I grew up in the 90s when life was simpler. There were no i-anything, no Instagram, no Facebook and no Twitter. Children knew how to spell properly, even the difficult words. We did not use the letters w, z, h, and q unnecessarily.

We spent our free time outside. The streets were our playground where we honed our skills in taguan (hide and seek), patintero, tumbang preso (hit the can), Chinese garter (which I was not good at) and the Ilonggo version of piko (hopscotch). With the encouragement of my cousin and my brother, I played with spiders and actively looked for them in the wilds so we could make them fight on a stick of walis tingting (raffia broom). They taught me how to hold a slingshot and aim at star apples, mangoes or when I was too ambitious, I tried my luck with jackfruits. Sometimes, we were way over our heads and shot birds in midair. I know I was a bad kid. 🙂

At night, when there was electricity (there were an awful lot of blackouts in our town), our eyes were glued to the often-black-and-white TV sets until our fighting spirit gave up and we just fall ungracefully to the floor or sofa like a heap of tattered clothes, snoring. Like the little pigs that we were.

Growing up in the 90s in my part of Iloilo meant that my TV set had only 3 national channels and one local channel from Iloilo City, one channel from Bacolod City and another from Cebu City (Isabel Sugo ng Birhen was our signal to cook rice for dinner, and yes, we used firewood, not rice cooker!).

Watching a LOT of local TV (and with the mother that I had, one that was obsessed with local showbiz) taught me how to speak Tagalog and made me a fan of Philippine showbusiness.

In light of this pagpapalik-tanaw (looking back), I compiled 15 trivia questions related to Philippine entertainment in the 90s. Internet searches, asking for help and/or skipping to the end of this entry for answers is considered cheating.

Prove your worth as a 90s kid. Answer these trivia questions about the 90s in Philippine show business.

1. What were Thalia’s two shows on RPN 9? (2 points)

2. What are the names of the characters played by Judy Ann Santos and Rico Yan on Gimik? (2 points)

2.1. What is the name of Mylene Dizon’s character on Gimik? (1 point)

2.2. Who is the actor who played Mylene Dizon’s character’s love interest? (1 point)

2.3. What is the name of G Toengi’s character on Gimik? (1 point)

2.4. Who is the actor who played G Toengi’s character’s love interest? (1 point)

3. What are the names of the characters played by Angelu de Leon and Bobby Andrews on T.G.I.S? (2 points)

3.1. Who is the actress who transferred from Gimik to T.G.I.S? Who is the actor who played as her love interest? (2 points)

4. Aside from John Lloyd Cruz and Kaye Abad, which two actors were part of the original cast of Tabing-Ilog? (2 points)

5. What are the names of the members of Voltes V? (5 point)

6. Who was the guy who starred opposite Ina Raymundo in San Miguel Beer’s Sabado Nights commercial? (1 point)

7. What was the name of the Miss Universe contestant who said the infamous words, “Take it! Take it!” during the 1994 Metro Manila Film Festival awards night? (3 points for the correctly spelled name, -1 point for incorrectly spelled name) BONUS: What was the country she represented at Miss Universe? (1 point BONUS)

8. What is the quiz show for grade school, high school and college students on RPN 9 that tested your mental acuity? Who is the handsome host of the show? (2 points) BONUS: What is the sponsor of that show? Its name is prominently displayed right on top the show’s own. (1 point BONUS)

9. What is the Star Cinema movie that had ensemble cast that included Gelli de Belen as a DJ, Sharmaine Arnaiz, Robin da Roza, Rico Yan, and Claudine Barretto? (1 point)

10. Name the actors who played, Sarah … Ang Munting Prinsesa, Becky, Miss Minchin, and Cedie ang Munting Prinsipe (4 points, incomplete names are not counted)

11. What two films star Cesar Montano, directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya and produced by GMA Films? (2 points)

12. Complete the titles of these Rosanna Roces films: ________, ang Babaeng Walang Pahinga, Ang Lalaki sa Buhay ni _______, ________ ang Itawag mo sa Akin, ________, ang Babaeng Palaban, and Nang Mamulat si (5 points)

13. What are the names of the characters that Claudine Barretto played in Saan sa man naroroon? (3 points)

14. What is the name of the character in Mara Clara (original version) who wrote the true identities of Mara and Clara on a diary? Who is the actor who portrayed this character? (2 points)

15. Who are the three women who played Faye in the TV show Okay ka Fairy ko? (3 points)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        ANSWERS:

1. MariMar and María la del Barrio

Thalia and Fernando Carrillo of MariMar were the muse and escort of Graviton (a 4^th year section in our high school for the nerds). They were the official loveteam of our batch. Marc Dean was the unofficial narrator of the previous night’s episode to the unfortunate dormers.

