tracking it, I only got a couple of dozen.  This time around I think I got close to a hundred but not quite.  I probably could have gotten to that figure but after a while, I decided I better head back and check on work.  

I could have stayed outside all day if I continued to let myself get carried away.  I think I was out for over an hour already at that point.  Usually, my walks would be around forty five minutes, if I remember correctly.  When my kids got home, I told him how much lanternflies I killed that day.

The Lantern Files Part 1

I have been trying to be more active lately so I decided to go for afternoon walks.  I still have my morning runs sometimes, but I have not been in the same shape as I used to be.  Actually, in the spring I had been able to run eight miles a day.  But life and other things got in the way and my routine got disrupted once again, so I ended up going down to three miles.  And then recently, I've just had a lack of energy and maybe more laziness, and I have struggled to just get to one mile.

So the walking has been either a good addition or supplement to the running.  I usually go around noontime.  Sometimes before I eat, sometimes after.  I would walk fast and work up a little sweat, checking my phone every now and then to make sure no issues come up at work.

One afternoon, I noticed a bunch of lanternflies just hanging out by the neighboring pool area.  This is on a walkway by the river, near the farthest end, where there is kind of an open area.  Just a whole bunch of them.  So the ones that were on the ground, I stomped on them.  The ones that were kind of higher up on the ledge by the fence, I would just kind of flick them with my finger.  I did this for a few days, I think.  Mostly I concentrated on finishing my walk and getting back home to check on work stuff.  

But then I noticed that flicking didn't kill them or even incapacitate them.  I looked it up later on and learned that that kind of force doesn't affect them very much.  Because science or something.

Anyways, the following day when I would find some lantern flies on the ledge, I would take off my right shoe and smack them with it.  I would just smash the shoe down hard.  Sometimes when it would be an awkward angle for a smash because of the fence or something else on the way, I would then flick them first and hope they land on a clear area and then stomp on them.

One weekend while the pool was still open - this was probably the last day - it was a hot, sunny day, and again I found a whole bunch of them there by that area.  So I proceeded to stomp and smash.  The walkway is on the outside of the pool area, as well as the houses, so I was on the other side of the fence.  There were all these people there swimming and relaxing, and I was wandering around stomping and smashing.  No one really reacted much, but I do wonder if they noticed and what they thought.  Did they figure out that I was killing lantern flies?  Did they not know and not really care?  Did they just think I was just some crazy dude because I probably looked it anyway?

Sports Entertainment

My eldest brother visited us in December of 1991 during Christmas break.  He left us on New Year's Eve and celebrated the new year on the plane.  He said that it was mostly empty.  I'm not sure if that would be possible now with how they run the air lines these days.  He turned eighteen the following month, which complicated my mother's ability to be able to petition her.  Basically, she couldn't.  

We later learned from some immigration lawyer that he should have just stayed in America while they worked on converting his tourist visa.  Or something like that.  I only overheard these things as a twelve year.  Nobody really took their time to explain things to me.  Even when it came to members of my own immediate family.  And this was one I would never see again for decades later.

Meanwhile, my parents worked on getting my second oldest brother, the middle child, to the United States.  My mom petitioned him, and by summer of 1993, he did arrive to live with us.

I did not have a lot of friends at this time.  No one close, anyway.  I had classmates who I associated with, but never really spend time with anyone outside of school.  So I thought it would be nice to have my brother come live with us and actually stay and not just visit.

Now, this brother and I were never really that close.  But still, he was my brother.  I thought I would finally have an ally in this foreign land.  At first, especially during summer, we kind of got along.  He would even sometimes put his arms around me, which I did really like, but was still kind of odd to me, especially after a couple of years of not seeing him.

But things kind of changed once school started.  I was in the eighth grade at this point.  I transferred from Catholic school to public school to save money.  He was a freshman in college, and my mom could only afford community college.  Now I don't know if he struggled with adjusting to life in the States, but he never let on about any troubles.  He did continue to hang on to a lot of his ways in the Philippines that he thought was really cool, and I just remember constantly thinking, no one knows you and no one cares about that here.

We just kind of drifted apart.  We had a few fights.  One of the main ones was on a Saturday afternoon.  For weeks, we had this routine of watching the same lineup every weekend.  I can't recall specifically now, but it was "The A-Team", "Three's Company", "Mr. Belvedere" and maybe a couple other shows and not necessarily in that order.  Anyway, that one day just before one of the shows was about to begin, he just decided he wanted to watch something else.  And it took me by surprise.  I had been looking forward to the show, especially since they would always show commercials.  I was pretty much shocked and the sudden change in behavior.  And we argued loudly about it.

We only had one TV at this point.  The other one was broken.  Also, the VCR was broken.  My brother thought he knew how to fix things, when he actually didn't.  He probably meant well, but one of his ways was banging on the side of the machine.  And then if that didn't work, bang it harder.  My mom wasn't happy with that, and he was upset with getting the blame for breaking things.

I got sick at some point in the springtime.  I was out of school for a few days, maybe even for a whole week or more.  Actually, it is also possible that I was sick around spring break, and that was why I was out of school so much.  I mentioned my brother previously because during these times when I was sick, I can't remember ever interacting with him.  He had a little room with a curtain, and he spent most of his time there by himself.

At some point, we got a membership at this video store around the corner.  They happened to have WWF video tapes and for a while I was renting different WrestleManias and Summer Slams and Royal Rumbles.  By the time I was sick, I was on the Survivor Series series.  When I got a little better that I could get out of bed but still not go to school, I would go to the video store and return the tapes and rent other ones.

Nowadays, when I'm just kind of sick but not really sick, well enough to walk but a little groggy, my nose a little stuffy, it makes me feel like watching the Survivor Series.

Sports

In the winter of 1991, my mom petitioned my eldest brother and he stayed with us for a couple of weeks.  He was seventeen, and the idea was that he should come to America while he was a minor.  We didn't know much about immigration law, but we somebody suggested that we should establish that he has come to the States and stayed with us before turning eighteen.  Something like that.  We turned out to be wrong because things became difficult once he became an adult.

Somehow somebody decided that it was more important for him to continue college in the Philippines.  He came to us during Christmas break in December.  We spent a lot of that time going to different friends and relatives.  It was kind of fun actually.  It seemed like we were at a different Christmas party every few days.  It was my first Christmas in America, and I thought it would be like that every year.  It wasn't.

Of course, we had to show my brother the sights in New York City.  We went to Times Square.  I'm not sure if this is a memory or imagined or if it was when my brother was there, but I remember us parking our car on Broadway in the middle of all that traffic and crowd and having to pee and going on the side of the car with the door covering the view.  Again, I'm not sure if that's a real memory though.

I went up for my first and only time to the top of the World Trade Center.  It was pretty cool.  I remember going up in a very huge elevator, like freight size.  I don't remember exactly if we went to the Statue of Liberty, but I'm inclined to think we did go there, as well as Ellis Island.

At home one night, NBA on NBC was on.  I remember it was the Bulls vs. Trailblazers.  It never occurred to me to watch sports in those days.  One Sunday I was channel surfing and I saw the New York Giants game on CBS, and I was like, meh.  It was the same for baseball, and car racing and golf and other stuff.  I definitely do not recall ever seeing a hockey game or even a commercial for it on local TV in those days.

I think it was a Saturday night, and I was probably expecting to see "Perfect Strangers" or some other sitcom on ABC or something.  But my brother wanted to watch Michael Jordan.  I don't think he had ever seen a live game on broadcast TV before.  So he was pretty excited about it.  I had grown accustomed to my shows, but I actually liked and admired my eldest brother a lot, and I was happy to let him watch.  I don't think I even thought about recording my shows.  I was just glad to share the experience with him.

I can't remember if they were the home or away team, but I believe the Bulls may have been playing in Portland.  I would feel confident in thinking that Chicago probably won that game.  I can't remember what else my brother and I watched on TV during his brief stay with us.  After he left, I continued to watch basketball whenever the Bulls were on, which was rare because we didn't have cable.

In the springtime though, with the NBA playoffs happening, I did get to see the Bulls a lot.  It was fun watching the team and getting invested into it.  I did not care for the Knicks or the Nets, nor did I know much about any of the other teams.  I wasn't even aware of the existence of the Phoenix Suns.  I thought the name was weird.  How many suns are there?  Isn't there only one sun? 

