Ogie feels like first-time dad

Curtain-raisers:

•  This is a follow-up to yesterday’s “blind item” about a singer-actress who checked into an elite resort in Bohol with a non-showbiz hunk with whom she stayed inside their rented bungalow for four days (without going out and ordering only “room service”), again from Funfare’s Chocolate Hills DPA: “Why didn’t you mention that the singer-actress footed the bill (P200,000-plus excluding food and drinks)? Charge for the bungalow is P32,650 per day. It is equipped with a private infinity pool, spa pool, a koi pond, a private viewing deck (with a breath-taking view of the sea), an LCD cable TV, a mini-bar, a bathroom, private garden, living room and dining room. Wow, ang saya-sarap ng buhay nila!” Oh well, with today’s high cost of living even happiness is very expensive.

•  A young actor must have felt great relief after doing a soap scene with his estranged actor-father, in which he (the son) screamed at his father and let off quite a mouthful, blaming him for so many things. A case of art imitating life. In real life, the son harbors ill feelings toward his father who left hurting words when he packed up to live with another, younger woman: “Nagsisisi ako na kayo ang naging pamilya ko!” Ouch!!! The son feels deeply for his mom and promises to do everything to make her happy.

•  Is the “romance” between Azkal Phil Younghusband and Angel Locsin for “real” or a gimmick to promote their new endorsement? If a gimmick, then they must have pulled the rug from under several gullible people’s feet. It calls to mind the promo- gimmick for a product Daniel Matsunaga was endorsing, showing him in an Internet video clip that supposedly “caught” him kissing a girl (not his girlfriend Heart Evangelista) inside an elevator. The public felt cheated and didn’t buy it.

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Ogie (third from left) at the Tacloban airport with (from left) Ervic Vijandre (holding Jillian Ward), Michelle Madrigal, Richard Gutierrez and TJ Trinidad — PHOTO BY RAOUL TIDALGO

Already with two tween daughters, Leila and Sarah (with his ex-wife Michelle van Eimeren, now happily remarried to a New Zealander), Ogie Alcasid admitted to Funfare that, with the birth of his and wife Regine Velasquez’s first baby in December, he’s starting to feel like a first-time father.

“I’m older but just the same, pareho pa rin ang excitement,” said Ogie when interviewed at the Tacloban airport last week after he (and fellow Kapuso Kyla and Jillian Ward) performed at an outdoor concert during the city’s fiesta (of the Sto. Niño).

Like Regine, now four months and two weeks pregnant, Ogie said that he also experienced infanticipating (paglilihi).

“I was always sleepy and masungit,” he laughed. “Luckily, Regine didn’t ask for something impossible. All she wanted was Wagyu (Japanese Sirloin Beef, P2,100 per order) which we ordered ‘delivery’ from Toki (the Japanese Fusion & Fine Dining at The Fort, call 856-7295 or 0917-863-5035). The infanticipation period lasted for three months.”

It’s too early to tell if their baby is a boy or a girl but according to Ogie it doesn’t matter as long as it’s healthy. Regine is doing well; her gestational diabetes (something Kris Aquino also suffered from during her pregnancy) is now controlled.

“Regine will undergo an ultrasound during her fifth month of pregnancy. By then, it’s clearer to see the baby. Kadalasan kasi nakadapa siya, so hindi makita kung ano ang gender niya.”

Is he now an expert in changing diapers and heating the feeding bottle?

“Sa baby girls, yes. But I still have to learn how to change the diaper of a baby boy.”

The couple hasn’t chosen a name yet for the baby.

“If a boy, I’m not sure if we will name him Herminio after me,” said Ogie. “Masyadong makaluma,” adding on second thought, “maybe Herminio is okay plus another name.”

Kapuso, Kapamilya stars regale NY Pinoys

Kapuso artists at the Phil-Am Friendship Day parade and festival (from left): Mark Bautista, Jennylyn Mercado, Iza Calzado and Aljur Abrenica (right: reading a copy of The Filipino Reporter) — Photo by Troi Santos

Here’s a follow-up to Funfare’s recent story about the network “war” being waged in the US — in a friendly manner.

“Showbiz enthusiasts in the US East Coast had a field day over the weekend with the presence of some Kapuso and Kapamilya stars,” reports Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre (of The Filipino Reporter).

Kapamilya Sam Milby and KC Concepcion thrilled fans for two days, June 24 and 25, to promote the New York international premiere of their Star Cinema romantic-drama flick Forever And A Day, presented by Ritzberries Productions at the prestigious Tribeca Performing Arts Center (PAC) near the site of the former World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.

Edmund said that the two spent the whole day on June 25 at Tribeca PAC signing autographs and posing for posterity with admirers who spent hours on line to see their idols up close. A day earlier, KC and Sam were at Payag, the popular Filipino restaurant in Queens, N.Y., for a meet-and-greet.

KC and Sam appeared together on stage at the two screenings to formally introduce the movie and thank their supporters.   

“This is the first time that a movie I’m with is having an international premiere,” KC told the crowd. “It’s so exciting and it feels good...thank you very much for coming. We’re really overwhelmed by your presence and support.”

On June 26, it was the turn of the Kapuso stars to excite the East Coast Pinoys at the annual Philippine-American Friendship Day celebration in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Sam Milby and KC Concepcion at the NY premiere of their starrer Forever and a Day

Iza Calzado, Jennylyn Mercado, Mark Bautista and Aljur Abrenica lent star power to the big event and delighted fans of GMA Pinoy TV while on board the Kapuso float.

“Aljur got the loudest screams,” added Edmund. “Even Iza can attest to that as she laughed at the sight of fanatic fans glued to their float as its traversed West Side Avenue heading to Lincoln Park for cultural celebration.”

After the parade, the four GMA stars serenaded the large crowd gathered at Lincoln Park for the cultural festival.

On Monday, June 27, Iza and Aljur toured the Big Apple with their handlers and assistants. Among their stops was the Filipino Reporter (FR) office at the Empire State Building where they were accompanied by parade grand marshal Nena Lozada Kaufman, overall chairman Gani Puertollano, civic leader Lito Pernia, and GMA marketing consultant Grace Labaguis.

Iza and Aljur exchanged pleasantries with the Reporter staff and posed for some Kodak moments.

“New York is such an exciting and vibrant city,” said Iza who was still in town as of June 30 for an R&R. “Hindi nakakasawang balik-balikan.”

(E-mail reactions at [email protected] or at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit http://www.philstar.com/funfare.)