Chasing the elusive Chuck Bass: postscripts from a fan

For my column today, I was originally planning to write a rebuttal to the “12 most annoying types of Facebookers,” released by CNN.com, but I’ve since been overtaken by a peculiar personal experience I feel enthused to share with you.

 First off, bravo to Penshoppe, a great Cebuano brand gone global! We should all be proud that, by deciding to take in Ed Westwick (hit TV series Gossip Girl’s Chuck Bass) as its newest endorser, a homegrown RTW company has made a huge, bold step into claiming its rightful place as a mega brand with multinational clout and flavor.

 And in line with this daring marketing move, they’ve flown in ‘Chuck Bass’ to the country, much to the excitement and anticipation of avid Gossip Girl followers like me. Twitter was abuzz with rumors surrounding his then-unconfirmed visit, becoming a trending topic in the popular social networking site for days. When confirmation finally came with his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Tuesday night, hardcore fans (myself included) were all scrambling to get a hold of his schedule for the chance to meet the versatile British-born actor who plays US TV’s most famous bad boy billionaire.

 For other fans, they might live vicariously through GG’s characters: the glamour, all the scheming and plotting, their scandalous exploits, and juvenile complications and delusions of grandeur. For my part though, the show has become one of my favorites not because it provides a temporary respite from the rigors of reality; on the contrary, it reminds me so much about the rigors of my own rambunctious realities.

 I’ve chronicled every bit of parallelism my personal life has with the adventures and misadventures of Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf, and I’ve minced no words in sharing them with my closest friends, even presenting a matrix of how freakishly similar our trials and triumphs are. Call it a cosmic connection with the show if you will. A friend even joked that the show’s writer might be my friend on Facebook, and he/she could be getting inspiration from my (sometimes cryptic) status updates. I know it sounds strange, even pathetic, but please, allow me the idiosyncrasy.

 By now I’m sure you already get how gaga I am over GG. So you can only imagine the kind of trouble I went through trying to find out how I can get to see at least one of its two characters I feel most connected to. Others thought it was going to be a breeze for me, “with my connections and all.” Hell no. I started with no promising leads; almost every detail of his visit was securely kept under wraps.

 Last Wednesday, I was scheduled to fly to Manila for a routine trip to tape The Bottomline but the airline messed up my booking, and so I missed our taping. Still, I flew at a later time, with nothing left to do in the capital, just dinner with my high school friend, Ida, and a faltering hope that I shall finally see Ed Westwick in person.

 But my friends convinced me that perhaps all the troubles with my flight and missing our taping only meant I was going to see him. I didn’t want to jinx whatever possibility there was, so I downplayed the prospects each time.

 And then the rest is history: I did something I’ve never done before. I became a hardcore fan. I trooped to the Hotel Intercontinental with my friend, lawyer, Ida Escolano, and waited for two hours to no avail. As it turned out, I had the wrong information, he was having his interviews in a different hotel. And just about the time when we were ready to give up and have buffet steak dinner in Quezon City to reward ourselves for trying, at least, I decided to make a detour after my friend Erika rang, inviting us for late merienda at the Rockwell Club.

 The decision to go to Rockwell instead proved to be rather serendipitous: when I got a text from my very own ‘gossip girl’ that Ed was at The Manila Peninsula, we hurriedly finished our burger and pasta and returned into the heart of the Makati CBD.

 I used to scoff at fans waiting for their idols at malls or hotel lobbies. And now, I became one of them. The whole experience certainly made me respect fans more. Surely, life’s simple joys are what makes it all the more interesting!

 So did I tell you we ultimately saw Ed Westwick a.k.a Chuck Bass at The Peninsula? Yes, because we willed it, we found a way and at long last caught sight of the elusive Chuck Bass, in the flesh!

 What made it even more interesting is meeting the woman responsible for bringing him here: PR doyenne, Joyce Ramirez. An interesting woman with an interesting story, she was very candid and forthright, a breath of fresh air in an industry perceived to breed phonies and fakes. She is living proof that whatever challenges we face, no matter the detractors, we can always choose to rise above the negativity and show the world we can. And a lot of times, that is the sweeter revenge. XOXO

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