Super Elmo

Elmo Magalona, son of the late Master Rapper Francis Magalona (and sometimes even called the brother of Maxene Magalona) has always been his own man. 

Gerard met Elmo at the set of Total Girl magazine photo shoot. He was quiet, shy, sheepishly filling out a paper required for the magazine interview. But after a few conversations and the photo shoot itself, Gerard discovered that Elmo's smart, makulit, engaging, and polite…with the look and few swags of his dad. At 17, he's actually aware of the privileges and pressures of being the son of Francis M, but he's slowly (and surely) starting his own mark in the industry. :)

Gerard robo-swagger punched Elmo! hahaha!

All smiles with her ka-loveteam Julie Anne San Jose :)

Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla

When Gerard met Kathryn Bernardo a few months ago, he knew he had to meet her again. Kathryn is humble, sweet, and really really friendly. So despite the hullabaloo with the rain and stuff, Gerard (along with Nimu and the entire magazine crew), trooped to Kath's magazine photo shoot with her loveteam, Daniel Padilla.

Hmmm, another handsome son-of-a-Padilla. Daniel, just like any other teenage boy out there (well, he's not that "average." Daniel is a worldwide trending topic on Twitter and a platinum recording artist.... whatuuuuup!) is funny, makulit and was very much game to do whatever crazy things he was asked to do, like a popcorn fight with Kathryn and a Dougie dance battle with Gerard. :)

G just got eyebrowed by DJ. Who's cuter? Daniel or Gerard? To vote, text GoGerard (answer) to 2232. Kidding!! :)

Take 2 photo :) Gerard wants to teamup with Kathryn, too. So Gerard came up with a few hypothetical loveteam name ideas: KathGe, KathArd, GerKath, GerRyn. GerNiel (Waaah!) To vote, text GoGerard (answer) to 2333. Hahaha!

Kathryn and Daniel aka KathNiel to their fans, gamely showing their cuteness!

Kathryn Bernardo

Dingdong Dantes

On Go, Gerard's previous blog post, Gerard revealed that Marian Rivera gave him a surprise...that is...TAD-AAAAH! An instax photo of the awesomeness that is Dingdong Dantes.

What makes this instax special? Aside from Dingdong's appeal ringing all over it, Marian Rivera actually took this photo herself. Again.. MARIAN RIVERA TOOK THIS PHOTO (caps COMPLETELY necessary). Bravaaaaaa!

The backstory: Right after Gerard told the whole history and shenanigans of Go, Gerard!, Marian asked his permission (yeheeees) if he wants a photo of Dingdong for his blog. Why-freakin'-not??!! So yeah, Gerard agreed to her idea, Marian borrowed his instax camera, then rushed over at the dubbing room (where Dingdong was doing his dubbing for My Beloved), then CLICK!...Dingdong's instax photo was born. Cool, right? :)

So let Gerard say his thanks! To Marian Rivera, for adding another milestone in Go, Gerard!'s history. We love you! To Dingdong Dantes, I know you're super awesome and the only guy who looks great with a mustache, thank you for agreeing to have your photo taken. And you've got a totally awesome girlfriend too. Dammit! :)

Marian Rivera

It's been a weird summer. Weird in a sense that the weather seems to have gone bonkers—from sweating like crazy in the morning to wearing rain boots in the afternoon—that Gerard just stayed at home and hibernated. Hello, climate change! But Gerard isn't the type to just sleep all day and eat chips in front of the TV. He likes being dragged along adventures, especially in an interview with a very beautiful actress. :)

Gerard recently had the pleasure of meeting her celebrity crush Marian Rivera at the set of her show My Beloved. MARIAN-freakin'-RIVERA! The summer heat is definitely on again. Gerard was sweating through his plastic body and the layers of deo he used wasn't working. Gerard just gawked at Marian's face the whole time...staring at her pretty face he only sees on TV and billboards. But Marian was not in her sexy Darna costume. In person, she is just a simple woman, even more beautiful as we see her on TV, she's funnier, no inhibitions...she's just as REAL as you can get. Marian listened intently as Gerard outlined Go, Gerard!'s history. She even offered him pancit. Now Gerard is starting to feel that Marian has a tiny crush on him! Hahaha! Dream on, dude!

P.S. Marian Rivera was so amazed about the whole robot-instax combo that she made an effort to give Gerard a special surprise. Check out Gerard's next post to find out :)

P.P.S. Thank you, Krizette Chu!!!

