patintero. we'd create lines using canal water (yaiks! i know! but it didn't matter then). then we'd create 2 teams with a minimum of 4 players each, each one protecting their lines of responsibility. i loved being in the middle-line, concentrating on both sides looking on the floor, ready to touch anyone who crosses my line! it is such an exciting game, until someone calls 'out!'.
chato. i loved this game! i was good in hitting the baton making the run longer for my playmate as he shouts 'cha-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-to!' until she reaches the base. but i also remembered hitting one unintentionally on the eye, making them red, and making me red too with fear that she might be blinded! i think that was my last game of chato!
tex. not the phone SMS. but the small cards which you swoosh on air using your thumb and forefinger. it took practice to ensure winnings, which my brothers generously gave me. if you are good, then your 'pamato' will be the odd one when all 3 texs cards land on the floor, then you will get all the deck of tex he betted on, otherwise, he'll get yours. there was a boy i used to play with, who kept challenging me, and ended up losing all his stacks of tex cards to me. finally, he gave up! haha!
jolens. find a good soil you can dig small holes of 3, and you're off to an exciting jolens game with a bunch of other enthusiasts! be ready to soil your fingers... muster all the strength that you have and bring them down to your thumb to execute that lashing hit to the other jolens! whew! the sight of bundles of jolens won, reflecting the sunlight used to be 'diamonds' in my sight!
taguan (hide-and-seek). from the regular 'taguan game', we came up with a less taxing 'taguan ng tsinelas' when we were so lazy to hide and just wanted to stay in a parked dilapidated unused jeepney! when we were in a more challenging mode, the 'taguan' area will cover not only 20 meters away, but even as far as the next 5 blocks!! hmmm.... we had way so much time in our hands then!
sumpit. the killer game i am so good with! get a straw-like tube, and mongo seeds, hide behind the tree or crawl under the bushes... and shoot your enemy! i know it is a dangerous play... but when we were kids, facing danger was equivalent to being adults! i don't know where i got that crooked idea...
chinese garter. the garter did not come from china, but from any lose skirt or unsued garters of our nanays. or from rubber bands connected together. then two kids will stretch them, and the other players will skip thru them, starting with the garter as low as the knees to as high as holding them up in the air with outstretched hands! variations have evolved all throught the years... but one things remained... it has always been the real test of flexibility for girls! who would have thought that our thin (then!) legs could hook up that garter held up high, and land on our two feet???
jack stones. all the girls get around, sit on the ground, and do that jack stone hand exhibitions! we were so creative in doing exhibitions that i think we have cooked up at least 20! haha! the more difficult, the higher it goes up the rank of the exhibition list! i think i got hold of a set just last year, and taught my niece a few tricks i can recall.
luksong tinik/ baka. either you just choose your feet , or your whole body as the barrier, this game has definitely brought meeting of eyebrows of my folks... what with wrong tumbles here and there! scratches here, and cries there...and yet, we kept playing the game! we just learned how to be more careful! haha!gumamela bubbles. we didn't have the ready-made bubble-toys then. we used to sneek up at the back of a house on the next block to get loads of gumamela leaves. we then pound them, squeeze the extract and combine them with powder soap. then we get the long stems of kamias leaves, remove the leaves, create a rounded end tied firmly, and then dip onto the gumamela and soap extract-- and voila! we have the bubble toy!
sipa. who can ever forget our national game? of course, we'd have the guy's version made of steel end and the girl's version, made of cluster of rubber bands or cluster of leaves. and of course, the guy's way of doing it, and the girl's way of kicking it! haha!!! it was so much fun!
oh, the list goes on and on... whew! i can't believe we had so many games played before!!!
i asked my nephews and niece what they play nowadays. aside from my pc, others were just random games. others, rule-less. our house is at a dead-end part of our subdivision, so they have ample space to play on, unfortunately not much games to do. when i go back home, i think i have a big mission to accomplish--- play with my nephews and nieces and re-introduce the games that i believe are healthy (and cheaper) options than what they have now!
