The man is unstoppable. And the man is Filipino. We really NEED someone like Manny Pacquiao to help remind us of our potential as a nation. We’ve become so cynical and self-deprecating about being Pinoy that it’s refreshing for a change to have that immense feeling of national pride washing over our collective jadedness, and all because of a boxer, one, many now call the greatest EVER. Obviously it has mostly to do with the superhuman physical feats he achieved as an athlete. But other than that, Manny unites us as a nation, even if just for a few minutes, to root for and cheer on a countryman punching away at his opponent.
I don’t know a lot about boxing, but I am nonetheless awed by the magnitude of this man’s personality whose herculean achievements boggle the mind. Even if he weren’t a Filipino, you’d be agog at how he did what he did; him being Filipino makes it twice as sweet. Even if down the road, should he falter on the pedestal we’ve put him on as our untarnished hero, no one can ever take away what he already gave us. Maybe he’ll enter politics, maybe some scandal will smear his unsoiled record, maybe he’ll go down the sad road many former famous boxers went, in case the story ends anything less than happily ever after, that will have to be weighed and judged separate from what he’s done up until now.
We love to poke fun at him, but it’s never to disrespect him; it’s always in a fond way, the way we’d needle a member of the barkada, for instance. So in this vein, because I’ve emptied my bag of superlatives talking about this greatest boxer and greatest Filipino athlete ever (there goes my last two), I just need to end this orgy of praise on a lighter note. One of the best “Pacquiao Art” I’ve seen in a long time marries two cultural juggernauts. Nuff said:
Delle and I were walking around Eastwood, when we passed by the photo exhibit of the prestigious Camera Club of the Philippines. We quickly glanced at some photos and as we skimmed through them, I saw a picture that was vaguely familiar:
I actually passed by it already, but something about it made me come back for a second look. It’s like those moments when you see a person walk by, and you have a nagging feeling you know them from somewhere, but you can’t place where? I took a second look and I realized two things: that one, it was a photo by the late Francis Magalona, and two, that it was the one photo that inspired me to officially start my hobby in photography.
Let’s go back a couple of years. For whatever reason, I was trawling on the internet, and accidentally stumbled on a website with samples of Francis Magalona’s photos. At the time, I didn’t even know he was a photographer. Since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to try photography as a hobby, but being a technophobe, I was always overwhelmed by the idea of handling the seemingly complicated SLR. The very idea scared me. I remember being drawn to this one photo, taken in Boracay, with a boat framed by coconut trees. I was beyond belief how someone known more for music, could turn out such a remarkable image! So when I saw this particular picture, I distinctly remember telling myself, “If FrancisM could learn how to take such a stunning photograph, maybe I can too!” In short, I was inspired to take thought and turn it into action. I eventually bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D40x, then a couple of months later I took a basic course on photography, then another class, then another. Before I knew it, I was completely addicted to photography. I never saw that picture again until I ran into it in Eastwood. I didn’t even remember how it looked like. All I remember was that it was a photo by FrancisM, that it had coconut trees in it, and that it was taken in Boracay.
I guess the whole point in all this is INSPIRATION. It’s a funny thing. Who would’ve thought that I’d find inspiration in a photograph by the late master rapper? You’d think I’d find it from a picture by some famed photographer like Ansel Adams or Annie Leibovitz. Inspiration hits us from out of nowhere, and there’s no way you can predict what and where you’ll find it. But when it hits you, it’s like a spark that ignites a fiery maelstrom. It stirs up something inside of that begs for actualization. I’ve been THINKING of getting into photography for years, but seeing that one photograph pushed me to actually DOING it.
Literally, the word inspiration translates to: “breathed upon”, as in the gods breathing the inspiration upon you, breathing life into your ideas. And there’s something divine in the experience of inspiration. Many people believe that when people create great art, they become mere vessels through which the Divine works. It’s not so much the man, but God working through you, and inspiration is the divine breath that fuels the creation.
