Of course, everyone now is talking about the new boxoffice queen – KATHRYN BERNARDO. As analysts say, Kathryn Bernardo is the first and only Filipina actress who breached the 800-Million mark for two movies. One was last 2018 for The Hows of Us and the other one is Hello Love Goodbye for this year 2019. But her current Hello has dethroned The Hows as the bigger moneymaker. So, does that mean that the public prefers Kathryn without Daniel P?
When I talked to Kathryn recently in San Francisco, I did not notice that Daniel whose back was turned to us was listening.
B: Kathryn, the new Reyna ng Takilya! So how does that feel? I asked.
K: Po?… She blushed. “Wala pong nabago..Yan po ba ang sabi nila. I am so happy but it is the entire project that really attracted the crowd. Hindi lang po ako. My director, my leading man, the story, nagkataon lang po ako ang leading actress.”
Said with extreme humility and I stole a glance at her Mom MIN who gave a winsome smile approvingly, admiring her daughter.
D: “Tita, magaling sya talaga,” Daniel P who surprised us by joining the casual gabfest added, now putting his arms around her. “I am so proud of my LOVE.”
Later, I was in a private conversation with MIN.
B: What factors do you think added to Kathryn’s success?
Min: We are happy about her success but honestly, wala naman talagang naiiba. I mean, we are an ordinary family. I just make sure that I am around to assist her. I have not changed with the way I deal with Kathryn. Always reminding her of the values of life and the unwritten code about behavior. Ang gusto ko sa batang iyan, she listens. When I reprimand her, and this rarely happens – she is quiet and apologetic. Kathryn is an ideal daughter, wala akong masabi.
And now tongues wag: Does this mean na Daniel and Kathryn will now do fewer films together? Daniel probably will be teamed up with other actresses (except Julia Barreto, kasi ayaw ni Kathryn? Don’t get us wrong – Kathryn kasi said na “The age factor, parang di sila bagay, Julia is too young for Daniel”).
“We expected this to happen,” Kathryn said. “While we are a team on and off screen, there will be times na we will be paired with others.”
Will this affect their current status as sweethearts?
“I don’t think so,” Kathryn replied.
“No, in fact, lalo kaming nagmamahalan ngayon,” Daniel quipped.
Abangan ang susunod na kabanata.
Yes, one popular teleserye nowadays of TFC/ABS-CBN is Nang Ngumiti Ang Langit. Online we had the chance to talk to Matet de Leon.
“It is not easy for me now to shoot frequently I don’t have household help now— but I am not complaining. This is a big blessing!” Matet said if she did not become an actress, she would have been practicing as an OB/GYN (a physician who specializes in women’s health.)
“When I was offered the role, I immediately read the script. First page pa lang, sold na ako. I love the series!”
I asked Matet if her being an adopted daughter of Nora helped her to be a better performer. “I am sure, kahit na di kami blood-related. I was exposed early to showbiz.”
What is the one thing she cannot forget about MAMA GUY?
“Her thoughtfulness – I vivldly recall that day — lahat kaming mga anak niya inimbita. Yun pala, pinasara niya ang Fiesta Carnival so we all could have the place to ourselves.”
We missed a lot of concerts for 2 and a half weeks here in Toronto but still overwhelmed by the huge public support for the Taste of Manila. It is not yet too late for us to congratulate the entire staff and crew that scored a record-breaking attendance which meant more monies at the coffers. Amazing talaga!
So, where were we?
After being in Western Europe last June and July with my entire family from PINAS, we found ourselves returning to Europe, this time at the Eastern side last August and September in the company of my good friend David Farmer (and wife LOREN), a prominent attorney from Honolulu who is also the President of the Screen Actors Guild of Hawaii. David has appeared in some teleseryes back home and well acquainted with Susan Roces, Grace Poe, Bibeth Orteza and hubby Carlitos Siguion Reyna – he is also quite busy staging plays in Honolulu.
We have witnessed David’s sentimental journey to his hometown in Heidelberg. I wondered, how do you reconnect with a past that spans for a few decades – trying to remember how the gazebo looked like and how you ran far and wide into your playground with green trees and flowers, hearing the birds chip and the dogs bark? It isn’t just buying a ticket to revisit an old home, it is also rediscovering who you really are – reliving some sentiments that made you what you have become. Yes, We’re misty eyed as we joined DAVID in this emotional trip.
’Twas a glorious summer day when it happened early September… The gates opened to a lush garden and we were welcomed by the new resident, a very nice young German guy named Sebastian whose family is engaged in a printing press business. Sebastian was happy to welcome David.
What did David exactly feel? “Mixed feelings as I expected, but overall joy at seeing how time has been kind to the house and the neighborhood. A joyful feeling of renewal and resurrection.”
Made us ask David – will this mean that he might consider returning to Heidelberg and be a resident there once more? “I think it will be my last visit. Part of the mission beyond seeing it again was to show Loren as many places I have lived as I could. NYC, Florida, and Hawaii have all been accomplished!”
But I am sure that the writer/director in David might produce a film project or tv special about Heidelberg soon….”Still percolating what the experiences might produce. Incubation time. I will let you know. It would have definitely left me sad with a feeling of finality and a kind of death. I suppose a bittersweet invocation of Thomas Wolfe’s You Can’t Go Home Again.”
David remembered, “When we lived there, houses on the block were still in rubble. Our attic had damage from the bombs as well. Today it’s in a very upscale neighborhood completely transformed since 1952 when we left. In a way, it stands as a living symbol of the German post war economic miracle…”
Since David is now “half-Filipino” being married to Loren for the past 30 years, we three explored and tried to trace the footsteps of our national hero Jose Rizal both in Heidelberg and Vienna. For 3 days we did this and we’re all pleased with what we found.
