(Thumbs up) Back to home bliss
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:45:00 07/06/2008
MANILA, Philippines - If business tycoon Tonyboy Cojuangco is looking cool, if not jubilant, these days, it could be because domestic stability, or even bliss, appears to have been restored.
Since he fell in love with one of the most beautiful Filipinas, Gretchen Barretto, this low-key businessman has been anything but private, with no effort on his part. The couple are the most talked about—across media platforms, in fact—through the highs and lows, and highs again of their relationship.
Apparently this is another high in their cycle.
After and amid rumors that didn’t seem to end—mostly linking Gretchen to other men—Gretchen and he seem to have made up yet again, if people close to them are to be believed.
Talk of their estrangement was the loudest only two weeks ago when Gretchen suffered the public embarrassment of seeing her credit card rejected during a dinner treat for friends Ruffa Gutierrez and Pops Fernandez. (It turned out it was just a transaction glitch.)
Also, Tonyboy has been more visible at socials—looking cheery—and was said to be his old suave, charming self again, not excluded from the dating scene.
But he’s now back apparently, not in social circulation—but in Gretchen’s arms. It seems that the two have agreed to give it another try, and Gretchen is putting her daughter above all else, including a romantic thrill.
(Thumbs down, Thumbs up) Gossip website says bye
Is the dirt-dishing fun over for the people behind chikatime.com?
It appears to be so. Last Friday, the site posted its “farewell” with a photo of a casually clad Lindsay Lohan flashing a peace sign: “The time has come and we write this in peace.”
The end came after Jenni Epperson posted on her own blog (www.jenniepperson.com) last July 2 that she had discovered the identity of the people behind it. Chikatime signed out.
One of Jenni’s web-savvy readers did all the sleuthing work and gave her the details—from his IP address and his current location to his hang-outs and monthly income. “I’m overwhelmed with the facts and information I have,” Jenni said in her blog.
Last Thursday, Jenni gave the people behind what she calls “Chickentime” a 24-hour deadline, asking them to “re-open the site for public viewing, delete their previous posts, retract their malicious lies, apologize to all the victims” and create a link to Jenni’s site leading people to “the truth about Chikatime.”
Chikatime appears to have complied and did one better—disappearing from the Internet altogether: “para wala nang gulo, we apologize to everyone we wrote about. Madami din kaming na-offend . . . salamat sa inyong lahat at paalam. Abangan ang chikatime the moving, coming soon!”
(Thumbs down)Bambi Harper gets death threats
New Intramuros Administration head Bambi Harper has been getting death threats apparently over her attempts to restore the old glory of Old Manila.
“Bambi’s been receiving death threats,” said Joan Orendain, a culture advocate, “and so has her driver.”
Allied with Harper in her campaign to put the luster back in the Walled City are property owners and the major schools—Letran, Santa Rosa, Mapua, Lyceum, and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.
Their campaign is again what Orendain calls as “vested interests”—beer joints and honky-tonks, “drug rings” operating on “Banana Island” near Letran, and local officials allied with the squatters.
(Thumbs up)Designer toys for big boys
At the start, designer toys embodied the youthful alternative culture wherein adult collectors valued their individuality of expression. Lately, these toys are perceived as lucrative investments with high resale value on eBay.
Although limited-edition vinyl toys have been around for a decade, it’s been catching on in the Philippines only the past two years.
Collectible vinyl toys were made hot in 1996 by a cult boutique in Tokyo. Designers behind this cutting-edge store began offering limited numbers of vinyl toys evocative of pop culture icons.
When the toys were released, fans would queue and the next day, the resale worth of the sold-out toys would triple or quadruple their original cost.
Graphic designers, ad agency artists and illustrators came out with their own toys, which are considered as art pieces rather than playthings.
Because of the Internet, the craze spread from Japan, Hong Kong, the US and UK.
Businessman Big Boy Cheng established Fresh! on Srgt. Esguerra Street, Quezon City to supply limited-edition toys. Anthony Yupangco handles Fresh! Domani at the New World Renaissance.
Local devotees of these toys are the likes of Borgy Manotoc and model-girlfriend Ornussa Cadness, broadcasters Julius Babao and Jay Taruc, record producer and rapper Francis Magalona, actors Richard Gutierrez, John Pratts, and Jay Cuenca, and such bands as Sandwich and Black Pencil, MTV VJ Sib Sibulo and advertising agencies.
One of the most popular brands is Kidrobot. Its most popular products are Dunny and Munny, blank-faced vinyl figure on which you paint yourself. The concept was inspired by graffiti and stencil art.
Another iconic design is the To-Fu series, inspired by the Japanese television. It costs P1,000 on sale.
These toys are bought by ad agencies as design inspirations for creative packaging. The older and rarer they get, the higher the prices at eBay than their original retailing.
Yupangco was surprised to discover that the designer toys have a cult following. These toys are precious enough that many consumers leave a new purchase unopened in its box, hoping to carry on its spiraling resale value on eBay.
Yupangco cites one toy wherein the artist’s prototype costs P40,000 while the original toy fetched only P3,800.
Fresh! Domani has a toy of artist Jermaine Rogers’ head attached to a blue pig. This costs P60,000.
One of his interesting products is the Yummy Breakfast key chain which includes the search for the mystery object. The buyer gets the thrill from hunting for that elusive item. That’s one of the reasons behind this designer toy craze. “It’s like buying your happiness for little things,” says Yupangco.
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