Happy 15th Birthday, Cosmo!

It's not too late to grab Cosmopolitan Philippines' special 15th anniversary issue!

 

Cosmo celebrated the milestone with a party at NBC Tent. Check out the cute, glowing cocktail tabletop! 

I normally don't like attending big events, but for Cosmo (and EIC Myrza Sison), I made an exception. Here I am with the goddess herself (in pink) and GH's associate publisher, Melody.

 

Attire was "sexy formal." I would've totally rocked this dress three years ago when I was at my fittest. But I just sucked it up (and sucked it in) and made like a true Cosmo girl and owned it--lumps and all. Har.

Happy anniversary, Cosmo! Cheers to 15 years of fun, fabulous fearlessness!

Of Taho and Fairy Godmothers

He works hard for the moneh. (Photo from here. No copyright infringement intended.)

On some mornings, when we're too lazy to cook a proper breakfast, my husband and I buy cups of taho from the neighborhood vendor, who passes by our house at approximately the same time each day. Taho, to my dear foreign readers, is a snack/drink made of soft tofu, arnibal (a syrupy brown sweetener), and tapioca pearls. It's warm (although mall kiosks sell a cold version) and costs about 10 pesos a cup (that's about 25 cents).

Our own manong taho is much like other taho vendors throughout the country--he walks around the neighborhood carrying two large aluminum cans attached to a yoke, which he hitches over one shoulder. His face is weathered and brown, after years of walking under the heat of our tropical sun. And he's got the well-modulated voice that calls out "Tahooo!" every few steps, heralding his arrival on our street. (I'm convinced that all taho vendors go to Taho School to get that pitch-perfect tone.)

We were surprised when, one day, he pedaled by on a bike, an attached umbrella shielding him from the summer sun, his aluminum cans resting in a sidecar. He happily told us that it was given to him by a suki, someone from one of the nearby streets who's been a loyal customer for 30 years. "Malaking tulong (It's a big help)," he said, his voice filled with such gratitude and happiness that it just warmed my heart.

"Mga P3,500 din ang nagasta niya diyan (He/she spent about P3,500 on it)," he said of his suki/fairy godmother. And while P3,500 doesn't seem like much to a sheltered lass like me, I realized that it was a lot of money for someone who sells taho for ten bucks a pop.

I always thought that helping someone, making a difference, meant devoting so much time and energy that I didn't have enough of--volunteering every week, donating truckloads of money. But now I know that even little things can help. Even a small gesture on our part could mean the world to someone else--so let's go out there and do a good deed, however insignificant it may seem.

A Funny Thing Happened at Work

I was at a TV station, interviewing a big star, when another big star passed by. She exchanged pleasantries with my interview subject before tapping me on the shoulder, giving me a big smile, and kissing me on the cheek--she seemed so happy to see me. This was made surprising by the fact that we had never met each other before that!

This leads me to believe that 1) big stars normally just say hi to all people, in case they had met them before (a snub--especially of a member of the press--might get rumor mills churning, I suppose), and 2) this particular big star must be a terrific actress. She seemed genuinely pleased to see me!

She didn't stick around long enough for us to have a conversation, so it was just a funny incident. But in other cases, it's downright awkward. I have a very bad memory when it comes to people's names and faces, so this happens a lot. (My husband remembers my college batchmates better than I do--and he's from an older batch!) What do you do when you run into someone you supposedly know but can't for the life of you even remember? I know, I'm terrible.:s