"Ipe, do you want to come to Australia?" Keren Pascual asked me a few months well before my birthday. In an events management world where words are chucked around like throw pillows, Keren somehow periodically transforms such fantasies into a phenomenal reality, assembling the top newspaper/magazine editors, society columnists, TV personalities, upscale designers, hottest models, young DJs, and photographers for an overseas adventure-of-a-lifetime aptly called Famous.
A few months later, even after attending a briefing, applying for the visa, and riding that eight-hour Quantas plane ride to Sydney, I still couldn’t believe that we were all going to the Australian continent for Famous 6. However, I suppose that viewing Sydney Harbor in all its afternoon glory, sandwiched by the Opera House and Sydney Bridge for the first time served as my reality check, signaling that even more surreal times were ahead.
"Okay guys, you people over there are officially called the Performance Team!" Keren declared. Of course, he was referring to our respective groupings for the Australian Adventure Race that he had engineered for the first day. So with an abrupt shift from casual tourists to running madmen, a certain it-boy called Borgy Manotoc and popular DJ called Jon Herrera led our group, zigzagging across the cobblestone pavement and against the clock to find our next clue while ABS-CBN writer Joel Mercado, together with his cameraman Boyet Baldemor bravely tried to document our frenzied footsteps in the old section of the city. Eventually arriving at that elusive final meeting point and realizing that we placed, er, last, I instead focused on more constructive things such as the on-going Adidas fashion shoot by ace lens man Xander Angeles of young supermodel Raya Mananquil. Following the extensive paparazzi session of the duo which spanned the street corners, port area, and some upscale bars, among other points of interest, I got to admire not only our top talents in the industry but also the sights and sounds of the city proper.
Hopping on the bus the next morning with our friendly neighborhood tour guide Desmond, our still sleepy-eyed gang went amuck on the road and on foot to catch the city’s most famous landmarks. From Hyde Park to the Parliament House to the King’s Cross Area, no place was too inaccessible for a group photo-op, fashion shoot, or impromptu TV segment spiel. Even the predominantly Mainland Chinese congregation during the lunch cruise couldn’t help but notice that something out of the ordinary was happening on the deck of the vessel. On one hand, model Bianca Valerio could be found planted against the railing, flicking her hair against the sea wind and throwing her best angle in front of the long lens camera. Meanwhile in another corner, male models Mikee Carreon, Ton Lao, and Brent Javier took on a more jovial mood, alternating between pouring and drinking jiggers of Paradise Mango Rum, much like a choreographed liquor TV commercial. We ended that day in a certain world-renowned surfing area called Bondi Beach where we tenaciously watched the southern hemisphere sunset, and not to mention the skin-showing white nationals who frolicked under it.
With every major section of the metropolis paparazzied, it was time for our peculiar bunch to outstage the Great Outback. Casually called the "bush," the Australian countryside is a mix of tropical plains, rolling hills, and mountains which have been noticeably landscaped according to English traditions. Amid the centuries-old splendor of the Blue Mountains, another more recent phenomenon was starting to grip the passengers of the bus. "Who wants to sing?" a voice haphazardly proposes in the back. So with the help of two cordless microphones, the said out-of-town tour immediately transformed into a spontaneous Down Under episode of
Starstruck. For the first set,
Philippine Tatler’s Anton San Diego and Essenses’ Toni Abad cooled down the summer-heated air with their a capella
versions of
How Do You Keep the Music Playing and
The Way You Look Tonight. Several duets and solos later, designer Rajo Laurel and Adidas’ Toti Wong would sporadically unearth their heart and soul, rendering emotional medleys such as
Huling El Bimbo and
Because of You. Descending to the Wonderland Wildlife Park for the afternoon, I was able to view from a safe distance the four-legged creatures this land was known for. Tiptoeing past a herd of kangaroos, koalas, Tasmanian devils, and a crocodile the size of a jeepney, I eventually bumped into fashion icon Tessa Prieto-Valdes who was right in the middle of a TV hosting spiel. "
Mga kaibigan, ang tawag sa hayop na iyan ay koala!" she humorously narrated, looking straight at the camera lens in an attempt to mimic that peculiar female host in
Tokyo Tokyo. Meeting the others at the pick-up point, we then headed straight to the Olympic complex to view the colossal facilities that were used to host the worldwide competition in 2000. Returning to the hotel room that night, we ended up engaging in a more nocturnal version of that famous sporting event, chugging down bottles of wine, beer, and liquor about an hour before my big birthday.
"Happy birthday, Ipe! So, what did you learn during the trip?" Keren asked a little past the stroke of midnight, throwing the group conversation towards a more serious direction.
"Well, I learned that you can actually work and play at the same time," I quickly blurted. True enough, looking at Keren and the several famous individuals pooled together for this Down Under adventure, I realized that there was no need to explain further since the man in front of me was the one who wrote the book on the subject matter – hook, line, and sinker.
E-mail the author at mybubbleboy@hotmail.com.