All I ever wanted was to simply become a beauty queen. Not much to ask, di ba?
I used to watch Little Miss Philippines and dreamed to take some part in it.
However, I never told others about it because I was too shy.
As I was growing up to become a certified young lady, my mom brought me to Los Angeles.
There I lived a happy life in the "Great Hollywood. "
Our apartment was along Winona St. , corner Hollywood Blvd.
I was too young then to realize that living in Hollywood was actually a big deal for everyone else.
My mom took me to Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Knotts Berry Farm and all the other cool places kids would love to go to.
Inside the park, they had people dress up to impersonate famous Hollywood stars.
Of course, the amusement park wouldn’t be complete without the cartoon characters like Mickey, Minnie, Daffy Duck, etc.
I took pictures with them just for the heck of it. I mean, I wasn’t really into those things. I basically took pictures just to be like all the other kids.
What interested me most was music. Learning the latest songs were far more important to me than anything else.
When I reached high school, I ended up in the famous Hollywood High School.
Yeah, it sounds all so sosi or "sosyal" like they say.
But to tell you the truth, Hollywood High is just like all the other schools where they have the good kids who make this a better world and they got the psychotic kids who make everybody else miserable.
There’s really nothing special about it. Well, at least not to me.
When I left LA about three years ago, the Hollywood Mall was just barely opening. They only had booths open on the outer part of the mall.
The actual stores weren’t really open yet. The Kodak Theater hadn’t opened yet.
During our lunch breaks in school, I always went to the mall just to hang out. It’s so amazing how the strip was always packed with people, no matter what time of day it was.
I never figured out what they went there to see besides the names engraved on the cement.
However, they got this street called Sunset Boulevard where you’ll find some nightclubs.
I was too young then to be allowed to enter those places, but I sure heard all about them.
My mom was so strict then that I couldn’t even walk around there.
Hollywood stars "supposedly" hang out along that strip. How true? I wouldn’t really know.
The only celebrity I ever saw there was the basketball player/actor Shaquille O’Neal . I saw him in his truck by our school. He was soooo big! He couldn’t fit in his truck.
Other than that, I never saw any other celebrities on the streets. Or maybe, I wasn’t really interested.
To be honest, I never found that place exciting.
Well, it could also be because I lived only five minutes away and I didn’t pay much attention to it.
Everybody else thought being in Hollywood was just a dream come true.
I don’t mean for this article to be a buzz kill for those who plan to visit Hollywood. But, you know, if you pay attention when you do go. . . it’s full of locals and Asians! Not stars.
When I came here, I realized that being there is such a big deal. Yeah,it’s true that Hollywood is where the stars hang out but that was probably about 20 years ago! I swear.
It’s so crowded there. It’s a tourist spot. I don’t think the Hollywood stars would want to be in a place like that.
I guess Hollywood is known because all the studios are just in the area.
I would think that Hollywood stars would most probably be found in places like Beverly Hills where locals don’t really go to because it’s just too darn expensive!
The term Hollywood is over-rated. The ironic part is when I came back here, with no interest in showbiz, I ended up becoming a part of it.
It was hard because, like I said, I was never interested in the business.
Now I’m beginning to think that maybe God put me in Hollywood for six years for a reason! Maybe I was really meant to be a Hollywood star?! Ha, ha, ha, ha!
Apparently, I was so hard-headed that God must have decided to send me back here!
Anyway, I’ve always believed that everything happens for a reason.
I feel very much honored to be given a chance to make people happy, whether it’s here or some other part of this world.
Oh, by the way, you can send me your comments at innocentjuly@yahoo.com.