MANILA, Philippines - It’s the version of Chocolait with a picture of three black cows on the tetra brick that comes with a thin white straw that doesn’t bend. Maybe it’s just me, but the variety we have today doesn’t taste as good as that vintage drink. Maybe the old ones were sweeter.
It seems like only yesterday when I was in grade school, going to class in my khaki shorts and black shoes, carrying a fifteen-pound backpack and a plastic lunchbox. The lunchbox contained my favorite Chocolait, along with some Dunkin Donuts from last night’s pasalubong.
I always brought my own food to school, not that I wasn’t a fan of the school canteen, but because I wasn’t a fan of money. In my young mind, the only purpose of money was to be kept in an alkansya until it was enough to buy a bigger alkansya.
The Jolens Years
Those were the years of scabs on my knees and dirty school uniforms. Friendships were not very complicated then. I particularly remember two good friends: Rex and Paul. Rex and I would go to Paul’s big house and play with his Lego bricks, WWF action figures and SNES. Sometimes Rex and Paul would drop by my place instead and dig my collection of Funny Komiks and teks cards. We seldom went to Rex’s house: people there were always yelling; the only reason we did was to maybe get a glimpse of Benafe, the pretty girl next door.
It was the time when Ang TV was popular and Jolina was too young to need a makeover. The E-heads performed live on Sang Linggo nAPO Sila and Rivermaya still had Bamboo and Rico Blanco. PBA was huge and people turned to Channel 13 to watch Gordon’s Gin and Alaska face-off. There were no prepaid cell phones yet, no SMS, no jejemons.
Today, 15 or so years later, and what the hell happened? Statistics may indicate a dramatic drop in kids playing patintero and tumbang preso and an astonishing surge in playing DOTA. Funny Komiks has disappeared, perhaps along with the entire Philippine komiks industry. The iPhone is now 4G. Money in my alkansya is never enough anymore. The E-heads have disbanded and Rivermaya only has their legacy left.
Magnolias To Marlboros
We’ve grown up too fast for comfort. Benafe has became an OFW. Paul studied in UA&P and has opened his own business, while Rex married early and became a tricycle driver. We seldom see each other anymore, if at all. And my Magnolia Chocolait has been replaced by a pack of Marlboro Reds.
Come to think of it, perhaps it isn’t such a sad thing. I’m sure Paul, Rex and Benafe are not really grumbling right now. It just leaves me a little dumbfounded at how things have turned out. It’s like a movie with no ending, images come and go, layer upon layer of climaxes piled on top of the other. We just go with the flow, sometimes in front, sometimes a little far behind, but always too weak to counter, because the current is too fast.
Right now I try to learn to live every day as it is. The past is far behind, the future hasn’t arrived yet. When I can, I try to save a few bucks, in a real bank. I wake up in the morning, brush my teeth, work for eight hours, have a cigarette break or two, pay the bills, go home and sleep. But every once in a while, I remember the taste of Magnolia Chocolait, all the memories that come with it, and how it affected my views on childhood and capitalism. And when I do, I just can’t help myself but ask: What the hell happened?