In the mornings at school, my classmates and I would talk about the game from the previous night.  I drew the Bulls logo on my notebooks a lot.  I got very good at it.  It was great for me because it was something I could talk about with my classmates.  And the Bulls did eventually win the championship.  I'm not sure what we talked about after that.

The Rentals

When I first moved to America, my mom and I lived with my aunt and her family in Queens.  This aunt was not my mom's sister.  They were in-laws.  After just a few months, we wore out our welcome and moved to Jersey City around December.

In the following summer, my grandmother came to the States to visit my aunt.  My mom had a car at this point, and on the weekends, she would drive to Queens to pick her up and she would stay with us for the weekend.  I was glad to see my grandma.  We were never close in the Philippines, but I did miss her and it was nice to see a familiar face again.

I was curious though of why she would want to be with us.  That is, why would she want to spend her time in a one bedroom apartment.  We didn't even go anywhere.

My mom was kind to her.  One of the things she did for my grandma was help her with her bath.  My grandma liked having her back scrubbed, and my mom did that for her.  My mom made it seem like my aunt was not willing to do that.  And honestly, I'm not sure if my mom did all that just to make herself seem like the better person.

We didn't have cable, and The Filipino Channel definitely did not exist back then.  I'm not sure if my grandma asked or if it was just my mom's idea, but we found this Filipino video store across the street from the Philippine Bread House, which we sometimes would go to.  Or, it's possible we went there for bread and noticed the video store.  In any case, we signed up for a membership and rented videos.

Hm.  Actually, I'm not sure if they already had Filipino movies back then.  Because I'm trying to remember what Filipino movies we watched with my grandma, and I can't actually recall.  But I know the place eventually did turn into a Filipino owned store by the time I was in high school.

One of the movies I picked was "The Naked Gun 2 1/2".  Or was it 33 1/3?  I'm not sure, but it was one of them.  I also picked "Problem Child 2", and I remember watching that movie with my grandma.  I'm not sure if my mom watched with us.  I remember we closed the curtain and the sunlight would still seep through and give the room a yellowish tint.  I remember liking the movie, and I'm sure I laughed a lot.  I can't recall specifically if my grandma laughed, too, but she never complained.

I have about 25 cousins on both sides of my family.  No lie.  So when I was growing up in the Philippines, I didn't have much time alone with my grandma.  It was kinda nice to spend time with just me and her in America.  I was twelve years old.  She always had this reputation of being stern and mean, but at that time, she was nice to me.  I had gained some weight at that time and sometimes I would lie down down on the floor and suck my stomach in and show her and tell her I was skinny.  She would just matter-of-factly say, "You're sucking your stomach in".  We never had any big jokes or anything, and we were never huggy-huggy or lovey dovey, but it was still nice.

She went back to the Philippines at the end of the summer.  She didn't like winters in America.  I remember she was like a superstar whenever she would come back.  She would have goodies from the States and my cousins and I couldn't wait to see what she brought.  

Anyways, I never saw her again after that.  We didn't even talk on the phone and definitely did not write letters.  She died a few years later.

Video Cassette Recorder

When we were living in Queens, I think I only went to work once with my mom.  It was pretty far, in Brooklyn, and we had to take a couple of busses and then the subway.  I went on a Saturday before school started.

When we moved to Jersey City, her work was just as far, or actually maybe even farther.  And I can't recall ever going back to work with her.  One time though, I think in the summer, I think I did go with her but not to her work.  She had met up with either old friends or relatives, and they lived close to where she worked.

I can't always tell about the Filipino adults we were acquainted with when I was growing up whether we were related because we have this custom of calling every adult as Aunt or Uncle.  But my mom was kind of surprised to find Uncle Roi in the States.  She apparently had not known where he and his wife were living.

I didn't go to camps in the summer.  We weren't even aware of what camps were available in the city, or how much they cost.  And we definitely could not afford to go away to vacations.  So somehow, my mom had this idea that I could spend some time with my uncle.  I believe I was to go to their apartment and he was to teach me how to draw or something.

So one day I went there.  I'm not sure why he was home, whether he was off for the whole summer or he had the day off or worked night shifts, but I was under the impression that he spent the days, at least in the summer, in their apartment.  His wife wasn't home so I assume she herself was working.  And my mom left me there for the day, as she went off to work.

We kind of had a little chat at first, and then he asked if I wanted to watch TV.  I think he did give me some paper and pens, but I just basically sat there all day watching.  I remember getting a glimpse of "Mystery Science Theatre" before changing channels.  They had cable and had HBO.  

We actually didn't end up doing any art or drawing.  I ended up sitting there by myself in the living room the whole time while he disappeared elsewhere.  He didn't do anything bad to me or anything.  On the contrary, he was more disinterested if anything.  In retrospect, I feel like it was my mom kind of inviting herself or myself into their lives.

His wife seemed even more disinterested than my uncle.  They were both nice enough, but especially for my aunt, she seemed to have a bit of an air that they were above us.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like she wanted nothing to do with us, and if not for the fact that they had known each other in the Philippines, they may not have entertained us at all.

In any case, my uncle had a bunch of tapes of movies he had recorded off HBO.  He had labeled them all neatly and displayed them by the TV stand.  He either offered to lend us some tapes or my mom simply asked to borrow them.  We did end up taking one or two home.  One of them was "Batman", if I remember correctly.

Now, if you didn't know how VHS tapes work, there's a little tab that you are supposed to pop off in order to protect it from recording.  And if you wanted to record over the tape again, you would simply put tape over the hole where the tab used to be.  So on one of those tapes, my uncle never popped the tab off.  At some point, I mistakenly pressed the record button on the remote control.  The VCR stopped playing the movie, and it immediately showed whatever channel it was tuned into and began recording it.  I quickly pressed the stop button, but of course, there is that one or two seconds of disruption over the movie now.

I think this may have been at my friend Jackson's house.  I think I wanted to show him "Batman" and brought over the tape there.  Either that or I wanted to just watch or finish it and so I took it with me.  

I felt bad about that mistake.  I felt guilty about it for a long time, but I never said anything.  Later on, my mom returned the tape, and I hoped my uncle would never find out.  They never did say anything about it.  I would hope if they did see it, they simply looked up when the movie was showing again and taped it again.

I didn't see much of my uncle and his wife after that.  I'm not sure if it was related to the tape.  But they ended up moving across the country to Seattle or something.  And they never told us or anyone.  When we did find out, I believe my mom was still able to contact them by phone or something.  But I never did see them again.

Video Home System

I didn't have cable growing up, so I didn't have much choice of what to watch on TV.  However, I just realized I actually did have options of what to watch.  Mainly, these were video rentals.

My mom and I usually would walk a few blocks to go grocery shopping to this store called C-Town.  I believe one time we walked past this video store by Vroom Street.  It is no longer there.  But we went in there and got a membership.  I can't remember which videos my mom and I first rented.  And then for the rest of the summer, it was just me walking over there to return and rent VHS tapes.

One of the movies I remember renting was "Only the Lonely", starring John Candy.  And I think there was also "Mr. Saturday Night", starring Billy Crystal.  I can't recall much of the other movies I rented though.

My mom also bought some VHS cassettes, mostly the cheap ones at C.H. Martin.  One of them was "Topaz", which she told me as a good movie by a good director.  I can't remember watching it with her, but afterwards I remember seeing the tape in its case all the time but I never got interested in popping it in no matter how bored I was sitting at home alone.

At some point, my mom signed up with Columbia House or something.  We used to see their commercials all the time on TV.  I can't remember all the movies she bought at first because I think you can get like ten for one cent or something like that initially.  And I don't remember if it came from the club or it was bought at a store, but we also had "A Man Called Horse".  She was watching it one morning, but I didn't stay in the living room with her.  I think I went into the bedroom to watch something else.  I did walk by once in a while and I remember the scene where they were hanging the guy through a rope under the skin of his chest.  I didn't really feel like watching the rest of it.  I did check it out though many years later, and I thought the movie was all right.  

We also had a copy of "On Golden Pond".  It was another title that I kept seeing near the VCR but I never popped into the cassette player.  It just seemed like more of a grown up movie and not for me.

Another movie what we had was "Basic Instinct".  I never watched it with my mom, thank goodness.  I think I already knew it was something I wouldn't want to watch with her.  But when I was home alone by myself though, I did watch it a few times.  I was twelve years old.  It was definitely more of a grown up movie and not for me.