Chris Tiu

Mmmkay, it's almost a year since Gerard promised to himself and to the entire worldwide web that he's gonna try a sport. Usually, Gerard has a lot of excuses like "my back was glued to my bed" or "not enough time" or "it's more fun to shoot a yummy orange ball into my mouth than into the hoop" blah blah blah...

This ultimate robo-slacking has to end. Good thing he bumped into another inspiration: Chris Tiu.

Chris Tiu is everywhere. Since the time he revealed the "sikreto ng mga gwapo" on a TV commercial a few years back, every guy was forced to rub their faces with an astringent-soaked cotton. Even Gerard had his fair share of the astringent craze, he actually drank a whole bottle of astringent instead of wiping some on his face. Still, Gerard did not twitch an inch like Chris Tiu. 

If not playing for the national basketball team, Chris is hosting a game show or contemplating whether to take another graduate degree program (while sipping his favorite milk tea (with pearls) while listening to Jay Chou). What is Chris' secret? Gerard has to find out his secret to awesomeness. Is it hard work? perseverance?  good looks? another bottle of astringent? Milo? Hmmm...

Aside from basketball, Chris is also into golf and was about to watch a golfing event that weekend. But the week he met Gerard, he just in fact came from a round of tennis with his brother, Charles. He said he wanted to try different sports and that he wanted to do so many things. This should be an inspiration to Gerard! How an athlete who is already good at his sport still wants to try so many other things.

But Chris was quite impressed with Gerard's dance moves. He said this is also one good way to work out. His advice to Gerard: "Have faith, work hard and play fair. Inspire others and make a difference in other people's lives. And oh, Gerard, a little wipe of astringent won't hurt :)"

She got that super bass!

After 4 fun years spent working at HIP, Nimu decided to move on and seek new challenges. Nimu told Gerard that she was thankful for having had the chance to be hired a week after her college graduation. She learned a lot, working on many, many projects with the smartest people in publishing industry.

Nimu now is working for Summit Media. She's (still) an art director of a tween magazine called Total Girl. Gerard, on the other hand, enjoys the creative atmosphere of her new office. His favorite room is...wait for it...the pantry! But when he's not eating, he sticks a magnet on his belly and jump against the steel wall partitions of the office cubicles.

Anyway...

Who can totally rap Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass"? Julie Anne can!

Julie Anne San Jose is the cover girl of Total Girl Magazine for the month of March (and Nimu's first issue with the magazine! YAY!). Aside from neon polkadots, stripes, and cute props, Julie Anne loves singing...and she can't live without it. Julie Anne can rap "And he ill-he real-he might got a deal-He pop bottles and he got the right kind of build-He cold-he dope-he might sell coke-He always in the air-but he never fly coach" like a pro, but she adds her own swag to it. And sure she got Gerard's heartbeat running away. Julie Anne's voice gave Gerard boom-badoom-boom-badoom-boom-goosebumps and shivers down his metal spine.

Watch "Super Bass" cover by Julie Anne here!

Grab a copy of Total Girl Magazine March issue. Available on bookstores and newsstands nationwide!

  

David and Gerard

There's no better way to welcome the new season of American Idol

than meeting an American Idol alumnus DAVID ARCHULETA!! 

Gerard knows what you're thinking: "HE'S HERE AGAIN???" It's true, he just keeps coming back. Well, as long as Saudi Arabia produces airplane fuel, David will keep coming back here in the Philippines hahaha!

Gerard got the chance to attend the press conference of David Archuleta here in Manila. At the presscon, David said he will be in town to film a show this February with TV5 called Nandito Ako. Gerard probably knows you're next question: "WHY?????" And to answer that: "Why not?" David will be putting down his mic for a while to try his hands at acting along side Eula Caballero and Gerard's biggest celebrity crush, Jasmine Curtis-Smith *blush*. Oh wait ...sorry...David will also be singing the Filipino theme song of the series! Gerard can almost hear David singing a few slang lines: "Nen-deeetow akoooohw umii-bhig sayeowwww...." 

David was really nice, simple and game, even giving in to posing with Gerard. He even turned Gerard's wind-up key to see his signature "robo-dance"move.

Hooray!! Cheers to Go, Gerard's baptism of international stars.

Dear Ping Medina

Dude,

We need to talk, man to robot.

You have to stop. See, I'm just a typical robot. And when I say "typical robot," it means that I'm an attractive, cool, and (insert a remarkable characteristic) robot. And why am I here on Earth? To find myself a girl. All the girls that I met before like YOU. Adore YOU. And the guys want to be as cool as YOU. The longer you continue to be Ping Medina, the harder it is to get me a girl.

