All of Giselle’s dreams are coming true – and how!

Even on the plane, Giselle Sanchez never forgets her bedtime beauty regimen. This I found out when we were seated across the aisle of PAL 103’s business class two weeks ago from L.A. after Giselle did a series of shows on both coasts of the US for almost a month.

As soon as the plane took off, I saw Giselle open her travelling bag and take out a bottle of cream (whatever it was). A compact in one hand, she started putting the cream all over her face with the other hand. She then waved at me "Good night!", covered herself with the small blanket and, in a jiffy, she was in slumberland.

That easy, that fast. How did she do it?

I would find out eight hours later as the morning sunlight started to filter through the half-open windows. That was when Giselle moved to the vacant seat beside me for a little chit-chat.

"How did I do it?" laughed Giselle, making heads turn toward us. "I took one half of a sleeping pill an hour before boarding time. I usually wake up refreshed (the pill isn’t habit-forming), without any jet lag at all."

I knew that Giselle’s show in New York (at a small but packed venue) was a big hit because Edmund Silvestre (of The New York-based The Filipino Reporter) had e-mailed the news to me, saying Giselle is very popular among Pinoys not only in the East Coast but in the West Coast "because she doesn’t demand a big talent fee, unlike other Filipino comedians, and she knows how to entertain people with the right jokes and the right punch lines. She is not offensive."

No wonder Giselle is in-demand for shows out there where the goldmine (in green bucks) is.

"All our dreams are coming true," said Giselle who politely refused the breakfast offered by the gracious PAL stewardess.

By "our," she meant her husband Emil Buencamino who she married two years ago (on Nov. 11). "We’ve been friends for 11 years and a happily married couple for two years," added Giselle who is set to perform again on Nov. 6 in the West Coast and on Nov. 9 in the East Coast, her third time to do so this year. "Starting next year, maybe I should slow down a bit so Emil and I can begin our ‘joint project’ – our first baby."

They really should. Their dream house in New Manila, Quezon City, is 80 percent finished and a little bundle of happiness is a welcome addition to the family. Built on a 500-square-meter lot, the four-storey house has a garden outside, another garden inside, a studio, an office, five bedrooms and more than enough space for a dozen little Emils and Giselles.

"We’ve always dreamed of having a house like it," said Giselle, "and we really worked hard to fulfill that dream"

Working with Caltex, Emil is at the same time an active member of the Strawberry Fields band which plays at Dream Bar in Makati City.

While in the US, Giselle also taped an episode for Lifestyle Abroad, a made-in-the USA TV special on the lives of Pinoys abroad slated for release early next year. In San Francisco, now-US-based Leonard Obal played host to Giselle in his cozy pad.

"I even auditioned for TV and movie parts," revealed Giselle. "Thanks to my friends there who are members of SAG (Screen Actors Guild)."

Rafael can legally work here

Like Marc Nelson whose working papers are in order, as attested to by the Bureau of Immigration, Rafael Rosell IV (who was born and grew up in Norway to a Norwegian father and a Filipino mother) can legally work here. When he met the press the other day, Rafael distributed xeroxed copies of an "order" (dated Oct. 2, 2002) signed by Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo. Here it is:

This pertains to the above-mentioned Mission Order issued against above-named subject dated 25 September 2002.

On July 2, 2002, subject appeared at the Office of the Executive Director in response to the notice sent to him as regards his immigration status dated June 19, 2002. He claimed to have Petition for Recognition pending with the Department of Justice, thus he was required to show proof thereof. He signified his intention to furnish the Bureau with a copy thereof but he did not comply with the same. Hence, on September 20, 2002 a final notice had been issued against him but it was not responded to until the said Mission Order was issued against him, among others, on September 25, 2002.

On 02 October 2002, however, this Bureau was notified of the approval of his above-mentioned Petition for Recognition.

WHEREFORE, considering the approval of his Petition for Recognition, Mission Order No. ADD-335 is hereby partially RECALLED in favor of RAFAEL ROSELL IV.

Funfare- Hallmark Guardian contest

Here now is the set of two questions for episode 15 (showing on Sunday, Oct. 13, 11 p.m. on the Hallmark Channel) of The Guardian in the joint Funfare-Hallmark promo for the TV series:

1. Who takes care of the baby while Melinda buys drugs?

2. What happens to the baby in the end?

Send entries (with name, address, contact number, indicating episode number) to: Watch & Win The Guardian Contest, P.O. Box 3802, MCPO, Makati City. Or e-mail to: [email protected]. Contest period for this episode is between Oct. 13 and 19.

The first 25 senders of correct answers will each get a Hallmark Channel goodie bag containing one Hallmark The Guardian coaster, one Hallmark prestige notebook, one Hallmark blue-light pen and one The Guardian poster.

Winners will be notified with a letter or by e-mail, and will also be announced in Funfare. They can claim their prizes from Buensalido & Associates, Suite 701, 7th Floor, Greenbelt Mansion, 106 Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City.

The answers to last week’s Watch and Win the Guardian Contest are:

Question 1: Why did Susan Newburg die?

Answer: A. She committed suicide.

and

Question 2: Who made the anonymous phone call to a child abuse hotline that triggered an investigation?

Answer: B. Nick Fallin

The winners of Hallmark Channel goodie bags are:

1. Aurora Foz Marcelo, 4877 Durban St., Makati City

2. Annie S. Inojo, 1B Narra St., Violago Home III, Visayas Ave., Quezon City

3. Mignon Padua, 105 Maria Elena St., Proj. 4, Quezon City

4. Stella Uy, 112-113 Plaridel St., Cebu City