Vilma Santos on Deal or No Deal

The Philippines can be a hard place. Aside from the heat, the desparate poverty, the blatant everyday injustice, there's also the unbelievable traffic, the alternately hostile or exceedingly kind but altogether unnecessarily protracted customer service exchanges, the paperwork and all the receipts involved in ordering a piece of bread at Red Ribbon...

It all takes a toll on you.

Last week, I started getting the early symptoms of the flu and was laid up in my hotel room, having rubbed myself from head to toe in Vick's and consumed 3, 4 or 5 capsules of Paracetemol. I lost count. I was miserable.

My tv was tuned into Deal or No Deal, in keeping with my odd simultaneous like and dislike of Kris Aquino. Legendary actress turned politician Vilma Santos, was the contestant.

As I breathed in and out of my nose, wondering what germ was invading my body, I was enjoying Governor Vi's appearance on the game show and wished that her ex-husband, Edu Manzano, would make an appearance. That would have been even more perfect.

Decades ago, Vilma and Edu were the movie industry's golden couple and I recall keeping track of their romance alongside the goings on in Dallas and Knots Landing. Thank goodness for my grandmother and her sister who exposed me to such things. The two have long ago divorced though their fame continues. Vilma became the mayor of Lipa City. She married a man who became Senator (who probably became a Senator based on the popularity of his wife). Edu continues to be a television mainstay and is the host of two popular game shows. They're son Lucky has become a bankable matinee idol and commercial endorser.

Start the video at 2:26.

This was seriously one of the highlights of my latest trip.

Seriously.

It brought me unexplainable joy.

The Philippines is a strange juxtaposition of disparate things including personal pain and pleasure that make for an intoxicating brew that's more potent a balm for individual afflications.

I started to feel better, I could breathe. I dont give credit to the Vick's but to the magic of Filipino television resurrecting a legendary romance if only briefly.

The Philippines is still a place where some wishes still come true.