JOYCE JIMENEZ: 'The waiting is over'

We received an email from the original "pantasya ng bayan," Joyce Jimenez, who is set to return to Manila come Thursday, August 31, after a year-long stay in Australia where she finished her college education. She's looking forward to coming home to Manila, with a degree tucked under her belt, and she's hoping to continue her showbiz career from where she left. We'd like to share with The FREEMAN readers Joyce's letter. Read on.

Greetings from down under! Hello everyone! I am writing you from the beautiful continent of Australia, where I have just received my Bachelors Degree in Marketing.

As you all know I left the Philippines last February 2005, in order to finish my college education. Although adjusting to a new lifestyle with no friends or family present to ease my transition was hard for me in the beginning, in the end it only made me a better and stronger person. I must admit I was very pampered while living in the Philippines and moving to Australia humbled me greatly. I learned how to do my own laundry, clean properly, cook and most importantly be more self-sufficient. I not only reached one of my life goals by moving to Australia but I also in some ways found myself.

On August 5th 2006 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, the day I have been waiting for the past three years was finally upon me. This was the day I was to walk on stage and receive my degree. As I walked towards the dean to receive my degree hearing my father, mother, brother, sister-in-law, tita, nephew and niece cheer for me is what made the moment even more memorable. I honestly do not think that the occasion would have been complete without them there.

Since I no longer had school, and my family was in town, I was finally able to travel around Australia and see all the sites. We first went around in the Gold Coast, our next stop was Melbourne, where we went to places such as the Melbourne Aquarium, Crowne Entertainment Centre and various churches, and of course a trip to Australia would have not been complete without seeing the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I think I had the best time in Sydney, because not only were we able to relax and shop but my family and I climbed the Harbour bridge. My parents went on the day climb, and my brother, sister-in-law, and I went on the night climb. I must admit at first, I was scared but then I just got used to it and enjoyed the view.

Now that I am done with school, I am excited to go back home. Hopefully, I will be able to apply what I have learned to my business and be more hands on now that I will be moving back home. Of course, I also can't wait to go back to work. I have been so concentrated on school that I had to take a break from show business but now I'm eager to get back to doing what I love. Well, that's it for now, I attached some pictures just to give you an idea of how the big day went, hope all is well and see you soon!

Take care,

Joyce

More than just Piolo's look-a-like?

ABS-CBN Star Magic has welcomed Joseph Emmanuel "Joem" Bascon into its fold of contract artists. Even before signing up with Star Magic, he already had TV guestings in ABS-CBN. One guesting that he considers most memorable was the "Maalaala Mo Kaya" episode with Judy Ann Santos since it was his very first try at acting and he really feels honored to have worked with someone like Juday.

At present, he is regularly seen every Saturday in "Let's Go." But he will soon be part of the cast of the new teleserye entitled "Walang Kapalit" with Claudine Barretto and Piolo Pascual.

Joem is currently undergoing acting workshops with the Center for Communication Arts Inc. He's also enrolled in a home study program under the Asia Institute for Distance Learning. The 5'9" varsity player just turned 20 years old yesterday.

Many people are reminded of Piolo Pascual when they see Joem. Of course, this is very flattering for Joem, but he views this as a challenge because he cannot simply be someone's look-alike. His dream is to be an action hero like his idol Robin Padilla but at this point, he is very happy to have been given a break in showbiz. Toni likes Sam a lot, but Toni Gonzaga admits she likes Sam Milby a lot. But she hastens to add that Sam is not courting her (although she did say Sam courted her before). While there seems to be a clamor for them to admit that they are playing beautiful music together (that would be good for their launching film "You Are the One"), Toni says there's no need to admit anything. And they don't feel any rush or urgency to fall to that trap of admitting anything, since there is nothing to admit at all.

"We don't talk about ourselves when Sam and I are together. We don't talk if we are going to be on or when are we going to be on. We don't talk about having any anniversary and what term of endearment are we going to call each other. We just want to go with the flow and what comes out naturally," says Toni.

Toni says they don't want to be pressured with all these talks that they look good together and that it's just a matter of time before they fall for each other. The way she feels for Sam can't be measured by numbers either.

"I like him a lot. And the more I spend with him, the longer we talk, there are so many things that I [learn] to admire about him," says Toni. "I can't even say to him na ligawan ako because I believe panliligaw is the traditional way. Whatever it is that we feel, that it is the right time, the right moment for us to finally talk about ourselves, we will just do it."

Would they hide their relationship from the press? "If ever there will come a time that we will be together, there is no reason for us to hide it," answers Toni. Joyce Jimenez finally graduates with a degree in Marketing from Griffith University in Gold Coast, Australia.