Looking back, I owe FrancisM a lot. Had that picture not galvanized my passions, I would still be just daydreaming about an artform that I ended up being so passionate about. Inspiration has everything to do with creativity. It’s the soul that animates craft into sublime art. I’m pretty sure each of the great pieces of art throughout history has it’s own story of how the artist was inspired to create something that stood the ravages of time and taste.
But for regular people like us, inspiration is a true gift. We may not have the output of history’s masters, but it provokes us with an infectious joy to create something that we would look back on with love and pride. And I guess even better, is if you were inspired to create something, that in turn inspired someone else. If what I do inspires even just one human being, even with just a fraction of how FrancisM inspired me, I would consider myself truly blessed. Not so much for the sake of my ego, but to be able to pay forward the generous benefaction that had trickled down to me.
Here’s a link to the photograph in Francis Magalona’s multiply website, A Free Mind: Click HERE.
We were fortunate enough to have been chosen by Greenwich to host their first Grand Gig, which is a band competition of 8 bands from 6 schools in the Manila area. The eventual winner was Under The Stairs from the Philippine Christian University. The gig happened in SM City Manila last Friday, when the storm was in full effect and traffic was horrible. It took us more than 2 hours to get to the venue. Not to mention I was feeling ill since that morning. But we eventually made it, and the show must go on. Each band gave it their all, but in the end, only one took home the prize. Everyone had a treat as well when Calla Lily showed everyone how it’s done.
Of course, aside from the competition, the event boiled down to one of the biggest male stars today, Greenwich’s star endorser, John Lloyd Cruz. From backstage, we knew he had arrived when the walls practically shuddered with the shrieks of his fans, reaching a crescendo, from a mild buzz to a fever pitch that heralded the arrival of the star. Everyone was like, “Nandiyan na…” Hahaha, I swear, how people reacted to his arrival! So when we finally called him onstage, it was pandemonium.
Of course Delle and I were starstruck as well, this being the first time we ever met the young actor. Plus we had that brush of a meeting with him when we spoke to him on the phone for an earlier Greenwich event, where he professed to have always listened to us before. So it was really nice to finally meet him.
And when Delle pinched him to see if he was real, he said maybe he should pinch us to see if we were real. And Delle suddenly fell into a flop sweat the moment John Lloyd got on stage, so much that John Lloyd offered to wipe some of it off (yihee!).
He was really cool. And nothing seemed to faze him. Earlier, when we were talking to Lloyd Zaragoza, “Bruno” in the Greenwich Gang commercials, we asked him about his “tender” scene with John Lloyd, when they were rolling around in the grass in a tight embrace. We asked him how it felt hugging John Lloyd, and he replied, “Malambot.” So when we asked John Lloyd what he had to say about that, without skipping a beat, he said, “Mabuti nang malambot kesa matigas,” drawing hearty laughs from the crowd.
Talking to the guy and seeing the crowd’s reaction to him, it’s easy to see why he’s probably the Aga Muhlach of his generation, someone who was able to go beyond the teeny bopper mold and evolve into riskier heavier roles like his latest film, which he also plugged, “In My Life” with Vilma Santos.
There was also a cute part where we dared one of the raffle winners to stare at John Lloyd for 3 seconds without flinching, and of course he made it so hard for her by cupping her face with his hands as he stared intently into her eyes. She practically exploded.
Definitely an actor to watch for in the future. It was quite a treat to have worked with him. Even as he left after the gig, surrounded by guards, he was practically mobbed trying to get out of the mall. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Good thing he had bouncers the size of refs to keep the admiring fans from clawing at him. Wild.
Again, thank you to Greenwich for the chance to work with them again: to Luis (Happy Birthday!!!), to Francis, to Michelle, and everyone who was part of the event. Hope to work with you guys again soon. And super thanks to Alpha for taking my camera and shooting our pics with John Lloyd!
