Emilia Clarke tops Most Desirable Women list

CEBU, Philippines - “Game of Thrones” hottie Emilia Clarke has taken the top spot on AskMen’s 99 Most Desirable Women of 2014 list, knocking 2013 defending champ Jennifer Lawrence down to fourth place.

More than one million votes were cast internationally for the 13th edition of AskMen’s Most Desirable poll, which asks readers to select stars based on sex appeal, shared values, talent, overall desirability, and potential in the upcoming year.

Other stars to join the 26-year-old Brit actress and Oscar winner Lawrence, 23, in the top five spots include Alison Brie of “Community” at 2, “Blurred Lines” model and newcomer Emily Ratajkowski at 3, and “Harry Potter” beauty Emma Watson at 5. Music megastars Beyonce, Rihanna and Taylor Swift, meanwhile, were voted in by readers at numbers 11, 19 and 30, respectively.

This was pop sensation Miley Cyrus’ first year landing on the list: The twerking queen arrived last at number 99. Other newcomers include “Wolf of Wall Street” star Margot Robbie at 9, and Dylan Penn — the 22-year-old daughter of Sean Penn and Robin Wright — at 95.

Victoria’s Secret models Alessandra Ambrosio, Doutzen Kroes, Joan Smalls, Candice Swanepoel, and Karlie Kloss were also included on the list.

Not all celebs fared so well on the list. Ashton Kutcher’s love Mila Kunis noticeably dropped from number 2 in 2013 to 26, while Kim Kardashian landed at 87. Completely excluded in 2014 included big name celebs like Kristen Stewart, Megan Fox, Jennifer Lopez, Gisele Bundchen and Blake Lively, all of whom were on 2013’s list.

John Travolta opens up on son’s death

John Travolta says he wouldn’t have been able to cope with his son Jett’s death if it weren’t for Scientology.

Five years after losing his eldest son, who was autistic and died from a seizure during a family vacation in the Bahamas in 2009, the 59-year-old has opened up about his loss, crediting the controversial organization for helping him manage his grief. 

“I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had the support of Scientology,” the star of “The Forger” told U.K’s Telegraph. “They were with me every day after Jett died. They even traveled with me when I needed to get away. And for a solid two years it was like that. It was only in the second year that I started to take a break of a day or two just to see how I was doing on my own.”

Travolta — who feared he would never act again following the tragedy— said that he and his wife, Kelly Preston, openly discuss Jett at home with Ella, 13, and Ben, 3, to keep his memory alive. And although the “Grease” star became a Scientologist in 1975, he maintains the Catholic belief that “a person’s soul lives on forever.”

He also talked about his first experience with Scientology, which was with actress Joan Prather on the set of “The Devil’s Rain” in Mexico the year he converted. “I wasn’t well and she gave me what’s called ‘an assist,’” he explained. “I got well very quickly after that, but I mean 30 minutes later.”

Character actor Roy Alvarez passes away

Character actor Roy Alvarez died on Tuesday, February 11, of cardiac arrest.

Alvarez, who was part of the ongoing GMA-7 afternoon soap opera “Villa Quintana,” was 63. His “Villa Quintana” director Gina Alajar and co-star Maricar de Mesa took to Twitter to confirm the news of Alvarez’s passing.

“Just received really sad, sad news. RIP Tito Roy Alvarez a.k.a Don Manolo Quintana,” De Mesa said.

“With sadness and grief, my heartfelt sympathies to the family of Mr. Roy Alvarez, a good actor, a friend and a great person. I will miss you,” Alajar tweeted.

“We will miss your funny stories. And I will sorely miss our stare down scenes,” Sunshine Dizon, another “Villa Quintana” star, said on Twitter.

Alvarez starred in a number of recent GMA-7 soap operas, including “My Husband’s Lover,” where he played Roi Vinzon’s brother and the father of Kempee de Leon’s gay character. He also appeared on ABS-CBN shows such as “Juanita Banana” and “Guns and Roses.”

