He works hard for the money

RADIO DJ and TV host Mo Twister is working very hard to buy his dream apartment in New York City.

“It is one of my favorite cities. Most of my vacation time is spent either there or in Paris. I was there four times last year, and in Paris, three times,” he said, as he welcomed Living Stars into his tastefully furnished three-bedroom condo in Makati.

He recently opened a bank account for his dream project. “I visit the bank every single day to deposit money. I have to do this for the next three or five years. Hopefully, by then, the money would be enough for a down payment,” said the 33-year-old host of FM station Magic 89’s “Good Times with Mo” and TV5’s “Juicy” and “Paparazzi.”

An avid practitioner of digital photography, Mo proudly displays pictures from his travels. Mounted on the walls of his Makati condo are snapshots of New York, Los Angeles, Paris and London. “There are also pictures of my favorite basketball players which I took when I covered the NBA. I also have photos of Africa,” he said.

Each bathroom has pictures taken by FrancisM. “He’s my bathroom guy,” Mo quipped. “I have pictures of (Francis’ sons) Elmo and Arkin.”

The condo unit has a minimalist look, courtesy of Mo’s friend Ria Bernardino. Most of the furniture were either custom-made or bought from Bo Concept.

Known for his lively personality, Mo lives alone—with only his dog to keep him company. “I rarely have guests,” he said. “I don’t really have a barkada.”

The place is quiet and dark most of the time, he added. “I have a long dining table that nobody uses, except when I work on my laptop.”

Renovated space

He actually had the condo unit renovated before moving in two years ago. “I used to live in hotels,” he said. “The house is a little too big for me, but it’s OK. I have a lot of storage space for my gadgets.”

Seven TV sets were installed all over the house, “even in the bathrooms,” Mo said. Speakers and lights are built-in and operated using Bluetooth.

The kitchen, which features wooden cupboards and chocolate-colored tiles, was built by Furn Italia in Taguig City. He doesn’t use it much, but Mo’s friends and relatives who love to cook converge there when they come over. “I have a really nice coffee maker, something you see in coffee shops, even though I never even drink coffee,” he confessed. “I have one refrigerator for all my leftover food and another for other stuff.”

His bed, bought from a store in SM Megamall, has a Tempur-Pedic rubber foam mattress. He got it because somebody told him it was cool.

Among the rooms in his condo, the bathroom is apparently his favorite: “I have a big bathtub. I spend a lot of time here having bubble baths. That’s very feminine of me. Plus, I have an overhead shower and another that comes off the side of the wall— like in a car wash.”

The bathroom wall mirror also functions as a message board. He and a former girlfriend used to leave sweet messages to each other on it, using colorful crayons. During this pictorial, Mo wrote “I Miss U” on the mirror, presumably meant for his current sweetheart, actress-TV host Rhian Ramos.

Mo plans to transform one room into a workstation: “I recently mounted a computer with a wireless keyboard here. This is where I write the script for my radio show. I might turn this into a recording studio for my podcast. I plan to sound-proof it so I can do that.”

The most extravagant showcase in the condo is Mo’s aquarium of saltwater fish. “I keep the tank cool. It’s air-conditioned 24 hours a day. There’s a digital thermometer that I keep at 26 degrees centigrade. This is why my electric bill is never below P20,000,” he said.

Displayed prominently in the living room is an authentic didgeridoo from Australia. “I don’t know how to play it,” said Mo, blowing into the instrument and making a droning noise. “Mine broke and a friend replaced it with this one.”

Mo showed us a bicycle he bought during a recent trip to London. “I use it around Makati, usually at night when it’s not too warm anymore,” he said.

The self-confessed “super romantic” confessed that he buys almost everything abroad, the better to remind him of cherished moments while traveling.

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