Celebrate the Red, Yellow, and Blue!

I started out my day in the West Hollywood Christian Louboutin boutique, yet again. I hung with my fave sales associate and a fellow shoe-loving pal. The new leopard ponyskin and Chantilly lace Biancas arrived and are pretty fan-f**king-tastic! I soooo wish I could've walked out with the leopard ones, but I'm currently awaiting the arrival of another leopard ponyskin pair, and of course, sale season is around the corner. I have to be more financially responsible this year, so I had to prioritize and ended up walking away empty-handed from Christian Louboutin today. Sigh...While there, a customer mentioned she would be watching the Pacquiao vs. Mosley fight. When asked by a male sales associate who she was rooting for, she was a little iffy, but eventually said she liked Pacquiao. I later left the boutique to head to Saks in Beverly Hills to check out the book signing featuring Amanda Goldberg and Ruthanna Khalighi Hopper. This is their second book together. It's called Beneath a Starlet Sky, and it focuses on the glamour of the Cannes Film Festival. There's a cool article on this book in the current issue of California. These authors are 2 very sweet and charming women. They posed for a picture with me (in my new white Juicy dress!), and Ruthanna autographed my copy. I look forward to reading their new book, but I think I will check out their first book, Celebutantes, first.

After chatting with the authors, I quickly grabbed a bite in the Saks cafe, then headed to Niketown, just down the street. There was a section dedicated just to Pacquiao gear. I found a replica of the shirt worn by Pacquiao and his team on TV. I decided on the blue one (pictured on the left). The inscription around the boxing gloves reads Don't tell your God you have a problem tell your problem you have a great God. This is a statement very reflective of Pacquiao's attitude toward boxing, and it's also reflective of how my mother, a devout Catholic from the Philippines, lives. Now I'm not exactly a fan of Nike (I might get into that, but if I do, it'll be some other time), but I really wanted a shirt to wear while watching the big fight, and supposedly, Nike has a monopoly on these shirts. At least I got a free Pacquiao poster with purchase. As I walked back to my car, one of the parking attendants screamed out, "Pacquiao's gonna win!". I couldn't help but to shout back, "Yes, he will!".

And win he did. There's so few things I like more than to sit around the TV with my family on a Saturday night, watching an exciting event. A Pacquiao fight is the ultimate sporting event. He's entertaining and talented, that's for sure. However, what's more remarkable, in my opinion, is what his talent and entertainment has done for us Filipinos. I've heard what other people have said when they think of Filipinos and the Philippines. A girl of Chinese descent once told me that among the ethnicities listed under the Asian/Pacific Islander category, Filipinos "ranked" near the bottom. Why?, I asked her. I was 19 years old at the time and had never heard of this hierarchy. Because the Philippines is dirty and poor, and there are a lot of hookers there. Sad to say that she's not the only one who's made such a statement, and I'm thinking only of the people I've heard. When Pacquiao started gaining recognition, people around the world were suddenly interested in this man who began life as a boy who rose from the depths of poverty in a nation known for dirt and hookers. Tonight, people in 120 countries heard our beautiful national anthem and saw our beautiful flag. I know I'm biased, but I think the Philippines has the most beautiful flag in the world. It's certainly unique, and with many thanks to Pacquiao, people recognize it. The color yellow, the color of Pacquio's boxing gloves tonight and appropriately used for the sun on our flag, is a symbol of hope to us. If today sucks, there's tomorrow, which will begin as soon as the sun rises again, which it does every day. Filipinos, hold your head high!