8. Look What I Found: MY 1st NOVEL at 12

Now here’s another find while I was organizing our grand old bookcase---my first book! Yes, at age 12, I was a "published" author.

 I told you I was born to write. I think I was emboldened to write this “novel” after an article of mine saw print on the school paper. Mind you, I did not just write this book, I also wrote it longhand using an old fountain pen, chapter by chapter, page by page. Then, I bound it, sewing the folios and using a blue cartolina as a cover. It used to have a dust jacket, with a colored picture clipped from a magazine, but that has since disintegrated a long time ago. I think it took me a year to finish my obra maestra.

 So now, I hold again this first ‘book’, once lost and now found, tucked between our old family tomes. I cringed when I scanned the pages. What was I thinking when I wrote this literary abomination? But back then, I thought I had written a masterpiece.

 BESTSELLER OR BUST. My cartolina-covered book, with a self-designed logo, written at 12, finished at 13. This used to have a dustjacket, but that didn't make the story any more interesting!.

 The title of my “ARC Classic” is:--The Piece of Paper. I will spare you the gory story details because I am embarrassed just by recalling them. In one sentence, this is the saga of a rich man’s daughter, reared by a peasant family due to a cruel twist of fate, who underwent horrible torture in the hands of a haciendero who turned out to be her father after her baptismal certificate (the piece of paper, remember?) was found. I think I combined the storylines of the Prince and the Pauper, Les Miserables, Wuthering Heights and Noli Me Tangere in creating the convoluted plot, which was not only horrible, but downright impossible.

 THE PIECE OF CRAP, ERR, PAPER. The title page of my handwritten book masterpiece. Written and printed by Alexander R. Castro (c) 1970. (Aba, may copyright pa! )And such temerity to proclaim--"No part of this book may be reproduced without permission of the author". Hahaha. Who would want to pirate this book?

 In 19th century Philippines where the story was set (yes, for my first opus, I wanted a period novel), baptismal certificates did not exist—birth details were recorded on thick church ledgers. To lend an air of authenticity, I even included Spanish lines in the book, mostly cuss words.

The first readers of my book were my next-door cousins, who gave my novel fabulous reviews. I think my pride came crashing back to earth when my uncle borrowed and returned it to me after an hour, saying that there’s so much senseless verbiage and flowery words, it bored him to death and couldn’t sleep afterwards.

 IN HIS OWN WRITE. In fairness, my handwriting was good and legible. I wish I could say the same for the plot of my novel. One day, I'm going to put up a family museum and this opus will have a place of honor in the exhibit. Good idea?

 Was I miffed! “The Piece of Paper”—a piece of crap? I'll show him! One day, I will win a Pulitzer! And so, I immediately went to work on a second book, a more ambitious project done in collaboration with my kid sister. I always believed that 2 heads are better than 1! I am sure I have that book in a box somewhere.. (ITUTULOY)

7. BAGUIO BOY II: Take Me Home, Session Road

ME AND DOG. At our 3-storey Session Road flat, shared with the Dimacalis. My brother Gregg and I shared the ground floor with the Dimacali's pet, Dog.

Cold, cramped and damp. That's how I remember our first Baguio home, but our place was right smack on Session Road. The Dimacalis, friends of Manong Nanding and kabalens, lived atop us. Next-door neighbor was good old Tea House, ran by George and Elsie. I went there for their tasty Fruit Pie and Cinnamon Rolls!

BEDROOM BOYS. Our room was at the very end of the hall, half-buried in stone and concrete. It was dark, damp and very cold so we had a small heater to warm us up. Unfortunately, one night, my pillow fell on the heater and nearly set our room on fire. So the heater had to go.

If you go right, you’ll find Fireplace and Tesoro’s at the corner, and just farther down—Cid’s Book Store. Also on this strip, there’s the “Love Radio”—DWBW—the radio station where I had my internship, with me doing the graveyard shift!

ON BOARD! Doing my graveyard shift over at the Love Radio. I played mostly OPM and the hits of the day. Then I tried being conceptual with my approach, doing some poetry reading, but it didn't catch on. Looking back now, that was silly indeed!