When we got the invitation from U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney inviting us to a dinner party on board the USS George Washington, we were thrilled to accept. Then, a couple of days before the dinner, we got word that they were also inviting us to a tour (which I posted about already) the day before the dinner. So Wednesday, we did the tour, and then Thursday, the dinner. Unfortunately, Delle got sick after the tiring tour and was already sick the next day, too ill to join the dinner. So I just went with our station manager, Divine Dolina, for the perfect way to cap off the whole aircraft carrier experience.
This time around, instead of in the morning, we were in Mall of Asia by 5pm. On our way to the carrier, we passed by the two Destroyers that accompanied the USS George Washington, the USS Cowpense and the USS Fitzgerald. They’re the first line of defense, so carriers are always accompanied by destroyers, usually two.
Also, this time, I was able to take a photo of the carrier from the side, something I failed to do the day before because of the angle with which the ferry approached the carrier. This time, the angle was perfect!
Even if I was just there the day before, the sight of it really still gave me goosebumps. It had a very King Kong feel, this behemoth that comes into view slowly from the misty horizon. I can’t help romanticizing it because even as a child I was fascinated by aircraft carriers. I even had all the carriers at the time memorized! As we got closer, eventually we took the same angle to dock at the carrier’s rear.
Same thing as yesterday, only this time, all the officers were wearing their dress whites and everything is a little bit formal, although the invite stated the attire as “smart casual”. Yet, despite the advisory on wearing comfy clothes and shoes, many still came in gowns and suits and barongs.
Plus, our path that night was paved with red carpets wherever we went. I felt like a delegate to the United Nations or something!
It was a bit disconcerting having all those soldiers saluting and greeting you wherever you went. Surreal!
We were greeted at the entrance by the U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney. As always, she was so warm in welcoming us and she told us she heard great things about the live feeds we did the day before. She was so appreciative, that we had to remind her that it was we, who felt quite lucky to have had the opportunity.
We also got to meet a lot of people, mostly officers of the U.S Navy, they were very much willing to engage you in conversations, soliciting any questions that the guests might have. But I was thrilled to have met one of the most popular people in the Philippines right now, or maybe even the world, the “Pambansang Kamao”, Manny Pacquiao!
Talk about starstruck!!! Wow, that guy is larger than life. He was mobbed by fans, especially the American officers! And he was so gracious, patiently shaking hands and posing and smiling for the cameras, even if he had little time to do anything else. We also got to meet Charice Pempengco, who sang a song for the crowd.
There was also a ceremony where some soldiers presented the flags in a dramatic ritual that silenced the crowd. Then after, the national anthems of both countries were played.
After the program, the guests got to go to the flight deck via the aircraft elevator. But more on that later. When we got up, only a smaller portion of the flight deck was cordoned off, unlike the day before when we got to go everywhere.
I got to talk to another pilot, Chris Moran, who flew on the Hawkeye, and I cracked the lamest joke I could deliver to a pilot. I said, “So Chris, your last name is Moran? So…do you fly a bomber?” Get it? Bomber Moran? Obviously, I realized he wouldn’t know who Bomber Moran was, the moment the punchline left my mouth. I know, pathetic. Crashed and burned. Sank like a rock.
Then, I had to go to the toilet. The entire 6 hours we were on board the day before, we never got to go to the bathroom. So I was really curious about how toilets on aircraft carriers looked like. I asked around, and they pointed me to a dark corner in one nook on the ship:
The sentry then guided me into the metal door, and down a couple of stairs and down some corridors before we finally got to the industrial-looking toilet. It was no luxurious hotel bathroom, but it serves its purpose. Just for your curiosity:
Now we come to what for me was the highlight of the evening. Like I described earlier, guests were ferried from the hangar to the flight deck and back via the elevator they use in transporting planes up and down the ship. It’s large enough to fit two F-18’s at a time. Chris Moran said that we were REALLY lucky because even he, a longtime pilot on aircraft carriers, has never ridden on those elevators. No wonder even the military men seemed excited. I tried to take pictures of the elevator, but it was so big that no angle sufficed to capture the moment. So instead, I took a video. Here’s one that showed, from my vantage point, how it was going from the flight deck down to the hangar. Incredible.
