Do you remember the summers of your youth? When time stood still, when everything was lazy and easy, and you were let free.My youthful summers in Manila were times of getting up late in the morning, eating eight pieces of big pan de sal with fried rice and pritong isda and taho. Of playing with other kids until dusk, bathing in the first big rain of May, going home to the province for the town fiesta, trekking to Antipolo for the yearly picnic at Hinulugang Taktak and Villa Lolita, or to Tagaytay and much later to Baguio.
It was the time of Santa Cruzan, of neighbourhood parties, of staying up late at night doing nothing but listening to music or going for a drive.
Now, summer has become too sophisticated for kids. Here in Toronto, summer fun is never complete if you did not go to the Ex. The Ex is the Canadian National Exhibition, an institution in the city where people can enjoy rides, amusement games and the final weekend air show. It opens mid-August and closes up on the last long weekend of summer, the Labor Day.
Of course there are newer and mammoth places such as Canada’s Wonderland, Marineland, and Ontario Place. Torontonians even cross the border at Buffalo to go to Cedar Point. These are all spectacular.
In the U.S., Americans refer to a fair as Midway, commonly an American fair such as a county or state fair. Midway is the location where amusement rides, entertainment and fast food booths are concentrated.
The term Midway originated from the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, Illinois in 1893. It was the first world fair with an area dedicated to amusements and separated from the exhibition halls. This distinct area, near the city's Midway Plaisance, included carnival rides - among them the first Ferris wheel, Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show, and other attractions.
In the years after the Exposition closed, midway came to be used as a common noun to refer to the area for amusements at a county or state fair, circus, festival, or amusement park.
In the Philippines, before the advent of the Amusement Park at the Araneta Center in the 60’s, or the present day entertainment complexes, we Pinoys were happy with what we’ve got – the Pinoy Midway, the Perya.
The word “perya” came from the Spanish word “feria” which is a local festival or fair, usually in honor of a patron saint. So when the Spaniards left, we Pinoys continued with the tradition and fun, improvised a bit and built our own brand of peryas complete with the trappings of a carnival - the cheap, glaring lights, banderitas, blaring pedestrian music, and the ever present rides such as the ferris wheel, the slow worm train ride, the cup and saucer, even the dangerous airplane.
And of course, a perya would not be complete without the Philippine pride of the perya - the "bakla," the original cross dresser and lip sync singer; s/he served as intermission number before and after each draw of the mouse game.
The Perya was usually built at the center of a town or a city, near the church plaza. A night at the perya meant playing a slew of games – bingo, rifle shooting, and the game of the mouse in which a “dagang costa” was let loose and made to choose a particular wooden cube or wooden house marked with a number. If you bet on the house chosen by the mouse, you’d win a prize, usually, glasses and plates, cups and saucers.
Today, the humble perya of my youth is really just a speck in the massive amusement park industry; it is now a failed enterprise. The stellar attractions or the spectacles are the big complexes – those with newer rides, big amusement games, mini shopping areas and fast food joints; these are the ones that thrived and survived in making a living.
The fun perya, although a failed enterprise reminds me of another happy summer event; the time I went with cousins and friends to the famed Minalungao Caves in our hometown of Gen.Tinio, Nueva Ecija.
It was summer, must be in the early 70's and a group of us boarded an army truck from our poblacion and traveled through trails (not even roads yet) of rough stones and creeks. There were limited seats in the truck so most of us were standing…and swaying with each bump and curve.
But the uncomfortable travel was soon forgotten. Because when we got to Minalungao, what we saw was simply stunning – pristine river and spring amidst spectacular rock formations.
We went swimming and promptly entered the dark, cold caves where bats greeted us, guests. The caves were not developed yet during that time so bamboo ladders were made available to make climbing easier within the many and high cave chambers.
There were a few surprises on the way; bats suddenly flying in your face, cold water dripping on your head, stones falling at your side, bamboo ladders getting wobbly while you were mid-flight. But these surprises failed to amuse us.
What captivated and beheld us was the amazing sight – the spectacular rock and limestone formations, ante chambers of flowing draperies of marvelous stones and a magnificent hall adorned with natural chandeliers of stalactites. It was like being inside a cathedral with shooting, open ceiling looking up the sky. It could be a nice place to get married if one has a flair for the cinemathique. It could be great material for a serious writer.
Yes, the only way to fully appreciate Nature's wonder is to experience it without fear.
For more on Minalungao National Park, visit the official Gen. Tinio website at:
http://www.generaltinio.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9&Itemid=2
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