I can't believe I can't remember if I had asked her to buy me movies also through the club.  I'm fairly certain I did though.  I just can't remember the exact titles.  I was really into comedies back then so it must have been something funny.  

Summer Shows

Even though I wasn't too crazy about "Saved By The Bell", it had become part of my routine of shows to watch in the late afternoon.  However, in the spring of I think 1992, Channel 11 started airing ads for a new show in that time slot, 5pm weekdays.  It was called "Swans Crossing", and the characters were also teenagers.  I figured it would be kind of like a sitcom also, but it turned out to be like a soap opera.  I tried to watch a couple of shows but couldn't get into it.

And then if I remember correctly, they also replaced "Charles in Charge" at 5:30pm with "The Hogan Family".  I had seen glimpses of this show on some weekend on either the same or another channel.  I was really into WWF wrestling at the time, so when I saw the title, I thought it would have something to do with the wrestler.  I wasn't really much into change and didn't really get into this unfamiliar show, but I didn't really have much of an option, not having cable, so I think I did just leave this on.

I didn't go to summer camps or any vacations in the summer.  I stayed home in our one bedroom apartment while my mom went to work.  And I had TV as my company.

On weeknights at 7pm, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" came on on Channel 11.  It replaced "A Different World" and I can't remember whatever show followed it.  I did tune in to it.  I thought it was interesting enough.  From time to time, I would switch between this and "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune" after it.  And then I think TNG also aired again at 11pm or something.  Can't remember exactly, but I remember staying up watching it while my mom was already asleep.  I wasn't really into it for the sci-fi stuff, but I did like the storylines and the characters.

During weekdays, there would be morning cartoons, of course.  Very early on, there would be "The Flintsones" and "The Jetsons".  Then "Ninja Turtles" and "G.I. Joe".  These were on Channel 11, WPIX.  But Channel 9, WWOR, also had cartoons, I believe.  I think one was "James Bond, Jr.".  Reruns of "Silver Spoons" and "Who's the Boss?" also came on on Channel 9 around 10am I think.  Around this time, they would air a brief "Community Calendar" of stuff going on.  This usually was just text over b-roll of shots of New Jersey scenes.

Channel 11 also started airing "Batman", the 1960s series.  Twelve year old me thought it was cool.  I realize now how campy it is, but back then I didn't find it corny or anything.  

In the afternoon, there was "Small Wonder" on Channel 5, the Fox channel.  I liked it at the time.  I thought the robot was cool, and I found the show funny.  Now, of course, I find it pretty cringey.

And then later on there would be cartoons again.  That was how I spend my days as a twelve year old in Jersey City in 1992.  I didn't have sports.  I didn't go to camps.  I didn't go on vacation.

Pay Per View Shows

When I was twelve, I was living in a one bedroom apartment with my mom in Jersey City.  We didn't have much of anything, and we didn't have cable.  But I still did watch a lot of TV.  Since my mom worked in Brooklyn, she would have to leave early and got home late.  I didn't have many friends so TV was my companion.

I think my mom used to give me some money.  Everyday after school, I would walk a few blocks over to Midtown Deli (I think that's what it was called), and I would buy a can of soda and a pint of Hershey's chocolate ice cream.  I remember the box was cube shaped.  I can't remember if I got Pepsi or Coke.  I would then walk home and sit on the couch, watch the Disney afternoon lineup and eat my ice cream and drink my soda.  That was almost everyday, and I didn't have a lot of activities.  So yeah, I did gain some weight.

Eventually, I used to bar WWF ice cream bars instead.  I got into wrestling at some point.  I used to even buy WWF Magazine, along with my favorite, Mad Magazine.  I had a collection in the early nineties, but now I don't know what I did with them.  This was around the time Bret Hart became champion.

I would watch "WWF Superstars" at noon on Saturdays, and then "WWF Wrestling Challenge" at noon on Sundays.  Both were on Channel 5.  Sometimes when we would have to go to church, I would record the latter show.  

And then eventually I found out that there were other shows on cable.  I was envious of my friend Jackson, who got to watch it but was never really into it.  Sometimes I would ask him what matches were on and who won and stuff.  It was kind of frustrating when he wouldn't really get into the details.  He would just kinda tell me quickly and move on.  And sometimes he didn't even tune in.  I wished we did have cable, but I was pretty sure we couldn't afford it and felt bad about even thinking of asking my mom.  I think at some point, I asked Jackson to record it for me but either he didn't know how or he didn't have a blank tape or he forgot.  Overall, he didn't really seem interested in it.

In the seventh grade, there was a new kid who transferred to my school.  He had a Spanish and Asian name, like Jose Chan.  I can't remember what nationalities he was though.  Me and my classmates would sometimes talk about wrestling.  I don't think my friends were into it so much as to pay for the PPV shows, but Jose's family either did or they somehow got it for free.

Jose was always friendly.  I remember he was some kind of traffic volunteer or something.  He had a badge and everything, and I was impressed.  I'm not exactly sure what it was for, but he was some kind of traffic guide or something.  I never saw him in action though.  Or he was making it all up.  Anyway, at some point, Jose mentioned he would be watching the next Pay Per View show and that he would record it for me.  I don't think I even asked.  And he did, and he gave me the tape the next day.  I believe most shows would be on a Sunday night, and he would give me the tape on Monday.  Our other classmates would borrow it, too, but I was always the first one to get it.  There were really only two or three more PPVs during that school year, but it was still pretty cool.

Cable Shows

The reason we moved to Jersey City was because my mom had a couple of childhood friends who lived there.  She was still working in Brooklyn, and she commuted for a couple of hours each way every day.  One of those friends was a teacher, and my mom enrolled me at the Catholic school where she taught.  The other friend was a nurse who had two kids.  The younger one was a girl, about five years old at the time, and the other was a boy, about ten or eleven when I was twelve.  My mom's two friends were sisters.

The boy and I were meant to be friends.  We did play together.  He had a lot of toys and action figures.  They were all kind of different collections of stuff, whereas my toys were generally a bunch of the same things.  I had a few ninja turtles figures and a lot of G.I. Joes.  I liked those G.I. Joes because they were very movable.  But my friend, who was called Jackson because his dad's name was Jack, his toys were all sort of different things, different sizes.  I guess it's hard to describe, but there was sort of no rhyme or reason for them, just randomness, I guess.  

We didn't have cable at home.  It was not in our budget, believe it or not.  I think it may have been thirty dollars a month for basic, but whatever it was, we still couldn't afford it.

I liked coming over to Jackson's house because they did have cable.  I can't really remember what shows I watched there but I liked having a lot more channels and a lot more choices.  I think mostly we watched Nickelodeon.

Some of the shows he liked were "Eureka's Castle".  I didn't really get it.  But he seemed to enjoy it.  I usually waited until commercials so we can see what else was on, or I would have to wait until the end of the show.  But I think I was successful in making him move on from it.

On weekend mornings, there would be a lineup of cartoons on USA Network.  I can't remember specifically what shows, but I think I was satisfied with what they had.  Let me see if I can googalize it.  

So based on the search results, I think "Mighty Mouse" was the only one I was pretty certain I got to watch.  Maybe also "Scooby Doo".  But in any case, I wasn't really there much on weekend mornings, but I do remember being happy that there were other cartoon options.

And then at some point, there was also another WWF show that came on, maybe around 10am.  I remember feeling like I missed out on so much action, not seeing those matches on the two weekend shows I watched on regular TV.  Eventually there would also be Monday night programming, and I think I may have asked Jackson to tape them for me, but he never did.

On weekday afternoons, I can't remember if we watched cable, but I remember Jackson liking the muppet babies on Fox.  I didn't like it and couldn't get into it and just remember feeling like I was missing out on the Disney afternoon, even though at that point I had probably seen most if not all of those episodes already.  He also liked "Woody Woodpecker", but I thought he was a troublemaker, unlike Bugs Bunny who generally minded his own business until someone else messed with him.  In the mornings there was also "Looney Tunes" on ABC.  I think it was called the "Bugs Bunny and Tweety Hour" or something like that.  That one we generally both liked, as well as his little sister.  I think there was another show on cable as well, but I'm not sure if it was on USA Network.

I think that was one reason why Jackson and I never really got close.  We were friendly enough, but most of the time, I preferred to stay home where I got to control what goes on the TV, even with limited options.  When I did come over, I liked to watch the shows I liked when he was distracted with playing with his toys or something else.  He may have been frustrated with me, too, because I think most of the time I looked forward to watching cable more than spending time with him.

