CRISTINE REYES is thankful that she’s safe and sound after being trapped on the roof of her house for 12 hours due to Typhoon “Ondoy.”

“Akala ko talaga katapusan ko na,” she gasped. “I never prayed so hard in my entire life. Dasal ako ng dasal na sana tumigil na ang bagyo at may mag rescue sa amin. Thank you to my brothers who saved my pamangkins and to Richard Gutierrez who risked his life to save me.

“Na-realize ko na bale wala mga material things. It’s just our relationship with God that matters in the end. Second life ko na ito. So gagawin ko lahat to be better. Ngayon ligtas na ko, punta ko sa relatives ko para magbigay ng tulong.”

The No. 1 in FHM’s sexiest women list now puts the Lord as numero uno in her life. And so should we all, with or without a raging storm.

Clueless Gabby

Gabby Concepcion is clueless about the real score between his daughter KC and Piolo Pascual. “I don’t ask her because I don’t want her to think nakikialam ako,” he says. “I’ll just wait for her to tell me.” Is he in favor of Piolo for KC? “Oo naman. Mabait at palasimba.”

Has KC introduced him to PJ? “Yup. Natawa ako kasi sabi ni Piolo, ‘Hi Sir.’ Lumingon ako. Akala ko nandun si Gabby Lopez (laughs).”
Gabs may be a lot older than Piolo but in the good looks department, they are equal in pogi points.

No kids yet

Diether Ocampo laughs off rumors that his fab GF Rima is pregnant.
“The time will come for that,” Diet clarifies. “Imagine how adorable our kids will be. She has met my son Dream. It’s a cool sight to see them together. No names for our future kids yet. The wedding should come first.” For now, Diet and Rima are each other’s babies.

‘Starstruck’ auditions

I immensely enjoyed watching the auditions of GMA 7’s phenomenal artista search, “StarStruck V,” in my “second home,” Iloilo. Thousands of aspirants trooped to SM Iloilo to make pabiti (Ilonggo for show off) their stuff.

The artista wannabes gave their all in singing, dancing and acting. They also gamely answered questions of the strict auditions’ master.

One applicant even flew from Canada to try his luck in the Iloilo leg of the screening.

Other contenders who caught my attention were a single mother, a tomboy and a finalist in another reality show.

There was also a guy who had two red hearts painted on his cheeks to cover scars from an earlier suicide attempt—when he tried to iron his face.

Even for just a fleeting moment, the Ilonggos/Ilonggas felt what it was like to have a few seconds of fame while onstage as their kababayans cheered them on.

StarStruck V will be hosted by Carla Abellana, Raymond Gutierrez and Dingdong Dantes.

Will the new “Kapuso” Starstruck winner come from Iloilo, the heart of the Philippines? As we say in Ilonggo—Damgo, Pati, Luwas (Dream, Believe, Survive)!

War-freak ‘Bro’

Could it be true that the actor who portrays Bro in “May Bukas Pa” got enraged when the staff of a telecoms company where he was supposed to pay his bills didn’t recognize him and gave him the runaround?

The buzz is that he brought “Santino” along the next time he went to the telecoms office to prove that he’s part of the show since his face is hardly shown in his scenes.

Perhaps he should internalize his role as Bro even off-cam so that he would be less of a war-freak.

Second season

I am overjoyed that my daily cable TV talk show with Maui Taylor and Ogie Diaz, “Stop, Talk & Listen” is now on its second season. It airs daily, 6 p.m. (with replays at 12 p.m. and 12 a.m.) on Cignal TV’s Viva Cinema Channel.

Ogie has left the show and we are in the process of looking for a replacement.

Maui and I had fun with guest co-host Mr. Fu. We keep things light and candid on the show. No sensationalized stories. Just honest-to-goodness show biz banter and daily dose of chika.

Tattoo exposition

All inky hell broke loose as Tribal Gear hosted the country’s grandest annual tattoo exposition, “Dutdutan ’09,” at the A Venue Events Hall in Makati. This year, they gathered not only the country’s best local tattoo artists, but also acclaimed inkers from Malaysia, Saipan, Singapore, France, New Zealand and Holland.

Event highlights were exhibition fights of professional URCC (Universal Reality Combat Championship) fighters, Bikini open contest and a music fest featuring Kamikazee, Pedicab, Urbandub and more. Dutdutan ’09 unified the local Tribal clique and reminds them of the brand’s ideals.

E-mail wateringholeshangrila@yahoo.com