Does Janice also ‘play favorites’?

One thing is for sure: Like her three fast-growing daughters (Inah, Moira and Kyla), Janice de Belen doesn’t watch ABS-CBN’s MTB maybe for a reason that you and I know. But Janice is quick to explain, "I hardly watch TV at all. I can’t even watch my own shows (GMA’s Sis, with younger sister Gelli as co-host, and S-Files with Richard Gomez). I have a lot of other things to do at home, like minding the children."

And especially come June when she plans to enroll in an AB Psychology (final choice, after AB Philosophy and AB Humanities) at Ateneo, Janice will have her hands very full, indeed. So serious is Janice about going back to school that she even took a review class at AHEAD ("To brush up on some subjects; AHEAD was such a great help to me") before taking the entrance exams.

But Janice does have a favorite TV person and it’s definitely not you-know-who (remember, she and her daughters don’t watch MTB nor Attagirl where "you-know-her" is one of the stars).

"I like Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey. Walters’ style is straight to the point; iba siya. Even if she asks pointed questions, she has heart. Oprah naman I like because she’s warm," said the one-time "Quotation Queen."

Here are Janice’s other favorites:

• Workout – Dancing and jumping rope

• Recipe – Callos and black paella

• Actress – Meryl Streep ("She’s really into it")

• Actor – Tom Cruise ("Because he’s cute")

• Movie – Jerry Maguire ("It shows that if you put your heart on something, you can achieve it")

• Song – Land of the Loving (sung by Diane Reeves, composed by David Benoit)

• Her Own Movie – Kailan Ka Magiging Akin ("I won the Best Actress trophy for it at the Manila Filmfest")

• Perfume – Origins ("I prefer perfume na panlalaki, never pambabae, especially Armani perfume")

• Part Of Her Body – Eyes ("They’re honest; they don’t lie. They really mirror my soul.")

• Flower – Tulips ("Ayoko ng flower na bukang-buka")

• Author – Sark ("I just love her self-help books, such as Eat Mangoes Naked")

• Hero – Superman

• Saint – "Being a Born-again Christian, I don’t pray to the saints. But I never had any favorite saint even when I was small. I pray direct to God."

• Hideaway – "My room. Everything in it is me."

• City – San Francisco ("Masarap ang weather. Everytime I visit my lola in Daly City, I make it a point to take a leisurely walk to the mall a few blocks away.")

• Time Of Day – Nighttime ("That’s when I am alive. I’m a bat, you know. Paniki ako! Low-batt ako sa umaga.)

• Day Of The Week – Monday ("My real, free day")

• Hobby – Doing bead curtains ("I might turn it into a business, who knows?")

• Cartoon Character – Dexter (of Dexter Laboratory). "Nakakaaliw siya, di ba?"

• Fruits – Mango and duhat

• Food – "Anything hot and spicy"

• Friend(s) – "My high-school friends who are not from showbiz"

• Sleep Wear – Men’s sando ("very loose") and pants with garter

• Sport – Billiards ("I’m good at it. Try me!")

• Restaurant – World Topps (on Timog Avenue, Quezon City), especially its salpicao ("I’ll ask Happy Ongpauco-Rivera, the owner, kung pupuwede mag-franchise ng World Topps")

• Chocolate – Cadbury

• Quotation – "You’ll never be happy with who you are until you know who you really are."

Travel show follower

Here’s a letter (paging producers of travel shows!) from reader (Mrs.) Elvira Henson (a retired university professor) of Ermin Garcia St., Cubao, Quezon City:

I’m a 75-year-old retired university professor who reads The Philippine STAR daily.

Anyway, I wrote to you because one of the pleasures of a 75-year old like me is watching travel shows, and looking forward to places we haven’t seen in our lives.

For quite some time now, I’ve been tuning in to IBC 13’s Travel and Trade, never mind if the show runs just a few minutes before midnight every Tuesday, as I enjoy the presentation of places with vivid visuals, beautiful camera shots, coupled with crisp descriptions of certain destination.

From the Laoag journey, I followed the program’s other destinations as well. I enjoyed every minute of the events that they featured, especially the Masskara, Sinulog and the Panagbenga Festivals. The icing on the cake was their feature last Holy Week of Iloilo’s Churches. Being a devout Catholic, I just can’t imagine how in the world there can be churches so beautiful, as those in Iloilo. The musical scoring was great, to say the least. And even if they replay it a couple of times more, I’d love to watch it over and over again.

However, to sustain the interest of the viewers (just like me), I would like to call the attention of the producers of the show to be consistent in giving their best every episode. After that wonderful Iloilo feature, I was looking forward to a beautiful Guimaras feature (I think that was two weeks after), but I was a bit disappointed that what I saw was not the same show that I know. There was never "poetry-in-motion," the structure was a bit chopseuy, and there were unecessary interviews. The beauty was not there, and all I can remember is a feature on some mangoes that looked like Gerry Geronimo’s feature in Ating Alamin.

What I’m saying is if they can produce beautiful episodes such as Mactan, Vigan, Manila, Bulacan and Bohol among others, then they should do it week after week, para naman masulit ang pagpupuyat ng mga viewers. You see, this is our only chance to see and travel different destinations for free.