Wow, so there you go, an experience I won’t soon forget. Two days on board an aircraft carrier. Words and pictures just aren’t enough to even approximate actually being there. Grateful is the word that comes to mind when looking back. I could never thank enough the U.S. Embassy and Ambassador Kenney for the opportunity. Hopefully, against all odds, this won’t be the last time I’ll be on board an aircraft carrier. I get melancholic just talking about it.
It was such a last-minute thing. We’ve always wanted to watch, but for some reason, we never got around to buying ourselves tickets. Then, by the time we wanted to, tickets were practically sold out. The last time tickets were this hot, at least as far as I can remember was during the Maroon 5 concert.
The Araneta Coliseum was PACKED. It was quite a sight to see so that venue without finding a vacant seat! And the energy was just incredible. Sometimes, because an act is so popular, a lot of people go just because it’s the “in” thing to do, to be seen at that concert. But with this one, it was as if everyone really wanted to be there. Rich, poor, male, female, she-males in drag – name it, they were there.
And when she finally came out, it was pandemonium. I remember back in the 80’s when I’d get so frustrated with Pinoys because the local audience was always so reserved, so polite, that no matter how big the performer was, the appreciation was polite applause as best. Not anymore. I feel so proud that we’ve become such an appreciative audience. The crowd shrieked at every provocation.
She announced earlier on that her best friend from way back as a kid, is a Filipino. Then she’s have such one-liner gems like: “I was asked, ‘Lady Gaga, do you have a dick?’ So I answered, ‘Yes I do, and it’s bigger than yours.’” Another went, right before launching into one of her hits, she said: “This one goes out to every motherf**ker who didn’t believe I would make it. And also to everyone who did.”
To me at least, she seemed to be going through something. One moment, she’s extolling the days when she and her friends had no money at all, and the next she’s saying that the one thing she hates the most is MONEY. If it’s not a shtick, it’s almost as if she already wants nothing to do with “the fame” (and fortune) that she worked so hard for. But then maybe it’s part of the show since a lot of the themes of her songs have something to do with either money or fame.
After the concert, she tweeted that her show in the Philippines was her first arena concert ALONE. Apparently, she’s been touring all this time opening for other acts. So she said that she’d never forget Manila. It makes more sense now becaused she did say towards the end of the show that she cried 5 or 6 times because of the warm reception. The crowd fondly cheered its disbelief thinking she was just saying that like other acts do when they say, “This is the best crowd EVER!” But apparently, maybe it’s true!
The woman’s got pipes. She’s not just a pop tart who made it on the strength of her looks and her shtick. She can really sing. She sang all of her hits, and you can tell she put her heart and soul into it. In fact, at many points during her performance, she seemed to be unravelling, having mini-breakdowns, acting bizarrely, pausing unplanned, muttering non-sequitur gibberish, and the like. She seemed to me more a strung-out rock star than a pop act.
The show was replete with nudity, expletives, and even simulated sex acts. You could sense the discomfort of many parents who brought their very young offspring to the show. In fact, Delle sat next to a very young girl, maybe 7 or 8 years old? Hehehe, I’d like to hear how the mom explained it. I guess people expected to see a very Disney-ish, dance diva show in the same vein as Britney and Christina, but instead they met a head-on collision with a temperamental typhoon of a temptress!
But it was also such an unconventional show. I was wondering what she’d do for an encore since she already sang all her hits. As we always see in concerts, the artists usually save their biggest hit as the encore, to ensure that the crowd will clamor for more. But in her case, she sang her biggest hit, Pokerface, then bowed with her band and dancers, then left. We all screamed for more, but the lights just went up and that was that. It’s the ONLY concert I ever watched that didn’t have an encore. Very odd, very much like Lady Gaga.
