Alone (but not lonely) this Christmas

All signs of the holiday season are here– Ayala and Rockwell Avenues teeming with tivoli lights, monstrous EDSA traffic jams even before lunch time, and those bastardized versions of well-loved Christmas songs by the Sexbomb Girls flooding our airwaves.

Like many romantically-unattached persons who get a little uptight and edgy when the Christmas season is here, a lot of my single friends and colleagues also feel some emotional turbulence especially when they hear mushy tunes like Gary Valenciano’s Pasko Na Sinta Ko or Barry Manilow’s It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve.

Frankly, I do not understand why they are making a big fuss about people like us who have no romantic liaisons during this festive month. For me, it makes no difference whether you have a lover or not because the true essence of the season is all about love, whether you give it to yourself or somebody else, as long as it’s pure, sincere and well-intentioned.

Just the same, I’ve picked on the brains of some of our more celebrated stars to find out what being single during Christmas is all about. I would have really wanted to include Kris Aquino in my list because she will certainly unload a mouthful but all my friends told me that she’s technically ineligible since they swear that she hasn’t really severed her romantic ties with her municipal mayor paramour. I also refuse to include the names of those whose sexual preferences continue to remain in question for very obvious reasons.

Who knows? Since Christmas is still a few weeks away, perhaps the love angel can work harder and weave magic onto the lonely hearts of Ara Mina, Jeffrey Quizon, Carlos Agassi and Kyla. Read on...

Ara Mina

I had lunch with Ara recently and she told me she’d rather have sleep than a boyfriend. "Pagod na pagod ako nang kakatrabaho this year, kaya pahinga dapat muna. What will I do with a lovelife if my body is stressed and tired?"

There’s a lot of sense and honesty in that statement, if you ask me. Well, Ara recounted that there were two people who pursued her like crazy this year. One is a diminutive and mega-arrogant politico who turned his sights to another sexy star when Ara turned him down. The other is an annoying lower middle-class stalker who just never seems to run out of energy in following Ara.

"Perhaps subconsciously, these two persons affected me somehow as far as my impressions of men are concerned. Parang nawalan ako ng gana so I just immersed myself in work," she says, adding that her role as a rebellious Chinoy daughter in the filmfest entry Mano Po is one of her most challenging assignments to date.

Her Christmas wish? "What I like is a two-week vacation, no work-related calls, no stress, not even thoughts about boys. Pure rest and relaxation."

Carlos Agassi

This year, the country’s hunkiest rap artist has decided to invest his time, effort and hard-earned money in business. He formed a partnership with Kris Aquino and set up Foot Trip for all those with a fetish for that body part. The reception has been so good that the two have been invited to open another branch at the Glorietta.

He has also brought a franchise of the Dickies brand and opened an outlet in Alabang. Agassi shares that his next venture will be a co-production with his mother studio (Star Cinema) for a movie which will have himself and his hunky colleagues as main attraction.

When asked if he still has time for personal affairs, Agassi broke into a wide grin. "I’d like to think there’s still little room for that, but with the way things are going – schedules and everything – I think it will be unfair for a girlfriend if I cannot devote at least a significant amount of time to nurture the relationship."

Especially this holiday season when Agassi says that since promotions for Chito Roño’s movie Dekada 70 and the completion of his new house in Bel Air are his top priorities, love will surely not find its way into his heart.

For someone as sweet as Agassi who loves intimacy and being cared for, the Christmas season can be really difficult when there’s no one to share the cold mornings with despite the joys and comfort of being famous and wealthy.

"Sana next Christmas meron na," he says, very softly, his tired lonely eyes still showing some tinge of hopefulness.

Kyla

The R&B princess says she’s in no hurry to find her prince. "If he’s meant to come and sweep me off my feet, he will, whatever time of the year it is, Kyla say's." Kyla may appear to be fragile but she’s one young tough vocalist who has remained realistic and grounded despite the many achievements she has garnered in the music scene.

Well, time is a major concern. Kyla’s amiable manager Maristel Fernandez-Sampedro says that her ward’s appointment book is packed until March because of confirmed bookings. Her new album is also coming out soon. "She told me that she wants to really focus on her promising career," says Maristel.

Oh yes, Kyla has her bouts with loneliness, especially after a really good performance because she has no one special person to share her joys with. "Syempre nandiyan yung family and my close friends, pero iba pa rin yung galing dito," she points to her heart.

Kyla shyly admits that there are suitors (from both the entertainment and the corporate world) lining up at her heart’s entrance gates trying to win her trust but she’s bidding her time. "I cannot naman force myself to fall in love if I don’t feel anything, and even if Christmas is just a few sleeps away, ganoon lang talaga. Who knows, it will be my heart’s last lonely Christmas this year."

Jeffrey Quizon

Although he had long-admitted fathering a son, Epy is technically single. His last serious relationship was with starlet Giselle Toengi who has since been on a self-imposed exile in New York City, where she is, up to the present, still struggling to find her place as an artist.

Epy says that though he still feels lonely being alone, he has gotten used to single-blessedness. "The holidays no longer pressure me. I’m 29 and I guess I’ve passed through the stage of emotional vulnerability. Of course, there are always two sides of being single, and it all depends on where you choose to go."

In the meantime, he continues to experiment on the different art forms – acting, photography, music, film and video production and writing. Aside from his villain role in Lastikman, Epy has also agreed to play the role of an angel in a musical that is set to entertain the mall crowd this holiday season.

Billed He Came Upon a Manger, the 45-minute musical will be touring the Ayala Malls on the jam-packed weekends of December. Epy also has a guest role in his dad’s production outfit’s entry for the Metro Manila Film Festival, Home Along Da Riles.