We’ve only just begun

There’s so much unfinished business over December, when all things come to a halt in lieu of the holidazed season that when January rolls out, a mad scramble ensues. Festivals abound, new campaigns are hatched, and a fresh energy jump starts the year.

Personally, January is my birthday month, so I like to launch new things on my personal new year. I’ve already turned a new leaf as a weekday morning person, waking up at 5 a. m. to run a few kilometers around the field before I report for radio work at 6 a. m. Yes, you read that right. I am now a morning radio show host, for 99.5 PLAYFM, I am onboard Mondays thru Thursdays with a show called The Playground with fellow radio jocks Sam Oh and Nikko Ramos every morning from 6 till 10 a. m. To top it all off, I started my new nightly show, creatively titled The Tim Yap Show which airs midnights from Monday to Friday on GMA7. That’s my little something to look forward to before you go to bed.

I still have my nightlife though — because “you can take away the boy from the nightlife but you can’t take the nightlife away the boy,” but I make sure it’s in healthy doses. Cabana Club, the new VIP haven inside Republiq Club at ResortsWorld is going to open soon, and that’s gonna be the new spot to watch out for. 

Off to a great start

I started my year on a great note, a charitable one. My dear dear friend and creative genius Garlic Garcia celebrated her natal day via a birthday build. Garlic invited a couple of friends to head over to Payatas, Quezon City where Habitat for Humanity has been building a village of homes for the underprivileged.

It was such a great feeling seeing everyone do their part, from carrying the tons of cement and placing it one by one on the bricks that formed someone’s new home. The spirit of volunteerism and Bayanihan working together for the common good. What a way to turn a year wiser. I salute people like Garlic who are able to gather people to make them act and do stuff for their people. It makes me believe more in the innate goodness of people. Yes, we perspired but more than that, we were inspired.

The following week, it was my turn to celebrate the “one year wiser” milestone and what better way to do it than seeing the people you love around you? Mine was held at the Zuellig building Sky Gardens, right after hosting a launch for Camay featuring their new generation Camay girl Angelica Panganiban. After the earlier ceremony, I shifted gears and turned birthday boy to my friends who so selflessly attended my little Penthouse party. Nothing could dampen my spirits as I counted my blessings — true friendship and gifts born out of hard work. What more could I ask for?

The following week, it was Richard and Raymond Gutierrez’s turn to take the leap and they did it the day after the Sinulog weekend at the newest hotspot in town, the Cabana Club. It was an IT girl fest filled with glitzbiz and media denizens all grooving to the music of DJ Euric. Nothing makes me happier than seeing good friends grow and find themselves and I am truly proud to see the twins turn into such accomplished individuals. By midnight I had to French, for I had work the next day.

In between all these happenings were the Sinulog and the Dinagyang festivals, where the scene’s party denizens came out to play, all over the country at that! Domestic tourism is at an all-time high, as with the stock market, as with the spirits of a nation on an upswing. There will always be humps along the way, but the general mood is on the upswing. There are many reasons to celebrate.

Let’s continue this trend. As my dear friend likes to say, “Onwards and upwards!”

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(More positivity and productivity at twitter.com/offficialTIMYAP!)