No, they didn’t leave their hearts in San Francisco

Yes, Carlo Muñoz and his girlfriend, Meg Reyes, were wide-eyed – "Mesmerized," said Meg – as they gazed at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco last July during their first visit to America. But no, neither of them left his/her heart in that city by the bay immortalized in the song I Left My Heart in San Francisco by, among other singers, Tony Bennett.

"I remembered that song while we were strolling in the streets of San Francisco," recalled Carlo. (By "we," he meant, besides Meg, his older brother Leandro who travelled with them, Leandro’s girlfriend Michelle and the youngest Muñoz boy Angelo, also a member of the ABS-CBN Star Circle like his two kuya.) "You know... To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the sky; the morning fog may chill the air I don’t care..."

Oh, well, why should Carlo or Meg leave their hearts in San Francisco when they have them in the proper places – in each other’s chest, where else?

"It was our first time in the Land of Milk and Honey," said Meg, "and I couldn’t believe we were there even as we surveyed the brightly-lit L.A. from the window of our plane when we got there at night. America turned out exactly as I imagined it to be – a wonderland."

Carlo and Meg and company stayed in California for one month and a half, with the Muñozes’ mother, Patricia Garcia-Muñoz, and the youngest Muñoz son, Angelo, playing host at her apartment in Bakersfield, three hours drive away from L.A.

"Not a day was wasted," said Carlo who took advantage of his free time (his soap, Bituin, had just folded up at that time) to have a much-needed break. "We went to the Universal Studios and Disneyland (in L.A.), we made ikut-ikot around Las Vegas, we visited relatives in San Diego and Sacramento, we attended the 85th birthday of our grandmom, Priscilla Garcia, in San Francisco. We even shook hands with Dennis Rodman at Club Josh Slocum’s in Newport Beach in L.A. when we dropped by on a weekend. It was a fruitful visit."

While Carlo is familiar to movie fans, having done a few soaps and several movies (Yamashita: The Tiger’s Treasure, Sanib, etc.), Meg is only starting to make her own mark in showbiz. A member of Star Circle Batch 9, Meg is a UST Communicatioin Arts graduate who started as a commercial model (Close-Up, Dunkin Donuts and San Miguel Beer, among others) before she joined the ABS-CBN Talent Center. She has guested in such ABS-CBN shows as Maalaala Mo Kaya, Star Studio and Wansapanataym, and was in the cast of the ABS-CBN afternoon soap Recuerdo de Amor. She has just finished her movie debut, Star Cinema’s Kung Ako Na Lang Sana, where she played one of Aga Muhlach’s girlfriends.

"Carlo and I met during the taping of a Star Studio episode where his brother Leandro also appeared. Carlo played a hunchback and Leandro, his handsome brother. I played a blind girl who chose Carlo over Leandro."

It was mutual attraction at first sight.

"After our first taping," said Meg, "Carlo offered me a ride home. After that, hindi na niya ako tinigilan. He was persistent and charming, too, so..."

They’re celebrating their first anniversary as sweethearts next month (Nov. 17).

The two click because they are both fond of movies, not fond of gimik, love animals (dogs especially) and enjoy eating out.

"Meg and I got to know each other even better during our vacation in the States," said Carlo. "Our relationship was strengthened. It’s true what they say that you will know the true character of a person once you travel with him/her."

"More than anything," Meg said, "our trip to the US was some kind of a discovery for both of us. We ‘discovered’ not only the beautiful places in California but also ourselves."

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