January 19 will always be a special day for me, especially since 2005. Since then, life has been a celebration - all about my wife, my kids, the places we go and the stuff we do.
Yvette just e-mailed a link to her Multiply site, which has photos from our recent trip to Malapasqua. I "borrowed" these two from her album, as I don't think I have any photos of Tyrone and I underwater. (Thanks Yvette!)
These photos were both taken at the wreck of the Dona Marilyn, one of numerous inter-island vessels that have sunken off Philippine waters over the centuries. Although the shipwreck is only about a decade old, it is already well covered with soft corals.
Yvette gave us some pointers on how to be an underwater model. The obvious one is to avoid exhaling during the shot, so that no bubbles are there to distract the viewer. We also practiced looking off to the right of the photographer, as if we're seeing some huge whale shark or something. Tyrone's diving has really progressed. He's grown since our previous dives in Dumaguete earlier this year, so he had to wear Tessa's Mares suit. With our matching gloves and computers, we look like a pretty good team!
My wife truly leads an enchanted life. Tuesday, she jetted off to Hollywood to watch the premiere of Disney's "Enchanted" on November 21, on an all-expenses-paid invite from The Little Gym.
If that seems like a lot of flight time for a two-hour movie, let's not forget that Hollywood premieres usually have a bit of red carpet magic woven into the event. So, I am anxiously awaiting pictures of T in whatever Seaprincess costume she turns up in on the big night.
The trip was also a good chance for her to swing by SFO and spend some time with B, who is now happily ensconced in some internet company's cube farm, working at his first job. B will fly down to LA with T for the weekend, the better for the two to extend their bonding time.
Meanwhile, back here at home, I am already wondering how to spend the weekend with the three other kids... Update: Inquirer columnist Ruben Napales just wrote about T's trip to Hollywood:
"LOS ANGELES―Tessa Prieto-Valdes stopped traffic, literally and figuratively, on her way to and from the world premiere of Disney’s “Enchanted” at the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard..."
The photo caption says, "DUETS” champ Tessa Prieto-Valdes with Masi Oka of “Heroes.”
There've been Christmas songs on the radio since September, so it's no surprise that Christmas wreaths and trees are now making their appearances.
For us, it's gonna be a bit of a longer transition from Halloween witches to Christmas trees this year. For one, T is leaving for SFO to visit B next week, and I'm not really into decor.
For the moment, the extent of my Christmas preparation has been limited to updating our Christmas list and installing this classic ringtone on my phone:
Also, I'm beginning the update of our Christmas blog. The old version is still up, but new posts have to be added. It'll be fun working on those with the kids again.
Meanwhile, in our office building, one sure sign of the season is that so many of us office drones are lining up to collect Starbucks stickers again. It must be a coffee high to get the 24 stickers needed for a 2008 planner that you won't use cuz you've already got a Treo. Last year I was so bummed when I got to about 20 stickers and then lost the card! Oddly enough, if I had just re-started I'm pretty sure I could still have finished the 24! I must be a glutton for punishment - this year, I not only have the Starbucks card but I've also started collecting the Seattle's Best stamps!
The reality is, though, buying a coffee from either store hardly makes any difference. Starbucks acquired Seattle's Best in 2003!
Before I leave Cebu, it's worthwhile to revisit a conversation I had with a supermarket cashier when we arrived there last week. A bunch of us dropped by the local Save More to buy batteries and chicheria for the trip.
When I got to the cashier, we had this interaction:
C: Ma'am/Sir, do you have your SM Advantage card?
Me: No.
C: Do you have your Senior Citizen card?
Me: [pause] Is it part of your routine to insult your customers at Save More?
Tyrone and I spent the November 1-4 long weekend in search of thresher sharks. We were aboard the M/V Borneo Explorer, part of the Scuba World fleet, together with his scuba instructor, GS, and other hardcore divers.
The thresher is a notoriously shy animal. The best way to see it is to head to Malapasqua Island, on the northern tip of Cebu. The Monad Shoal, off the south end, has several fish cleaning stations, literally submerged beauty parlors for the sharks to get spruced up. At 5 A.M., just as dawn is breaking, the sharks come out of the deep and hang around the cleaning stations for several minutes. Trouble is, we arrived at Monad just after the full moon and together with a wave of Korean divers. Not only is there too much light but there are too many unusually colored fins and other dive gear around. Over the five dives we did at Monad, only three divers got a fleeting glimpse of the thresher. The rest of us had to be satisfied with octopus, squid, tiny pipefish and other non-pelagic denizens.
Nevertheless we had a great dive adventure. Tyrone did all five dives on the first day at Malapasqua, a record for him, and completed a total of 11 over the three-day cruise. We also did two night dives, during which he was completely comfortable - even during the first one when his flashlight bulb died. The night dives were, in fact, the saving grace of the trip.
