Weekdays are for work, weekends are for play. And since we have been recording the strongest summer suns of late, the temperature rises and heat is passed on. We need a release. We need Boracay.
Same time last week I’m typing away at the Tattoo lounge at Epic, with the view of the sunset and the beats of the island’s top DJ as my friend Dong Ronquillo invited me to Happy Hour cocktail. Friends from the media, other editors and top bloggers were all chilling, most were tweeting, others were having their Lookbooks updated. Yes, the concept of a vacation is different now. If it wasn’t tweeted, posted on FB or documented, it didn’t happen. Hi tech or lo-fi, I travel everywhere with my pocket wifi. It keeps me connected anywhere, everywhere. That explains my 20 tweets per hour consistent record. My apologies for the flooding.
Why I was on the island was to listen to the innovations that Globe Tattoo was introducing. They introduced, livetattoph.com a site for different lifestyles that cater to the youth, whether you’re an explorer, a player or a stylista. It gives more than just speed and access, in a land of 90 million people with 140 million twitter accounts. I learned that from @FierceDong himself, head of the broadband business of Globe. They also introduced Tattoo at Home with Juris Gamban in charge of converting our homes into Internet-ready zones.
The next evening in the island got more exciting as Tattoo ambassadors Georgina Wilson, Alodia Gosiengfiao, Saab Magalona and Ica Magpantay flew in to join the fun at the Tattoo Epic Lounge. Hosted by the wittily entertaining JM Rodriguez, the Tattoo ambassadors all took part in introducing their newest TV commercial, in a highly interactive way — in fact this was the best TVC launch I have ever experienced in Boracay, with the ambassadors interacting with a screen, that changed their outfits, altered their directions and made them travel the world. Yes, the future is now.
Oh those summer nights!
If there was commotion in the island it was because of the fuss that the Century Superbods had created. A good kind of fuss as Century Superbods promotes a healthy lifestyle, as exemplified by THE Anne Curtis and THE Derek Ramsey, both god and goddess in their own right.
After a nationwide search that was blasted all over media, it seemed like all the world landed on the shores of Boracay to witness this event. I sat as judge to determine who among the 20 finalists have “what it takes.” Seated beside Greg Banzon and Sriel Comia, and Gela Gamboa the team responsible for all the successful campaigns of Century Tuna, it was fascinating to hear the varying opinions of the people behind the brand, as well as my fellow judges Rajo Laurel, Myrza Sison, Charina Sarte, Mark Nicdao and Jenni Epperson.
One of the contestants, JP Yap, even looked like my long-lost brother. the guys were a varied lot, some from the military, others were formerly obese. (Bravo to them!) The girls all looked like movie stars. Seeing all the bodies made me crave to eat more tuna, and with the right (ahem!) commitment to working out, I hope to achieve that beach body...in the year 2020! There is still time left.
We Filipinos are a pageant-loving nation and to say that the lot facing Astoria hotel (where the Superbods event was held) was packed is an understatement. It felt like Araneta Coliseum filled to the rafters as host Menchu Antigua took control of the stage and of the audience. It was military boot camp-inspired after all.
Kudos to Robby Carmona for his excellent staging of this year’s Century Superbods!
More heat, more inside stories from twitter.com/officialTIMYAP. Follow me on Instagram for instaHOT pics~ officialtimyap.Happy summer, everyone!