[PASAY CITY has been dubbed as the Philippines’ entertainment city nowadays, with the likes of those attractions featuring CASINOS, GAMES, RIDES and THEATERS in those venues like the CITY OF DREAMS, OKADA, SOLAIRE, SM MOA Arena, the STAR CITY, etc., as shown below. IN FACT, THAT STRIP ADJOINING THE MANILA BAY WHICH FEATURES SOLAIRE, CITY OF DREAMS and OKADA (with ongoing construction projects almost everywhere within that STRIP) IS BEING TOUTED ABOUT AS THE UPCOMING LAS VEGAS OF THE PHILIPPINES. PASAY is one of the cities in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region of the Philippines. It is bordered to the north by the City of Manila, Makati to the northeast, Taguig to the east, and Parañaque to the south. Well, I almost experienced some kind of a mature kind of entertainment when I was then 13 years old (i.e. almost about 55 years ago) in a place called CULI-CULI which adjoins the Manila Bay in Pasay City.Good it did not happen…thanks to the untarnished image of the WILLY’s Jeep unto which we (i.e. Mang LOUIE, Kuya RICO and myself) rode, as a customary government-issued vehicle despite its civilian-type trappings. Some of the photos of the PASAY CITY OF YESTERYEARS at the PHOTO EXHIBIT are shown above: top left photo shows a rustic scene with a carabao on a field in the former Malibay area of Pasay City; top right photo shows the facade of the Pasay Municipal Hall; top right middle photo shows a part of Pasay City which directly adjoins a beach of the Manila Bay where people can do fishing and swimming; and, the bottom photo shows the MANILA POLO CLUB as it was then situated along F. B. Harrison Street in Pasay City.]
I got so excited by the photo exhibits,
I felt as though I got tickled near my TITS;
They were festooned along the City Hall’s1 hall way,
One nice photo showed a scene by the BAY2.
The tickling feeling and the excitement—
Was reminiscent of some unforgettable EVENT;
I was then about THIRTEEN years OLD,
This EPISODE I have never ever TOLD!
We had a tenant then by the name of LOUIE3,
He was a taxicab driver and was a little bit SPEEDY4;
He was a little bit brash and some kind of SHOWY,
We drove a valued family guest5 from our house, ‘twas a joyful journey6!
Daddy Max had to entertain at our home more friends,
And LOUIE volunteered his driving service sans any pence7;
And the guest was a resident of PASAY,
It was quite far and the guest breathed an endearing SIGH…
That was when we had brought the guest at her HOME,
Then LOUIE drove to a place like he’s a VAGABOND;
And when we arrived at the PLACE,
I felt a little bit shy and quite AMAZED!
Pretty girls from afar were there before we CAME,
But they scampered all around like in SHAME;
And thereon, I just learned that LOUIE had a SCHEME,
He wanted me “BAPTIZED”8 as a male….THAT’S A SIN!
It was good that the WILLY’s Jeep9 which LOUIE operated,
Was an official vehicle assigned to Daddy Max sans any signage10;
As in fact, it did not bear any RED PLATE11,
But the DAMES, have seemed to have thought it as a BAIT!12
So whatever explanation LOUIE gave,
The MAMA SAN and the BOUNCER never HEEDED;
‘Twas good for me as I was also a bit AFRAID,
Didn’t want at that age by a DAME, to be LAID!13
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[Legend: 1 – It was at that Pasay City Hall this morning after attending a court hearing where I saw the PHOTO EXHIBIT of PASAY OF YESTERYEARS.
2 – The BAY refers to the Manila Bay which actually adjoins Pasay City.
3 – LOUIE was a tenant together with his family at the ground floor level of our Murphy house. He was a taxicab driver and would usually take the day off every time he feels the need to rest as his wife was employed too as a very diligent and hardworking insurance agent.
4 – It was I think, the baptismal celebration of my youngest sister WANDRA, when kith and kin trooped to our Murphy home for a very grand luncheon baptismal celebration; complete with I think, TWO (2) bamboo poles of LECHON. The feasting and drinking lasted until late in the evening.
5- One of the female guests, a co-employee of Daddy Max at Camp Murphy’s TROOP INFORMATION and EDUCATION Division (“TIED”), then (now, Camp Aquinaldo) was brought back to her home via the military-issued WILLY’s jeep which Daddy Max would invariably use. I eventually learned too that the TIED was involved in some kind of intelligence gathering information.
6 – That JOURNEY from Murphy to PASAY was quite lengthy too (despite the absence of traffic jams during that time) as interior streets then were neither asphalted nor cemented. Our house was actually built along 19th Avenue which was still then a dirt-road and not lighted at night.
7 – PENCE is actually the alternative plural form of PENNY. Thus, it refers to MONEY. LOUIE volunteered his service to drive home the guest pro bono.
8 – To be “BAPTIZED” as in the Tagalog term “BINYAG” is a Filipino SLANG which means to have the taste and/or experience of a sex encounter. After the guest was safely brought home, as my elder cousin ENRICO MAXIMO (“Kuya RICO”) was with us aboard the WILLY’s Jeep, the joking and teasing started, as Mang LOUIE who was then near 40 years old, was asking me incessantly: “NABINYAGAN KA NA BA?”, never thinking that it was another “BAPTISM” that Mang LOUIE was referring to. Kuya RICO who was then 26 years old, even joined in the teasing, as he said: “PUWEDE NA MABINYAG ITO.”
9 – The WILLY’s Jeep which was colored BLUE was supposed to make an impression of some kind of a civilian vehicle as it did not have the usual LOGO of “FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY” neither did it bear a RED PLATE.
10 – The usual signage emblazoned on the side of a military or government-issued vehicle goes: “FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY”.
11 – RED PLATE refers to the car and/or vehicle plates used by government-issued vehicles; actually the LETTERS and the DIGITS are in RED amidst a white background.
12 – The people there gathered that night at the CULI-CULI red light district mistakenly thought that we were part of the government anti-vice raiding team and we supposedly was serving as a BAIT.
13 – If that SCHEME of Mang LOUIE succeeded and/or materialized…WHEW…I would have lost my “VIRGINITY” at that very young age…he,he,he.]
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