Charice, my inaanak

It was infernal inside that small baptismal room at the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral in Pasig where people are baptized to rid them of the original sin so they can go to heaven.

But I bore the heat. And everyone else in the room with the help of cardboard fans and love for the girl and her brother who were to be baptized.

Charice and Carl became Catholics last May 22. And we were godparents: Kris, Ricky, Charo, Bum, Karen, Gabby, Julius, yours truly and many others like Oprah, David, Ed and Liz. Take note of the billing.

My temerity to bill Oprah and company as “many of them like” — is actually a shameless, facetious admission that Oprah was a gargantuan reason why I was ready to be barbecued alive. I bore her heat because I did not want to pass the opportunity to be kumare of the global superstar even if I knew that she was not to be present. If she did come, she probably would have provided air conditioners for the whole of Pasig City.

During the ceremony, I was actually looking for Oprah’s crew, as there were a number of foreign TV crews. I wanted to give my best smile to Oprah’s cameramen.

Seriously now, I was watching Charice intently. She was like four feet away from us. I’m proud of this girl. Small girl but what a presence! She stood tall in that room where everyone was physically taller than her. There’s a certain confidence in the way she sits, the way she stands, the way she speaks that’s sure but not haughty and never apologetic.

Thank you Charice for making us part of your life. Nothing to do with Oprah but if you can show her our photo, I wouldn’t really mind.

The latest on Zest Air

Sunny Ku of Masterminds Worldwide informed us about the latest on Zest Air. Here’s his story: Zest Air and 106.7 Dream FM threw one of the grooviest launch parties in Boracay to welcome the newest radio station in the island — 97.3 Dream FM Boracay.

Billed Smooth Summer Grooves, it featured three of the most popular programs of Dream namely Smooth Jazz, Decadance and Saturday Spin. On hand to welcome guests was Dream head honcho Mari Lagdameo. Guests include Nuvo’s Louie Ysmael and Chito Melo; Driven Manila’s Domini Primero and Mae Legaspi; Discovery Shore’s Jun Pareño with Salon & Spa owner Victor Ortega.

Kicking off the music fest was an inspired performance by Henry Katindig and his band, with vocals by Oggie Benipayo. As the evening went on, the music of DJ Boyet Almazan and international spin artist DJ Andy Caldwell kept heads bobbing and spirits alive up to the wee hours.

Dubbed as “Asia’s Freshest Airline,” Zest Air offers travelers greater convenience as it flies to Boracay (via Kalibo) six times daily in the relaxing comfort of its Airbus A320 jet planes. Zest Air currently has one of the country’s youngest fleet of aircraft regularly flying to popular destinations all over the country that include Bacolod, Busuanga, Bohol (Tagbilaran), Calbayog, Catarman, Cebu, Clark, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Manila, Marinduque, Masbate, Mindoro (San Jose), Puerto Princesa, Tablas, Tacloban and Virac.

Zest Air also offers great summer values with its very popular and affordable Zestful Getaway Tour Packages. For frequent flyers, Zest Air treats air passengers to the Voyager Pass, a special booklet that offers 11 one-way coupons (10 coupons plus one free) ideal for the individual traveler, groups of friends or for family travel. Simply call Zest Air’s reservation hotline, identify yourself as a Voyager Pass holder, book a flight, present your accomplished coupon at the air terminal and you’re good to go.

 For details, call Zest Air reservation hotline at 855-3333 or log on to www.zestair.com.ph.