This perhaps the regular viewers of ABS-CBN's morning show Alas Singko y Medya (ASYM, Monday through Saturday) don't know: ASYM host (with boyfriend Julius Babao as co-host) Christine "Tintin" Bersola is a nice traveling companion, fun to be with at 30,000-plus feet high or right on terra firma, forever smiling and never running out of stories to tell.
Ask Billy Balbastro. Early last year, Billy and I were in Tokyo with Tintin for an interview with Robin Wiliams (whose wife, Marsha Garces, is half-Filipina who grew up in Cebu, in case you've forgotten). We had fun with Robin (then promoting his movie Patch Adam), who was engaging during the interview, as much as we had with Tintin as we went around Tokyo with Bobby Valle and his wife Chieko Kimura as our "tour guide" (in their own car and with them spending for our meals!).
Last week, I was with Tintin again for another interview with a Hollywood star in Hong Kong -- Jackie Chan, that's who, promoting his latest starrer, Shanghai Noon -- along with Buzzer Boy Abunda, Inquirer's Edmund Sicam and Bulletin's Walden Belen.
During the 30-minute ride from the sprawling Hong Kong Airport to the Grand Hyatt Hotel where we were billetted, Tintin wondered why Funfare hadn't played the "alphabet game" for ages -- you know, mention the alphabet and the player snaps back with her answer without having to think. Some kind of an association game which, according to amateur psychologists, gives away the player's true (inner) self.
So here's Tintin and how she fared:
A -- Australia ("Because the place is beautiful, especially The Rock")
B -- Beach ("It's been a long time since I went to one. I just love to relax on the sand")
C-- Champagne ("When Julius was courting me, he always offered me champagne -- sparkling champagne -- as clear as his intentions with me are")
D -- Dinner ("I don't know why I say 'dinner.' Maybe because I love to eat out.")
E -- Eggplant ("Yes, I really love eggplant any way it's prepared, especially if grilled and on a sandwich").
F -- Fruits ("I love fruits!")
G -- Garbage ("You see it all over Metro Manila, don't you? I'm bothered by it and so are you, I'm sure!")
H -- Happiness (no explanation needed)
I -- Ice cream ("Cookies 'n' cream is the best! Try it!")
J -- Julius ("Need I say more?")
K -- Kangaroo ("Why did I say 'kangaroo?' I really don't know!")
L -- Love ("What the world needs now -- lots of it!")
M -- My mother ("She's the most amazing woman in the world!")
N -- Never ("Never say no or never, except when someone is asking for money")
O -- Octopus ("Because 8 is a lucky number. Or because I wish I had more hands so I can accomplish more. Or I wish my beloved had more hands so he can embrace me tighter.")
P -- Paris ("That's where I want to have my honeymoon - someday!")
Q -- Queen ("I want to be treated like one")
R -- Rest/Relaxation ("What I need!") and Romance ("Busog ako diyan!")
S -- Sleep ("I need lots of it, especially since I have to wake up early -- at 3 a.m.! -- for our show")
T -- Truffles ("Again, I don't know why I mentioned truffles. Maybe because right now, I'm hungry. I hardly touched my breakfast on the plane!")
U -- Utopia ("Ideal state of bliss; a perfect, unreachable world.")
V -- Veing Voluptuous ("My secret wish! Wishful thinking!")
W -- Wonderful ("Life is wonderful, isn't it?")
X -- X-tacy ("Did I say that!?!")
Y -- Yardstick ("Because people have the tendency to measure others all the time. Tinimbang ka ngunit kulang!")
Z -- Zzzz Zen.... Zzzzleep.
(Postscript: Tintin brought along her mom and her younger brother who's a Jackie Chan fan. We were booked by our host, Buena Vista International, in PR 302's Mabuhay Class. Tintin bought Economy tickets for her mom and brother, giving them what she saved -- from not buying Mabuhay tickets, that is -- as extra shopping money. Not many celebrities share their blessings with their loved ones, or didn't you know?)