of crystal balls and a talking monkey...

              Pagmulat ng mata, Langit nakatawa sa BATIBOT, sa BATIBOT

During the craze of Sesame Street worldwide, Filipinos did a spin off  from this popular Children's Television Show, and we had our very own...
 Man I loved this program. I really stare at the TV screen, put the volume up, and follow Kuya Bodjie, Ate Shiena, Kiko Matsing, Pong Pagong, and the rest of the gang sing the theme song. I would wait to see what's new in "mga kwento ni Lola Basyang" (stories of Granny Basyang), listen to Kuya Bodjie's storytelling while Kiko Matsing butts in, Have ate Shiena reprimand Ning-Ning and Ging-Ging.I would wait until the "perlas na bilog" (round pearl) shows me what it has. Man, I was a true Batibot Fan! I even went wild one time Ate Shiena and Kuya Bodjie went to St. Paul Pasig to promote their books back then!

 Manang bola and her chant: "Perlas na bilog, 'wag tutulog tulog. Sabihin saken ang sagot! Ba, be-bi, bo-buuuu!!!! (round pearl, don't keep on sleeping, give me the answer! ba, be-bi-bo-buuu!)

 this is Kiko Matsing. I think they pegged his looks from Grover. He's a monkey by the way. And he is friends with...

 Pong Pagong. He's a turtle. And both of them are part of a completely wacky cast:

 Ning Ning and Ging-Ging

 Kapitan Basa

Sitsiritsit and Alibangbang (the space "dudes")

      I'm a batang Batibot, and I qoute from the last line of their theme song:

              MGA BATA SA BATIBOT, MALIKSI, MASIGLA!

A HOUSE THAT FLIES

 Remember them?! This was a show I loved watching on GMA 7 as a kid.

 And this IS their FLYING HOUSE. The story revolves around Justin, Angela, little Cory and Professor Humphrey Bumble's while they travel inside his "house" with SIR (short for Solar Ion Robot), into the time of Jesus, stories from the New Testament. Whenever a storm disrupts anything they are currently doing, they see themselves "flying" back in time to learn more about the life of the Jesus, and the Catholic faith. For a grade schooler like me, reading and understanding the Bible back then was REALLY hard, moreso since texts in Bibles were of the King James version. This was the BEST way to teach young catholics like me how to deepen our relationship with Jesus without necessarily going overboard. And even though its really ODD to have a "Flying House" go back into atleast 300AD, it worked for me. I easily related to topics and found myself also "travelling" with them.

              Come on and go with us, Lord who knows where 
              It’s so fun to fly through time in the flying house
              Oh, it’s great to fly in the flying house
              I just want to get back home again
     
     I now find myself humming their theme song. Nostalgia. :)

CAN YOU TELL ME HOW TO GET TO SESAME STREET?

        Who does not love Sesame Street? Oh come on, I know you loved watching Earnie take a bath with his rubber duckie. Bert acting as a Mr. Know-it-all. Elmo and his orange nose. Big Bird and his big foot. Remember Mr. Guy Smiley, the host with an oversized microphone and a mouth so big all you could see was his gums.

         But none of the Sesame Street stars can compare to my favorite, Oscar the Grouch. And while the rest of my friends had Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Ernie and Bert stuffed toys, I had my eyes only on one character. HIM.

                                             

       Oscar the Grouch had a very unlovable character. His home, a dirty trash can. He doesn’t have a cute voice, in fact, his was very hoarse. I was the unconventional kid. I don't like cutie pie characters. I want myself to be challenged, and I went for unwanted cartoon or kid show characters.

      Betcha don't even remember who Oscar the Grouch was!