Recorded Shows

When we first moved to America, I pretty much used to just watch whatever shows my mom liked.  It was stuff like "Full House" and other popular shows like "Who's The Boss?" and I don't remember what else.  On Sundays, it was "America's Funniest Home Videos" and "America's Funniest People".  I did like them, and I usually never cared to see what else was on.

When we were still in Queens, we shared a bedroom in my aunt and uncle's home.  We each had our own twin beds, and sometimes we would watch TV before going to sleep.  I usually had the remote because it was still kind of a fairly new thing for me, and I really liked it.  One Sunday night before going to sleep, instead of pressing the power button, I may have mistakenly changed the channel instead.  It went from Channel 7 to Channel 5, onto an episode of "Married... with Children".  I think it was the one where Al and Peggy were in some motel or something.  I can't remember the exact scene, but I remember thinking it was interesting, and the audience was laughing really hard.  I can't remember the joke, and I don't think my mom made a comment or anything.  I just kind of watched for a minute and then turned it off.

When we moved to Jersey City, we had a TV in the living room, and another one in the bedroom.  One Sunday night, we were watching "Funniest Home Videos" in the living room, and for some reason, I decided to go into the bedroom.  Either the TV was already on, or I turned it on.  It was tuned in to Fox, and "In Living Color" was on.  I thought it was pretty funny.  I didn't watch the whole show, only a few minutes.  I then returned to the living room.

That was kind of the moment when I decided to see if I can record shows.  I had been able to record on our VCR.  I remember my mom had asked me to record this documentary on Christoper Columbus's ships on PBS, so I had already figured out how to do it.  Other than that, I remember recording "G.I. Joe" in the mornings and then pausing it here and there.  I thought it was cool seeing the freeze frames and looking at all the characters in stillness for those moments.

I became curious to see if it was possible to record one channel on the VCR while the TV was tuned into a different one.  I was excited when I figured it out.  Of course, the next week, I then recorded "In Living Color" while we were watching ABC.  And then I recorded "Cheers" reruns at 11pm.  I recorded "WWF Wresting Channel" at noon on Sundays when we would go to church.  I also recorded "Dennis the Menace" and "Heathcliff", which came on at 2 and 2:30pm when I would still be in school.  I thought it was cool being able to watch these shows when I couldn't actually be around while they were airing.

Sometimes, my mom and I would go to C.H. Martin, and I would always grab a blank tape and put it in the basket.  I remember looking at them and choosing them based on the running times.  At first, I used to just record on standard mode, but then I played around with the other settings and learned that LP or EP gave me more hours on the tape.  I don't actually know which one our deck had, whether it was LP or EP, but I'm fairly sure we also had ELP, or extremely long play.

On weeknights and weekend afternoons, Channel 11 would air movies, and I would record the ones I liked.  I think one of the first ones I recorded was "Roxanne".  I remember holding the remote the whole time, ready to hit pause when a commercial aired.  I turned out to be pretty good at it.  Most of my recordings, I was able to have the broadcast movie with no commercials just by timing it right.  I figured out on my own the commercial breaks would be two minutes at a time, usually with 4 thirty-second ads.  Actually, sometimes the same movie would air on a weeknight and then get re-aired on a weekend afternoon.  Sometimes I did make a mistake, like pausing too late and having a snippet of a commercial, or mistakenly not unpausing and missing some of the movie.  When this did happen on a weeknight, I sometimes got to do a do-over and try again on the weekend.

One of the movies I recorded and watched over and over was "Problem Child 2".  There were some edits that would have been cool to see again because I remember watching them then that the scene kind of seemed odd at the time.  Like when Junior farts in the principal's office, I'm pretty sure they edited either a line or the sound of the flatulence.  But I remember just kind of seeing this and feeling like the scene seemed odd.

Another thing I used to watch over and over were "Seinfeld" episodes.  I had whole tapes of one episode after another.  It was the season where they had crazy Joe Davola.  

I wish I got to save those tapes, but unfortunately I don't have any of them anymore.  I can't remember exactly what I did with them.  Some of them, I taped over in desperation because I didn't have any more blanks.  Some of them just went bad and sticky and got eaten by the deck.  Some I just unemotionally got rid of once DVDs came around.  I think actually once I really got into sports and football, I taped over the movies with Chicago Bulls and New York Jets games.  But I'm not really sure actually.

Late Night Shows

When I was twelve and living with my aunt, uncle and cousin in Queens, I never really stayed up late.  I shared a bedroom with my mom, and she usually went to sleep early, around 8 o'clock at night.  On weekdays, she had to wake up very early to get to work in Brooklyn.  Some Saturdays, she would have to work also, and on Sundays, we would go to church.

After a few months, my mom and I moved to Jersey City.  It was kind of odd, but it seemed like we wore out our welcome.  I'm not too sure why.  First of all, when I was first coming to America, my expectation was that I would be living with my mom in her apartment in Brooklyn.  And then when I got to JFK Airport, my uncle picked us up and took us to their home, and there was. "Welcome Dave" sign in the living room.  

I mean, I didn't mind it.  It was a nice house in a nice quiet neighborhood.  And my aunt and uncle even gave us the big room.  My mom talked about how Brooklyn wasn't that safe.  And she dreamed about petitioning my dad and two brothers and that we would all live together in the basement.  I'm not sure if these plans were shared with my aunt and uncle.

I got there in August, and I never really got close with my aunt and uncle.  I got along with my little cousin at first, but then I found her to be a bit spoiled and annoying.  And then I pretty much kept to myself most of the time.  My uncle kind of sorta tried to get along with me at first, like offering me chocolate pudding and stuff, but I didn't like those new foreign things and eventually he just kind of stopped trying.

And then one night around November, I noticed him and my mom talking in the bedroom.  I couldn't quite hear what he was saying but it was something like his daughter was growing up and needed her own room and stuff.  And then after that, my mom told me we would be moving.  I always thought it was odd that they kind of welcomed us for just a few months and then expect us to be on our own just like that.

When we did move, I found myself alone a lot.  And TV was basically my company.  I was a quiet kid who didn't really know how to make friends.  At least, not in America.  In the Philippines, I was quite popular in school, and so the change was quite traumatizing, to be honest, although I didn't quite realize it at the time.

Mostly on Friday and Saturday nights, I began to stay up later and later and watch the news or whatever else was on at 10pm.  At the end of the news, Channel 11 would always say, "Cheers" is next.  And I ended up watching that.  Then "The Honeymooners" would follow it.  On Saturdays, I would watch "Saturday Night Live".  I had overheard a couple of older kids at school talk about it one time, so I got curious.  Also, I think the movie "Wayne's World" came out around this time.  

Usually around 1am, World Championship Wrestling would come on on Channel 2.  It was interesting.  I didn't know there was any other wrestling outside of WWF.  I thought WCW was a bit inferior though, but there was nothing else on at that time.  Also, a lot of their matches were the same formula.  I especially remember Brian Pillman and Steve Austin were tag teammates, and would always cheat and win.  

I ended up liking "Cheers".  I watched the new shows on NBC on Thursday nights, and then I recorded the 11pm reruns on weeknights.  I would then watch it in the mornings while getting ready for school.

Evening Shows

After the Disney afternoon lineup ended, the cartoon shows were over on weekdays.  I think from time to time, I did check out the other channels but found nothing I liked.  I think there were cartoons on Channel 5 also, but I didn't really like those Fox shows.  I think one of them was the muppet babies.  I just didn't get it, and I liked the shows on Channel 11 more.

Then at 5pm, there was "Saved by the Bell".  I thought it was interesting.  As a twelve year old who was new to the country, I watched it more for curiosity, wondering what high school kids in the States were like.  I think there were also commercials for it during the cartoon shows so I kind of decided to stay on the channel and check it out when it did come on.  I kinda thought it was funny, I guess.

At 5:30pm, there was "Charles In Charge".  I liked it, too.  I liked the theme song.  I think there were actually commercials for all these shows all afternoon.  I guess I thought it was funny.  Interestingly, at that age, I kind of already figured out the formula.  Every time there was a lesson that Charles wanted to teach the kids, it turns out the same lesson could be applied to himself.