There was Koken’s Barber Shop where I got my haircut and Jack’s News Stand at the corner for my daily paper. Crossing Assumption, one would find Cid's Book Store, and also on this strip, the Love Radio, DWBW, did its broadcast. It was here where I had my internship, assigned to the graveyard shift! For my haircuts, I went to Koken's Barber Shop (my barber was a kabalen) while I got my dailies over at Jack's News Stand.

STUDENT, DAZED. I was still a Chemistry major here, balancing equations and titrating KMnO4. Then, in my 3rd year, I shifted to Communication Arts.

To the left of our place would be the steps leading to the Cathedral. D&S Supermarket was at the very end, across Old Pagoda Shop where a wisened old Chinese lady read fortunes and sold Buddha amulets. BCF or Baguio Colleges Foundation and the Victory Liner bus station was but a few paces away. Directly right across us is the imposing Skyland Condominium, newly constructed and filled with swanky shops and merchandise one would find in Manila.

NIECES THREE. Charnelle, Charmaine and Charisse. Dondi, the only boy, would complete the Hamada family in 1978. Now, all have grown up, married with their own kids in New Jersey and Florida. But back then, they were just our Baguio darlings!

When Manong’s family grew (my nieces Charisse, Charmaine and Charnelle came in one swift succession), we moved to a real nice house on General V. Lim St., at the foot of Legarda Road. Actually, we rented the lower half of the Saycon house, which was still very capacious for 7or 8 people, househelps included. We were now neighbors with Uncle Matt and Auntie Auring, and my cousin Marlene would conveniently pass for me in her noisy Volkswagen when we went to school. Oh yes, we were classmates too!

LOUISIAN FOREVER! Moments of boredom drove me to doodle on my ID.

I think I enjoyed my university days more than high school. It was at Saint Louis that I really learned and had fun at the same time, even if I false-started with a wrong course--Chemistry! Shifting to Communications after 2 years, I gave vent to my artistic pursuits--writing, directing, producing , performing. I had a tightly-knit clique and we always moved as a pack, hanging out at Diego Silang Canteen, often attracting attention.

BAGUIO'S GOT TALENT. The talent-quiz contests sponsored by the College of Commerce were eagerly awaited by students annually. I joined 3 times-- a different category every year, and placed in all: 1st in Spelling, 2nd in Original Composition and 2nd in Group Singing,

Unconsciously, we had become popular figures--topping scholarship tests and talent shows, winning academic awards and being casted in high-profile university events.

SKOLAR NG BUNDOK. I pipped my first cousin Marlene Sheryl for full scholarship but she graduated with a Magna, and I went home empty-handed as I lacked tenure in the college and had some previous dropped subjects.

We were young, we were loud, we were irreverent. Our voices were heard over the radio and our feats were written about in local papers. And we lapped it all up!

LUKSONG TINIK. One summer, my groupie--Kinie, Francis, Chum-chum and Jojo--decided to co-produce a concert. And so, we hastily formed Luksong Tinik Productions and brought the New Minstrels and Ronnie Henares to Baguio.

Since our very own school wouldn't let us use their auditorium, we held the concert at a rival school, University of Baguio! We earned flak for that but also a thousand pesos each for our enterprising efforts!

 I stayed with my Manong's family till I graduated in 1978, a year overdue. That year, Dondi--my sister's only son and the youngest--was born, prompting the Hamadas to move one more time, but still along Gen. Lim St., just 3 houses up. Even while working in Manila, I would find time to take the bus to Baguio and visit them once in a while, until they left for New Jersey in 1981. At every given opportunity, I would pack my bags and hie off to Baguio. I remember, I would intentionally put the setting of a commercial I was doing in Baguio, so I could revisit the old place!

CONFUSIONS OF AN AD MAN. Two years out of college and already in advertising, my articles were still seeing print on the school paper, The Saint Louis' Chronicle, thanks to the editor--and my mentor--Prof. Noly Balatero.

