The long red carpet

BANGKOK –Walking on a red carpet definitely is one of the most exciting things when attending big events.

Almost everybody really prepares for such gatherings. In my case, I’ve attended quite a few big and important gatherings such as awards nights, beauty pageants and other prestigious happenings that had the red carpet.

Of course, most of these events took place in Manila. Red carpets are usually not very long.

All of the ones I’ve walked on only took about two to three minutes until you get to the end of it, unless if there are a lot of picture takings and interviews involved.

I guess that brief exposure is the best part of it. It’s the best time to show off our well-prepared "looks" for the night.

Last Friday, I discovered a red carpet that was five floors long!

Last week, my manager, Jojo Gabinete, and I received an invitation from the Tourism Authority of Thailand to attend the fourth Bangkok International Film Festival.

I was so excited because Bangkok is actually one of my favorite place. Jojo flew in one day ahead of me.

This was my first time to fly to Thailand alone. Good thing the people from Thai Airways are very nice.

It was already late when I arrived, so I ended up going straight to bed to get some beauty rest for the following day’s big event.

That next day was a bit hectic for us because we decided to do a little shopping in the morning before getting ready for the festival.

This was sort of like a last-minute invitation. Luckily, Tito Larry Espinosa had some gowns in store for me to bring and choose from for this big night.

We were also very lucky to find a Thai makeup artist named Ken to fix me up.

As soon as we got back to our hotel, The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel of Bangkok, the makeup artist was already there waiting for me.

He started doing my makeup. When he finished, I quickly put on my skin-toned gown.

Unfortunately, they insisted that I wear the pink gown so I would show more skin. Pink has always been my favorite and lucky color so I was glad Tito Larry gave me that pink gown as an option.

Since this gown is a whole lot more revealing than the original one I was supposed to wear, the makeup artist had to put some shimmer near my chest.

The funniest thing is, after eight long years as a makeup artist, it was Ken’s first time to apply makeup on someone’s cleavage! He looked so tense.

It was hilarious. Traffic was a bit bad on our way to newly-opened Siam Paragon mall, site of the film festival.

As soon as we arrived at the event, the organizers moved us to a very classy BMW car. This would be our ride to the red carpet. As we were stuck in traffic on the way to the red carpet, Jojo and I were talking about how most celebrities in Manila arrive late for such events.

This time, we were a bit early. Then the next thing we know, a car hit us from behind! I froze from disbelief for a while.

I did not want to believe this was really happening. And so we created a bit more traffic on the street because the driver had to go down from the car and negotiate about the damages.

The few minutes we stayed on the street set us way behind our schedule of arrival. We saw the other guests just pass us.

It was a bit annoying, but the driver decided to take us to the red carpet first before continuing to deal with the small scratch caused by the other car.

I was surprised to such a long red carpet! I thought they were kidding when they told me I will be going up five floors.

Anyway, I just thought to myself, "This is it… this would be my longest and most prestigious moment ever." Ha ha ha!

I was so excited. I didn’t know whether or not I should wave at the people smiling and taking pictures of me.

After walking almost two floors or that red carpet, it was such a relief to find an elevator that would take us to the fifth floor and continue the red carpet all the way to the inside of the hall where they held the opening ceremony.

It was hard to get over the feeling of having that red carpet all to myself. I hope to attend more events like that.

This is officially the longest red carpet I’ve ever walked on. As I write this, my last night here in Bangkok is getting closer and closer.

I’m a little sad and getting even sadder to find the landslide in Leyte all over the newspapers here in Bangkok.

It was just last week when I wrote about how I felt about the stampede. Then here’s another tragic event. I think we should appreciate all the little things and blessings God showers us with everyday, because you can never tell when all that will come to an end.

By the way, allow me to thank the following: Khun Kittipong Prapattong, head of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT); Sadudee "Amy" Sangnil, International Guest Relation Officer of TAT, Dave de Jesus, TAT Marketing Representative in the Philippines, Dol Bhasavanich, General Manager of Thai Airways and Khun Thera Buasri, Station Manager of Thai Airways in Manila.

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