Likewise, "Full House" kind of had that same formula sometimes.  Uncle Jessie would have something to teach his nieces, but the same thing could be applied to him.  This came on at 6pm.  I remember my little cousin really liked this show.  She really liked little Michelle.  There were definitely a lot of commercials for this show on WPIX.

Then at 6:30pm, there was "Growing Pains".  I didn't really understand what the title meant, or what the expression was.  It seemed like a typical show where the kids are trouble makers and get into trouble and stuff.  I guess I liked it, too.

At 7pm, there was "A Different World".  I remember the theme song kind of being stuck in my head.  I didn't really get into it.  Mostly, I never got to watch it in full.  I think this was around dinner time, not that we all ate dinner together or something.  Actually, that probably never happened.  But I think this was around the time my mom would get home, and I think I started getting ready for bed or something.  I think we went to sleep at 8pm.  

Also, I think my mom liked to watch "Jeopardy!", which also came on at 7pm on Channel 7.  My uncle used to like this show.  I think my mom encouraged me to watch this because it would make me smarter or something.  And then "Wheel of Fortune" came on at 7:30pm, which I liked better.  I think I used to be able to guess the clues fairly easily.

I think we watched some primetime shows after 8pm.  I think "Full House" came on during Tuesdays on ABC.  I think I also watched "Home Improvement".  I think my mom also liked "Who's The Boss?" but I never really got into it.  And sometimes we would watch whatever movie was on on Channel 11.  I think we rarely finished it though because we had to go to sleep.

Afternoon Shows

My little cousin had VHS tapes of Disney movies.  I think the first one we watched together was "The Little Mermaid".  She had most of the lines memorized, and she liked having someone to watch with.
I actually liked it, too.

She also had Davey and Goliath videos, and we watched those, too.  They were kind of odd, and I wasn't really into them.  They clay characters kind of had a weird way of moving.

I can't remember if we watched "Robin Hood", but it's possible we did.  For sure, we watched "The Jungle Book", and I really liked that, too.  I believe she also memorized most of the lines in that movie.

In the afternoons on weekdays, Channel 11 would have the Disney afternoon lineup.  The first one was "Duck Tales" at 3pm.  Then "Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers" at 3:30.  And then "Tale Spin" at 4.  I liked all of those shows, but I was especially excited to see the same characters from "The Jungle Book" in "Tale Spin".  I wasn't too familiar with the characters in the other two shows, but I knew Baloo and Shere Khan.  And then there were commercials for their newest show, "Darkwing Duck", which came on at 4:30, and I liked that one, too.

I remember watching them after school.  I was just at home by myself.  I don't know what my cousin was doing, but I mostly wanted my privacy away from her.  After two weeks, I kind of found her to be annoying.  So I stayed by myself.  I was either reading or drawing while watching TV.  I got some books from the Scholastic order form the school would give out.  One of them was Mad Libs, which I wasn't sure why I got because I wasn't sure what it was.  But anyway, I ended up doing Mad Libs by myself while watching TV alone.  So yeah, it was kind of pathetic.

But I watched that afternoon lineup for years.  When I moved to New Jersey, I came home early one time and got to see what was before those shows.  I believe "Dennis the Menace" came on at 2pm, followed by "Heathcliff" at 2:30.  I hadn't seen those shows before, and I wasn't too crazy about them, but I thought they were okay.

I actually showed "Duck Tales" to my older one many years ago when he was around seven.  Of course, he liked it.  But I liked watching him watch it.  I liked seeing him figuring out the mysteries and seeing his face light up when he realized why things were happening and who was the bad guy and who did what and stuff like that.  He also got to see the other Disney shows because my wife and I had collected their DVDs even before our kids were born.

And then when my younger one started school a couple of years ago, I would play those shows in the same order when he came home.  So after school, he would get to see the same lineup of cartoons I used to watch, just without the commercial.  Eventually, he figured out the order.  We would be watching the credits for "Rescue Rangers" and he would say, "I bet 'Tale Spin' is next".  So that was pretty cool.

Noontime Shows

When I was twelve and living at my aunt, uncle and cousin's house, my mom would sometimes work on Saturdays and I would stay home.  I can't recall doing much with my aunt's family.  We didn't go to the park or anything like that, as far as I can remember.

When I first got there, I think my mom and I went shopping with my Aunt.  I don't know where my uncle and cousin had gone to that day.  We went to this department store called Alexander's.  I remember my aunt was looking for the petite section because she was a small Asian lady.  I think I found a ninja turtles sweater that my mom bought for me.  She also got me a set of pajamas.  I think she may have sent me a pair, too, back in the Philippines but maybe I didn't bring them with me.  I did wear them then because I had them, but I didn't really wear pajamas to sleep most of my life.

That was like the one thing I did with my aunt.  As for my uncle, he took me and my little cousin to Sesame Street Live one time at Nassau Coliseum.  For some reason I thought we would be going to a taping of the actual show, like in the studio or something.  I didn't realize they produced shows like the one we would be going to.  It was okay.  I enjoyed it.  I wasn't really too familiar with Sesame Street, although I did buy a Grover book a few years before that I liked.  My little cousin's favorite was Elmo, which I didn't even know existed.  I knew about Big Bird and Bert and Ernie but not him.  This was in 1991, and I think he was still a new character then.

When we got to the arena, we were seated on the upper section.  On the stage below, I could sorta get a glimpse of things happening behind the curtain, and I wanted to check it out.  So during intermission I got up to go across to the other side to get a better look.  My uncle yelled at me and told me not to just get up and to that.  I didn't know how to explain myself.  I did understand and know how to speak English, but I wasn't too familiar in a conversational way and especially did not know how to speak up for myself.  His sudden reaction also caught me off guard so I just sat down quietly.

That was pretty much the one thing I did with my uncle.  Well, actually, I think on my first or second day in America, he took me and my little cousin to McDonald's to get a Happy Meal, which I didn't know existed.  He got upset that they didn't have a different toy or something and he kind of yelled at the workers there.  I didn't even realize I would be getting a toy.  I think it was a little mermaid toy.

Other than that, when I was home without my mom, we never really went anywhere.  I think I pretty much would do my homework.  The morning cartoon shows ended around 10am, and I think I couldn't find anything I like for the next couple of hours.  

And then at noon, WWF wrestling would come on and I would watch it.  I didn't really get to see much of it in the Philippines.  I was familiar with Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior but never really got to see any matches.  So noontime on Saturday sitting in our bedroom alone in Queens was the first time I got to see an actual wrestling match.  I think one of the memorable ones for me was when Bret Hart finished a match, and then the Mountie came and threw water at him and electrocuted him with his cattle prod thingy.  I kinda remember my uncle checking in on me or something or to ask me something, but again I wasn't very talkative.  It's possible they may have asked me to come eat and I might have said I wasn't hungry or something.  But I just remember preferring to stay there by myself instead of joining them.

After wrestling, there was American Gladiators, which was kind of interesting.  At some point when I would walk downstairs, I found my uncle sitting on the couch watch the New York Yankees game.  I didn't really understand baseball so I just walked past.  I probably didn't even say hello.  I don't think he liked how quiet I was.

Morning Shows

When I was twelve and living in Queens, my mom had to wake up early every weekday to get to her job in Brooklyn.  I remember waking up with her, and it was still dark.  I kinda stayed in bed while she was getting ready and I would come down with her.  She would leave through the kitchen back door, and I would hug and kiss her and watch her walk off to the street in the darkness.  

I think she made lunch for me before she left.  I didn't know what I wanted because in the Philippines I didn't have to think about that.  We got served a good hot lunch at school, or I would just go home to get something to eat.  So I just ended up with a cheese sandwich.

Anyway, I would then go upstairs and get myself ready for school.  I can't really recall if I watched TV in the mornings.  There was one time though that I turned in on around 5am, and the three stooges and "I Love Lucy" were on.

In the weekends, there would be Saturday morning cartoons.  One of them was "Garfield".  There was also ninja turtles, which was my favorite.  There were other shows, but I can't recall which ones they were.

My mom sometimes had to work on the weekends also.  I think my first weekend in the States, I came to work with her.  We took a bus down some Avenue and then got off.  We went to a Dunkin' Donuts or something, and then we went to a magazine store or something.  I got her to buy me a Mad Magazine.  My cousins in Manila had some of them, and I got to like them.  It felt nice having a magazine of my own.  I also got a Hershey bar, I think.  My mom liked the Crunch bars, and I think I eventually tried and liked them, too.

