Traditional Filipino Games That I Miss in My Childhood

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Avatar for Jeaneth
3 years ago

I thought of taking a break from writing the articles I used to share and just write something personal. Let's take a break from reading and writing crypto-related articles to breathe for a while.

So I saw this flower in the garden of my grandmother and I suddenly remembered the good old days.

We used to wear them as earrings every time we go to the garden of my friend's house.

Oh well, I feel so old but I'm glad I was born in the 90s where I was able to witness the transition from traditional activities and now where our lives revolve around our phones and computers.

I was born in 1995 and these are the traditional games that I miss and have no choice but just to look back on those memories:

1. Patintero

I grew up in a subdivision where the houses are closely built from each other. I easily made good friends in the neighborhood and I have been enjoying it a lot. I remember, during weekends at 4 pm, my friends come by our house and invite me to play with them for patintero. We play the game on the street and we just pause our game whenever a vehicle passes by. We use water to mark the lines as the streets were not yet cemented.

This game is super fun especially if there are many of you playing. However, there are some instances that a member of the team loses his/her cool and start a fight with the other team as they thought one was cheating. So that ends the game and results in not talking for days. Such a childish act! 🤦‍♀️😆

2. Tumbang Preso (Tumba Lata)

If not patintero, we used to play Tumbang Preso, we call it Tumba Lata in Bisaya. Before the game starts, to determine who's the tagged, the players will do "humpyang makulob mahayang". I'm not really sure what's the Tagalog term or English term of that. The loser gets to guard the tin can and catch the players who get their slippers from the other side. I hope I a making sense. It's really difficult to explain in English.

My father used to tease me this even up to now whenever he remembers the game back in my childhood. I was once the tagged player of the game and my friends kept on hitting the tin can and I can't catch them back by touching them. He saw me almost crying and felt pity for me. Who wouldn't feel hopeless when you can't catch them back right?

3. Tagu-taguan

This is my favorite game ever. The excitement and thrill when your friend gets close to you but had no idea where you are exactly at. The tagged player counts to 30 to 60 (this depends on the mechanics, I do not know about yours). My strategy of hiding myself is to climb up a tree or just hide in the house. What makes it more fun is sometimes, one would just stand behind the friend who's counting and when he's done, he just easily taps the surface and say "save". I know that's a form of cheating but it still fun though.

One time, the game has not yet ended as the tagged player was still searching for the remaining player. A parent approached us and discouraged us to stop the game because "the engkanto" will get us. We immediately stopped the game and went home so frightened. I know, that's a classic effective strategy that children would still fall for it.

4. Agawan Base (Sunog Bahay)

The game consists of two teams. The goal is to catch all members of the opposing team. When members of the opposing team get tagged, they will form a chain by holding hands and wait for their teammates to rescue them. The other team must guard the members of the opposing team to sustain their lead. The first team to tag all members of the opposing team wins the game.

My friends would call me "bantay pari" as I do not leave our base. I'm afraid to be tagged by the other team and just let my teammates do the work. Was I too competitive or too boring? I guess it's the latter. 😆

5. Buwan - Buwan (Bulan- Bulan)

This game is quite the same as Patintero. However, instead of drawing squares by 6 or 8, the game is formed by a circle like a moon. The group will stay inside the moon while the tagged player is only allowed to walk along the circle trying to catch one member of the group without entering the moon. If he succeeds, the tagged member will be in his position and resume the game.

6. Langit - Lupa

The game is simple. One should never stand on the ground or the floor because you will be caught by the tagged player. Langit is considered when you place yourself anywhere except the floor.

7. Kadang - Kadang

This is the hardest, dangerous, and most fulfilling experience I had in my childhood. I asked my father to make a kadang-kadang for me, and I spent days to practice and finally get the hang of it. It was nerve-wracking when you step on its pedal and balance yourself for you to walk using it.

8. Siato (Shatong)

You will need to dig a hole for the shorter stick to be placed over it so that you can hit it as farthest as you can using the longer stick. The objective is to get the highest score by hitting the stick multiple times. The highest scorer will hit the stick as far as he can and the tagged player will sing "sinsilyo pulgado and sukli bayncingko, siatooooooong". That's how we sing in our town, I'm not sure about your versions.

9. Luksong Baka

The tagged player will serve as the cow-like figure to be jumped over by the other players. If one player fails to jump over the tagged player then he will now serve as the "baka".

10. Bahay - Bahayan (Balay - Balay)

When the team is not available and doing personal errands or going on a trip, one fun activity to do is doing the bahay-bahayan.

To form a house, you will need rice sacks or if you're lucky and your parents do not find out that you took your blanket in your bed, then that would be perfect. But, I'm pretty sure you will get reprimanded for doing it so. 😆🤦‍♀️

We used to form a mini-house under a tree and build sticks on it for the blanket. Then, we put sacks and pillow underneath to let us sleep in our mini house. The mini house experienced wouldn't be complete without cooking using a tin can, with gumamela as the food. We place 3 stones so the tin can could stand to it.

Now the fun begins. One would portray as the mother of the family, the father of the family, and the rest would be the children of the family. If my memory serves me right, I once portrayed as the mother of the family, and my childhood crush portrayed as the father of the family.