Then there were the Ad Congresses that were often held in the city’s convention center every 2 years.. Such industry events allowed me to go on official, and extended visits to the city. I would return in 1984, under sadder circumstances, when my cousin Marlene passed away, and again in 1997—my Uncle Matt, this time.

THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE. In 1981, I did my first TV commercial shoot on familiar grounds--Baguio!. The ad was for McVitie's Biscuits. Burnham was transformed into an English park, with a cast of Brits. Jun Urbano was our commercial director.

Since then, my sojourns to the city have become few and far between. I was there last in 2004, at the Strawberry Festival in La Trinidad. It was a business visit, but I took a side trip to Baguio to try to re-immerse myself in its sights and sounds and smells and flavors that have become so much a part of my life for five long years.

SCENT OF STRAWBERRIES. Back in Benguet in 2004, for the Strawberry Cake Guinness Record attempt which proved to be successful.

I am overpowered by the sights of new concrete landscapes, the teeming crowds, the high-rise malls, the confusing walkways, Session Road at a standstill and a remodeled Burnham Park I hardly recognized. Where is that bakery along Kisad that sold delectable cinnamon buns as well as rabbit foot charms? Whatever happened to Rose Bowl Restaurant? Is Vallejo Hotel still here? And where is Ms. Woelke’s famous Abanao thrift shop?

There are things that have irrevocably changed but luckily, there are still constants that remained as they are. They are tucked away in the recesses of memory, ready to come alive again if only one summons them hard enough --indelible images of a city that I once knew—cool, scenic, mesmerizing, tinged with the scent of pines and sweet strawberry memories.

6. MEKENI TO THE MOUNTAINS

MEKENI TO THE MOUNTAINS! BAGUIO, WE'RE HERE! Craning my neck in wonder at my 1st Pine City visit in 1957, with my yaya, Atching Daling. Peering through the back window of our trusty Oldsmobile, big sis Celine, age 7.

 My love affair with Baguio started early, at about 10 months old, as these pictures show. Taken in 1957, they show me and my family enjoying Burnham Park with my relocated host-relatives.

UNCLE MATT, THE PROFESSOR. My dad's youngest brother, Mateo, moved to Baguio with wife Auntie Auring, after he accepted a teaching job at St. Louis.He is shown here with the school behind him, on his way home.

 My Auntie Auring, together with Uncle Matt, moved from Pampanga to Baguio in the 1950s, after my uncle got a teaching job at Saint Louis. Smitten by the clime and the scenery, they decided to make Baguio their permanent home.

V--VRRROOOM WITH A VIEW. My Dad, taking the kids for a ride at Burnham Park.

BURNHAM BOYS. Me, on my mother's arms. Elder brother Gregg (3 yrs. old) on a trike.

In the years that followed, their pretty little house along Bokawkan Road, behind Benitez Court, became our headquarters whenever we trooped to Baguio for our annual vacation.

B-R-RRRR! MY FINGERS ARE FROZEN! Me on my Mother's lap, with Auntie Auring looking on. Ingkung Dando, in his trademark white pants and polo, stands near by.

When my sister Celine graduated from high school, she was prevailed upon by my father to go to Baguio for her college education. As always, my Uncle Matt and Auntie Auring opened their home to my sister who became their special ward and a companion to their kids, Marlene and Marlon.

SOUVENIR PICTURE TIME! Ma, me, siblings Gregg and Celine. Behind is camera-shy Ingkung Dando.

After college, Ate Celine tried to start a career in Manila, but went back to Baguio instead, renting a house in Palma Street, and transforming it into a dormitory for Kapampangan students. My brother Gregg lived there amongst kabalens, having also been accepted at St. Louis University.

AND THEN THERE WERE FIVE. Taken possibly in 1966 at Burnham Park. We were visiting my sis Celine, who was already a student at St. Louis U, at this time. That's Ma, sis Celine, Gregg, me, Romil, Susan and Mike.

 My sister’s career as a dorm mother was short-lived, however, as she got hitched with her college sweetheart, Manong Nanding Hamada, thus further cementing our ties to Baguio.

