Memories

When I commute to Manila or to the nearest Starbucks from home (half an hour away) I just let my mind wander during the long bus and jeepney rides. When I am in a contemplative mood, my thoughts would be along the lines of: should I finally get my hair colored? A tablet or a smartphone? I wonder what happened to Cappie and Casey when they got to Washington. Will Zoe Hart and Wade Kinsella eventually end together? Shit why do I keep rooting for the happy go lucky loser-ish guys instead of the likes of Evan Chambers and George Tucker? Hahaha. Welcome to my brain.

Last week though I've been thinking about something else: my childhood. It probably started with that accidental mini-reunion with grade school classmates last weekend AND I JUST CAN'T STOP! It's like I've been going through microfilms of my early memories. 

Frankly a lot of them are hazy, but you know how some bit of a memory just sticks and you can't remember all the details of what happened but you remember that one single part very very well as if it's a scene from a movie you watched or a line you memorized from a book? 

My top ten most vivid memories (and not necessarily the fondest haha):

• Sitting on my lolo's lap and playing with a mirror while I'm wearing a furry headband with bunny ears
• Running after a jeepney because my younger brother had just gotten on it and then it started to move away
• Stomping on a pink flower my kindergarten classmate Martin gave to me because I was embarassed hehehe
• My evil classmate E holding my hands behind my back while my other evil classmate D tried to kiss me (also in kindergarten!) I remember how my dad arrived and scared the hell out of them. Creeps.
• Riding a jeepney alone when I was in grade II and having this strange woman hold my knee protectively (The circumstances of this I remember rather well: I ran away from my yaya because she wouldn't take me to school and I wanted to play with my classmates hehe)
• Crying that we didn't have a charcoal iron during a power blackout because I didn't want to go to school with gusot (creased) uniforms (Funny, because when I got to medschool I hardly ever ironed my uniforms. They get creased by lunchtime anyway hehehe)
• Running away from home (and hiding behind a huge tree in our driveway) because my mom wanted me to wear a dress to church and I didn't want to.
• Losing in a spelling contest because I misspelled RENOWNED.
• Studying the bird embryo using balut and realizing for the first time it had feathers and a beak. Traumatic.
• Being carried by my dad with his arms above his head while I spread my arms out and pretended to fly. I can even remember the feeling.

I have more, but these stand out the most. I can see them in my head OVER AND OVER. 

What are your most vivid memories as children? :)