As the group reaches teenage years, there begin asking who has a crush on who. The childhood games were no longer played as we started to feel conscious about ourselves when puberty hit.


We had to leave the subdivision after 12 years because we build our own house from the lot that my parents bought. From then on, I never had the chance to visit my childhood hometown and we only connect through Facebook. Some of them already got married.


Here is a group photo of my childhood friends before. Take a guess which of them is the child figure of Jeaneth. 😆

As we grow old and have our own families, the chances of getting together get slimmer because priorities are needed to take consideration first.


How about you guys? Do you still connect with your childhood friends? What game do you miss the most?

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3 years ago

Comments

Never missed all of it po 'coz i played all of it po when i was still a kid po, i'm more of a tomboy po nung bata pa po aq, even remember playing tennis n football before po dhil mdamo n lupa po ung sa lugar po nmin sa taguig kya khit mdapa po aq, hlos puro galos lng po nkukuha q po, lol

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3 years ago

Hahaha. Me too ms bheng. I played lawn tennis when I was younger too pero kada summer camp lang. 😅

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3 years ago

Hahaha, gnun po ba, miss jeaneth, aq po sa mga kalaro q lng po dati, lol, ndi po sa school, yko po kc mging player po eh, lol

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3 years ago

Waaaaa i never got to play all of them but i did play some of them. I wasn't a fast runner so the running games, i barely played but i was great in hiding

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3 years ago

Hiding feelings too? Awweee 🥺 hehe. Just kidding.

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3 years ago

😂😂😂😂😂 pwede din- Di pero I'm good at hiding talaga, takot mapalo so ayun 😂

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3 years ago

Missing those games as well. Nakakamiss maging bata 😅

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3 years ago

Kaya nga ehh. Hehe

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3 years ago

This is the best article you've written for the past month dear friend! I remember I was very good with shatong, though I suck at patintero and other games that include heavy running. This article really made me feel nostalgic. If only I have a time machine to get back to those days -- no gadgets, no internet, no distractions... Life really feels great just thinking about those games we used to play.

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3 years ago

Yay, thank you. I guess it's always a good article when it's personal and based on experience. Yup, the simplicity of life we used to have is something worth to cherish.

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3 years ago

There are some games that I am not familiar with like the Bulan-bulan. You forgot to mention Dr. Quack-quack or the "sasara ang bulaklak bubukaka ang bulaklak..". I don't know the name of that game but I used to play those 2 with my classmates during lumch break or dismissal. I think our childhood was more fun than how it is nowadays. 😊

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3 years ago

Ay oo ngaaa. Yung dr quack2x and bubuka ang bulaklak. I must say, our childhood was the most fun of all generations. No bias. Hahaha

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3 years ago

💯 I totally agree. I don't know if kids this days know about this games. Oh I suddenly remembered Chinese garter and jackstones. 😊

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3 years ago

Yes nman. Di mawawala yan. Yung skipping rope din.

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3 years ago

It is always nice to remember our childhood. I like the game of hide and seek, we did it many times here in my country, when I was a child.

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3 years ago

I agree. That's a classic game. It never gets old.

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3 years ago

Some games in the Philippines are the same as in Indonesia, it's just that the name of the game is different. You write all kinds of games well. I like going back to my childhood and remembering how happy we were playing.

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3 years ago

Thank you so much. I know, it's nice to reminisce the good old days. ❤

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3 years ago

oh yeah jean, i don't see you in noise.cash

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3 years ago

Ok, thank you, I hope we can be more close friends

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3 years ago

I hope so 😅

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3 years ago

We call them Laro ng Lahi. And truth be told, I was only able to play bahay bahayan and tago taguan from your list when I was still a kid 🤧.

My mom was too strict that she barely let me play with our neighbors, I can only play with my cousins, but I seldom do it because I prefer reading books than playing outside. Oh! I played patintero once, pero tumakas lang ako nun kay mama tapos pag uwi ko sinalubong ako ng mahabang patpat 😂

Yung iba nalaro ko college na and most of my classmates made fun of me for being so ignorant of those games 😅

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User's avatar sc
3 years ago

Wala ka pala masyado childhood madam. Hehehe. Di ka bilad sa araw ano? Mga batang yagit kami nung bata. Kahit naman today 🙈😆

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3 years ago

Kaya lumaking ignorante at walang friends, except sa school time friends 😅 Haha grabe sa yagit 😆

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User's avatar sc
3 years ago

Haha. Tingnan mo yung photo namin. Mga batang kalye talaga 😆 pero sobrang saya.

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3 years ago

Elementary days madam, nakakamiss shoot! Ang saya saya ng kabataan natin noon ano pero ngayon, wala ng ganyan kung meron man madalang na nalang. Puri kasi gadgets ang kaharal ng mga kabataan ngayon, nakalungkot man pero ganon talaga ung dati nating nakasanayan ay mawawala na pag laon.

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3 years ago

Totoo madam. Iba talaga buhay nuon ano. Simle lang. Walang radiation 😞

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3 years ago

Kaya nga, simple pwro happy kasi nasa labas ka lang ng bahay nakikipaglaro sa mga ka friends mo.

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3 years ago

Ginawa ko yan lahat pati yang earings 🤣🤩

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3 years ago

Hahaha. Relate na relate eh 😅💯

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3 years ago