My Life in Men’s Health

Well, I guess it’s already as official as can be: I’m no longer with Men’s Health Philippines. It was a fun, sometimes frustrating, sometimes infuriating, sometimes extremely rewarding ride. In short, my life in Men’s Health is everything I look for in a job.

To put closure in my tenure in the magazine (maybe in the future I’ll come back, but let’s leave that thought for now), I decided to condense my life in appreciable chunks so anyone who didn’t know what I do can sort of understand what I did while in the magazine.

Ready? Here we go...

Years in MH: Exactly 3 years (March 2005 – March 2008)

Number of editors I was under: 2 (Jeryc Garcia and Agu Paiso)

Number of colleagues (not including interns and contributors): 9–Jeryc and Agu, Carol Pajaron, Jomike del Rosario, Omar Glenn Belo, Mike Diez, Jad Melegrito, Raymond Abrenica, and Glen Concio (Glen’s the only remaining “original 3”)

Number of titles I held: 2 (Editorial Assistant and Assistant Section Editor)

Number of pages in the magazine I edited monthly: All of them, minus the ads

“Pet” section: MH Style. (The fashion and grooming pages were always mine to put together, edit, and style.)

Number of provinces—not counting Metro Manila, of course—I’ve been to for photoshoots: 7 (Subic, Bulacan, Batangas, Tagaytay, Boracay, Baguio, and Cebu)

Of those 7, number that was my first time: 1 (Cebu was the only place I haven’t been to prior)

Favorite cover: Jake Cuenca, followed by Dingdong Dantes, and then Dennis Trillo

Favorite foreign cover: Paul Walker

Favorite celeb editorial: Richard Gutierrez (Richard Gutierrez had a cover, but it’s for the Guide to Style special, so I don’t count that as a “cover” cover)

Favorite fashion editorial: Coat of Charms (August 2007), Tall Order (February 2007), and Fresh Perspectives (May 2008)

Favorite MH guys: Brent Javier, Luke Jickain, Gabb Drilon, Jon Mullally (now Avila) and Alfred Vargas

Favorite MH woman: Joyce Jimenez, hands down

Favorite MH story: Simplify your life

Favorite local MH story: Exit Strategies (MH Philippines November 2007, written by Ben Hernandez)

Favorite MH event: MH Urbanathlon

Favorite MH story that I wrote: The Spa Excursion (August 2006), The MH Grooming Awards (September 2007), 85 Best Foods for Men (May 2007), and Ahead of the Game (November 2007)

Least favorite fashion editorial: Merrier Than Thou (won’t say which month—but the title of the story kinda would tip you off, no?)

Longest-to-shoot fashion editorial: The MH Style Essentials (September 2005), 10AM – 9PM, and there were only 8 looks!

Favorite place to pull clothes for fashion eds: Glorietta and Greenbelt, although I started enjoying TriNoma several months before I left the magazine. Power Plant Mall only for Zara.

Priciest label I’ve pulled clothes from: Louis Vuitton

Favorite brands / labels to pull clothes from: Debenhams, Zara, Chivalry is Dead, Dean & Trent, Traffic, Springfield, and Celio

Fastest fashion editorial: April 2008 (2 hours)

Favorite item of clothing shown in my fashion editorials: Jackets and any form of outerwear—I know, I know, mainit. Whatever.

I’ll add some more soon!

By the way, I'm featured in Dean & Trent's profiles for this week. Thanks, Timmy, for the opportunity. I enjoyed answering your questions a lot!

Kamusta naman?

Incredible how time really flies. I just realized that it’s been already a month since I left the Philippines in search of greener (kuno) pastures in the land of milk and honey. I know. One month is nothing—people who vacation in the US can sometimes take all of two months (the two months students have out of school for summer break). But for me, it’s a big thing. Because for the past few years that I’ve been here in the US, it’s as tourists in the country that I once lived in. Now, things are once again different. I’m now living in this country again. Wala lang. It’s just new to me the second time around I guess.

Truthfully, nothing super new or major eventful has happened to me for the past month. (Fine, six weeks.) When I said to my peers in the Philippines that I’m going to spend my first few months in the US vacationing and having a good time, I meant it. Of course there’s the usual things, like registering for job-search websites, having my driver’s license renewed (man, did I have huge cheeks in my new photograph—gotta watch the pizza and McDonald’s), and visiting relatives that I didn’t have the luxury of visiting the past years because of time constraints. I’ve also organized my portfolio of works for when I start peddling my wares in the Big Apple, and spent a considerable amount of money buying a business wardrobe. (Dang, I hope the industry I’m trying to get in is one where I won’t be forced to wear a suit everyday to work. Hindi ko kakayanin, kahit na may clothing allowance.) The reason why I said they’re nothing new is because they aren’t—everyone does these things at one point in their lives.

The closest I have in my calendar that you can consider eventful is a 15-hour drive with the family to Florida. There we’ll stay for a week at a nice resort and visit Disney Parks for four days. And if my cousin from the army can help us as well, we’ll stop at Sea World on the fifth day. Oh, admit it—everyone loves to go to theme parks. Sabi nga ng slogan ng Disney: “It’s the happiest place on earth.” Or something like that.

I have been thinking long and hard about my living arrangements, though. My folks are looking for a house where the family can stay here in down old Jersey (that’s still thankfully only an hour away from NYC) and I definitely will have to help with the mortgage payments. Now here’s the problem: Will I still look for a place to stay in NY once I find work? Or should I do what I did when I was still in the Philippines, living in Bulacan—uwian? Both have their own share of pros and cons. But this is a matter that I can and will only be able to seriously think through once I’m there. I’m hugely unfamiliar with how expensive NYC is exactly, so there’s no use speculating over something that I know very little about.

Anyway, that’s it for now. New post in a week.