NOONG isang araw, Richard Yap a.k.a Papa Chen threw a merienda sienna or shall we say late lunch to some members of the entertainment press at his Wang Fu Restaurant (formerly Teriyaki Boy along Tomas Morato, Q.C.) to celebrate Chinese New Year with us.
Marami ring dumating na writers and bongga ang turn out ng said event. Press merienda lang iyon pero bongga ang sounds ha, parang pang-concert ang tunog dahil inalagaan ng ini-endorse niyang Boss.
And whew! Ang guwapo-guwapo ni Papa Chen ngayon – he became thinner than before. “Nagwu-workout ako regularly pero hindi yung heavy weight. Light lifting lang – yung tama lang and I go on some diet.
Kailangan kasi eh. Ayoko ng heavy weights kasi ayokong magmukhang maskulado. Yung katamtaman lang kumbaga,” he shared with us.
Natutuwa lang kami kay Papa Chen because this is not the first time that he threw a small get-together with members of the press – last year ay ganu’n din, and there was another time within the year (if my memory serves me right) na nagpaimbita rin siya.
No, walang promo-promo na usapan. It’s just his way of thanking us for the blessings na natamo niya sa kaniyang career.
“And we were all showered with much goodies, mga produktong kaniyang iniendorso.
Mga 5 huge loot bags iyon na hitik sa laman. Nakakatuwa, di ba? Kaya when I was assigned to ask him a question sa Q&A portion, on behalf of everyone I thank him for sharing his blessings with us.
I specially mentioned too na isa siya sa few stars na marunong mag-share ng blessings with us (meron pa bang iba? Parang wala naman, di ba?) kahit wala siyang sadyang pinu-promote na show.
Kumbaga, kami na lang ang nang-usyoso sa kaniya regarding his current longest-running morning serye sa Dos na Be Careful With My Heart.
“Hanggang this year daw tatakbo ang Be Careful kaya masaya kami and we have work. I will also be very busy siguro doing some live concerts this year.
Happy ako sa takbo ng career ko kaya gusto ko kayong pasalamatan dahil you’ve always been supportive sa akin ever since,” aniya sa amin.
He’s such a wonderful person. Magalang pa pero of course, may mga pagkakataong he also gets bad press. We asked him kung paano niya hina-handle ang criticisms.
“I am a positive person kasi. Hindi ko pinapansin ang mga negative publicity. Gusto ko kasi, positive lahat. Hindi naman kasi makakatulong sa financial status natin kung i-entertain-in ko ang negative comments nila sa akin, di ba? Ha-hahaha!” he answered matter of factly.
He was ably assisted ng kaniyang magandang asawa and two writers sa presscon na sina Eric John Salut and anak-anakan naming si Francis Simeon.
Magiliw na nakipagtsikahan ang guwapong-guwapong si Papa Chen sa aming lahat pero since meron pa kaming lakad that afternoon kaya tumakas kami ni Dominic Rea para di kami ma-late sa pag-judge ko ng Ms. Gay contest sa Talisay, Batangas.
Basta tumatak sa puso ko si Papa Chen – he’s such a decent actor and star. Parang ang sarap niyang mahalin – di kasi siya madamot.
Sige nga, parang gusto ko nang lahatin ang mga kasalukuyang artista natin – sino ba ang marunong mag-throw ng pasasalamat party amongst them na walang pinu-promote. Not even the very rich Kris Aquino does that. Agree?
( Photo credit to Google )