Life After Milenyo

Wishing, Hoping, Waiting...
Originally uploaded by thisbe_ara.

Life goes on after the storm.

Three days now without electricity. Argh, This is becoming a true test in Christian patience.

Last night we slept at showbiz mom's home because at least doon may generator kami. Thank God for that. It's always nice to come home and be with family especially during extraordinary situations such as these. I get to sleep really late, waiting up for Pinoy Dream Academy and at the same time catching up on showbiz goings on with mother. Dami ko na palang na-miss.

I'm tapping away at the internet cafe close to our home. Blogging has always helped preserve my sanity. I've only got three days of leave left so Lord, I hope the lights get back tomorrow so that life can really return to normal and I can complete all the tasks I need ro get out of the way before returning to work. Buti na lang magaling na ako mag paradigm shift. The best way you can survive these kinds of situations is if you know how to adapt to the circumstances instanty. One always needs to have a Plan B so that you don't stress yourself out when Plan A doesn't quite pan out. No use being bull-headed and insisting on protocol. Duh. Mag-adjust tayong lahat.

The clean-up in Metro Manila continues perhaps until the next three days or so. Gosh the devastation throughout the countryside is terrible - especially in the Laguna, Batangas, Quezon and Bicol region. Kawawa na naman tayo. I went to the mall today to cool off together with L and his yaya. On the way home, I was just so struck by the number of trees that were uprooted on White Plains avenue. Parang bumaligtad ang malalaking puno ng mangga! I understand some parts of the city still look like war zones. And as of today, the death count has already reached a hundred people.

Meteorologists are puzzled by the way that typhoon Milenyo behaved. Very uncharacteristic daw. And this coming from the people that run the weather bureau. Milenyo, they say, from all previous models and studies, should have weakened they said, once it hit land, and broke, when it hit the Sierra Madre mountain range. But what happenned? Para daw may tumulak sa bagyo -- papuntang Metro Manila. I can't explain it any other way except to believe that it was the hand of God. How else? He who controls our every breath, controls the motion of the wind and the waves as well. That's just how sovereign our Lord is. Yes, He allows both the good and the bad to come into all our lives for a purpose. Walang aksi-aksidente. He is in control of every situation 24/7.

Lord, please, let there be light na in all of Metro Manila tomorrow...

Gabby Concepcion and KC Reunite In San Francisco

KC1
Originally uploaded by cathyguballa.

And they lived happily ever after, in a strange sort of way.

After ten years of being "estranged" from her dad, former actor Gabby Concepcion, showbiz princess KC Concepcion finally reunited with him in San Francisco last August. KC spent 10 days with daddy Gabby - "One day for each year lost," she said in an article by Bayani san Diego in the Philippine Daily Inquirer interview today. It's always tough growing under the shadow of one famous parent, more so two in KC's case. It is to Sharon's credit that KC has grown up quiet well with no bitterness in her heart. Here's an excerpt from the PDI article :

Tell us about the “unopened letters” mentioned in your blog?

That was when my Papa didn’t know how to reach me. He wrote birthday cards and sent them all to himself for three years. Maybe he was hoping it wouldn’t be long until we saw each other again. I cried about that, of course.

What was it like saying goodbye to your Papa after the visit?

It felt good because we both knew it wasn’t a “forever” goodbye. It was just a “for now” goodbye.

Where do you two go from here?

Of course it’s no longer like before. The visit was a turning point for us. I promised my titos and titas that I’d keep in touch. My Papa and his wife hold a very special place in my heart. Even my Mama feels that things can only go uphill from here. She’s happy and she knows I’ll never leave her for anyone!

In her blog Lemon Chamomile KC showcases some photos from that memorable reunion. One can clearly see how father and daughter basked in each other's presence. I suppose Sharon knew that this day would certainly come. As KC so eloquently put it "It was the last piece in the puzzle I needed to complete myself." And come on, let's face it, even she admits to the striking resemblance - undoubtedly anak ni Gabby.

To those of us that grew up on a staple of Gabby-Sharon movies, this latest twist in the saga sends us back to our younger, more innocent years. I have known Sharon personally since I was twelve years old - her Tita Helen, my mother's close friend and showbiz colleague, lived on the same street I grew up on. We would meet up during children's parties and ever since the Megastar has always had that charm about her, even as a 10 year old, way before showbiz beckoned. As she grew up under the kleig lights, I watched in awe and admiration from afar. Gabby and Sharon are what you might call "icons" of our generation. Their public lives reflect a similar stories from our generation - of love lost and found, of careers made and broken, of rebuilding new lives and finding new purpose. And if this latest twist in the lives of one of showbiz' most popular tandems is once more reflective of the 40something generation - then we can all someday claim a happy ending somewhere down the road, no matter how twisted the road may have been thus far.

Yes, Showbiz IS In My Genes

I was bored1
Originally uploaded by cathyguballa.

There's just no denying it. I am a child of showbiz.

Growing up, part of my childhood angst, was being known as the daughter of you know who. Not that I didn't love my mother. It's just that I wanted my own identity. It was easier for me to hide my mother's identity because we didn't share the same family name. Mom had a screen name and unless you saw my birth certificate, there wasn't any way you would able to link us both. The reason was pretty obvious - I did not look anything like her. Another schoolmate and good friend was the daughter of an even more famous actress. Her case was a give-away. Not only did they share the same tall and fair looks, Tita B used her married name as her screen name as well.

I was blessed in the sense that my parents shielded me from the limelight. Dad was conservative and a businessman and he was quite strict about mom's working hours. Mom could only do one or two movies a year at the most, and tape her weekly show once a week - usually on a Saturday. Weekdays were devoted to us siblings. I think we were the only children who was driven to and from school by our mother all the way until high school! And to think, artista pa ang nanay namin.

Mom had many friends in and out of the business but she lead a very private life. I had LVN lead stars as Godmothers for my Baptism (this was in the 1960s, okay...) and the superstar of the late 1960s and ac action star/presidentiable as my wedding Godparents. All of them were very close to my family. In my eyes they were Tito so-and-so and Tita so-and-so. Sitting beside these gods and goddesses of the cinema, watching them up close and personal was normal fare in my growing up years.

To this day though, I continue to be mesmerized by the presence of heavenly bodies. Attending movie premieres and award shows were highlights of my growing up years. Even in my previous life as a lifestyle writer, I would be star-struck by the best of them. "Parang hindi ka anak ng artista..." my mother often chides me. Well, I guess there's a part of you that remains non-showbiz after all.

So this blog is all about my life both as a child of show business and that of a lifestyle reporter. Parts of me that I set aside over the last few years in pursuit of ther things. However, now that I have become nore settled, and in a totally different world, these parts have been nudging me, wanting to re-surface somehow. For the serious parts of myself, you can check out my other blog - Midlife Mysteries for inspirational and thought-provoking reading (ehem...). For the fun and lighter side, come and visit me here. I promise that the journey will just be as fun. As they say, abangan...

P.S. That is showbiz's apo up there. Making like Pocahontas (her childhood heroine) for a Photoshop project. The gene pool remains as deep, two generations down...