HERDING KIDS ALONG KISAD. Taken in 1972, during the wedding of my sis Celine and Manong Nanding Hamada. Mike, Anna Lisa Hamada, and my other brothers, Froilan and Eric. Behind with me is sister Susan. A year later, I would become a Baguio student and stay on for 5 years,

It was but logical that I too would go to Baguio for college. And so in 1973, I was accepted at SLU and thus became an official Baguio resident. From the Kisad compound, my sister’s family set up house along Session Rd., in a small 3-storey building. Upstairs were the Dimacalis, the middle floor was where my Manong’s family lived, and downstairs was where I and my brother Gregg stayed, together with the family pet, Dog. It was here that my life in the mountains began.
(26 May 2008)

5. Star Shrine: TESSIE TOMAS, The Total Comedienne

TONGUE-THAI'D. Tessie Tomas drops by for a surprise visit during my work stint in Bangkok, Thailand. 1992.

“Good evening! I am Tessie Tomas, but you may call me T.T. for short. T.T. stands for Tessie Tomas, but most of the time it stands by itself..”

I first knew of the irrepressible Tessie Tomas when I joined Ace Compton as a junior copywriter in 1981. Ace Compton was in transition then, after losing its major creative talents to other agencies brought about by the loss of the Pepsi and other important accounts. Small, post-lunch talk would revolve around this brilliant creative director—Tessie Tomas by name-- whom the agency had lost to McCann Erickson, and who had subsequently risen to the rank of a Vice President, after creating winning campaigns for Johnson and Johnson. But the creatives would also talk endearingly about her antics and her zany humor and the ease by which she sold creative ideas with her voice-acting and her energy.

WHAT'S MY CUE? Tessie's handwritten cue cards for a show at her agency alma mater, Ace Compton. 1985.

After all, Tessie was a cum laude Communications graduate from U.P. She also happened to be the daughter of the respected radio voice talent, Laura Hermosa, and it was from her that Tessie inherited her gift of vocal performance and drama.

Her bosom friend, also an Ace Creative Director, Julie Lingan, also serviced the same Johnson & Johnson account of which I was her writer. In client calls, we would sometimes bump into Tessie--and I was at once starstruck. Not only because she was an industry legend but also at that time, she was already doing after-hours comedy dinner shows and was a regular in a hit TV comedy show called “Champoy”.

ALL LAFFS RESERVED. Manila Garden Hotel show, 1985.

It was Julie who sold me to Tessie. "You should mee my writer--si Alex! Magaling magsulat! He writes our Xmas chow script. Very funny! You should try him out sa mga shows mo.."

So that 's how I got to meet Tessie, early 1983. By then, she had done the unthinkable--she had resigned from her corporate job and had decided to plunge headlong into the dizzying, dazzling world of showbiz-- a world she was born in, and whose challenges she was now set to embrace. 

She introduced  whole brand of humor to a willing audience--more cerebral, less slapstick, comedy that made funny commentaries on our social state, our prevailing mores, the travails of eking out a living. She took a jab at corrupt politicians, and celebrated the resilience of Filipinos.

PASSION PLAY. "A woman named Desire, wants you to play with fire".  Valentine show at Century Park Sheraton. 1985.

Her first one-woman show—“Miss Margarida’s Way”—featured her as the demented, underpaid schoolmarm, which proved to be her first hit. Her star was clearly and quickly on the rise.

 “Let me introduce you to..Literary Geometry. Cosine to the left of them…tangents to the right of them… Into the valley of death…rode the logarithms!”

A SHOW OF PASSION. Scripts by Alex R. Castro, Tessie Tomas, Lorenzo Reyes. Directed by Rene Hinojales.

She wrote most of her material, but when rehearsals took most of her time, she farmed out scripting jobs to friends like Peque Gallaga, Lorie Reyes and Enrico Santos. Tessie tried me out for a dinner-theater show at a popular bistro in Magallanes called “The Windmill”. She was always pretty clear with the characters she wanted to portray, and for this initial assignment, she wanted me to do a script for a Japanese geisha working in the Philippines. So that’s how Sakura Bitsu-Bitsu was born. She brought the house down when she performed the skit in that show, and she decided to repeat that performance on “Champoy”, which was also met with howling success.

