Next question, please?
Okay, many people (this one included) have been wondering if diabetes doesn’t spoil Gary V.’s sex life (ask your friendly neighborhood doctor and he’ll tell you that the disease can cause "erectile dysfunction").
Breaking into a wide, wide smile, Gary V. said, "As you can see, my wife (Angeli Pangilinan) is happy; she’s always smiling."
And they have three beautiful and healthy children as proofs – Paolo, 19, and Gabriel, 15, both now in showbiz; and Kiana, 10.
Now 39 (a few years younger than Angeli), Gary V. looks at sex more as a form of "recreation" than as a means of "procreation."
"No problem in that area," Gary V. added.
He monitors the rise and fall of his blood sugar level the way, say, Jose Mari Chan keeps tab of the rise and fall of the sugar prices in the world market.
"I check my blood sugar level all the time," disclosed Gary V. "Like now," he continued, opening a small clutch bag containing his monitoring gadget. "I have to check it out."
He let me prick his little finger (all his fingers have been calloused from all the prickings) to extract a droplet of blood he stains the strip with before inserting it into the gadget. Reading: 168-plus.
"So I have to take an insulin shot to lower it," he said, proceeding to inject the insulin himself in his tummy with a disposable syringe.
Gary V. looks – and acts – like any normal (meaning non-diabetic) person. The truth is that he has to take care of his health maybe 10 times more closely than "normal" people. He said that if his blood sugar level goes much too low (below 80, the minimum, while l20 is the maximum), he risks slipping into a coma – and he did several times, but thanks to ever-vigilant Angeli who is ever ready to give Gary V. a glass of Coke to normalize his blood sugar level.
He’s careful with his diet.
For breakfast (around 9 a.m.), he usually takes two slices of wheat bread, two slices of Spanish sardines (or one piece of daing na bangus), half a banana and mineral water. No snacks, please! For lunch (around 12 noon or 1 p.m.), he takes half a cup of rice (he’s not a rice person, anyway), chicken cooked in any way, monggo, salad and/or arroz caldo. If he has to take a late-afternoon snack, it has to be fruits (green mango, dalanghita, atis or chico) or one ear of corn. Dinner (around 8 p.m.) has to be light, consisting of steak, mashed potato, soup or broth (asparagus or miso). Before turning in at around midnight, he eats another piece of fruit.
"I need eight hours of sleep but I can manage with only six or seven. As you grow older, your body clock changes and you don’t need as much sleep as you did when you were younger."
At 5’11.5", Gary V. weighs 168 pounds, a figure that he has to maintain with regular workout (two to three times a week at the gym, two hours each time on the treadmill). Or he plays badminton.
These days, Gary V. is not only working out but also rehearsing a lot in preparation for his 20th anniversary concert called XXTREME on Nov. 28 and 29 at the Araneta Coliseum, the same venue of his last major concert (Radical) in 2001. XXTREME is a reunion of sorts. Sandra Chavez, Gary V.’s one-time manager (before Angeli), is special consultant while Gary V.’s bosom buddy Rowell Santiago is the director (he also directed Gary V.’s sold-out concerts Major Impact, Shout and Move). Gary V.’s co-performers are Jaya, Luke Mejares and Jay-R, with the Manoeuvres as back-up dancers. The Valenciano kids – Paolo, Gabriel and Kiana – might do a "surprise" number.
"I’m up against giants," said Gary V., referring to foreign acts also having concerts here at about the same time (including Mandy Moore, Mariah Carey, Brian McKnight and Limp Bizkit). "I’m David pitted against the Goliaths."
But like David, Gary V. might beat the Goliaths, just wait and see.
"I have to ‘defend’ myself on the home front," he said, half-jokingly.
(Note: Tickets to XXTREME are priced at P1,500, P1,200, P1,000, P600, P400 and P200. For inquiries, call the Genesis offices at 721-4405, 723-5593 or 725-1937.)
"It’s tough to win because the delegate must get both the approval of pageant fans worldwide through the Internet and pass the discriminating scrutiny of the Mabuhay Beauties staff," said Gerry.
First recipient of the title in 2001 was Miss India Shamita Singha, followed last year by Miss Colombia Patricia Botero. This year’s winner is l8-year-old Miss Bolivia Claudia Azaela Melgar who got the lion’s share of the 2,500 votes cast.
The runners-up are Miss Dominican Republic (first), Miss Vietnam (second), Miss Australia (third) and Miss China (fourth).
The 2003 Miss Earth will be chosen at grand finals tomorrow night (Nov. 9), 9:30 (start of the ABS-CBN telecast), at the UP Theater, with 60 contestants. The current title-holder is Kenya’s Winnie Omwakwe (who replaced the dethroned winner from Bosnia-Herzegovina).
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph)