Can't smile without you

Irv, bless him, sent me this video from years ago...

It's a cast of thousands, so have fun spotting me! Hahaha.

I survived a Pinoy game show

D: What are you doing tomorrow?
Me: I have a meeting. What's up?
D: You wanna do Pinoy Bingo? I have to bring seven friends.
Me: Uh...
D: Come na.

Me with (clockwise from left, standing) Migz, Angel, Boom, Gali, Meli, and Nica. Behind us is the Pinoy Bingo Night version of a tambiolo!

What the heck. In the spirit of embracing new experiences, I fixed my sched and agreed to go. This was probably my only chance to ever be on a game show so might as well!

The next day, we were at the studio at the given call time. Apparently, TV is a lot like the Warriors in that there's a fake call time. "Be there by 5:00," D told me the day before. But we didn't start until 9:00 pm! Wished I had a good book with me, but we ended up hanging at a nearby Dencio's for a bit, before continuing our wait in the dressing room. As Nova Villa played during the first part of the show, the rest of us sat in that little room, doing nothing. (Meli, who needed some energy after a tiring day, was munching on some sugar--raw sugar!--which she nicked from a sugar bag outside.)

Pinoy Bingo Night is a new game show hosted by Kris Aquino. It's basically a contestant versus the audience, but while the audience plays regular bingo, the contestant plays something a bit harder. On that day, D had to play "crossword bingo":

1) Before he pulled the lever to release a bingo ball, he had to say either "odd" or "even."
2) If the ball comes out bearing his choice, then he's credited. E.g., He says "even," and "B4" comes out. In this case, one of his two Bs lights up.
3) The audience gets to mark whatever number comes out off their cards.
4) If D gets is wrong, none of his letters light up. If he gets it right, but the letters corresponding to the ball are already lit up, he doesn't get credited for it.

In theory, it's harder for D to win because he could make the wrong guess all the way and not win, while someone from the audience, no matter what, would win. Hence, D was playing for a million while the audience was playing for P50,000--but if, say, four people win, they wouldn't have to split the pot; they would each get the fifty grand.

D was tasked to bring seven people, a panel of coaches to help him decide between odd and even. His chosen seven: girlfriend Angel, best friend Meli, "brother" Gali, teammates Nica and Migz, director Boom, and myself. We were supposed to support his every choice and kind of play against the audience--like if someone was namumuro, we had to go "Wala! Wala!" Only Migz and I were kind of emphatic about this though. Haha. Sumusunod lang kay direk!

We walked into the studio which was actually pretty awe-inspiring. Boom mentioned how he took a tour of game show sets in the US--Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, which I totally envy him for--and none of them were as tricked out as our Pinoy game show sets. There was that huge clear ball containing mini-balls with the Bingo numbers, a lever which controlled the air and sucked in the balls, a huge screen to show which letters D already had. And backstage, a crew member who was sleeping through the racket.

D--lookin' all Tiger Woods-y in his yellow shirt and black jacket, and that sunny-side-up cap that drives me nuts--ended up losing. He had two Os left before two people from the audience yelled "Bingo!" He didn't ask two or three of us for help, which was totally fine--at least I had nothing to do with his loss! Haha.

I would say that it's another thing I could check off my list, but really, I never even thought to put "appear on a game show" on my list! Would've been fun to sit in the audience and play for real though!

Things I found during the break

I told myself I would fix up my room during Holy Week. I divided the space into little project areas, but only managed to clear one measly spot. Was beginning to clear area #2 when I came across a bag filled with stuff that was years and years old. This, of course, stopped me from going through the rest of my junk. Things that were in the bag:

• An old newspaper article about (Ric, you’re gonna love this!) Q-Zar! This was probably around 15 years old, as its yellowed edges could attest. It had a black-and-white picture of Santino, Edmund, and JJ, and the story was about how these rich kids were making their own money. I kept it because at that time in my life, Q-Zar was a big deal to me. On schooldays, I would find ways to drop by and sneak in a game or just say hi to the marshals who had become our friends. (And, in the case of some, crushes. Hahaha.)

• Little pieces of paper scribbled with notes. My awful writing was scrawled on two teeny pieces from an old notepad. These recorded two milestones way back in 1991—1) “Went to Marbella with my family,” (Marbella is now Caylabne), and 2) “Met President Corazon Aquino. Shook hands with her.” I don’t remember much about the Marbella trip; I do remember my dad emerging from a helicopter. When I told H about the second piece of paper, he looked surprised. We still hadn’t met when I used to enjoy certain privileges, so finding out that I had met and shook hands with Tita Cory was probably sort of unexpected. (I also met FVR, if I remember right.)
  

• A letter to Cris Bustos. I feel bad that I never got to mail this letter to Cris. She had just moved away, and I tend to keep in touch with people who leave because I think it must be lonely moving to a new place with none of your friends around. (Email and the Internet weren't a part of everyday life back then.) The envelope was covered with little notes from our other high school classmates. The letter itself was mostly about our boys back then, and how the word “orgy” caused outrage. It also included this gem:

Use “guava” in a sentence.
Nagpagupit ako. Masa-guava?