As a whole, it was a very satisfying experience, both as a concert and as a pop-cultural event. Everything was flooded by Lady Gaga fever, from Twitter, to Facebook, to Multiply, etc. It was one of those “You had to be there” moments. And boy, were we glad we did.
Earlier that day, I tweeted @ladygaga that just in case she wanted to sing something in Tagalog, she could sing, “Pu-pu-pu-pusoy dos, pu-pu-pusoy dos…” I was wounded that she didn’t take my suggestion to heart. I tell you, it would’ve been a hit.
I wouldn’t say that it’s one of the best concerts I’ve seen, as compared say, to the intense emotional impact of Vertical Horizon or Maroon 5, or maybe the sheer talent of John Legend, but definitely it was one of the must-sees as far as I’m concerned. Some parts displayed potential genius, while others betrayed an emotonal train wreck. Either way, I’m glad we were there to witness it.
State Of Shock. Like the title of Michael Jackson’s last hit with his brothers, that sums up exactly how the world is dealing with the loss of a cultural force of nature. As a child of the 80’s, to me he hit the zeitgeist of our generation like a musical tsunami. I was in my freshman year in high school when Thriller came out. I knew who he was, but this new Michael was different. His songs sounded different. Everyone was abuzz with talk of how good the new album was. Sad part was, for some reason, CBS didn’t release any records in the Philippines, so the only ones who had it were the kids who bought theirs abroad. So the biggest record in the whole planet, was unavailable to us Filipinos. It took a while before the record (we called it LP, or long-playing record) hit our shores, and when it did, we lined up to get our own copy. At the time, local records sounded a billion times crappier than the foreign ones. The local records were scratchier and the fidelity was way off. But it sufficed, better that the wobbly cassette tape. I’d watch his videos on Video Hit Parade or channel 4’s Rhythm of the City, where I watched my favorite DJ’s like Vince St. Price and Jeremiah Junior introduce my favorite Michael Jackson videos. Actually, the first time I ever heard Billie Jean was not from Michael Jackson, but from some amboy boldstar who was singing it on a noontime variety show. His name was Tom Babauta. And I thought, “Damn, his song is pretty good!” Until my classmate pointed out that it was the new Michael Jackson hit. By the time I got addicted to the Billboard Charts via my idol Casey Kasem, Thriller was on its 5th hit, “Human Nature”. From then on, there was no looking back. I was hooked on 80’s music and in the forefront was Michael Jackson.
As the years pass, I grew less and less of a fan. In fact “Bad” was the last Michael Jackson CD I ever bought. But his greatness was never questioned. Maybe other artists will surpass his records but no one can ever match the influence that he had on his generation and many after that. I can’t shake it off, I guess. When the pop stars of your generation start dying, it reminds you of your own place in the chronology of life. Let me just share with you lyrics from the title track of the brothers’ final album as the Jackson 5, “Destiny”. In it Michael sings lyrics that seem to foreshadow the preeminent solo career that lay before him, for after this album he would skyrocket as one of the greatest solo performers of all time. A transcendent career wrought by a gnawing loneliness and alienation. As if his greatest achievement was also his most egregious curse.
“In this world there’s much confusion
And I’ve tasted city life and it’s not for me
Now I do dream of distant places
Where, I don’t know now but its destiny
If it’s the rich life I don’t want it
Happiness ain’t always material things
I want Destiny
It’s the place for me
Give me the simple life
I’m getting away from here
Let me be me, come on, let me feel free”
Here’s a video of the song that started it all, the very first hit of the Jackson 5, the song that shot straight to the top of the charts and introduced the optimistic doe-eyed youngster with the colossal voice to an astonished public. The title of their first single echoes the sentiments of his fans everywhere, now that he’s gone: “I Want You Back”. You almost pity watching the pulsating life force from this little kid, knowing the troubles that lay in his future. Michael, to say we’ll sorely miss you, would be like saying you sing well.
