Was in Manila for less than 24 hours on two separate occasions and it was as star-filled as it could get, without me intentionally seeking out the stars.
Saw Dingdong Dantes at the PAL domestic airport. I thought I was dreaming. Close to 36 hours sleep-deprived (What can I do? I keep doctor’s hours? Haha), napping on the cold, metal lounge bench at the pre-departure area, when I look up and see this hunky guy in a red shirt.
“This guy is really, really cute,” was the thought racing through my foggy brain, before it did a double take to register that he was cute for a reason. He was Dingdong Dantes.
Wasn’t cute enough to induce me to make a spectacle and chase after him and have a photo though. I
can only remember doing that with two local actors. One was Gabby Concepcion when I was in third grade. I still have that photo and yes, he was that handsome. The second actor was Edu Manzano. My former boss and him were really good friends and when they ran into each other in Greenbelt with me in tow, I had to ask her, “Ma’am can we have a photo with Edu?”
She was incredulous of course. Once upon a time, my job afforded me occasional brushes with celebrities. The only celeb she ever saw me get excited about was Cecile Licad. So the Edu request came from left field.
But Edu, for me, is the entire package. Gorgeousness, sly wit, humor, class. But yes, seems I’m afflicted with a preference for the oldies.
So Dingdong Dantes was with another hunky looking guy at PAL. But I only had goo goo eyes for Dingdong. If I do see him again, maybe I’ll come up to him for the sake of having a photo to post on Facebook and making people jealous.
Yesterday, while having a marathon of lunch meetings with old friends at Greenbelt 5, there was some sort of commotion going on. They were filming something at the mall and one of my friends was complaining that they were impinging on people’s malling freedoms. After all, it was a high-end mall on a Friday afternoon when there were sales going on everywhere.
As we were leaving the resto, who do we run into, just an arm’s length away? It was Piolo Pascual. It is a given that Piolo is handsome, but he was sadly lacking a pizazz, a charisma and confidence about him that Dingdong naturally had. Also, the first thing that came to mind was, boy, is he short. Or at least he looked it.
He did cause a ruckus, with people whipping out their cellphones, cameras, and one woman holding a handycam. Haha. Still did not compel me enough to approach said celebrity and ask for a photo.
My friend and I were complaining about how the set-up with the cameras was impinging on our desire to stroll the mall freely. She added, “See, it’s just Piolo. But if it’s Jericho Rosales, it’ll probably be a different story.”
Preferences made clear. So universe, please let me meet Jericho next time (again, as have seen him also in Greenbelt before). And please let me have the chance to have a photo with him so my friend can die with envy. Mwahaha.
When I finally got to the PAL terminal again, I was dragging my bag on its merry way when I run into Solita “Winnie” Monsod. Now, the two actors did not incite my boring little heart to beat faster, but when I saw Winnie, I seriously so wanted to have a photo with her.
I have read her columns on the Inquirer, watched her on Debate. At that time, I did not have an idea of whether her economic advice was good or sound. I just thought that she was a cool lady who had her thing together and was having a decent media career.
It goes to show the degree of nerdness that I have. I would probably forfeit the chance to meet Brad Pitt if it meant that Anthony Bourdain will bring me around during his travels and I get to share a meal with him (Paging any crew member of “No Reservations.” I’m going on record saying this.). But I draw the line with George Clooney. Now, George, I’d like to meet.
So I nixed the photo op with Winnie. Just decided to spend the next eternity waiting to get on yet another plane and almost nearly missing it because I was so engrossed in doing nothing.