For my own sanity, I made a list of ways in which you can stop being Ping Medina.

1. Stop being so attractive. Look at you. You're like Gael Garcia Bernal. You're really, really, good-looking. You can pull-off a bad haircut, plain shirt, jeans, and dirty 5-year-old Chuck Taylors. And why is that a problem? I've been spent the entire week mimicking your style and signature poker face, but I look like a beaten up Optimus Prime. Sheeesh!

2. Stop being a great actor. You are the Prince of Philippine Independent Movies. You played a guitarist, the brother of a gay kid, and portrayed 20 different roles in all 20 films for Imahenasyon. Dude, you're like a crazy awesome actor. And you have Pen Medina's "acting blood" running through your veins. You do movies because you like to tell great stories and explore emotions. Asiong Salonga? Damn, even I want to see it!

3. Stop being a multifaceted person. You're an actor, musician, and a businessman. I went to PenPen last night. I ordered a Smoked Cheese Dynamita. It was the best creation on this planet. 

In conclusion, just stop it. Stop being Ping Medina. I'm thankful that you exist, really. But I need my sanity back.

Your long lost brutha,

Gerard

P.S. This is the main photo that didn't make it. Ping, no matter what you do, you still look cool!

P.P.S. I'm just an insecure robot. DON'T CHANGE.

Jericho Rosales

Gerard met a lot of new friends in Baler—musicians, local surfers and tourists. But the highlight of his social life in Baler was when he met the coolest, most humble, and the most good-looking guy he ever met, Jericho Rosales. Ummmkay…that's so gay.

"Hi, Jericho! I'm Gerard."

"Just call me Echo, bro."

"Cool shirt!" Gerard said.

And they did the secret brutha-hood handshake.

Echo is an actor known for his humble beginnings and worked his way to the top. He is really cool and very humble. He has really perfected being the everyman. Gerard feels like he knows him since forever, and he's like a buddy.

Echo and Gerard took their bromance to the next level and talked about a lot of stuff like movies, music, girls, cars, beach, girls, and…girls. The conversation was frequently interrupted by fans who want to have a picture with Echo, and most of the time, these fans asked Gerard to take the picture for them. Gerard didn't mind.

Echo loves the beach and surfing is his past time when he's on vacation. Waves relaxes him and makes him feel energized. "Surfing ignites my inner being and surfing gives me a kind of calm that relaxes my mind," Echo said. He invited Gerard for a surfing session, it'll be cool if both of of them could be surfing buddies.

Agot Isidro

"Cupcake…" Gerard whispered to himself when he saw her. 

It was love-at-first-sight the moment he saw Alex Macunatan's face on the TV screen. The sweet and charming way she uttered the word "Papsie" never failed to melt Gerard's metal heart. Since then, he never missed an episode of Oki Doki Dok and thought that his subscription to "The Robo-human Channel", the RoboPlanet counterpart of "The Filipino Channel", was worth every single Roney (the primary currency in RoboPlanet).

You could just imagine Gerard's excitement when he finally met Agot Isidro aka "Cupcake" a few months ago at a photo shoot for one of her product endorsements. Gerard couldn't help but be attracted to Agot's magnetic beauty and personality. "No wonder Doc Aga's head over heels for her," he said.

Gerard was also pleasantly surprised when he learned that Agot is already in her 40's.  "What the… it can't be!" he exclaimed. Gerard (in stalker mode) read in Agot's blog that she's a gym and Yoga nut, which explains her fit and healthy physique. Another thing that Gerard found interesting is that Agot loves to eat. "She eats like a horse?! That's un-freakin-believable! She looks AWESOME!" Gerard said, falling in love with "Cupcake" all over again. 

Woman of Style

Gerard really can't help it. He bumped into another woman of style: Patty Betita. 

Gerard blushed and shyed away from the camera when he met supermodel Patty a few weeks ago at a shoot for her Facial Care endorsement. She's really friendly, simple, beautiful, and looks young for her age! Style comes out of her naturally—Gerard thinks she looks great and classic on that striped maxi dress! Dream Girl Alert!! Gerard and Patty talked about food, Santorini, Greece, Filipino designers, and Tretorn. She also taught Gerard her favorite Ilonggo expression: "ambot sa imo!" 