As we all know, Jose Rizal wrote “To the Flowers of Heidelberg” (originally in Spanish) on April 24, 1886 while he was in Germany and felt a deep longing for his family and his country. Heidelberg, is a college town of southwest Germany, reputed for its universities and romantic cityscape. Surrounded by forested hills, it sits on the banks of the Neckar River.
We’re pleased to inform you that mostly young and middle aged students of Heidelberg know Rizal so well, we have asked and inquired everyone that we met and they do acknowledge our hero and speak of him with great respect and awe.
As research shows, the young Rizal arrived in Heidelberg on Feb. 3, 1886, from Paris and immediately fell in love with the beautiful city where our hero stayed for six months and composed the poem “To the Flowers of Heidelberg,”.
While in Heidelberg, Rizal studied the German language, attended lectures in ophthalmology as an observer under Dr. Otto Becker and professor Wilhelms Kuehne and trained under two outstanding ophthalmologists, Dr. Becker and Dr. Galezowsky, in the “Augen Klinik” or eye clinic.
Nick Joaquin who translated Rizal’s poem to English said that “the poem is one of the most charming poems, luminous, not black, musical, not curt.” It was published in the December 1896 issue of La Solidaridad.
Rizal stayed for a while in a three-story apartment at Lutwigsplatz No. 12 Grebangasse in front of University of Heidelberg. The first floor of the place where Rizal used to live now houses a bookstore. It was here where Rizal wrote his nostalgic poem .
To pay tribute to the National Hero, a bronze marker placed at the façade of this well-preserved boarding-house reads: “In this building, former Ludwigsplatz 12, Rizal lived from Feb. 18 to June 1886. His poem ‘A las Flores de Heidelberg’ was written here on April 22, 1886. Embassy of the Philippines, June 19, 1960.”
Another marker was affixed at the entrance of the University Eye Clinic where our young doctor trained in ophthalmology.
Further information revealed that Rizal then moved to Wilhelmsfeld. From Wilhelmsfeld, he would regularly commute to and from Heidelberg in this 12-km stretch. Wilhelmsfeld, a mountainous village with ancient trees on the hillside of Odenwald in West Germany, can be reached 30 minutes by car through a pine forest and zigzag roads from Heidelberg.
Rizal was a house guest of Pastor Karl Ullmer, with whom Rizal had a chance meeting earlier while strolling along the Philosophen Weg (Philosopher Way), a “scenic path along the banks of Neckar River which overlooks Heidelberg’s majestic castle.” Pastor Karl became Rizal’s devoted friend. Rizal’s stay with the Ullmers gave him the chance to make incredible progress in speaking and writing in German.
In this idyllic setting, he finished writing the last chapters of his first novel, “Noli Me Tangere,” as well as made crucial revisions on the draft.
In Heidelberg, he was astounded with the flowers along the Neckar River, especially the blue forget-me-nots, which made him compose the popular poem, To the Flowers of Heidelberg, an expression of his sadness as he remembered his family whom he loved so much.
(Rizal completed his studies in Spain, his “secret mission”- was to observe keenly the life and culture , languages and customs, industries and commerce, and government and laws of European nations in order to prepare himself in liberating his oppressed people from Spanish tyranny.)
We spent like 2 hours searching for Rizal’s place in Heidelberg, starting at the Student’s Prison located behind the favorite university’s store (The store manager showed us the route how to get there). What is this prison all about? Today, that jail –with its original fixtures and graffiti–offers a glimpse into student life at the University of Heidelberg before World War I.
(Of course we paid a small fee to enter this preserved site from the past). From its foundation in 1386 and until World War I, Heidelberg University had jurisdiction over unruly students. Depending on your misdemeanor, you could land a sentence of anything from 24 hours to 4 weeks in the Studentenkarzer (student lock-up). The most common offenses? Loud singing in the city lanes, inappropriate behavior in public as a result of inebriation, and participation in illegal fencing duels, knocking a local constable’s cap off with a stick. Whilst here in the prison you were allowed to attend classes, as well as decorate the walls with paintings and verse. You could have food and beer brought in from the outside. And as the 19th century waltzed along, things loosened up even more; soon visitors were allowed in the prison. Can you imagine the parties!
We returned to Vienna after 3 days in Heidelberg and upon our return, while still under the Rizal mode, our friend Mandy Salonga led us to this historical site where Rizal also made a brief visit in May of 1887. The Rizal site in Vienna was known then as the Metropole Hotel which used to stand at the site where a marker is now installed. The marker was unveiled in June 19, 1995 in commemoration of the 134th birth anniversary of Rizal. Notes show that it was in Austria where Rizal had a historic meeting with the Austrian scholar, Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt, who gave Rizal the encouragement to finish his two novels which fueled the Philippine Revolution of 1896 that consequently resulted in the independence of the Philippines from Spain.
The marker, containing a German text, reads as follows in its English translation:
Dr. José P. Rizal (1861 – 1896)
“Dr. José P. Rizal, national hero of the Philippines, stayed at the Metropole Hotel on 20 to 24 May 1887 on this site. An Austrian schoolmaster, Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt supported Rizal’s campaign in Europe against the Spanish colonial regime in the Philippines.”
We later found out while touring Salzburg that Rizal also stayed here – but only for a day or so. We left Vienna still wondering if there’s truth to the issue that our dear national hero was never officially listed as a student in Heidelberg. Maybe we can explore that in a future trip.