Does Anyone Still Own a Walkman?

My 13 years-old Sony Walkman still in top form.
I just need to get a circuit board (I'm guessing) repaired.

The first thing I bought from my first paycheck - after graduating from college and landing a job with P&G - was a Sony Walkman.

I've coveted the Walkman since my grade school and high school days but since we cannot afford these things then, I had to wait until I got my own salary to be able to buy one. It was quite a long wait as you can tell because by the time I bought one, the Discman was already the in-thing for music lovers.

When I started working in Makati, I took the public transport everyday to Ayala Avenue where the Philippine G.O. was located, from our hometown in the countrysides of Binangonan, Rizal. And when I say countryside, I am not exagerrating. Our home lies at the foot of a hill-y terrain. The backyard connects to a creek and vast track of land and a chicken and duck farm (we don't own those, by the way). After living in a dormitory during college days, I want to come home at the end of the day and have a hot, decent home-cooked dinner rather than spend another episode of boarding some place else.

Besides, if I tally the cost of living independently in the Metro, I'll be living a wonderful life of independence with an empty pocket by mid-month while walking along posh Ayala Avenue looking all jazzed up. Nah! I'd rather go home and save some. I even bring my own packed lunch all the way to Makati then.

Back to the Walkman.

That said, the Walkman was my daily companion as I took the 60-minutes or so travel time from Rizal to Makati City. I have at least 2-3 casette tapes lodged in my bag everyday so that I can tune in to my favorite music and block out everything else in the world. This is especially true if the music playing in the jeepney (and later on, the more comfortable Toyota FX vans with the Rizal-Makati route) is an abominable one!

Even after the Discman and much later the Apple's Ipod came to rule the musical universe, I kept my Walkman and my assorted casette tapes. One by one my casette tapes started to fade out of old age and I can't play anything anymore.

Much later I got married and lived in Makati, we had two kids, moved to Laguna, built our new house, moved into Singapore and who knows what future is up to, but I still have my Walkman with me. With one casette tape left (ballroom dancing music).

The Walkman is what my daughter would now call as "a thing from the Olden Days." They had a lesson from school about the so-called Olden Days and they were asked to come to school in an attire to reminisce the Olden Days from their country. They also brought things from the past. Since she can't carry our antique wooden baul (casket), the antique and very heavy plantsa (flat iron, this is one where you need to put hot coals inside the main compartment and strike while the iron is hot) and our iron-casted bowls, we opted to have her bring the old rattan ball (it is lightweight). She should have brought the walkman. None of those kids would recognize it anyway.

As of today, the Walkman can't play a thing anymore. When I attempted to place AA batteries and pressed the 'play' button, it gives off a whirring sound. Some mechanical thing is working but I guess the electronic boards were busted by now. It's a hunch.

But I'm keeping it anyway. Someone may be able to fix it. And then my next problem is where to get a casette tape. But that's another problem for another time.

Thingamajigs and Memories

Been rummaging through my old stuff and here are some interesting find which I kept in my mini casket. Although I had to (painstakingly) learn to part with my abubots through the years, there are some trinkets that reminds you of timeless memories from the days that were.

This was a gift from Nats during our R&D days... so charming that I was happy to just gaze over it instead of actually using it (!) I thought that should I use it, the gold trimmings might turn dull and it will lose its 'royal' look. 

The mint special edition silver U.S. coin was a gift for Kyla from our then-Plant Manager Doug Wood. It was given to me shortly after Kyla was born together with an Osh-Kosh Overall. The edges turned soot-y when I attempted to remove it from its plastic protective sleeve.

The Belgian lace trimmed tissue holder was a pasalubong from another R&D friend Renee.

This is the only wedding souvenir left to me (aside from ours). Ceramic Dutch Clogs from Joel-Nats Wedding. Straight from Holland. Serious!

Apparently I have this envelope full of foreign currency. I dont think these amount to much that's why I just kept it.

From our Wedding! We call this "Aras". Basket-full of gold coins. The groom gives this to the bride as a symbol of his promise to provide for the family's needs. This was a gift from my Tita who made our wedding rings.

Does anyone still remember the Goody barrettes?  They come in fancy colors and designs. Yep, still have them from my early childhood days. I still have some more other than those in the picture. I think its with Kyla.

My 2nd Daruma doll. Still waiting for a wish.

This wooden box was an exchange gift from my UST dorm days (freshman year). The giver was one of my BFF at the dorm. The thing was, she even asked me to accompany her at Blue Magic when she bought her exchange gift and I even chosed for her! The dedications from Jing and May are still visible.

No matter where I moved (from college to Ayala working gal to married woman to Plant and now in SG), this wooden casket went with me.

I had to let go of my keychains, started using my bookmark collection, discovered Kokeshi dolls and found a new collectible which Kyla has been eyeing to keep someday (my bags!!).

Our Kokeshi Dolls Collections

Our Kokeshi Tribe (and the Mini Me at far right)

I wasn't really into collecting novelty trinkets until recently. We started collecting Kokeshi Dolls. I like to put it as "we" meaning Kyla and I but I guess I'm the one who is more into it.

Kokeshi Dolls are sold at most Precious Thots outlets here and they have a wide variety of assortment of dolls. I call it the small-medium-large-extra large and Ninja edition. They also have key chains and knick knacks like make-up kit (I bought two), stationeries, ID holder, purses etc.

I decided to Google the origins of Kokeshi and this is what I found...

Kokeshi dolls date back as hand carved dolls from wood for the farmers' children in Japan. It evolved as colorful, themed-wooden dolls that we know today. Each doll is bestowed a name and represents core values and wisdom. I have one original Japan-made Kokeshi Doll from Tokyo. My youngest sister bought this in Japan during the same week when the earthquake rocked Sendai.

An Original Kokeshi Doll from Tokyo, Japan