Just like any other 21st century woman, Patty is modern, independent and successful. She established Thousand Oaks Personality Development Training Center which she handles along side her modeling career. She teaches business and social etiquette to employees, showing them how to be more confident, presentable, and well-groomed at a workplace. She conducts sessions for future models, too! Gerard wants to enter the world of modeling to overcome his shyness and stiffness. Patty said she's really looking forward to teaching him Modeling 101 soon.

Kim Hyun Joong

Korean superstar Kim Hyun Joong arrived in the Philippines last week for his "Break Down" album tour and to promote The Face Shop, a popular brand he endorses.

NiMu took this instax photo of Kim Hyun Joong at The Face Shop's press conference last August 26 at The Rockwell Club. At the press con, KHJ met 74 year-old Patria Ragasa. Lola Patria is a big fan of KHJ. She had a chance to meet and greet (and kiss!) his idol when her daughter, Maria Rosario, joined and won the The Face Shop's charity auction of KHJ's autographed sports shorts. Maria's winning bid went to Abiertas House of Friendship.

After the press con, NiMu joined Bevs, Reggie and RJ, and they all shared a bit of fangirling before leaving the venue.

Gerard was not there at the press con. He was a bit sleepy that day and just stayed home. But when he saw this photo, he immediately bought The Face Shop E'Thym O2 Water Aura Cream. Gerard said he wants to have perfect skin in the future like Kim Hyun Joong.

Special thanks to Lawrence and Beverly Dalton.

Level-Up

The first time Gerard met a beautiful woman like Tweetie de Leon-Gonzales (who's a mom, model, endorser, and designer) he was stunned by how beautiful and successful a woman can become. Gerard dreams of a woman just like her. He blushed again when he met Mikaela Lagdameo-Martinez.

Gerard met Mikaela on a shoot for a magazine where she will be on the cover. Gerard first saw her on a TV commercial for a pizza chain. On that commercial, she played a typical girl-next-door, beautiful, prim and proper, but actually, she can be rowdy, fun, and out-going like the boys. And yeah..she can eat a LOT of pizza slices without worrying about the extra calories.

Just like her character on the pizza commercial, Mika is also fun, stylish, out-going, and can actually do anything! She is a model, endorser, magazine editor. She's also money broker and a food biz entrepreneur, most especially, a wife and a mom of 2 beautiful kids. Wow! Now that's a lot going on her plate, and Gerard admires her doing all that.


From meeting models like Tweetie de Leon-Gonzales, and some celebs, to going to a beach, mountain, an artsy place, and now meeting the lovely Mika, Gerard has come a long way and his adventures are slowly but surely leveling up! "LUMEVEL-UP NA SIYA!"

Coco and Conan O'Brien

Gerard still couldn't believe it!

His metal jaw dropped when he saw his

long lost cousin, Coco, doing some Robo-dancing on TV...

with Conan-freakin'-O'Brien! 

This is Coco. He's thin and has an orange beard.

His blue-colored frame looks good on TV.

This was episode June 7, 2011.

The real Coco was impressed. He did the Robo-dance, too!

Even though he gets along well with Coco, Gerard secretly wishes that he was the one who experienced 15 minutes of fame with Conan O'Brien. He imagined himself doing the Robo-dance with him, and even rubbing his metallic elbows with his celebrity guests. But then again, there's always "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", "Late Show with David Letterman", "Jimmy Kimmel Live", or as he thought about it... maybe he'd be better off doing the "dougie dance" with Ellen DeGeneres.

Special thanks to Lois Albacite and Dianne Pineda.

Writer's Music

NiMu was invited by her friend Eric Nicole Salta to the launch party of a new magazine called Maven. Gerard wanted to go, too, but NiMu hesitated to bring him along because he acts like a pesky child, running around the place and getting lost in the crowd. Gerard promised that he will be a good robot and will just stay inside her bag the whole evening.

Maven was launched at Opus in Resort World. Nimu thought the place was great. Gerard especially liked the zebra-printed couch.

Eric is the managing editor of Maven. As editor, he keeps track of the production schedule, makes sure all articles and layouts beat the deadline, handles the nerve-wracking budget, oversees shoots and reads the magazine from cover to cover. Gerard's head screws tightened when he heard Eric's numerous tasks and got really curious on how he 'loosens up'. Eric gave his top 3 stress busters: tennis, travel and music (candy pop, Miley Cyrus, alternative, art-rock, electronic). His guilty pleasure: Kpop (proof: the hairstyle). Eric told Gerard that he also liked the zebra-printed couch!

