If you could have a memento of a famous person, what would it be?

Having the chance to meet a famous personality is an experience we can never forget. What more if we could have a memento that we could touch and  take home with us? If you had the opportunity to have something from someone famous, what would it be?

REEMA CHANCO, TV host and sports enthusiast: I would love to have one of Elvis’ concert outfits (shades, jumpsuit and boots plus guitar) because my father adored him!

DR. ARNEL NUGUID, pediatrician: I’m a hopeless romantic.  I’d like to have the love letters of Dr. Jose Rizal to Leonor Rivera.

RICA TANTOCO DE JESUS, entrepreneur: The diamond earrings of Oprah Winfrey. Oprah inspire me.  She has become very successful because she is able to influence a lot of people, helping them uplift their lives and inspiring them. Nice diamonds are very rare and they are something I wish I could own one day. Diamond is also my birthstone.  Her diamond earrings symbolize the work she has done for many people.

KATRINA PONCE ENRILE, president and CEO, JAKA Group of Companies: There are two things that come immediately to mind, and first on my list, for the gourmet in me, would be the secret recipe book of Helene An, the matriarch of the An family who fled South Vietnam a few hours before the Communist takeover of Saigon. A member of Vietnamese royalty, Helene An introduced fusion dishes that she used to enjoy as a child in San Francisco’s Bay Area, and established the An family’s  “Secret Kitchen” where the specialty dishes of Thanh Long Restaurant and Crustacean Restaurant are prepared only by family members. Among the dishes are the roasted garlic crab, now known the world over as the Thanh Long Crab and the famous garlic noodles, which people are known not to mind lining up for for hours at a time just to get a taste of it. These are but a few of the delectable dishes whose recipes can only be found in the secret family recipe book, and I can only imagine what the other recipes are and what they taste like. No trip to San Francisco would be complete without having dinner at Thanh Long Restaurant.

For the hopeless romantic that all women are, at a certain point in their lives, a close second would be the engagement ring given by Prince Charles to Princess Diana. Theirs was a fairy tale wedding that captivated the whole world, and I am sure all the women at that time would have loved to be in Princess Di’s shoes. If there were one memento of Princess Di that I would like to have, it would be one that is reminiscent of her happy times.

ANN SEE LEVISTE, entrepreneur: Grace Kelly’s Kelly Bag (the one she used to cover her pregnancy when she was pregnant with her first baby). That picture made Hermes famous and so the bag Kelly was named after her. She made Hermes the name that it is today.

RANDY ORTIZ, fashion designer: I would love to own a dress of Audrey Hepburn created by the great fashion designer Hubert Givenchy.  She’s an all-time favorite fashion icon best described for her elegance and distinct sense of style.  And how the collaboration with master Givenchy has inspired the world to this day and the image that created has remained immortal.

BOBBY ANDREWS, actor: The sword Excalibur of King Arthur.

SYMON SOLER, actor/singer: I would like to have Jim Carrey’s $10-million check that he made out to himself. I remember in one of his interviews, he said that when he was still a budding actor in Hollywood, he wrote himself a check, post-dated for Thanksgiving of ’95, to motivate himself to better his work and get out of his depression. It actually worked as he got an offer amounting to $10 million to do The Mask later that year. Alas, though, he said that he slipped the famous check into his father’s coffin when he passed away. I just love this story and it inspires me a lot. It tells me not to give in to depression but instead work hard and always have a positive outlook on life. There is a right time for everything and the perfect time will come. When this happens, though, we will reap the benefits of our hard work and patience. Just have faith.