RIDING AMTRAK ACELA #2165, NEW YORK PENN STATION TO WASHINGTON, DC, UNION STATIN, SPECIALLY DESIGNATED TODAY ONLY AS ?THE MANNY-JINKEE PACQUIAO LOVE TRAIN:
Manny Pacquiao, despite his wealth and fame, retains a sense of humor.
?Hey. Champ,? I said to the Pinoy Idol, ?are you sure this is the train to Bagiuo??
Pacman did not miss a beat.
?No, this is the train going to Isabella.?
At least I’m heading north from Manila, er I mean Manhattan.
**************************************************************
I’m riding in the specially-hired car on the express train without about 20 media types (including Pinoy stalwarts Nick Giongco and Abac Cordero, the Wall Street Journal, CNN and some Filipino TV reps.
Adding the Team Pacquiao group, we have about 50 people in the chartered business class car.
Given that today is the day when Cupid runs rampant with his arrow and bow, I guess we can stick to the hearts and flowers and leave the boxing alone for a while. Don’t forget that Tuesday is a big political day with the Pacquiaos and Bob Arum being hosted at the US Senate building by Nevada Sen. Harry Reid and?all hush hush?a possible Barack and Michelle Obama hosted luncheon at the White House.
Friendly conductor Steven Jones, while checking Bob Arum stepdaughter Dena duBoef’s group tickets, said, ?You all got to have tickets or you can’t ride, I will have to throw you all off…except that little guy in the back, I ain’t messing with him. If you others can beat me, you ride free but I ain’t messing with that little guy.?
As the ebullient conductor passed me, I asked him (he’s an African American) if he was really a Floyd Maywweather fan.
No way, said Conductor Jones.
?I really think that Mayweather is all through. I think this guy would kill him.?
Back to romantic topics…
I asked Jinkee, Manny’s radiant wife and the mother of their four young children, to recount again how the couple first met in General Santos City.
Manny hooked up with Jinkee the same way he wins his fights by being aggressive and persistent,
But, Jinkee said, he also showed her a soft side when he was ?informally? courting her.
?I was working for Ponds (beauty products) and I worked at the Fitmart Mall in Gensan,? Jinkee said. ?I knew who was because I have an uncle named Reynaldo who used to train him so I had heard about thios young guy who was winning all his fights.
?Anyway, he kept coming into to see me at the cosmetics counter. One time, I think he bought something but I knew he wasn’t coming for cold cream. One day, we chatted for a while longer.
?Next time, Manny came by he gave me the nicest card, just to thank me for talking to him.?
That flirtation turned into a g(love) story which continues today.
Jinkee at first objected to her hubby’s long locks but now accepts his new look.
?Manny says it’s for Bruce Lee. He loves Bruce Lee. I said he should get a haircut but he doesn’t want to so let me have his hair like that.?