His last big screen appearance was in the 2013 action-comedy “Kung Fu Divas.”

Aside from being an actor, Alvarez was a director and scriptwriter for film, television and theater. He was also a lecturer and speaker on Consciousness Development, Inner and Outer Ecology, Healing Mother Earth and Zero Waste Management.He was survived by his wife Nieves Campa-Alvarez and his daughter Miren Alvarez. — Philstar.com

Cebu Living Channel 35 airs reality baking show

The Philippines’ largest neighborhood bakeshop is making waves on local television!

Julie’s Bakeshop presents “Julie’s Chief Baker Students Edition,” a reality TV show featuring student bakers from various culinary schools in Cebu offering baking classes. The premiere season featuring 13 episodes is currently airing in the cities of Cebu, Dumaguete, Davao and General Santos on Skycable.

The show aims to highlight the skills, creativity and ingenuity of the student bakers in coming up with new recipes, and their ability to adapt with their fellow student bakers and the competitive environment. It also allows them the opportunity to learn from kitchen veterans and experience the thrill and excitement of being on a reality TV show.

The “Julie’s Chief Baker Students Edition” is a first, not just in Cebu, but in the entire country. Hosted by radio personality, DJ Jiggy Cerna, the show keeps audiences glued as the kneading and the weaving pave the way for personalities to arise in the kitchen as the competition heats up.

The thrill then goes from the kitchen to the judging table where guest judges from Cebu’s culinary scene and social circles bring their appetites and discerning palates to the Chief Baker set, as they give their honest and colorful opinions to the aspiring bakers. Weekly eliminations will give the competing teams a reason to always be a cut above the rest.

The winning school will be awarded a kitchen showcase valued at P200,000, the winning team will receive  P60,000, and their coach P20,000.

Participating schools will also have a chance to win an additional kitchen showcase worth P100,000. Students simply need to complete a student’s reward card that requires an accumulated P50 worth of Julie’s breads, and Coke or Selecta products. The school with the most number of completed student reward cards wins an equipment for their HRM facilities; and students who participate in the promo also have a chance to be one of 10 winners of P10,000 cash, plus a tablet.

The 13 schools vying for the Julie’s Chief Baker title are: Asian College of Technology, Benedicto College, Cebu Eastern College, Cebu Institute of Technology University, Cebu Mary Immaculate College Inc., Cebu Technological University Danao and San Francisco, Camotes, International School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, Mandaue City College, St. Cecilia’s College, University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue, University of Cebu METC SEACAST and University of Southern Philippines  Foundation. (PR)

GMA Kapuso Villages soon to rise in Leyte

Rebuilding the lives of the many displaced residents in Leyte due to typhoon Yolanda begins as GMA Kapuso Foundation (GMAKF) starts construction on two Kapuso Villages in Tacloban and Palo.

The groundbreaking ceremonies of the Kapuso Villages, one in the city of Tacloban and the other in the municipality of Palo, were held last Jan. 21.

In partnership with the local government units and the National Housing Authority (NHA), GMAKF’s Kapuso Villages will serve as resettlement areas for the residents of Tacloban and Palo who were displaced by Yolanda last year. GMAKF EVP and COO Mel Tiangco led the groundbreaking ceremonies together with NHA represented by its Regional Project Manager Engr. Rizalde.

Joining them were staff and officers of the local government units – in Tacloban, Mayor Alfred S. Romualdez, barangay chairpersons Hon. Alden Villarmino of Barangay Sto. Niño, and Hon. Emilita Montalban of Barangay 88; and in Palo, Mayor Remedios L. Petilla and Leyte Vice Governor Hon. Carlo Loreto – as well as the beneficiaries of the project.   Driven by its mission to uplift the lives of underprivileged Filipinos all over the Philippines, GMAKF’s housing project aims to provide indigent victims of Yolanda with sustainable permanent shelter that could withstand future calamities. “The donations entrusted to us by the many compassionate and concerned citizens from all over the world will materialize into a wonderful new beginning for the families here in Leyte,” shares Tiangco.

