I miss using the street as a playground where we would draw boxes and smiling suns with a piece of white chalk hoping that it would not rain. After just waking up from our afternoon siestas, all kids would come out and play all the outdoor games we could think of. There were games boys preferred to be playing with each other and it was the same for us girls who would usually be chanting girly rhymes and competing for the best hopscotch player! Sipa was for everyone! By improvising a rattan ball, a coin or lead washer was used wrapped in a piece of light cloth tied tightly. It was kicked into the air as many times as possible without the "sipa" falling on the ground. Girls used the outside of their foot to kick it, while boys, often with rubber slippers worn around their arms used the inside. The street was a place for kicking and jumping and tagging and screaming but I always end up going home with a sprained ankle or a wounded knee – poor me!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Street Games
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As a kid, we often played SYIATO. A game played with 2 stick (1 long + 1 short). Normally, people dig a small hole on the ground but on the street where my Grandparents used to live there's already one hole due to road wear and tear. You then place the small stick and try to scope it out with the long stick ensuring you throw it as far as you can. The more experienced ones tries to hit them mid air to go further. If its caught mid air but the opponent its their turn... There's more to the game but thats all I can remember for now... :P
I have very fond memories of playing kickball with my cousins. I know kickball is a real sport - but we played in the streets and had our own set of rules! We made this game our own.
Every Sunday, my parents would drive the family up to my grandmother's house in Sanville, QC. After having a hearty lunch, the boys and girls would split up and play with the "popular" toys of the time (GIJOE, He-Man, and Transformers were the must haves for boys). In the late afternoon, after having another filling meal (merienda/afternoon tea), the boys and girls would come together and decide on the rest of the afternoon's activities. My favourite of which - was kickball.
If a boys versus girls game was ever needed, then kickball fit that requirement nicely, and the dozen or so kids (ranging from 5 to 16 years old from memory) would trek up to the usual kickball venue - a relatively quiet street, a few blocks away from my grandmother’s. Our kickball field was ideal, due to its wide open space, many empty lots and low vehicle traffic (save for the odd car or tricycle). We could run and play without worrying about getting run over and without disturbing the rest of the neighbourhood. We could even shout at the top of our lungs (and often did) with no ill consequence :).
Anyway, the rules of kickball are nearly identical to baseball. The most obvious difference is instead of hitting a baseball with a bat, you instead kick a full-sized rubber ball (in our case, a volleyball) that was “pitched” in your direction by a member of the opposing team. The harder you kick the ball, the farther it goes, giving you more time to reach a base or even reach multiple bases. One twist of the rules governs how the ball is thrown by the pitcher. He or she is limited to pitching the ball using only 3 of each serving type (I think...) per turn. You can serve the ball by rolling it slowly, quickly or even by bouncing it towards the kicker. We would of course bend the rules a bit for the younger ones, or enforce them with an iron fist for the older ates and kuyas who would often kick the ball a lot farther than the rest. When a ball is kicked out of our regular grounds, it would then have to be collected by the person closest to that assigned area. When balls were kicked to my area, I quickly noticed two trends: that the ball would always roll another 20 feet farther than the distance I can run , and that the ball has a nasty habit of landing in the centre of the empty lot behind me - which was of course, surrounded by waist-high grass that hid an unknown number of creepy crawlies and was home to, perhaps - an angry mob of dwarves.
Our kickball games normally lasted until sun down, and the game would end when we could no longer see the ball we’re kicking or if it was dinner time, whichever came first! The winner is the team that scored the most runs, granting its members bragging rights until the next game (ie. the following Sunday).
Found this website which lists Filipinos games.
http://www.geocities.com/PicketFence/3441/games.html
For those who grew up in the Philippines, I'm sure you have played at least one of these games.
me & my sister used to play everyday with our kapit bahay from the time we get home from school. we would play bahay-bahayan of course i will be the mum since im the oldest in the group so i will do the cooking with our cute little "palayok" and pitas different kinds of bulaklak and plants sa mga bakuran which got us in trouble few times. by 4pm and malilim nah we would play outside (pepsi 7up, langit lupa, shake shake shampoo and never ending habulan) the fun & games would end by 6pm, our mum will call us for rosary & this went on throughout our elementary days.
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