I think I only went with her to her work once.  It was pretty boring.  It was kind of an interesting adventure, I guess, just being out and riding the bus and the subway.  We got lunch at some random Chinese place, and I didn't know what to order.  I think my mom suggested lo mein, and I got it and put soy sauce on it.

The rest of the weekends when she would go to work, I can't recall what shows I watched in the morning.  But I'm pretty sure I must have turned the TV on.  I mostly watched CBS, I think, because they had the turtles, but it's possible I also checked out NBC and ABC.  Actually, I think I watched "Winnie the Pooh" at some point.  I was probably switching channels.  But there was something about the theme song of that show that touched me.  And watching the two friends sitting together during the end credits.  I didn't actually have friends at that time, and TV ended giving me company.

Shows in the States

When I first moved to America, my mom and I lived in Queens with my aunt, uncle and cousin.  I remember them picking us up from the airpot and me looking outside the car on the highway.  It was late August, and I feel like the leaves were already changing, but I could be wrong.  Anyways, I do remember the wide lanes on the roads and the trees alongside it.  

We got to the house in the suburbs and I remember being really excited about it.  I was kind of surprised because I had thought I would be living in an apartment in Brooklyn with my mom.  But this was a two bedroom house in Queens Village with a front and back yard.  I remember my uncle giving me a little tour, and when I was alone I made a little fist pump.  Probably the first time I've ever done it in my life, and I did it without thinking.

My little cousin was around six years old at the time, I think.  They had two cats, Tony and Angela.  They were named after characters from her favorite show, "Who's the Boss?"  She talked a little about it, but I couldn't really pay much attention.  She also quoted "Leggo my Eggo" from the commercial, and I didn't understand it.  I thought she was quoting some zen thing about the ego or something and I thought it was from the ninja turtles.

Anyways, I think she tried to show me the sitcom, but I don't think I really got into it.  I think we also watched "Full House" and I think I thought it was funny.  My uncle liked to watch "Jeopardy!", and I didn't understand it.  I couldn't comprehend the format or the questions, I mean, the answers.

One Friday night, "Perfect Strangers" came on, and I got excited to watch it.  I think I may have seen it in the Philippines, most likely in Manila.  I sat on my stomach on the carpet of the living room floor.  My little cousin saw my excitement and mimicked my posture.  Somehow I remember her hands under her chin.  I remember her looking to me and being as excited as me.

On Sundays we would watch "America's Funniest Home Videos" and "America's Funniest People" right after it.  My mom and I shared the bigger of the two bedrooms, and we each had a twin bed.  We would watch those shows in our beds before going to sleep.  The would start at seven and end at eight o'clock.  And then it was bed time.

I didn't really explore other channels much back then.  I kinda took the lead from the other family members.  I didn't even think about what else was on.

During week nights they would have movies on Channel 11, and we would watch it sometimes.  They would start at 8pm, and right after that would be the news.  I don't think we watched the movies much, nor stayed up that late.  My mom had to leave early to catch two buses and the train to her job in Brooklyn.

Shows in Korea

When I first moved to America in 1991, I flew on Korean Air Lines with a couple of my mom's friends.  They were on vacation in the Philippines, and my parents scheduled my flight to be with them so I had someone to accompany me on that long flight.  The flight attendants were Korean but we spoke English to each other, although they had pretty thick accents.

I didn't really think much about how much my life was about to change.  Or that I would not see my friends and cousins for many years.  Or that I will never see my comic book collection, my old photographs, my toys, and even my pet dog.  I just kind of thought about stuff like having a television with a remote control and a hundred channels.  I pictured myself sitting alone in front of a nice TV set in a living room in my mom's apartment in Brooklyn.

I didn't get to say goodbye to my friends and family.  My dad brought me to Manila to interview at the embassy.  It all kind of happened fast.  I was approved to be petitioned and then they planned the flight.  This was around June or July, and my mom's friend wasn't coming back to the States until the end of August.  However, it was hurricane season and we traveled by boat between to and from my province.  My parents decided that my dad would go back and get my clothes and other belongings, while I was to stay in Manila just in case the boat sank or something.  There had been at least one ship disaster already at that point and I think another hurricane was in the forecast.  I didn't argue.  I didn't think much about it.  I kinda liked the nice house in Manila and not having to go to school and kind of being spoiled by my aunt.

I'm pretty sure I asked my dad about my comic book collection but for some reason he didn't come back with them.  I'm not sure what his reasoning was.  Again I didn't argue.  By the time he got back after those many weeks, I was just kind of ready to move on.

I can't remember when we met up with my mom's friends.  It may have been just at the airport.  I can't remember much about it, about saying goodbye to my dad or my aunt or my cousins.  Kind of the next thing I remember was being on that plane, wearing a zip up sweater that I really liked and feeling really comfy in and watching "Kindergarten Cop" projected on the screen for our in flight movie.  I also remember sitting on the window seat and enjoying the view but the flight attendants asking me to close the window and me getting pretty mad about it but again not arguing.

We had a layover in South Korea.  At dinner, we were served salad first, and my aunt and her friend explained to me that all the kids in America ate salad.  I tried it but didn't like it.  I couldn't comprehend what they would like about it.  In retrospect, I don't believe there was any dressing.  I don't remember what I actually had for dinner.  Maybe a burger?

I shared a hotel room with my mom's friend.  She took a picture of me on the bed.  Of course my mom wouldn't see it until after it was processed, which was after I had arrived and everything.

Anyways, while she was in the bathroom or something, I remember turning on the TV.  There was a remote control and I was flipping through the channels.  Of course, everything was in Korean.  I didn't really know what to watch.  Nowadays, I would be curious and watch the shows even if I couldn't understand the language.  Back then, the only thing I could understand was a show that was on at the time on what must have been an American channel or something.  It was "Doogie Howser, M.D."  I remember back when my mom was still living with us in the Philippines, she mentioned something about the character, that he was a genius who was a child doctor.  I didn't really get what was happening in the show or cared about it.  I think I might have liked the theme song though.  Anyway, I didn't get to watch much of it.  I think my mom's friend came out after a while and said it was bed time.

Shows in Manila

Just before I moved to America, I stayed in Manila for a few months in my cousin's house.  They had pretty good signal on their TV, and I don't ever remember having to worry about fixing the antenna.  They had a lot more shows available that I never got to see back in my province.

I remember watching with my younger cousin after school.  She was a couple of years younger than me.  She had her favorite shows.  There was one from Japan about some kind of superhero who rode a motorcycle.  I can't remember the name but it looked pretty cool.  The other one that I remember was "Karate Kat".  I actually can't recall specifically anything much about the show or the character's traits and personalities, but I just mostly remember the title and that my cousin seemed to like it.  For some reason just right now I'm thinking we also watched "Inspector Gadget" but I'm not too sure.  But they were all these shows that I've never heard of before.  There just seemed to be a whole world of entertainment available to her that I wasn't exposed to.

Also, I think they had a remote control.  I can't remember using it much, but I'm pretty sure they did.  I thought it was pretty cool.

In the evenings there were shows from America, like "The Cosby Show".  My older cousin said it was her favorite show and would get excited when it would come on.  I don't think I got into it much.  It just seemed so different, being an English language show.  And my cousin would speak Taglish or full English from time to time.  I understood it enough and could speak it but I guess I just thought it was kind of showy or phony to speak it instead of Tagalog or our dialect.  

Hm, maybe that's kind of why I struggled to socialize when I finally came to America.  Maybe I still had that feeling in the back of my mind.  That's interesting.  I just thought of that now.

Anyways, I didn't know much about Bill Cosby back then but for some reason I somehow remember seeing him in commercials for Kodak with the song "True Colors" playing.  Was that him?  I think so.

But there were other shows that I got to watch there in Manila.  I think my favorite was "Buddy en Sol", about a couple of friends named Buddy and Sol.  I remember laughing so hard.  I think in every episode it would end with them in their beds talking to each other before they slept and they would tell jokes or something.  Somehow I remember I would be missing that show when I would leave for America.  I just searched YouTube, and it looks like the episodes are available to watch.  Somehow I don't think I would find it as funny now.

There was another show that was kinda funny to me, too.  I can't remember the exact name, but it was made up of numbers.  "Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen" or "Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen".  I didn't understand it at the time, but now I believe they referred to the ages of the girls in the show.  Let me try to googalize it.

No luck.  I think the search terms are too broad.  Anyways, if you can think of the show, please let me know.

