so now i know the real reason why we moved here to manila from cotabato.

I was born in Cotabato City but I am in Manila for like 11 years already. Almost half my life so basically, I grew up in Manila. Quezon City, specifically. I was 6 when we moved here. Before, I thought the reason why we moved here is bcos of my brothers who then has a band. They had an album and their song became a hit. So the recording company, which is Polycosmic Records then but Universal Records now, said they should come to Manila already. So we did. And they did TV guestings and all that. I was with them all the way. It was such a challenge moving here cos when we moved, we had no house at all! And our furnitures and all are still in the ship. LOL. That was around April 1999, a month after I graduated kindergarten.

Back in Cotabato, business was really good. Meron kaming video games store(all over Cotabato), movie rentals(back when vhs tapes and laser discs were very popular haha) store and an all-in-one bar, restaurant, club, videoke named Charlenne's. LOL. Business was really doing well. Kami yung unang may ganun dun. Hindi pa tapos yung construction, pina-open na. Lots of artists went there like Manilyn Reynes, UMD Dancers, Streetboys, Yano, etc etc etc. I can't remember though cos I was still young. Nung in-open yun, sobrang dami raw ng tao. Naubusan pa ng food and beer. LOL. Tapos may mga G.R.O. pa daw, hahahaha! And they held contests there like dance contests, costume contest every Halloween and all that. Pinauso din dun yung Ladies Night which is every Wednesday, Ballroom night, and etcetera. Yung restaurant, sobrang okay yung food. I remember nakaakyat pa ako sa kitchen. Yung videoke, may 5 private videoke rooms and a big videoke room outside it. The 5 videoke rooms were all named after our Zodiac Signs: Aquarius, Capricorn, Gemini, Taurus, and Libra. Lahat yun nasa isang building. It's a big lot cos from what I remember, it's only one floor. Tumugtog din dun mga kuya ko. Then dad told us na nabilib yung manager ng isang band na nakasabay nila kuya and sinabi niya, "Grabe, malayo mararating nito." Tapos masayang-masaya sila after kasi may sweldo sila, 50 pesos! Pero mind you, malaki na yun nung time na yun.

Though business was really good, my parents had been receiving death threats even before the bar was opened. Three all in all. Two before the bar was opened, and another one when it was already opened.. I guess. Basta tatlo. They didn't mind it. Hindi sila nagbigay ng kung anong money kahit na pinagbantaan na ng kidnap and all those shits. 50k ang hinihingi nun. To think, malaki na yung ganung amount dati dba? The military said na wag magbigay. Yeah, we had military escorts. I was like, whoa! "Parang presidente ng Pilipinas a! Hahaha. Parang secret service, haha.". My brothers had them. My mom and as well as my dad. They showed the first two letter threats to the military and so ayun. Kinekwento ng mom ko na looking back, parang nakakahiya daw na may sumusunod sa'yo na military kahit san magpunta. Kahit mag-grocery lang or what. Hindi ko matandaan yun, seriously. Of course, bata pa ako. Sobrang lakas ng business nun, lalo na yung video games. My brother told us na my dad goes to Greenhills to buy 10 units of play stations I guess then goes back to Cotabato. Ano ba yung uso nung time na yun? Haha. Naalala ko bumibisita pa kami all around Cotabato para i-check yung stores. Midsayap, Kidapawan, hmm.. san pa ba yun, di ko na matandaan. :)) Pero nung pinagbawal na yung mga students, ayun humina. But the other businesses were good anyway.

Dun pa sa Charlenne's nabaril yung asawa nung auntie ko, kapatid ng mom ko. He was just outside then a drive-by happened. I still remember that! I was in the hallway, just near outside, talking to my brother and mom. Then we heard the gun shots. Then bam! Ayun. Grabe yun. Dun na kami natulog. Sa videoke room. To think that all of us were there! My cousins, my brothers, everyone. Grabe yun.

I don't know when the third death threat came, before or after the incident, but it involves us, the children. Sabi dun, alam kung saan kami nag-aaral and all that. E natakot na si mommy, so sinabi niya kay dad na umalis na kami dun. E sakto, okay ang band nila kuya, may album tapos sakto pinapapunta sila dito sa Manila. So ayun, we've been here ever since. Hindi kami bumalik dun for like I don't know how many years. Mga year 2005 yata nung bumalik kami.

But even though, those were the good times. Mga Christmas Party ng clan nun, hindi ko naabutan talaga. Tapos yung bawat branch ng movie rental and video games shop namin may presentation. That was fun. I can still remember that. Sumayaw kami nun e. Kaming magpipinsan, younger ones. I was like 3 or 4 that time. Haha!

But hands down to my parents that they were able to handle all that. Nung lumipat kami dito, dala-dala nila aside from us, their children, are my four cousins(included din sa band) and my uncle, my mom's youngest brother. Alala ko nagpupunta kami ng ABS-CBN nun at kung saan-saan. Mall tours, bars and all. Those days when bars were really really popular. So bata pa lang ako, mahilig na ako magpuyat. Haha. Naalala ko dun sila sa Art's Venue sa Taft tumutugtog dati. Karamihan ng big bands that time, andun. And they were the youngest of all. Sobrang hanga ako sa mga kuya ko e. They have the talent. They have the gadgets every band would want to have. And with just one person, na hindi naman namin kadugo, BAM! Nasira lahat. Banda, pati na rin pagsasamahan ng family, ALMOST. At least hindi totally. But we can't do anything about that anymore. Those were the past. It was just fun reliving all those. And I bet we learned a lot from that, all of us.

Kanina namin napagkwentuhan yan e. Aside from the last paragraph, those were all me. Hehe. :) We ate dinner at Tokyu along Panay Avenue with my brother's girlfriend. Si kuya panganay, nasa Davao. Si Kuya 2nd, kakapunta lang ng Davao kanina, hinatid namin siya sa airport. Tapos sinundo namin girlfriend ng kuya ko sa Ortigas then pumunta sa office sa Quezon Avenue, kasi since wala na kami dun, aayusin na lang konti, may mga dumi pa kasi. So yun, na-bring up yun kasi may pumasok dun na parang naka-military. May rifle sya and handgun. So my mom said that it looked weird cos you rarely see people na naka-ganun. Eh sa Cotabato, sanay na. Magulo kasi dun e. Kaya ganun.

Thank God, wala namang nangyari sa 'min. Kasi kung meron, wala ako dito ngayon at tina-type 'tong blog na 'to. Haha. :p