There I was walking along the corridor by the studios. Suddenly comedienne Pokwang, looking so glam in a black-and-white couture outfit and a pillbox hat with a half veil covering one eye, came running toward me. "Fun run tayo!" she egged on the two alalays following her as she made the dash to her dressing room. We made eye contact for a sec then I continued walking.
Nope, it wasn't a dream. This happened sometime last week or two weeks ago near the "Wowowee" studio at ABS-CBN.
That wasn't the end of it. A few paces later, I made way for Mariel Rodriguez who was calmly walking toward her dressing room telling someone, "Di ako puwede eh. May uber ako." I wonder what "uber" meant.
Since I started working for a TV network's news website a couple of months ago, star sightings have become a normal event of the day.
As I was making my way to the basement parking at ELJ Building last Wednesday, I did a double take when I saw Boy Abunda taping a show at the Loop studio. What made me stop and look through the glass windows was the realization that, hey, I just wrote about him. As in, just a couple of hours ago when Tourism Secretary Ace Durano gave a gracious answer when media pressed him for comment on the possibility of having Boy Abunda as Tourism Secretary if P. Noy could have his way.
Sometime this week, as part of my daily habit, I headed toward the cafeteria for a P10-cup of Nescafe with cream and sugar at the vendo machine. At the door, I overheard a director (he sounded like one as he mentioned something about "taping ko") talking to a smiling young man in slim jeans. Hey wasn't that... It was after I got my coffee that I realized it was Jovit Baldivino, the guy who just won the "Pilipinas Got Talent" grand finals.
But stars aren't all I see around. I got a jolt one time when I was walking toward the corner, and I saw red half-naked men headed toward me. They must have been done with their "Showtime" stint.
Then another time, I saw green. As in green half-naked men walking toward the cafeteria while I cradled my hot dog sandwich to go back to the newsroom. It did seem surreal seeing half-naked green men in line at the cafeteria, trays in hand.
I guess that's one of the perks of working at a TV network. I get celebrity sightings and glimpses of wanna-be stars at all hours of the day.
The biggest frustration I have, though, is missing Robin Padilla. Twice. Jing wrote about him before, in a blog entry entitled "Hotness!" On the two occasions I missed him, Robin went to the newsroom. The first time, there was a commotion somewhere in the newsroom, and deadma-to-the-world me couldn't care less as I was typing something away. Reyma came back with news that she squeezed herself beside Robin for a photo. And shucks, what do I find on Facebook the day after but a photo of my editor with Robin!
The second time he came around was on my day off, a Monday. After guesting on "Headstart with Karen Davila," Robin found himself cornered by Reyma into an interview right in our neck of the woods. As in, if I wanted, and I was there, I could have thrown a paper plane over and it would have landed right smack on Robin's lap. So there, I missed a photo op with one of the hottest guys in town.
Reyma consoled me with a photo op with another newsmaker. He may not be some hot and young guy from showbiz, but oh well, at least he's famous.
BOOK OF THE WEEK: I'm almost halfway through Sarena's Story, a tale about a life spent in the service of a royal family in Mindanao. Author Criselda Yabes weaves the story well that I wished my lunch breaks were longer so I can read more every day.
VERSE OF THE WEEK: He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth--the LORD God Almighty is his name. Amos 4:13