2. Diane and Ricky     2.1. Melai     2.2. Bojo Molina   2.3. Gina   2.4. Diether Ocampo

I remember my friend Jared was the biggest Gimik fan I knew back in the day. He attended the Dinagyang Festival to see Diether Ocampo (who looked dashing according to his accounts). He further proved his fanaticism when he wrote on the space for Dream in Life on our yet-to-be-printed high school yearbook: To meet G Toengi, Diether Ocampo and the rest of the Gimik Gang! 🙂 (To the curious minds: I wrote to be a photographer and to marry Rey Evangelista.)

3. Peachy and Joaquin or Waks   3.1. Rica Peralejo and Red Sternberg

Leah, Jed and I’s, classmate was a huge T.G.I.S. supporter. Since more people watched Gimik, she was mostly alone in her fan club. Hi, Lei! 🙂

4. Patrick Garcia (James), Paolo Contis (Badong), Jodi Sta. Maria (George), Baron Geisler (Fonzy), Anne (Paula Peralejo) and Corrine (Desiree del Valle). For the curious minds: John Lloyd Cruz (Rovic) and Kaye Abad (Eds)

Patrick Garcia was my biggest crush in Tabing-Ilog. I used to watch it every Sunday, just before The Buzz.

5. Steve Armstrong, Mark Gordon, Robert “Big Bert” Armstrong, “Litte” John Armstrong, and Jamie Robinson.

I watched Voltes V as a child but did finish it. I was in love with Mark Gordon and imagined myself as Jamie Robinson. Hahahaha. When I was in college, GMA-7 showed it again. The premier episode of Voltes V coincided with my Oblicon (Obligations and Contracts) class that lasted for three hours. I wanted to cry.

6. Paolo Abrera.

For my high school JS Prom, I wore an outfit inspired by Raymundo’s get-up in the commercial.

7. Viveka Babajee. BONUS: Mauritius.

I did not watch Loretta, the controversial movie that won Ruffa Gutierrez and Gabby Concepcion the award. All I remember were the crying actresses, Mayor Fred Lim and Lolit Solis.

8. Battle of the Brains and David Celdran.

The trying-hard-nerd in me watched this every Sunday afternoon. I tried to answer the questions and found out a little too late that Science and Math were not my strongest points. 🙂 In my eyes, David Celdran was the most handsome and intelligent man on TV at that time. When he smiled, rainbow appeared on the horizon, butterflies multiplied and angels sang.

9. Radio Romance.

Radio Romance is one of the first Filipino romantic-comedy-dramas I watched. It has beautiful cast that can act and soundtrack that has great recall. Star Cinema does not make films like Radio Romance anymore. 🙁

10. Camille Pratts (Princess Sarah/Sarah Crewe), Angelica Panganiban (Becky), Jean Garcia (Miss Minchin) and Tom Taus (Cedie/Cedie Errol)

I loved Sarah … Ang Munting Prinsesa as a kid. I had a crush on that teenaged guy who grooms the horses. Hehehe. Jean Garcia as Miss Minchin wins the best villain award! Tingin pa lang niya nakamamatay na! (Her looks can kill!).

11. Jose Rizal and Muro-Ami (Reef Hunters)

Jose Rizal and Muro-Ami are such good films. I do not know why GMA Films stopped doing high-quality movies.

12. Curacha, ang Babaeng Walang Pahinga, Ang Lalaki sa Buhay ni Selya, Ligaya ang Itawag mo sa Akin, Ms. Kristina Moran, ang Babaeng Palaban, and Nang Mamulat si Eba

I have not watched all of these films, but Rosanna Roces was the queen of Philippine movies. And she was such a luminous queen.

13. Rosario, Rosenda and Rosemarie

How hard was it for Claudine Barretto to play three roles with different personalities and hairstyles?

14. Kardo Davis played by Dan Fernandez

Remember that darn diary and where it was located all along? OMG!

15. Alice Dixson, Tweetie de Leon and Dawn Zulueta

I used to watch this every Thursday night. Ina Magenta was the coolest grandmother ever!

YOUR BATANG 90s METER:

40-47 (perfect score is 45 + 2 bonus points) – You are really a batang 90s. Congrats! You are also as jologs as I am.

30-39 – You may be a batang 90s, but you did not pay attention to the TV sets. It is okay, you must be very smart or rich or both right now. Too much TV exposure fries the brain cells. I am kidding. I think.

20-29 – If you are in your teens, it is fine because this happened way before your time. If you are older than 28 and you got this score, I am judging you right now. 🙂 How was your childhood? Hehe.

less than 20 – Weh? Di nga? Do not fight the inner batang 90s in you. 🙂 Let it out like a raging diva, your life would be happier.

To answer more 90s Trivia Questions, please read Part II, Part III and Part IV.