Star

Junfer and I love, love, love amusement parks and carnivals. We get this surge of excitement every time we see the lights, the stalls and the little games. Over the years, we have collected tons and tons of humongous stuffed animals from different carnivals that Junfer and I have been to. I even remember, the very first night that Junfer and I arrived in Amsterdam (October 26, 2006), there was a fair in the middle of Damrak Square and we immediately joined in the festivities. We saw Junfer’s favorite game and he immediately gave it a shot. Guess what he won a huge stuffed dog on his first try. Over our one week stay at the hotel close to this fair, we went back one more time and Junfer got another huge stuffed toy. We also had a couple of fluffy toys from Dubai while we were still living there. We normally name these stuffed toys after the places where we got them from so the two huge stuffed tigers we got from Dubai were named Safa and Park (from Safa Park, in Dubai). Each time we go to a fair, carnival or kermis, I would almost always assume that I will be going home with at least one big stuffed toy, that is if we are in any amusement park or fair outside the Philippines.

Philippine-amusement parks are in a different ball game altogether. Folks facilitating mini games mean serious business. It seems like if you want to give their stall a try, you really have to prove that you want the prize. I’m not kidding, trying to get a prize from the Philippine counterpart of these mini games is like passing through the eye of a sewing needle. Junfer have tried hundreds, even thousands of times in the past, but he was unsuccessful. He managed hundreds of little (minute if I may say) stuffed toys, a couple of medium sized ones but never, never, never the big prize, until our last visit in Star City.

It was my niece’s son’s birthday (I think that would make him my grandson OMG!!!) and after the turmoil that we have been through the past couple of days before that, an invitation to go to Star City was more than welcome to take our minds of it all. When I was younger, Star City and other carnivals are normally open only during the Christmas season (except for Fiesta Carnival in Cubao which was opened all year round). Although, if I remember it correctly, when Enchanted Kingdom opened, Star City followed suit and opened the complex for a longer period within the year.

Junfer is not very fond of rides so we just tried a couple of the amusement park rides and we focused on the mini games that abound the entire complex. We spent hundreds of pesos buying the tokens that were to be paid to the mini games but all we manage to get were small and mini toys. And just when we were about to give up, pack up our stuff and leave with our heads bowed down low in defeat, Junfer spotted this stall. The challenge was to shoot a small basket ball into an equally tiny hoop at approximately free throw line-distance. You only get a chance per token and if you manage to shoot a ball once, you will get the small price, twice then you will receive the medium sized toy, third and you will be bringing home a large toy and finally, if you manage to make the fourth consecutive shot you are given a jumbo toy. As exciting as it looked, Junfer caved in and gave it a try, he managed to make the first shot, to which I was not at all worried about, Junfer is a very good ball player after all. He also managed to make the second and then again the third shot, that was when I got a tad bit nervous because he was so close to the price and everyone knows the crucial shot in every game is the most difficult to make. I didn’t even make any sound and just continued watching him as he attempted to make the final shot. I leapt off my feet and started jumping up and down the moment he managed to sink in the final shot. Hey, this is Manila after all and winning the Jumbo toy is an achievement in itself, regardless of the fact that we might have bought an even bigger stuffed toy from all the tokens that we have spent. Hehe. After grabbing the prize, another employee from Star City took Junfer’s details and when we asked why, he said Junfer is not allowed to play and win another jumbo stuffed toy in this game again for an entire month so they have to keep his records. How strange is that rule.


So there he is, Star (of course named after Star City), our very first jumbo stuffed toy from a Philippine-amusement park. All my nieces and nephews (and grandkids) wanted the toy but I realized that I cannot give it to anyone of them else all hell will break loose so I decided to keep Star for myself. We did have a lot of fun in Star City, maybe next time we will win another jumbo toy.