I actually laughed out loud when I read it, and Mike quite enjoyed it when I told him about it. Anyhoo, if I could track down Cris, it’d be cool to send her that letter-slash-time capsule!

• Old postcards from Paris. Bought more than ten years ago on a trip to Paris, these babies had images of places I don’t even remember seeing. Instead of buying postcards of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Arc de Triomphe, I bought those with images that I can’t even recognize. Strange. I gave H one, writing a little note at the back. It’d be awesome going back to Paris, this time with the love of my life!

Another thing I found, or rather, found out: I could sit through three hours of the Seven Last Words, even in this summer heat, all for the love of my mother (and for Jesus!). And was quite impressed that my brother did the same. But I guess, for other people, the tangibles are more interesting.

Marvelous March

Now time for the March 2009 highlight reel!

Dance, dance, dance

Photo by Aaron Vicencio. Notice my makeshift leg warmers made of an old pair of Winnie the Pooh slipper socks that I never used!

I had it in my head that this was going to be my last major CADs concert. The 15th anniversary concert seemed like a good time to take my final bow. But then H said, "Why does this have to be your last?" If I can still shake it, then honey, I betta shake it, right? Haha. If I'm not preggers by next year, then perhaps I shall dance again.

Serendipity

While I got to meet up with friends I haven't seen in ages (hullo, Jerry Bear!), it was also cool how I ran into people in the most unexpected places. Dondi and I were trying to figure out how to meet up, and as I was walking down the street, he was driving down the same road! How cool is that? A little later in the day, I was waiting for mumsy to finish her meeting at Power Plant. While I was at a store, I heard a familiar voice yell "Tish the Dish!" It was the other D, Derek, who along with G and G's cousin, accompanied me 'til mumsy wrapped things up. I intro'd D to mother, whose friend asked me later on, "Sino 'yung kasama mong may malaking muscles?" Hahaha.

Boracay Open 2009

Photo stolen from Fel

The Warriors' first time to join the Boracay Open. It wasn't about winning. It was about camaraderie--and one last hurrah before the honeys left. (Which, by the way, is an April 2009 lowlight. Boo!)

And so it begins...

Yummy barbecue chicken salad by K. by Cunanan

I told myself that I wouldn't start preparing--really preparing--until six months before The Day. I spread out the tasks over the months leading up to it, and gave H his own to-do list, just so we won't get overwhelmed. I am really aiming to just be chillin' the week before The Day, so I'm trying to stick to the sched. Pat on the back for me for already meeting with my potential gown maker (who gave me a really good price. Thank you, Tatamaps), and for sitting down with our caterer, Kaye Cunanan, for initial food tasting! She was really lovely and gracious and accommodating, and I feel comfortable entrusting the food and the setups to her! And H and I have also finalized our entourage. Yay!

P.S. It's funny how the first question people ask me upon seeing me is, "How are the plans coming along?"

Honeys' despedida

I already miss my co-captains!

It was a highlight in that it was another crazy Warriors' par-tey. Sosyal pa kasi may chocolate fountain! Sure, we were supposed to be celebrating our NYL09 win...but that night, we were more concerned about saying adios to El Capitan and La Capitana. Incidentally, we elected new captains, and I shall be stepping down when Papa G leaves for the US. (Sigh of relief.) Congrats to the new ones! And good luck!

Five months to go!:)

When you're a "yes" man (or girl)

Again, I am reminded of this beautiful word, "No."

There's so much going on now...

• Concert on Friday, where I have three dances--one of which I haven't even completely learned yet. Would've wanted to dance the Street Comp Master Mix (I so miss dancing street), but there's just not enough time to learn a whole new routine
• Rackets, rackets, rackets. I've got three in the works, one of which is pretty major, in terms of workload. I am thankful though because rackets are blessings!
  
• That batch reunion, where I find that I am suddenly the head of one of the committees
• Wedding preps, which are in full swing
• Work! We're losing three days to the holidays/holy days, and that is a big deal in our world. In three days, you could squeeze in as many as six shoots! So the remaining work days are more packed than usual
  

And then I have scheduled lunches, a baby shower, and other get-togethers lined up. I'm relieved that we elected new captains (congrats!), and that I was allowed to step down. A teeny part of me was somewhat reluctant to, partly because (as people have observed, and I am willing to admit) I'm a control freak. But a BIG part of me is welcoming the change--I don't have to plan or coordinate anything; don't have to attend meetings; don't have to call, email, text people; don't have to collect anything; don't have to think about player rotation; don't have to decide on stuff that would affect a whole group of people. I can just focus on improving as a player! And also on how to better protect myself from the sun. Racerback tanlines showing through my wedding gown just won't do.