With my trusty D10 in tow, Delle and I trooped to Mall of Asia to do the feeds for Clear, and of course to watch the Doll Domination of Manila! As early as 5pm, the parking areas were quickly filling up. We had to stay in a very looong line just to get into the parking lot. We did some pre-show feeds, but once the show started, there was no stopping the girls!
Once they started, with the exception of maybe a couple of songs, the hits just came one after the other!
One thing though, there were only 4 Dolls present, Nicole, Melody, Ashly and Kimberly, because Jessica suffered back injuries so they were a pussycat short.
With all due respect to the rest of the Pussycat Dolls, the show was really all about Nicole. She is the undeniable star of the show, not just in terms of star power, but also in talent. She’s the best singer and dancer in the bunch, and she can really command the crowd’s attention.
But don’t get me wrong, the other Dolls also carried their own weight, it’s just that Nicole’s presence tends to dim everyone else’s by sheer luminance.
Kimberly
Melody
and Ashley
The songs that really brought the house down were the obvious hits, “I Hate This Part”, “Don’t Cha”, and the most awaited of all, “Jai Ho”.
There was even a part that involved audience participation:
Nicole also spoke often about being Pinay and tried to speak as much Tagalog as she could remember. She also often addressed the female audience, invoking independence, strength, girl power, and other PCD mantras, to the delight of their fellow dolls in the audience.
We did 6 feeds that aired over RX, and you could really hear the crowd screaming in the background, and during one feed, you could actually hear Nicole and the girls talking to the audience.
Eventually, the show had to end, and they saved the best for last, doing “Jai Ho” and “When I Grow Up” as their encore. The show ended with some fireworks, capping off a wonderful show for the fans.
We’d like to thank Clear for making us part of this concert!
When we did some live feeds for the Clear event last night in connection with the Pussycat Dolls concert tonight, we interviewed possibly the most interestingly fun celeb we ever met! It was the stunningly beautiful and impressively quick-witted 18-year-old Rhian Ramos. We also got to talk to the always gracious and equally beautiful Bea Alonzo, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to take a photo with her.
Rhian was hilarious! The first thing she told us was that she loved our video. Our reaction was, “Whaaaaaaat?!?” Turned out she was referring to our video for our song, yes, once upon a time we had a CD, “Friends For Life”. And when we asked how old she was when she watched it, she said, “8 years old?” Good grief.
As an interviewee, she was a live one! She never fliched at the questions, and she was quick to the draw. She was very game when we were teasing Gino to her, so she’d agree to be his date during the concert, but I did a sucky job pimping my cross-dressing, yet very much straight, friend (Sorry GQ, I promise to learn the Bro Code, which I misheard as the “broke cone”). She didn’t get flustered about anything we threw her way, and she had just the right mix of propriety and sass that makes for an ideal interviewee. I swear, she’d do great as a radio personality, because she has “it” in spades! And did I mention that she’s gorgeous?
Strange because I was just telling Delle about a couple of months ago, that I was very impressed by the beauty of this talent I saw fleetingly on TV while I was surfing. Shortly after that, she became the Clear endorser. So funny that we should end up meeting her and to be totally bowled over by this spitfire. You get the feeling like she’s so much fun to hang out with. We are sufficiently impressed.
This just broke my heart. It takes an incredible amount of bravery to face a scrutinizing world as your heart lies bleeding in a million pieces. Most people, when grieving, don’t even have the strength to face another day, much less the public eye. Coming from a family that battled cancer (and gratefully winning by the grace of God), I can imagine what he went through. It’s a pain that cannot be described to another. You have to go through it, to risk losing someone you love so dear, to know the terrible agony of watching this disease ravage the flesh of your flesh. So for David Cook to run for a cause and stand in front of people, a mere day after losing his brother, is a gargantuan display of courage, and commitment to finding a cure to the illness that robbed his brother of his life. It was hard to watch; it almost felt wrong to be watching someone struggle with tears to announce to the world his great loss. He bravely cracked jokes, often to mask a broken heart, and to drive home an important point: that a day after his brother’s death, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else, but supporting a cause to make sure others wouldn’t have to go through what he was going through that day. More important than his grief is the bigger fight to finding a cure. Hats off to David Cook, for handling a tragedy with admirable courage and amazing grace.