“Hero, I am Sakura Bitsu-Bitsu, originally from Nagasaki, Japan, now living in Naga City, Firipins. Wercam to my restaurant, ne? I am your o-to-san. Our espesyarti is Pancit Miki..very precious noodle, ne? Because is made from real Mikimoto pearls from Japan, and not from Miki Mouse from Disniland. Sayonarang!”

BONI BUENDIA: Ang Bituing Matapang (Da Bold Star), directed by Peque Gallaga. Manila Peninsula. 1985.

In time, the audience met her different personas—social worker Charito Calubaquib, Lady ‘Day—Princess of Leyte Gulf, the ever-pregnant housewife Teysi Abuvaquer, and Saudi wife Mimay Timtiman. Then there’s the the Playboy rabbit, Bunny Elsa and the culinary expert Nora Lasa. From a contributing writer, I was promoted to being her main writer, and in 1984, she put up her one-woman spectacle at Hotel Intercon, directed by Boy Abunda Jr. entitled, “T.Tillations”.

T.T.LLATIONS. A One-Woman Spectacle. Scripts by Alex R. Castro and Tessie Tomas. Directed by Boy Abunda. Hotel Intercon, 1984.

 “There’s a thin line between sanity and madness”, the program blurb warned, and this was proved true when, for the next hour or so, Tessie became Boni Buendia (d’bold star), Kona’na the Barbarian, Nastasia Kiski (sex-crazed therapist) and Little Red Riding Hood (she played also the wolf and the woodsman).

It was a thrill to watch her perform my scripts and even if the show got mixed reviews, I knew Tessie was bound for greater things.

“Hi, allow me to seduce myself. I am Nastassia Kiski. Sex Therapist by profession, sex maniac by night. My father is Polish, my mother is Danish, my sex life is Swedish”

FROM GAGS TO STITCHES. Light & Sound Theatre Lounge. Scripts by Tessie Tomas, Alex Castro, Peque Gallaga, Ipe Pelino. Directed by Rene Hinojales. 1985.

 “Champoy” had also started making buzz on TV, with the ribtickling and oftentimes, controversial rotines of Noel Trinidad (also an ex- Ace Comptonite, by the way), Gary Lising, Subas Herrero—and of course, Tessie Tomas. While the “Mr. Boom-Boom” jokes proved to be an instant hit, the wacky weather reports of umbrella-wielding Amanda Pineda, were making even more lasting impressions. While reporting weather conditions, Amanda would, at the same time be making dire observations about our dire social conditions under a repressive government, dishing out her fearful forecasts for the nation, often sugar-coated with her brand of seemingly-innocent humor and catchy punchlines.

“PAG-ASA-A. Pan-American, Pantasmagoric, Accumulation of Global Atmospheric Allegiance for Southeast Asia, America, Africa, Antartica, Australia and All Around the World—PAG-ASA-A!”.

 At the height of the Ninoy fever, when anti-Marcos sentiments were silently but surely growing, Tessie introduced us to another character that was to bring her lasting fame and infamy, as well as define the totality of her career as a first-rate performer: MELDITA. She had already been doing vignettes of this colorful persona—obviously a take on Imelda Marcos—creating a character that is at once powerful yet pathetic, strong-willed yet soft, greedy yet giving.

IMELDIFIC SHOW. "Meldita!". Light & Sound Theatre Lounge. Post-People Power Show. Directed by Kokoy Jimenez.

When Tessie took to the stage, she became a larger-than-life Imelda--and more. Each staging exposed Rizal Theater SRO crowds to the lurid madness that was Malacanang: her stormy relationships with Macoy and rebel child Imee, her fantasies about royalty, her obsessive-compulsive drive to make the Philippines great again. But it was also a story about finding fulfillment and acceptance by all means and at all costs, which Meldita always sought but never gained. Tessie not only received accolades for her tour-de-force performance, but also death threats. But she couldn’t care less; it was her craft that spurred her on--her pioneering one-woman shows had given her the avenue to artistically express her awakened sense of social awareness that she was now willing to impart.

