For one thing, his fave sport these days is surfing. He actually picked up the sport while vacationing in Bali, Indonesia, last summer. "The natives there taught me how to surf," he recalls. He was bitten by the surfing bug, so to speak. "I’ve surfed in Bali once and in La Union twice already."
Surfing, he explains, has taught him a lot about himself. "What attracted me to surfing is the patience that you eventually acquire as you practice," he declares. "It’s because you really have to wait for a good wave. You’re just sitting there, in solitude, waiting for the perfect wave."
That, in a nutshell, best describes the uncommon satisfaction he derives from surfing. "I just love it," he gushes. "It’s a different kind of high. The connection you form with nature. It’s as if you are one with the ocean."
With the pounding waves comes an adrenaline rush, he relates. "You’d be paddling for dear life, so that you’d reach the exact spot at the right time," he enthuses. "You need to have impeccable timing. But once you catch the wave, the sense of fulfillment you get is incomparable."
He dreams of someday surfing in the best beaches in the world, including the one near his hometown of Stavanger, Norway. "It’s just that the water there is cold," he sighs. "But Norway has one of the best surf spots in the world. Because of the freezing weather, however, you’d have to wear a wet suit and take special lessons. That’s why surfing in Europe can be quite expensive."
Unlike in the sunshiny tropics.
Other dream destinations he would like to visit next summer are Boracay in Aklan and Puerto Galera in Mindoro. "I’ve been to Boracay twice already and I still want to go back," he remarks. "I haven’t been to Mindoro yet, but I heard so many great things about it from (former Tabing Ilog co-star and fellow Soda model) Kaye Abad."
He’s a bona fide Nature Boy. That’s why the first time he visited Puerto del Sol resort in Bolinao, Pangasinan (for the Blue Soda summer 2004 pictorial), he was smitten, to say the least. "It was so beautiful," he affirms. "I didn’t expect it to be that impressive. I thought it was just the usual resort with small huts. But it’s a five-star resort with casitas and a villa mansion." He, in fact, thoroughly enjoyed his stay. He spent hours wading in the pool and by the roaring waves of Patar.
Another activity he indulges in is the current sport du jour among urbanites, badminton. "I just got into it," he professes. "So when I asked my mom why I mastered it so quickly she told me that it could be because she was a badminton varsity player in school. She was a champion badminton player, in fact."
Even his dad was a whiz in the game. "He found it too easy pa nga." Needless to say, badminton is in his blood. "Now, I can play it with both my right and left hands," he beams. "I am actually ambidextrous."
Badminton has also made him realize so many things. "It allowed me to go back to my roots and made me discover so many things about myself that I didn’t know before," he points out.
The avid athlete also enjoys wall climbing (in Power Up Tandang Sora), skateboarding, and jogging. He now goes easy on gym workouts because he has already reached his goal. "I think my muscles have matured," he elaborates. "I only need to exercise a little and I bulk up very quickly."
Those fab abs and pecs he will certainly get to show off as he dons Blue Soda’s oh-so-hot collection. "I prefer clothes that are not too tight so that I won’t sweat as much," he affirms. "I choose clothes that let my body breathe. Like loose-fitting tops, sleeveless shirts, and muscle tees. Very relaxed."
"That’s why I like Blue Soda," he pipes in. "They have clothes for all seasons." Although Blue Soda’s line-up consists of a burst of colors, Rafael stays true to his favorite shades: blue and earth tones.
Recently, though, he added orange to his fashion palette. "It became my lucky color," he attests. "I wear orange for fashion shows and pictorials, but not on gimik nights. It’s too bright for me. I’m more of a low-profile, earth colors, blue-shirt kind of guy."
Rafael, Nature Boy and Blue Soda Surf Dude, prefers the colors of sea and sand.