Preparing for the Big Send Off, Part 1
I got to the Center Gate of ABS CBN around 5.30pm. I was the second invited winner to arrive. The family of Jhaphet Flordeliza was already there. His mom, Babes, was quite a character. She asked me if I had company and when I said no, she talked me into "adopting" her two friends (Tess and Nel Yap) as my "kapamilya."
We asked an event marshall where all the winners would be seated and he pointed us to another event marshall who would entertain questions from us. But said event marshall was busy giving directions to Jodie Sta. Maria's kapamilya who will play with her. (Note on Jodie: She is a snob. Or maybe, she was just ignoring Babes who kept calling her Judy?)
Finally, the event marshall herded us all in the cafeteria. On our way to the cafeteria, I saw Maria Ressa, head of ABS-CBN's Current Affairs. She had a ready smile for everyone. Inside the cafeteria, another "relative" was added to me, thanks to Babes, Karl became a kapamilya of mine. I also met Babes' husband, Ray. These characters kept me company in the cafeteria. Although Jhaphet and his cohorts left us to take snapshots of any celebrity that would pass by. His mom was going in and out of the cafeteria, also preying on some celebrities that would catch her videocam... I stayed inside the cafeteria, having a snack. I was able to catch the Deal or No Deal episode that day featuring Palito.
Waiting time was not as stressful as the first time. But I already felt hungry around past 7pm and I thought that the taping would last so long since it's the last episode...so I ate dinner. There were some winners entering the cafeteria. They were looking for other winners, too.
Meanwhile, the quadrangle in front of the cafeteria was getting filled with other winners. And I never thought that the event marshall would fetch us so soon, I had to finish up my supper pronto. They were gonna do a roll call before they let us inside the studio.
On the grounds, Lina was there. She still remembered the names of the winners! What a memory! We were then asked to form two lines. One for the winners and one for the winners' kapamilya.
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