Summer of '69. And so forth.

The Woodstock Music & Art Fair (informally, Woodstock) was a music festival billed as "An Aquarian Exposition", held at Max Yasgur's 600 acre dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York from August 15 to August 18, 1969. Bethel, in Sullivan County is 43 miles (69 km) southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York in adjoining Ulster County.

Thirty-two of the best-known musicians of the day appeared during the sometimes rainy weekend in front of nearly half a million concertgoers. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in popular music history and was listed on Rolling Stone's 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll.

Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Santana, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Joe Cocker, Blood, Sweat and Tears and Jimi Hendrix were among the performers.

Also in '69, The Jackson 5 was already a household name. Michael Jackson was about eleven. I was in high school.

The Beatles was still big. Rolling Stones was at par with the Fab Five. The top single hits included The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar," and "Let the Sunshine In," by the Fifth Dimensions.

The Associations, earlier, had hits like Cherish and Never My Love.

Jimi Hendrix was big and in trouble. Diana Ross and the Supremes had their final recording that year and disbanded the following year, 1970, when Ross went solo.

Over at Philippine radio, the high schooler's favorite female DJs included Sonia Basa ( 1-4-3-4-4) and Bingo Lacson. Mine was Sonia Basa - husky, sexy voice.

A bottle of Coke cost twenty centavos in Manila. The minimum jeepney fare was ten centavos. Movies cost one peso and twenty centavos.

For a measly twenty pesos, one can bring a high school date to the movies, have snacks in a decent restaurant or eatery and travel by taxi.

Summer house parties were a hit; held in lawns, garages or in living rooms. Party food consisted of "Tasty" bread with Eggo spread, Del Monte pineapple juice, macaroni with sauce and lots of Vienna sausage, and Magnolia ice cream.

When I started to attend the campus in Diliman, I would be riding those red buses called JD from Quiapo to Diliman, then later discovered the shorter route from Sta. Mesa to Katipunan.

The Ikot dyip plying the Diliman campus was five cents a ride. Lunch at Kamia(?) and Vinzon's Hall was about one peso and ten cents, and dessert always consisted of fresh fruit salad with home made cream, and guyabano juice in small tumblers was always a welcome refreshment.

Turon was peddled outside classrooms and in the hallways, and if you wanted to impress a classmate, you bring her to the cafeteria beside the Pool.

The main library, aside from being the focal point of one's university years, was rumored to be a a mini-Luneta in the evenings.

Those too young to remember 1969 would hear and read of Woodstock and Jimi Hendrix at much later years.

But we, Vietnam babies, breath the summer of '69 and the '70's with just the shirts on our backs and placards on our hands. The sun was never too hot then, though the issues were aflame.

Jeepneys were not as many as today. Tricycles were nowhere to be seen. The Circle/Rotunda in front of the Quezon City Hall was a big, open green space, where Pope Paul VI celebrated a mass in November 1970.

And inside the UP Campus, the air was always fresher. Especially in the evenings when one was walking from the dorm to the Main Library.

To the Peyups guys here in North America, here's to a wonderful summer. And to you, in Manila, enjoy the rain. But don't get too wet.