 “Don’t cry for me, Metro Manila. The truth is—I never left you… All through my wild days.. My mad existence.. You can have Cory.. I have the money..” --Meldita, after the downfall.

ALL LAFFS RESERVED. Starring Tessie Tomas, Bill Ibanez, and introducing Jon Santos.

 Besides, the unfolding events in the country gave her new material to further sharpen her comedic skills, and these new routines were lapped up by laughing audiences from Rizal Theater, Sanctuary Bistro, Music Museum to Manila Mandarin and other mainstream venues. Meldita became a long-running theater act even after the coup, and for this, Tessie won the Aliw Award for Best Performer of the Year.

AS LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. From the show "T.Tillations. She portrayed multiple chatracters: Red Riding Hood, Wolf and Grandma!

 From the stage to the screen, Tessie proved to be an equally effective performer. Her first film was “Broken Marriage” in 1983. And then in 1987, she was cast in the international TV series “A Dangerous Life” based on the dying moments of the Marcos regime, where she bagged the coveted role of—who else?—Imelda Marcos. For this, she won an HBO Best Actress nomination.

KOMEDI TONAYT. At the Cosmo Bar, Greenhills. Scripts by Tessie Tomas, Marlon Rivera, Cary Rueda and Alex R. Castro. 1988.

Returning to her first love, she wrote the screenplay of “Separada” which won a Star Best Actress award for Maricel Soriano. Then, in 1991, Tessie transformed Mrs. Barbara Tengco--the neurotic rich matron in the long-running series “Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata”-- into a TV and household word. Shifting gears, she hosted a successful talk show, “Teysi ng Tahanan”.

TESSIE UNCLOGGED. With Joji Isla. Scripts by Tessie Tomas and Alex R. Castro. Directed by Ed Murillo. Captain's Bar, Manila Mandarin. 1996.

Today, Tessie is still very much active in the entertainment circuit. She was last seen in the critically-acclaimed movies “Ploning” and “100”. She is currently appearing in the cast of the TV series, “Ako si Kim SamSoon”. Happily married to marine biologist, British Roger Pullin, Tessie is also a mother of an artist, U.S.-based Robin Tomas, who, at one time, was an art director of her mother’s agency alma mater, Ace Compton-Saatchi & Saatchi.

WEESHART! With Gary Lising. Directed by Johnny Manahan. Scripts by Tessie Tomas, Gary Lising and Alex Castro. Tavern on the Square.

As a friend, I am indebted to Tessie for opening new windows of opportunities for a junior writer like me. She let my ideas fly when I wrote her scripts, helping me expand and enrich my creative writing skills by allowing me to write material for fellow comedians Nanette Inventor, Gary Lising, Joji Isla and John Santos (whom she discovered in a college show at U.P.). When I was based and living in Bangkok, Tessie and Roger made a surprise visit which I really appreciated.

SHOOTING STAR. Shooting a segment for a Chow King corporate show, 2006.

Last time I was with her was when I got her to host a Chow King National Convention in Bohol 2 years ago. We had fun reliving the glory days of dinner theater shows and had more fun working together again. We don’t see each other as much these days, but every now and then, she would text or call for creative consultations with regards to her corporate shows.

That is why, I am looking forward to seeing er next month at the Ace-Compton Advertising Grand Reunion Show (“Amazing Ace’) which she will be hosting (and which I am now writing). It will be a gathering of agency creatives and colleagues from way back our crazy Compton days. I am sure the talk will invariably revolve around a wacky, brilliant creative director who followed her heart, became a star and made our agency proud: Tessie Tomas! (28 September 2008)

UPDATE 2011: TESSIE, JULIE AND ME. Bosom friends Tessie and Julie were both former creative directors at Ace-Compton Advertising. I would also join the ad agency and become a CD. It was Julie who introduced me to Tessie Tomas, and the rest, as they say, is history.