Former residents of Barangay San Jose in Tacloban will be given priority for the 400 houses that will be built in the Kapuso Village in the area. Furthermore, GMAKF hopes to foster learning among the youth with the construction of 20 new classrooms within the village. The construction site stands on a 3.5-hectare plot of land donated by the city government of Tacloban.

Meanwhile, the relocation site in Sitio Caloogan, Palo will have 200 houses and 10 classrooms which will be allocated to former residents of Barangay San Joaquin, Barangay Baras and Barangay Guindaponan. The site is situated on approximately 2.5 hectares of forest land.

For details on how to contribute to the GMAKF’s projects, visit their website, www.gmanetwork.com/kapusofoundation. (PR)

Lies that rom-coms tell you

It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow, and for those without plans, there’s always the option of curling up on the couch for a good ol’ rom-com marathon. But before you get caught up in fantasy land, here’s an on-the-dot list from cosmopolitan.com on some of the absurdities these chick flicks feed us:

1. It is easy and fun to have full conversations during yoga class. If you do this in real life you will either die of asphyxiation or the embarrassment caused by the instructor yelling at you in front of everyone else.

2. You will live in a giant, light-filled apartment with ample closet space and a doorman before your 25th birthday. Maybe this happens in the Midwest? But if you live in a major metropolitan area, you can safely assume that this will not happen to you until you are pushing death.

3. All human women have jobs at lady magazines, and they are all poorly disguised versions of Cosmo. Probably less than 0.0001 percent of American adults are employed by magazines, and that’s including the weird ones like Garden and Gun and Cat Fancy. Also, if you are lucky enough to score a job at a magazine, you will learn that 95 percent of your job is e-mailing publicists and it is less glamorous than picking up garbage in a theme park during the winter.

4. Every eligible bachelor in the world is a well-paid architect. Raise your hand if you have ever met one architect, male or female. Are architects even real? Or are they angels that drop fully constructed buildings from the sky and then retreat back into heaven?

5. Your best friend exists for the sole purpose of listening to you complain about your problems. She is also Judy Greer or Krysten Ritter.

6. Cheating is glamorous. It seems like at least half of all relationships in romantic comedies begin with one party cheating on someone else in the guise of finding #truelove, but really, this is just #rude. If someone cheated on his original girlfriend with you, you already know that he won’t have any moral qualms about cheating on you, too.

7. Your best friend will totally forgive you for stealing her fiancé. She will not. She will murder you, if not physically then at least socially. 

8. Making out with your platonic BFF of the opposite sex is a brilliant idea that always leads to marriage. If you ever accidentally make out with your platonic BFF after drinking too much wine during a friend date to a sexy arthouse movie, know that in three years’ time you will communicate exclusively via late-night drunken text message and not be entirely sure where he lives.

9. You have a precocious younger sibling who gives you eerily useful life advice. Children are creepy, not smart, and they will never help you do anything except go bankrupt.

10. Men will fall in love with you instantly if you like one stereotypically dude thing. Plenty of women out there like sci-fi and college basketball. If you go too far down the shared-interests road, you will get friend-zoned faster than the slut dies in a horror movie.

11. You have to stress about finding a last-minute date to your friend’s wedding. If you’re not already living with him, that invite is going to have only your name on it. In this economy, brides-to-be don’t give out plus-ones for rando under-employed dudes you met on Tinder two weeks ago. Just sit back and have fun drinking alone at the kids’ table.

12. It is totally possible to jump on stage at a huge, sold-out stadium concert and declare your love for someone in the audience. Unless you are an adorable, physically disabled child, this will get you thrown out and/or arrested. (FREEMAN)