On the west side of Malapasqua, just off the lighthouse shore, are corals that are home to the elusive mandarinfish. When Ty and I dove of Dumaguete earlier this year, all we got was a photo of the tail of this colorful fish. At the lighthouse reef, the mandarinfish were in full display. They come out at sunset every day in order to mate! Ty and I took a lot of pictures of the fish darting around the corals, but we left the R-rated photography to GS and DC, one of the best Philippine underwater photographers. We took over a hundred photos, the best of which are on Kodak Gallery. Sea horses, crocodilefish, frogfish, etc., etc. - Malapasqua has a lot of things to offer ... just not the thresher shark!
This might be the quickest million that T has ever spent! :-)
Actually from the very start of Celebrity Duets, she had pledged the entire prize money, if she won, to charity. So it's nice to know that there will be ten charities getting some additional funding soon.
When the studio gives her the money, T and I agreed to have a small event where we can gather all the recipients and have them properly receive the money, and maybe even have a group photo. That will be a nice memento of the contest.
I got the above video thanks to a text tip from EB, a former colleague at the ill-fated Inq7.net who now works with GMA New Media. It's great to see that their Philippine Entertainment Portal website loads up all these quick little video bites. This where there are more PEP videos.
Meanwhile, here's a funny photo from one of the last few Saturday tapings at GMA, with Athena's hair seemingly electrically charged, but probably only unkempt from her removing her clips after an extra-long taping afternoon.
This coming weekend will be our first TV-free weekend. It's been months since we've been able to spend a quiet weekend in Tagaytay, so we're all eager to do just that.
Whodathunkit? From perennial "bottom two" to the Celebrity Duets champion?!?!? T and I are still in shock from last night.
Thanks again to nonshowbiz for loading these up so fast:
Before the winners were announced towards the end of the taping, a couple of production crew guys came over to Jessica's husband, Dave Bunevacz. We were actually seated near each other, so I could see that they were putting a lapel mike on him.
I thought, "Well I guess they want to get all three spouses' reactions." But after Dave was wired up, the crew left and didn't come over. I glanced at Vicky Belo, and she hadn't been wired either.
So I leaned over to Dave and said, "Hey Dave, that's a great sign, that they're wiring you up and not me." He replied, "No, no, this is for something else, an anniversary thing I'm doing for Jess. It's a surprise so I really can't explain."
"Really?" I felt that maybe he was just trying to make me feel good. I mumbled something about congratulations if/when Jessica wins and tried to re-focus on the stage. Behind me, Alex P had also noticed that Dave had been wired and not me. Later Popsy told me that he started crying because he thought that T had certainly lost as the wiring must certainly be to get the reaction of the winner's husband.
So when Ogie called out T's name, I was all the more in shock. I really thought Jessica had won it. I actually thought that maybe the crew made a mistake and thought Dave was me. (Yeah, right, me plus 8 inches and 30 kilos of muscle.)
After the cut, we were all still on stage and the tabloid reporters and GMA crew were asking me what my "surprise gift" to T would be. Aside from a kiss, I really couldn't think. I mean, she just won a million pesos for charity. What was I supposed to give her?!? When we got outside the studio, the haze was lifted.
Dave had just presented Jessica with a brand new BMW X5, complete with a big red bow tie on the hood. Now that is a statement!
Wired for sound, he could now explain to the TV crew how he was rewarding his wife for all her hard work on Celebrity Duets over the past three months, plus his anniversary gift to her.
AZ, the BMW Account Executive, came over to say hi. (Hoping to sell another, I suppose.) I said, "Wow, that's 5.5, isn't it?"
"No sir," she cheerfully explained, "5.6 ho."
Aray.
P.S. Some websites that carried the Celebrity Duets news:
Inquirer.net It’s Tessa in ‘Celebrity Duets’ by Bayani San Diego Jr. MANILA, Philippines -- Tessa Prieto-Valdes, Inquirer columnist, still thought of herself last night as the underdog, even after winning “Celebrity Duets,” a reality singing contest among celebrity non-singers on GMA 7...
Philippine Entertainment Portal Tessa Prieto-Valdes beats Dr. Hayden Kho Jr. and Jessica Bunevacz in "Celebrity Duets" by Jocelyn Dimaculangan The Social Butterfly outperforms the Kilabot ng mga Kolehiyala and the Statuesque Beauty... [The reader comments on this site are particularly insightful.]
GMA News.TV Tessa Prieto-Valdez: Celebrity Duets champion by Loretta G. Ramirez, iGMA It was an afternoon like no other. All the finalists came in prepared to sing their last songs, but one star shone brighter than the rest...
PEP goes behind the scenes of Celebrity Duets by Jocelyn Dimaculangan, PEP The finals night of Celebrity Duets aired last Saturday, October 20, concluding the 11-week competition that was shown weekly on GMA. It premiered on the Kapuso Network last August 11, hosted by Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid...
Win or lose, T is having a Thanksgiving Party after the Celebrity Duets finale today. The season has been 14 weeks long and tomorrow, we get our lives back!
Yvette just e-mailed a link to her Multiply site, which has photos from our recent trip to Malapasqua. I "borrowed" these two from her album, as I don't think I have any photos of Tyrone and I underwater. (Thanks Yvette!)