One of the last things I remember was late at night right before programming would end.  There was some kind of infomercial or PSA or documentary type or something.  And at the end, it said it was sponsored by Hyundai.  Except they didn't pronounce it like they do in America, not like "hon-day".  The announcer pronounced it like "hyoon-die".  But I'm not sure I knew Hyundai made cars yet.  I don't think I knew anything about the company.  Interestingly, my flight to the United States had a layover in South Korea.  We got off the plane and rode a bus to a hotel.  On the roads there, all the cars were Hyundai.

Yeah, so I just watched a few minutes of the show, and it looks to be a "Perfect Strangers" rip off from the beginning.  Should I keep watching?

In Toon

As far as television goes, I was barely able to watch cartoons where I grew up in the Philippines.  The signal was always pretty fuzzy and my cousins and I eventually lost our patience and just went outside to play.  I only remember bits and pieces of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig and can't recall watching an entire cartoon show on TV from start to finish.

When my mom left to work in the USA, however, we were able to afford a nice VHS set.  Actually, we had a Betamax player before she left, but I think VHS was more expensive and had more cassettes available.  It also seemed to be a status symbol, as my dad constantly bragged about it.  Or humble bragged.  He would constantly tell people we can't afford to eat dinner because we spend our money on renting VHS tapes.

There were a few VHS rental places popping up around that time.  Some of the shows were just recorded off the TV from the States.  It must have been a relative or someone they know recording if off the VCR and sending the tapes over.  I remember my dad, my brothers and I being fascinated about seeing the American commercials on the tapes.

At the rental places, some of the titles were unfamiliar to us.  (My dad didn't really like Filipino movies, so we would usually get English titles.).  We would ask the workers there was the movie was about, and he or she would tell us about it.  Sometimes they would ask if we wanted to have a glimpse at it.  The would pop in the tape in the machine, fast forward a bit, and let us watch a few minutes.  Then sometimes they would fast forward a bit more and show more.  And then we would let him know if we were interested or not.  I remember at this one place, the tape would pop up over the deck and then the guy would pull the tape out.  It wasn't one of the regular front loading ones.  It seemed really cool at the time, but now I realized, it's probably more inconvenient because you can't stack them or put something on top.  Also, I remember the guy would put the tape in a rewinding machine to rewind them and explained to us that it was better to do it that was so that it puts less stress on the VHS deck.  Also, he was able to rewind the tapes while showing us another movie.

Eventually, we got our own rewinder.  I can't recall if my mom sent it to us via Balikbayan Box or if we just used her money to buy one locally.  I do feel it came from America because it was a cool looking one in the shape of a sports car.  I think it was red.  I remember friends would come over and look at the cool sports car model toy, and I would push a button and it would pop up and impress them.

Interestingly enough, one of the titles my brother and I enjoyed was something that we didn't preview.  It is possible he may have already been familiar with it.  But I remember seeing "Tom & Jerry" and us just kind of deciding to rent it.  I thought it would be about a couple of friends, named Tom and Jerry.  I kinda pictured the scene in "Big" where the two kids were walking on the street arm in arm and singing together.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a cartoon, and my brother and I laughed like crazy and we would watch it over and over.  At some point, my cousins would be over, too, and laughed with us.  We would then look for other tapes and rent them as well.  That was basically the first cartoon we were able to watch from start to finish, and it was not only just one show but a bunch of episodes one after the other.

Out of Toon

When I was growing up in the Philippines, we didn't have a lot of television channels.  I think we had three.  In the afternoons, they would sometimes have cartoons, but the signal wasn't so good.  It was pretty frustrating.  Adjusting the antenna didn't do much.  Sometimes my cousins would be over and we would all try to figure out how to get it working.  Most of the time we just shrugged and went outside to play.

As far as I can remember, it always seemed to be the same show also.  I think it was the one were Daffy Duck was Robin Hood and Porky Pig was Friar Tuck or something.  But I could be misremembering.  I remember the next time it would pop up again, it was basically the same scenes.

Actually, now I realize it must not have been one of the regular three channels.  It was like coming from somewhere else.  From the next province or something.  I'm not sure if that was even possible with how far it would have been.  A lot of my memories of TV shows back then were inconsistent.  We definitely did not have appointment television.  We just kinda randomly thought about TV at some point and tuned in when we were bored.  We usually didn't keep shows in mind.  Nor did we have adults remind us.

Eventually though, around 1990, the Ninja Turtles became popular, and that was the one show we would regularly tune into.  The signal was still problematic sometimes, and we would still have to fiddle around with the rabbit ears, but overall we were able to watch the show.  

After my mom left to work in the USA, my dad would stay out every night, drinking and who knows what else.  So my cousins would come over and we would watch TV.  They were usually terrified of my dad but there was a sense of freedom and liberation in the house when he wasn't around.  One time though he came home drunk early to find us all gathered around and having fun and that pissed him off for some reason and he began cursing and he might have thrown and broken things, too.  After that, my cousins would be careful to sneak out once they heard his motorcycle approaching.

I think eventually they stopped coming because I can remember other nights when it was just me there watching.  My brother was with us sometimes, too, but he also liked to hang out with his friends some nights.  There were other shows I would watch, and that was around the time I started remembering what time shows came on and on which days.  Without my mom there to kind of check on our homework and make us go to bed, we just basically stayed up as late as we can.  I either went to sleep after the good shows were finished or when my dad came home.

This only went on for a few months, though, because eventually they enrolled me to a school in the next province.  My eldest brother was in college, and the university also had an elementary school.  I dormed with him there, and we didn't have television.  We did have the whole campus to wander around in.  There was a soccer field which we barely played on.  And in the back of the dormitory were a couple of basketball courts.  I remember playing there under the lights.  There was another kid in the dorm around my age.  I was in sixth grade and he was in seventh, if I remember correctly, and we would hang out together sometimes.

Queue Tips: Nun Ya Darn Business

I was watching "The Young Ones" the other day.  Robbie Coltrane had a guest part in one of the episodes.  In case you didn't know, he played Hagrid in the "Harry Potter" movies.  He was also one of the ghosts in the Black Adder Christmas special.  I also remembered that he was in "Nuns on the Run" so I watched that movie again.

I first saw this on TV sometime in high school, in the mid 1990s.  I don't think I've seen Monty Python films yet back then so I'm not sure if I was too familiar with Eric Idle yet, but he was one of the stars in the movie.  He just seemed like a fun guy, and I enjoyed watching him and Robbie.

It's just a fun movie, I think.  I like comedies and I like to laugh.  The plot is kinda silly and everything, but you just kinda have to go along with it.  I think this was one of the movies I recorded and watched over and over back then.  I think it was the Fox Network which broadcast it.

One of the things that was kind of hard to get past is how quickly the girl fell in love with the main character.  Like, she seemed severely depressed to think that he wasn't into her.  I mean, they just met.

Well, also like how the convent never checked the new nuns' identities.  The mother superior never asked for IDs or any paperwork.  She never called the supposed place where they came from.  Like, she could have called or looked them up in the yellow pages.  But I mean, it's just a movie.

So I was watching it the other day, and my younger one comes in and sees it.  It was near the end when they're all running around like crazy.  And my kid is laughing at the shenanigans.  So apparently he likes it.  The credits roll and he asks to see it again.  So we've been watching it over and over for the past few days or so.

Queue Tips: Chef's Kiss

I don't remember when I watched "Chef", but it was one of those movies where I just put it on to put it on.  That is what I usually do.  Just have some background noise while I'm working.  But I ended up watching it.  Like actively watching.  I found myself laughing and smiling and feeling good after.  And I believe I watched it all the way through.  Thank goodness I didn't have meetings or other work to do.

Basically I liked it.  So I don't really have much to say about it except that I do recommend it.  Check it out when you get the chance.

The one thing that really resonated with me is what the chef said to his son about being a chef.  Cheffing.  Is that a word?  He said:

I may not do everything great in my life, but I'm good at this. I manage to touch people's lives with what I do and I want to share this with you.

That is kind of how I feel about coaching.  I'm confident enough to say that I'm good at it.  My older one was a starting center for his team last year.  When I started really getting into coaching him, he was always in the top ten out of all the kids in his division in scoring, assists and points.  And my younger one is one of the best skaters in his team and is already more advanced than most in positioning.

