This post was originally in my personal blog, but I received a comment which I like to share with Life After Steel readers. . . (para sa gimingaw sa Iligan)* * * *
My post (with few edits):
We went bowling yesterday.
Bowling was a favorite activity of NSC employees before. Yes, before Facebook and blogs and chatting, there was bowling. Being new to Iligan and with nowhere else to go on Saturday nights, bowling was the coolest thing to do then. Some relationships even started in bowling dates. That was when bowling scores where written manually on a score sheet. When pins were picked up and arranged manually by small frail boys.
Bowling has changed. This time, all one has to do is throw the ball and your score is automatically recorded on the computer monitor. No more pinboys as pins are mechanically arranged. It has been a long time I played, yet it rekindled memories of Jackie Lanes, Shang-rila and Midtown Lanes. Those good old days in Iligan City where bowling was a favorite recreation and a dating technique. Any bowling memories?
Comment by Anonymous:
I doubt if any of those bowling lanes you mentioned still exist now. Years ago I went to play at Jackie Lanes. What I saw was a dilapidated place, with ceilings falling apart. We were the only ones there. 'Twas a sad sight as we've seen its glory days when it was always full and you have to queue for a chance to play. Anyway, I still insisted to play as I was excited to play again my favorite game. To our dismay---the lanes were rutted. You have to place the ball in such a way that it doesn't fall to the canals unnecessarily. Some of the pins were decapitated, for heaven's sake why it wasn't thrown away or replaced, I don't know. The balls were not round anymore and in different sizes, peppered with holes and cracks. Worst, after a game, the pinboys would rush outside for no apparent reason. We have to look for them and beg them to go inside. Finally, we were done and that was my last. Don't know if it's still there---the Jackie Lanes that was.
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Is Jackie Lanes still there?
Posts
Korek,,, But we Don't have those type of Balls(Tenpin)as shown on the picture. What we use to Bowl are Duckpin Balls.
ReplyDeleteAfter NSC bowling... I was once The Chairman of Open Bowling Tournament in MIDTOWN Bowling Lanes.Participated by all sectors in Iligan City. Gov't & Private institutions.
way back in 1993-1994 . Being the Sports Development Director of BBII.and was Elected President of (ILDUBA)Iligan Duckpin Bowlers Asso. (But my ILDUBA-Leadership was put to waste . I move to Thailand for a new Career. I'm still playing in anyplace in the world including my DART Hobby.
Sad to say only the Midtown Lanes remain the only duck pin bowling parlor surviving today. The others namely, Sampaguita, Jackie Lanes, and the other one near Mindanao Sanitarium Hospital (was it called Shangrila?) have since been retired. The erstwhile Sampaguita adjacent to a former Sunday school (bulangan or cockpit) was decimated by fire. Jackie Lanes was demolished to make way for the expansion of Citi Hardware. While the one near MSH has since disappeared.
ReplyDeleteWhat's left of the night life in Iligan now is limited to a few coffee shops, restaurants, watering holes, and videoke bars. What a change.
However, Timuga swimming pools of the Generalao family is still attractive. For golf buffs, the golf course in Tipanoy offers reasonably cheap fees for a round of golf if you don't mine the stinky bombs (carabao/cow manure) scattered here and there. Iligan City is still a beautiful place.
Rey and Dannie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by. Many happy memories were made in Iligan indeed. Always a beautiful place (in our memories).
Still A good place to stay for good....
ReplyDelete-walang snow & Twister
-Mura utilities
-Malls are growing, Factories desappearing
-easy to go around the city & suburbs (nag-alisan ang mga tao)Nag migrate.
* Pag Wala ng MILF ateba pang kriminalidad.