The champ takes time out

LOS ANGELES, California – All work and no play, they say, makes Jack a dull boy, and boxing is undoubtedly very hard work. That was why the new world super featherweight champion decided to take his team to the Universal Studios here yesterday. We – Mayor Bing, Sonnie Ramos, Pamela Gustilo, and her sister Yoly Qua – got there ahead and were having a snack at one of the eateries near the Preferred Parking Area when we heard someone calling “Mayor Bing! Mayor Bing!” and we saw Manny Pacquiao, his wife Jinkee and her twin sister, Wakee Salud, Cris Aquino and their group walking in the street near where we were.

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We quickly joined them and watched amusedly as Pinoys, recognizing him, rushed to have their pictures taken.

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After a while Manny got a call on his cellphone and it was obviously someone from the media interviewing him. The call lasted a long time, and in the meantime, tourists and visitors to the famous Hollywood playground just went on posing for pictures behind him as he sat on a bench under a tree. In the meantime, his team members acted like little kids on an outing which, indeed, it was. Meanwhile, it was getting late and since Pamela, Yoly and I had visited the place several times, we decided to split and see what shopping we could do in the area. The days since my arrival here three weeks ago had been so busy that I only found time to buy the vitamins and supplements requested of me.

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But it was already 7 p.m. when we reached the mall, so we decided to have dinner first, not having time for a real lunch. By the time we finished, there were only two or three stores open, and one of them closed its doors on us so we had to leave through the back.

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I don’t know if Manny et al had managed to really play at Universal since they had come rather late and it was a weekday. But I think he was able to relax a bit. He did look a bit better than in the previous days, though.

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More vignettes from the momentous Pacquiao-Marquez business. Remember that pretty 14-year-old girl who sang the American anthem, “The Star-spangled Banner,” so beautifully? Wednesday afternoon, as we were piling up our luggage into the car at the driveway of the Mandalay Bay, another vehicle pulled up near ours. The driver, a good-looking young woman noticing the Pacquiao Team jacket of Mayor Bing looked out of the window and said, “You know the girl who sang the Star Spangled Banner? She’s here with me.”

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I peeped into the car and indeed, she was there, smiling happily. When she learned we were Filipinos, she came out of the car and gave me a beso-beso. I am sure that made Sonnie Ramos, Leif Severino and Bing jealous, since, like a well-brought up young lady, Jasmine Villegas only shook their hands, but readily posed with them for photos.

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Her mother, Jasmin Vales is from Cavite in the Philippines and her father from Mexico. What a clever choice for a historic match between boxers from the two countries!

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By the way Ciara Sotto tried hard but she still didn’t sing the Philippine National Anthem correctly. But at least she was a more pleasant sight than the gristled old man who rendered the anthem of Mexico.*

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