The Craziest Thing I've Ever Done

Years ago, I worked for a weekly magazine. It was a great job, mainly because I liked what I was doing. I enjoyed interviewing people and writing interesting things about them.

I don't normally get star-struck. But there are exceptional celebrities who really made me go "Ahhhh..." and brought out the "fan" in me.

One such celebrity was Malang, the great artist. I interviewed him and his son and grandchildren for the magazine. That was after their TV commercial for a popular milk brand came out. I was on the look out for families who are in the same field of interest, and Malang and the 2 generations after him were really perfect for that magazine spot.

After that very delightful interview, I never heard from them, which was normal since I was on the look out for the next family to feature. So it never entered my mind that our paths would one day cross again.

However, one Sunday morning, while I was walking to my third BookSale store in Cubao, I saw him--Malang! I was standing a few feet away from him in that second hand book store! I had to get an autograph!

I spied on him on the security mirror, and when I saw him leave, I immediately paid for the book I was holding and walked as fast as my feet could go.

He rounded a corner and disappeared. As I was walking past a store, there he was, sitting on a chair inside that store, which turned out to be the art gallery of the Saturday Group!

I don't know what came over me, but I borrowed a pen from a man standing by the door, approached Malang almost reverently, and asked, "Sir, may I have your autograph?"

The old man looked at me like I was a nut, but just the same affixed his famous signature on the flyleaf of the book I that handed him. I'm pretty sure he asked me what book it was that I asked him to sign. Before I could reply, he turned the book over and smiled when he saw the title.

The book, much to my horror, was a cookbook that I hastily paid for at the second hand bookstore.

Today, whenever I look at that cookbook, I knew that I would never try any of the recipes inside. Some of the ingredients listed are really pricey, so forget it.

But I have kept that book very carefully in a plastic trunk, away from the other books I have. Because one page of that book carries a treasure... and a crazy experience I would never forget for as long as I live.