I can’t remember the last time I went absent due to sickness. Since I’ve started working for CVG, I’ve gotten my sick leave conversion in full (for 2006 and 2007). And the one and only time I went absent for the past 3 years was during the height of the monster storm “milenyo” way back in ‘06 I believe. I just don’t see the point of reporting for work and leaving my wife all alone to do the cleanup, especially after the howling winds pried open our roof like a flimsy tin can.
Yesterday was different though. I’ve been having this on and off fever for two days now not to mention a splitting headache that won’t go away in spite of all the analgesic I’ve gulped down.
So my wife and I went to Patient’s First in Glorietta to see if I can get my sick leave conversion intact next year or otherwise. By the time we got there my fever has subsided but not my headache. They took my BP, temperature and blood sample and asked me to return in a couple of hours.
When we got back I was told that my platelet count was within normal range but getting dangerously low. They suspected Dengue Fever but nothing’s final yet, they told me to return by Wednesday if my fever keeps recurring so they can run another round of tests. Meanwhile I was given a prescription for my miserable cold. I was also told to buy this capsule called Zertin, which, according to Google, is prescribed for bronchitis (I really need to quit smoking soon).
Long story short, I was told to get bed rest for a day which also means my sick leave conversion won’t be complete next year (sob!). The nice thing is, Wednesday and Thursday Manila Time are my days-off. That means 3 days of peace and quiet at home for me.
I woke up to an overcast morning today and since there’s not much to do I went to Youtube to while away some time while the missus dozed off. Suddenly I remembered one of my former teammates who’s been featured in an earlier post after being stabbed in broad daylight (well, she’s very much alive up till now,recently promoted, even). Her name is Myla but she goes by the handle Howgee. Out of a whim, I typed “How Gee” on the search bar and instantly I got access to the video for that famous early 90’s hiphop song. Then it hit me, I was there just sitting in front of the pc but by checking out that video I was peering back into time using today’s technology. Something I was not able to do before since MTV gave us nothing but snowy picture on our old Toshiba TV.
Suffice to say, a flood of memories came rushing in.
I was a high school freshie back in ‘91 and hiphop has begun hitting the mainstream. Controversial Andrew E ruled the airwaves and “nationalistic” Francis M set the trend for uber-loose clothing with tribal motifs. Together they made the Philippines the rap capital of Asia in the early 90’s. Soon Filipino artists of all shapes and sizes hitched into the rap bandwagon including the likes of Lady Diane (Sa-sa-saddam!), Jungee Marcelo, Denmark/Marky D (Si Luningning!) and even impersonator Willie Nepomuceno.
Anyone who came of age during the 90’s would surely remember the trends those days. Fashion-wise, it was all about Guess and Boy London and Benetton and Swatch. Music-wise, Before Trance and Techno became popular, it was mobiles and scratching/mixing that pumped up the crowd. The art of mixing and scratching reached its peak during this period (remember DJ MOD?) Disco was still very much in as well. Heartbeat and Faces Mega Disco even had TV ads then (Pump up the volume!). Green jokes on radio were virtually unheard of then and the airwaves reverberated with dance music and the rising alternative rock scene in the Philippines. For the hip hop crowd, there was 89 DMZ (Dance Music Zone) with their cheesy “Don’t give drugs a chance, just go ahead and Dance” tagline. On the other side of the fence was LA 105.9 telling all rockers out there to “kill all hiphops”. Meanwhile, songs like “Rump Shaker”, “Hip-Hop Hooray” and “Tap the Bottle”, “Ditty”, “Tease me” and “Sweat” ruled the airwaves as well as MC Snow’s “Informer”. For some reason, rappers during those time seemed to require the MC Tag to be deemed legit.
Dance wise, the primitive “running man” and “scissors” of the Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer period is giving way to more outlandish steps and fads. Dance groups were a dime a dozen but some achieved dizzying heights of popularity hereabouts. The big three during those days were the Universal Motion Dancers, the Streetboys and the Manoeuvres. Collectively, they popularized such songs as “The Sign (Ace of Base)”, “Dying Inside (Timmy Thomas)”, “Mmmbop (the Hansons)”, “Always (Erasure)”, “Stars (Simply Red)”, “Tootsie Roll”, and “Lick it”.
High school during those times was not complete without one joining a dance group or two. Reggae and African-inspired dance music was in vogue, with Dr. Alban and Apache Indian (Boom-shak-a-lak) leading the way. I remembered this song called “Bamboula” which was one of the few I’ve danced with our group back in those days. Its opening line was “It began in Africa”. Come to think of it, science has shown that mankind, not just dance music indeed has it roots in Africa. It’s not just about pinoys trying to look and sound “egoy” to be cool.
The 90’s felt like it was just yesterday but somehow it seems like a long time has passed since. They say reminiscing is for the old. Maybe I am, but the hell I care. I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. Just check out the 90’s videos I mentioned on Youtube and you’ll see comments like “The 90’s were good times” or “this is really good music”, “they don’t make good music like this nowadays”. As for me, I’m just happy to have a happy and full life as a student back in those days with those “tacky” music defining my times. The first half of the 90’s was about dance and hiphop. The latter half was about rock in all its wicked forms. Perhaps I’ll write about that on my next post.
Meanwhile, excuse me while I thank God for the internet, for once I can be young again.
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