As far as their teammates, I've been able to help there as well.  Not to brag or take the whole credit, but I've been able to give simple pointers which helped change their games.  

I guess the operative word with me is simple.  I just know how to break it down.  A few years ago there were a couple of kids who were not making any impact in games.  I told them, "Just get your stick on their stick".  And that basic advice changed these kids' games.  Suddenly they were forechecking like crazy and forcing turnovers.  This was the year before I officially became a coach, and their coaches were praising their effort.  That was a factor in me figuring out that I could actually be of help.

There have been many other countless moments since then.  "Crash the net".  "Get to the wall".  And of course, "Bend your knees".  Always with the bend your knees.  I must have said that phrase over a million times over the years.

There are some kids who wave to me or go out of their way to fist bump me.  And I really enjoy it.  It makes it really worthwhile.  There was a kid one time who started at clinic and then moved on to a team, but not my team.  One time their practice was ending, and our session was next.  I saw him across the building packing up and getting ready to go.  And then a few minutes later, he was right next to me, giving me a fist bump.  He wanted to make sure I saw him before he left.

Queue Tips: Sister Sister Stella Stella

I saw "Sister Stella L" over ten years ago.  I had a Netflix account back then, back when they still had DVDs.  I was a video editor and had a DVD player and monitor on my desk next to me.  I wanted to make the most of my subscription so I would go through the movies and send them back ASAP so I could get another one right away.

That was how I watched this movie.  I was doing some work and just had this DVD on as kind of like background noise.  I didn't hate it at the time, but I also didn't remember much of it.

I rewatched it again recently, and I was actually pretty impressed by it.  Mainly, it seemed like everybody knew how to act.  This film was released in 1984, and it seems like whoever was in charge of casting back then actually knew how to find talent.  Everyone seemed natural and professional, even the small parts.  

And there were not a lot of forgotten lines.  These days when you watch Filipino movies and shows, you can tell when they're trying to recall what to say.  We don't really have similar words like "uh" or "um" in Tagalog.  We just kind of trail off or stretch the last syllable.  When you watch recent Tagalog movies, you can pretty much notice this most of the time.  But not in "Sister Stella L".

The storytelling itself is pretty straightforward.  There's nothing fancy about the style.  It's just like one scene follows another.  

There are some odd choices with the camera work and editing.  They would just kind of change angles from time to time, violating the 180 degree rule.  But the acting made up for that, I think.

Also, there were not a lot of English in the movie.  These days, English words are constantly mixed Tagalog.  I don't know if Tallish wasn't yet popular back then, or if it was the filmmaker's choice, but I liked it.  I liked hearing the deep words and idioms that you don't hear much these days.

The other odd choice what the name of the movie, which is also the name of the character.  It's called "Sister Stella L" because there is another Sister Stella.  I don't remember what letter her last name starts with.  But it's not L.

So they created two characters with the same first name.  They kept referring to each other as "Tukayo".  It was about halfway through the movie when I realized that meant "Namesake".

Apparently this is based on real characters, real nuns, based on what I read about it.  But those real characters don't have the same first names.  So in that regard, I think it was an odd choice to give them the same name.  Unless they just wanted to be able to have namesakes and call each other "Tukayo".  Maybe because the older character was already deeply involved in their movement, and the younger one was still hesitant.  And having them have the same name kind of gave it more meaning when the younger one finally accepted and took over the role.

And spoiler alert: there is no real resolution to this movie.  It just kind of shows how the character became involved in their movement.  They could have probably called it "Sister Stella L. Begins".

Curious

As far as being jealous in the sense that I described yesterday, which is being afraid to lose something you already have, the only time I have felt that recently has been when it came to the players I was coaching.  When my younger son started playing hockey a few years ago, I ended up volunteering as a coach (which I have written about here previously).  And the kids in his age group were great.  I dreamed about them all staying together through the years, improving as a group and hopefully winning championships.

Something threw a wrench into that fantasy, however.  The rink where we practice and play games broke down.  It turned into a whole big issue, and it hasn't been operational in a couple of years.  Eventually, a couple of players opted to leave the organization.  They were basically the best on the team, and I guess their parents thought it was important to go somewhere where they could get consistent ice time.  I kinda sorta felt bad about it.  I think the main thing that really hurt was that they didn't tell me personally.  It would have been nice to let me know.  

When my older one was entering second year squirts, we tried out for three teams.  I did tell the other coaches we wouldn't be signing with them.  I think it's just the right thing to do.  Maybe if you didn't know them or anyone else on the team you're trying for, you can just move on and do your thing.  But I think once you've formed a relationship, spent a couple of seasons together, you should tell the coaches you're making a life changing decision.

We actually lost a third one, too.  But that one was kind of more understandable because he was originally with a different team and joined us midseason.  When I checked the rosters, I saw that he was playing up so I was actually kind of happy for him.  This was a kid who sometimes got in trouble and would often get yelled at.  With me, I usually tell these kids, "I'm trying to help you."  I reason with them and talk calmly with them instead of just yelling.  So we kind of connected a bit, and he didn't exactly turn into a role model, but he would mostly listen to me when I asked him to behave.  I don't know how he is doing with his new team, but I guess I wanted to see how much better his behavior could have gotten as one of my players.

The following year, we lost another one.  This one was kind of shocking.  His mother always told me how much he loved me.  And I think because of that, I took it for granted that they would always be around.  After the first three had left, this was basically our best player.  His mother was actually the team manager as well, so that added to the shock.  And again, they didn't say anything to me personally.  I guess it's because they play soccer with the kids of the other coaches, so they told them instead.  But still. 

This last season, we lost yet another one.  This one wasn't the best player this time, but one of.  He could have been great.  I'm jealous that his new coaches get the chance to bring that out but not me.  But at least this time, his parents did thank me for coaching him.  So that was nice.  He and my kid had gotten close so I was also worried about how my son would take it.  I didn't make a big deal of it, but eventually he noticed that his friend wasn't showing up to spring practices.  I really hoped they would be training partners and become great together.  

So that's kind of what I'm jealous of, I guess.  It's probably just an ego thing.  All but one of the kids I mentioned, I was there on their first day.  I wasn't a coach yet, but I got to see them all step on the ice for the first time.  I ended up helping a few weeks later, and I've watched them develop and become strong skaters.  I guess I wish I could have been there till the end.  Well, not the end, but hopefully until they turn pro.  That would be great if I could help them get to that.  If not, at least college.  Definitely I'm confident enough that I could guide them to make it onto their high school team.  I'll be curious about how they all turn out.

Envious

So yesterday, I wrote a post titled "Jealous".  Actually, it should have been called "Envious".  There's a difference.  Envious is wanting something you don't have, while jealous is being afraid to lose what you already have.  If I remember correctly.

When I first started this blog many years ago, there used to be a feature called Next Blog or something.  You would hit the button and it would randomly lead you to another blog.  At least, it seemed random.  But there must have been some kind of algorithm to it.

For some reason every time I was on my page and I hit the next button, most of the time the following blog would be a random stay at home mom.  They would write about what they would be doing with her kids that day.  Sometimes they would have pictures of their nice homes.  And yes, I did feel envious of that.  At the time, I was stuck in a dead end job and didn't really have a lot of days off and I just wished I had more time with my kid.  Things have gotten better for me these days, and I get to work from home and spend a lot of time with my two kids now.

I was also envious that they got to keep up with their blog.  I wished I had more time to write.  I wished I had more to write about.  And then I don't know what they did to this website but none of that matters now because that feature is gone.  You can't really find random blogs anymore.  I don't know how you even found this page.

It looks like they actually took away other features, too, by the way.  Like I can't seem to find where to schedule posts anymore.  It's been a while since I've been on here that much so I don't know what else they did.  I'm not sure why they would take that stuff away.  Maybe they're stupid.

Like most people, I haven't been able to keep up with the blogging.  Actually there were some blogs I found back then where the latest entry was just about how long it's been since they wrote and how they would do their best to keep up more.  One of the reasons I wasn't able to do that is because I kind of wanted my posts to be as perfect as they can.  I wanted a clever title and something really deep to write about.  But now I'm just basically writing for the heck of it.  I don't care too much about grammar or typos these days.  Looking back at my old posts, I actually have a bunch of mistakes there anyway.  And I wanted to be able to wrap up my thoughts succinctly.  I wanted to have some kind of a point at the end.  But nowadays I don't mind if I kind of trail off.  Or if I just stop abruptly.