Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

IT’S a pleasure to be extending the reach of my Hi! Society column to you, fabulous people of San Francisco. I live in SoCal but deep inside I’m a San Francisco soul.

What is not to love about San Francisco? It has served as a welcoming place for my people in the LGBT community.

I’m glad for the opportunity to share my musings as an LA-based stylist to my fellow Californians up north.

I’ve been writing Hi! Society for the incredible Asian Journal since 2007. In this column, I feature leading ladies and gentlemen in the Fil-Am community as well as my passions—beauty, fashion, style and everything else in between.

I hope in its own little way, this column serves its purpose: to entertain and give focus to the lighter side of life.

For my pilot piece, I would like to point the spotlight on one of RP’s leading men.

Goma—RP’s Reigning Adonis.

If I were to name a truly class act in Philippine showbiz, one of them would have to be Richard Gomez.

For me, he is the reigning Adonis of his generation in Philippine cinema. He fits the bill of tall, dark and handsome. To boot, this good-looking model-actor is also one of the nicest guys around!

I remember meeting him for the first time during his first American holiday with then-leading lady Snooky Serna.

Instantly, Goma (as he’s fondly called) and I hit it off. I recall showing him around Los Angeles during that visit. I think I took him to Beverly Center, which was the hotspot for shopping back in the day. He also stayed at my house while he was here.

Since then, he’s been a good friend. He had a special guest appearance on my show Reflections 4 with the help of Mary Ann Pagsibigan.

I remember Goma spending two of his Christmases with us in Southern California. Once, he joined us at the salon and visited with my Mom which was so nice of him.

Another Christmas year later, he attended a party held at my house with his new bride Lucy Torres.

One endearing trait of Goma is that he has no qualms about where we eat. We would set up outside my house before and share meals with friends kamayan-style.

I think I relate to him as a person because of his humble beginnings. He worked at McDonald’s before breaking into modeling and showbiz.