Ogie Alcasid
What a delight it was to bond with my good friend Ogie Alcasid at the opening of his cozy Japanese restaurant, Hungry Samurai (on Tomas Morato in Quezon City, across Alfredo’s). The fête was devoid of anything show biz, just an intimate gathering of friends.
I prefer simple get-togethers, like what we had that night, to grandiose balls. No contrived beso-besos, only heartfelt encounters.
Spotted at the celebration were Vhong Navarro, Randy Santiago, Bayani and Len Agbayani, Gelli de Belen, Dennis Padilla, and Rochelle and Arthur Solinap. We enjoyed taking a break from the show biz circus to just chill.
“It’s always a nice feeling to feed people,” Ogie quipped. “Especially when they keep coming back because they like our food. My wife Regine and I love our version of tonkatsu. But I’m a noodle person. I can eat pancit or ramen every day.”
Ogie totally cracked us up with his off-the-record anecdotes and rendition à la Korean Oppa of his wacky composition, “Maga Na Me, Manas Na Me” (I’m swollen, I’m bloated).
The master songwriter has never been busier. He has four shows in the Kapamilya network, an indie movie with Piolo Pascual in the works, and he is all agog preparing for his 30th anniversary concert, “OA,” on Aug. 24 at the Big Dome (call Ticketnet at 9115555).
“I’m looking forward to it, ” he beamed. “And it will be a different kind of high to perform with the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra.” The OPM icon is happy being busy—and busy being happy.
I was seated beside Vhong at Ogie’s party, so we got to chat. He told me that he also plans to put up a business just like Ogie, but he’s still deciding what kind of biz he’ll venture into. Vhong was raving about the joys of fatherhood (since June is Father’s Day month).
“I’ve learned from my sons that parents must also listen to their kids,” he pointed out. “Because what we want for our kids isn’t always what they want.”
Vhong is never too much of a father to be a friend to his grownup sons, Isaiah and Fredriek.
***
Rainy days are always great TV-marathon weather. However, it poses a challenge when you’re battling it out with three other ultracompetitive personalities to become the first FOX+ Showdown champion.
Luis Manzano, Alex Gonzaga, Wil Dasovich and Alodia Gosiengfiao all took to their glass boxes for some extreme streaming of their favorite shows on FOX+.
Alodia, who turned out to be the dark horse in the competition, went home with a travel package worth P500,000. Visit www.foxplus.com for info.