Hello everyone! Today, I bumped into a very interesting challenge here on Steemit. It's called "When I was a Kid Challenge" by @grow-pro. If you're interested to join, simply click the challenge title I wrote in the previous sentence.

Here are the rules to this challenge:

• The post can be a photo from your childhood OR something that reminds you of your childhood - music, food, clothing, toys, places, or anything like that! Feel free to get as creative as you like!
• Be sure to use #iwasakid as 1 of your 5 tags in your post - this will help others view your posts related to the challenge!
• Copy & Paste these simple rules so others can easily participate

OPTIONAL / EXTRA:

• Engage & Interact - the challenge is meant to bridge communication gaps and offer topics of discussion - even if you do not wish to make a post yourself, feel free to check out the #iwasakid tag and comment on your favorites. Friends are usually people we can relate to - you might just find a new friend!
• Drop your steemit #iwasakid post below in the comments OR in MY POSTS WITH THE TAG #iwasakid

So earlier, I was checking my twitter account and I saw a tweet made by Steemit little sister @chamudiliyanage. I went on and clicked the link and read her post. Later on, I saw my other Steemit little sister @mashiliyanage posting for the same challenge. I got pretty interested that I wanted to make an entry as well. Before I start, I'd love you to check Chamu's entry and Mashi's entry as well. They both had really interesting childhood... though I still consider them my kid sisters.. hihi ^^ They're both so cute!!!

And now, allow me to share to you some parts of my childhood.

I am the only child of my loving parents, mama @arashikawaii and papa @jhunalvarado. Despite having no siblings, I didn't have a boring childhood because I grew up with amazing cousins! Most of the time, I spent it with my cousins from my mother's side. However, during summer vacation, we go to my father's hometown and I spend my time with my cousins there as well.

Spending Time With My Father's Side

Can you spot @tegoshei in this picture? hihihi~ I'm on the left side of this picture, standing in front of my two little cousins. This was taken in my grandparents' house in San Carlos City (my papa's hometown), we were about to go to the beach. You can also see our grandparents there. Unfortunately, 3 of our cousins weren't there in the picture. Perhaps they didn't arrive yet that time.

During those days, we used to gather together every summer and enjoy the beach and have fun. However, we don't do that these days anymore. Some of my cousins in my father's side already live abroad, some are here in Cebu while others are in some places in Negros. It's quite difficult to bring everyone together for a gathering. So, this is probably something I miss... though I still meet some of them from time to time. :)





The guy with me is one of my cousins. His name is Jay and he's actually one of the closest cousins I have in my father's side. He and his elder brother are very athletic even until now. The picture above was taken in the soccer field in my father's hometown. Every summer, my cousin Jay and his brother participate in the soccer league. It's something I look forward to every summer: cheering for both of them as they play soccer.





In the picture above, I was with my younger cousins Mirgie and Ana. They are sisters, but Ana is my "bro". We are both the boyish type, so we call each other "bro" until now. This trisikad (a bicycle with a side car) belongs to my uncle. My grandpa used to have a smaller one, so I drive my little cousins around the subdivision when I visit there in the summer.

I hope to go to my father's hometown again this year. It brings back a lot of my childhood summer memories. I get to see my grandma, uncles, aunt and some of my cousins with their babies, too. :)

Spending Time With My Mother's Side

This picture was taken in Mama Mary of Guadalupe Cave. If I'm not mistaken, it was @jarc,argo's birthday during this time and before celebrating it in their house, we went to this cave with grandma, mama, other cousins, etc.





Since we basically grew up together, we often celebrate our birthdays together. The picture above was taken on my birthday.





Every Sunday, my cousins @shirayuki and @jarc.argo visit us. So it's always more rowdy and fun on Sundays. We get to play the whole day and do a lot of things together. @shirayuki or cuzn me luvz is my closest girl cousin. The cousins who I spent most of my time with were boys, so I enjoy games or anime for boys more.



IMAGE SOURCE


Of course, my childhood would never be complete without anime. The anime schedule you see above was the anime schedule I and my cousins follow every weekdays. This was only from one Philippine channel but there were more anime in other channels and different time slots as well. Actually, watching anime with my cousins in my grandma's house was the best childhood memory I ever had!





The guy with me on the picture above is my cousin, July. He is more like a brother to me. He grew up under my grandma's care. My grandma's house was beside our house that time, so I spent most of my time with him and 3 other guy cousins. However, he was closest to me. He was always with me and it made me really happy!

I have talked about this before, but he is the cousin who influenced me to draw. He was the owner of that Pokemon poster which started my passion for drawing. He was, is and will always be my inspiration in terms of drawing. He was my first drawing teacher and I'm always so grateful for it! ^^ Well, he doesn't draw anymore these days because he's busy with his 2 kids and wifey. <3 :) But we still chat and see each other from time to time, talk about anime and manga and plan on how to influence his kids to the passion we once had when we were young.

@tegoshei as a Student

I was an achiever as a student. Despite my anime addiction (lol), I get good grades at school which landed me in the higher ranking. I'm not a fan of studying, but I'm a great fan of learning. ;)





Sorry, the camera angle was... X_X Anyway, this picture was taken during our elementary school concert. I went to the same school with my cousins @christinebeegee and @camillegee. I was representing Philippines, @christimebeegee was Puerto Rico and @camillegee was Chile, together with us were our escorts Manoy (older brother) July and Kuya (older brother) Marc. I was supposed to sing in this concert, but we arrived late... lol, so I was only able to join the dance production.

I have joined a lot of contests in my childhood like Spelling Quiz Bee, Math Quiz, Science Quiz, English Quiz, Declamation contests, Oration contests, Dance contests... lol.. I had a really active childhood. When it comes to sports, I was an active runner and I used to play basketball, too.

I'm really glad that I was able to experience my childhood before the digital age came. I was able to experience how fun it was to play outside, to bathe in the rain, to get scolded because of going somewhere far to play basketball without my parents' permission, to watch anime and do other crazy stuff with my dear cousins. I'm missing my childhood days so bad, so I'm really glad to know of this challenge. I am indeed showered with nostalgia upon writing this. Thanks and that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed it! ^^

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Thanks a lot for dropping by!
それではまた～
Love lots, @tegoshei