(Thank you to Mr. Luis Velasco III and Greenwich for the pictures. All photos in this post are courtesy of Greenwich.)
Greenwich asked us to host their pizza party to launch their Xtreme Cheese Pizzas yesterday, and we were thrilled to be part of their event. We go way back with Greenwich, since they would always invite us to their events, for like talks and hostings. So we were stoked to host when we got to Greenwich Megamall, especially since we knew we were also going to meet Bea Alonzo (John Lloyd Cruz couldn’t make it since he was shooting a movie in the U.S.).
(Michelle of Greenwich)
So we hosted the event, played some games with the press folk who attended the launch, and debuted the 3rd installment in the “sobrang cheesy!” series of Greenwich ads. It was presented by Greenwich brand manager, Joseph Aruta:
The guests were also treated to a 2-song serenade by one of the Greenwich gang, “Bruno”, whose actual name is Lloyd Zaragosa. He sang a couple of R&B tunes and the guy can really bring it! HIn the ads, he plays the tattooed toughie who has a softie side, so we were really surprised that he can sing, and sing very well at that! And he’s got some major ink going on there.
And then of course, there’s the star of the event, the stunning Bea Alonzo. We didn’t expect that she would be so tall! She was so down-to-earth and unassuming, that everyone was just gushing over her and wanting a minute or two for a chat or a photo-op. Small wonder because the camera loves her:
We also had “Issa” of the Greenwich gang, but unfortunately I don’t have a picture with her, although I found one, but showing her only from the side. Too bad, because she’s incredibly beautiful, and she looks very different from how she looks like on TV. Just as beautiful, but different.
Okay, just got my hands on some pictures of “Issa”, Mika Lagdameo in real life. Pretty won’t be enough to describe her:
(with Luis Velasco III of Greenwich)
Then, the big surprise: Bea didn’t know that John Lloyd was actually on the phone from the U.S., at something like 1 in the morning, and joined us via phone patch. It was cool, and their banter was really funny. They have this cariño brutal thing going on. For instance, John Lloyd asked her how the event was, and she said, “Masaya, wala ka eh.” She admitted that whenever people see just how they interact when they’re together, everyone wonders how they ever became a love team. But she said that’s just the nature of their friendship.
It was surreal talking to John Lloyd on the phone, and hosting with Bea Alonzo, on the same day that we interviewed chef Ming Tsai over the phone at RX! We felt so starstruck with all those celebrities. We felt like country bumpkins from some hick town. It was really fun though, especially since the celebs were so disarming, none of the snooty showbiz attitude we imagine some to have. They were really easy to talk to and readily approachable. But I guess the icing on the cake was, as we were saying goodbye to John Lloyd, he interrupted us by asking if he could say something. So of course we said yes, only for him to tell us, “You know what guys, I’m a fan.” And when we laughed (since we thought, obviously it was a joke), he said, “No, I’m serious!” Hehe…for once we didn’t know what to say! It was really just nice of him to say that. He didn’t have to, but he did. And we were glad he did.
So again, thanks a bunch to Greenwich for a swell time yesterday! Big thanks to Luis, Francis, Joseph, Michelle, and everyone else who made the event such a memorable one for us! Yesterday, we didn’t find a cruise ship…we didn’t find a battle ship…what we found was…friendship. Yihee, sobrang cheesy!
how come on radio we cant play competing ads in one cluster, but on tv i always see competing brands in the same cluster all the time? daya. 2 hours ago
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