Gladys to Juday: Careful when having sex

“If you and Ryan can’t help it, be very careful when you’re having sex especially during the first trimester.”

That piece of sisterly advice comes from Gladys Reyes to her virtual sister Judy Ann “Juday” Santos. The two, who are mortal enemies in TV soaps since they were kids, are very good friends in real life — “Like sisters,” said Gladys.

The expectant moms have the same OB-Gyne, Dr. Madeleine Florendo, at Asian Hospital, so they compare notes.

Gladys is two months pregnant with her and husband Christopher Roxas’ third child (after Christophe, four; and Aquisha, one year and nine months) while Juday is into her fourth month with her and husband Ryan Agoncillo’s first baby.

“I’ve been reminding her to be very careful about having sex with Rye during the first trimester. I told her, ‘Bawal ang sobrang intimate kayo ni Rye. Maselan because hindi pa ganoon kahigpit ang kapit ng baby. So I nag her, ‘Hoy, if you can’t help it, ang labing-labing ay huwag masyadong to the max; dahan-dahan lang.’ Wait for the mid-trimester.”

Juday got pregnant ahead of Gladys.

“Kaya ipinamana ko na sa kanya lahat ng aking pregnancy books, including the new edition of What To Expect When You Are Expecting. I also gave her maternity dresses, new ones that I bought but never got to wear.”

Gladys learned that she is pregnant only three weeks ago.

“My family spent Holy Week at a resort in Batangas owned by Emilio Garcia’s family,” Gladys told Funfare. “When we got home, ang sama na ng pakiramdam ko. I thought I just got tired, although may duda na ako, so nagpabili ako ng pregnancy test sa drugstore.”

Christopher cried when the test proved positive.

“It’s because my doctor told me that I would have difficulty having another baby. I was diagnosed to be polycystic. He found small cysts in my right ovary after I gave birth to Aquisha. Luckily, the medication I was taking was very effective; natunaw pala kaagad ‘yung mga cyst.”

Used to working even up to her eighth month of pregnancy, Gladys said that she would go on working, taping and would go on maternity leave only when she began having labor pains. The two preggies have finished taping all the episodes for their ABS-CBN soap Habang May Buhay where they, as usual, play antagonists. Gladys also hosts the Net25 show Moments (very watchable!) and Q-11 show Go Negosyo, and acts as one of the hurado on ABS-CBN’s Showtime.

“My pregnancy is the same except that this time around, mas sensitive ang pang-amoy ko and I get dizzy easily,” said Gladys. “Sana nga before I give birth magkaroon ako ng sitcom which is not too strenuous to do.”

Juday is giving birth in October and Gladys in either late November or early December.

In the meantime, Juday and Ryan are pushing through with their three-week vacation abroad, in California and not in Europe as originally planned. They will celebrate their first wedding anniversary there end of this month.

“California is less stressful than Europe,” said Noel Ferrer, Ryan’s manager. “There, they can enjoy their vacation leisurely.”

Chinese pic with Pinoy stars opens Taipei filmfest

Just when I was starting to wonder whatever happened to my colleague Nancy T. Lu, who wrote for the old Manila Times’ Sunday Times magazine before she decided to live in Taiwan where she works for a publication, I got the following story she e-mailed to Funfare out of the blue (thank you, Nancy, and see you soon):

Hilarious is the adjective which best describes Wi Ding Ho’s first full-length movie Pinoy Sunday. The real life tale told by many overseas Filipino workers is generally peppered with sadness and pain. But the reel life drama is full of comic situations.

Manuel (Epy Quizon) and Dado (Bayani Agbayani) are Pinoy (Filipino) characters with an easy-go-lucky side. Despite the hardship and loneliness of life as migrant workers in Taiwan, they manage to grin while sharing experiences of their hearts as lonely hunters over Taiwan beer (not San Miguel beer, which is harder to find). The verbal exchanges of the two factory workers always trying to beat the Sunday curfew at the dorm — one fair-skinned and the other with dark brown complexion — leave spectators rolling in the aisle with laughter.

The comedy truly begins when they find an abandoned red sofa on the street one Sunday. Both decide to carry it all the way to their dorm. Imagine the two even attempting to get it on a public bus.

“Don’t think for a moment that the task of carrying the sofa across town as seen in the movie is easy,” remarked director Wi Ding Ho. “Believe me, it is not.”

The guys wear very colorful shirts and that is intentional. All the bright colors seen in the film match the cheerful and upbeat nature of the Filipino workers in Taiwan.

A typical tale about Pinoy workers can easily be melodramatic. But the director himself has observed to his own surprise right from the beginning the Filipinos hanging around a stretch on Zhongshan North Road to be a happy bunch. They seem quite capable of dealing positively with the difficulties of being away from loved ones and home while trying to earn money. Camaraderie among Filipinos abroad is strong.

Dialogues in the movie are in colloquial Tagalog. The involvement of a Philippine line producer (Mark Meilly and Spark Films) has helped in telling the story of Philippine migrant workers with credibility. There are Chinese subtitles.

Malaysian director Ho said he did not find his inability to speak Tagalog (or even the Ilongo dialect in one scene) a problem during the three-and-a half weeks of filming in Taiwan last year. While shooting the movie, actor Quizon picked up the Taiwanese song, I’m Not Drunk, from the Taiwanese crew.

Ho asked Jack Pollack, his classmate at the New York University more than 10 years ago, to be the cinematographer of the movie which took five years in all to realize. Pollack played with vivid colors in the upbeat movie but shifted very briefly to black and white a few times in the film.

Wi Ding Ho’s Pinoy Sunday opened the First Taipei Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival last April 9. Epy Quizon, son of king of Philippine comedy Dolphy, flew back to Taipei to attend the world premiere of the movie.

Quizon confessed that he sat in awe over the presence of internationally-known Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien at the movie premiere. He watched closely Hou’s reaction during the showing of the film.

When Quizon’s turn to speak to the audience finally came, he pulled out his mobile phone and asked everyone to greet his mom in the Philippines.

Nubia Lin, a top professional model making her movie debut in this motion picture, towered over Quizon as they stood with director Ho for picture-taking earlier.

Meryll Soriano and Alessadra de Rossi are the other Filipino stars in the cast. All the extras, including the priest and the Catholic parishioners of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Danshui, attended the Taipei movie premiere and film festival opening.

Taiwan’s Government Information Office and NHK Japan helped produce the movie through funding.

Ho’s earlier successes have included short films Respire and Summer Afternoon. Respire was winner of the Kodak Discovery award and TV5 (very) Young critics’ Award at Cannes in 2005 while Summer Afternoon was selected for Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008.

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