Tom Wagan is Eric's friend since high school. Gerard asked Tom, who works for a computer software company, if it would be possible to place a microchip on his back. Tom warned him that this will be a risky move and suggested to implant a wi-fi router instead. Gerard said he'll consider the idea.

Gerard kept his promised and just stayed by Nimu's side. Good thing Bevs, Reggie

were also there that night to support their friend Eric.

But Gerard can't help but to jump out of NiMu's bag and gave a holler

to his buddies James Reid and Ivan Dorschner.

Maven had a very successful launch. Nimu, Bevs, Reggie, and Tom are so proud of Eric. 'Til the next party (in the U.S.A.)!

YouTube Apprentice

We all know that Gerard dreams of becoming a YouTube sensation. He posted his dancing video on YouTube, but it only had 4 hits. Pathetic. How could he be discovered by Ellen DeGeneres or Oprah Winfrey? Just when his determined plastic finger was about to press "delete" on the keyboard and erase his video on the internet world forever-- another inspiration came in the form of an odd YouTube star, Roadfill.

Roadfill is the other half of the Pinoy lip-syncing duo, MoyMoy Palaboy. They upload their videos on YouTube and got 5 million hits! Roadfill watched Gerard's dancing video (he's the 4th viewer) and saw potential in Gerard's dancing skills. Luckily, Roadfill's partner, MoyMoy, was busy with work and Roadfill wants to upload a new video...so he asked Gerard to be his new singing and dancing partner. Yaaaahoooo!! Will this be the start of the Roadfill-Gerard fame?

Gettin' that Machete Body

Gerard patted himself on the back when he lost that 0.5 lb with all that running and ball kicking with the Azkals. More determined to take his new healthy lifestyle to the next level, he's now exploring the world of DIETING! 

Gerard also was inspired when he saw a local TV show Machete. Not only does he dream of becoming a human-like Machete (Machete's the statue that becomes alive at night... is he a vampire or something?), he wants to have rock-hard abs. Good thing his owner, NiMu, tagged him along to an event to meet Machete... errr... Aljur Abrenica.

Gerard asked Aljur's secret so he, too, can achieve a Machete body.

                         Gerard: Aljur what's your secret? I want abs too.

                         Aljur: Umm... ano... self-discipline, gym at diet.

This time, Gerard showed him his inner showbiz reporting skills..

                         Gerard: Okay. I heard you're in the movie Temptation Island.

                         How does it feel that you're with Marian, Heart, Solenn

                         and other sexy girls?

                         Aljur: Ummm... ano... tempting.

                         Gerard: ...

                         Aljur: ...

                         Gerard: I'm hungry. What can I eat for dinner?

                         Aljur: Century Tuna Hotdog

                         Gerard: ....

Their simple conversation ended well. Gerard thanked him for his simple diet advice. He felt his tummy rumbling and gurgling, and slushing with oil. He rushed to the nearest grocery and bought a pack of Century Tuna Hotdog. He hopes the hotdog will give him abs like Aljur's.

Even robots enjoy eating hotdogs.

Special thanks to Mikke Gallardo.

Gerard Younghusband

Gerard would usually wake up early and jump out of his re-charger "bed." But today, the moment his feet touched the floor, he heard a loud plunk! ka-thunk!  So, he checked his weight. To his horror, his weight doubled in 2 months!...from 0.5 lb., he became 1lb. He noticed his usual toned plastic arms have become unhinged, while his steel-hard abs seemed to have a little bulge. The high tech weighing scale read: FATSO ALERT, with a voice machine saying: "It's time to lose weight, mister!"

So Gerard took Dyan Castillejo's advice, drank a shot of wheatgrass juice, slipped on his running shoes, and braved the soccer field! There is no doubt that football suddenly became popular in the country, perhaps because of the Azkals who are incredibly good [looking] on the field.

Their victories attracted a bunch of fans, mostly teenage girls. Gerard daydreamed about playing football, wearing white shorts while several fangirls screamed his name, and one of whom could be his robo dream girl.

Excited, Gerard enrolled at the one-day football clinic of The Younghusband Football Academy. Not only will he be fit and healthy, he also wanted to kick and knock the ball with his plastic legs, over to one guy and knock it again for the goal. With girl fans screaming, of course.

And since Gerard's in TYFA, guess who's gonna train him?.... none other than Philippine Azkals players and brothers James and Phil Younghusband!

Spot the very over-exposed Gerard with the other kids on a training session versus James and Phil. Gerard was wearing a white see-through shirt. The Younghusbands both have quick and strong legs. Gerard can't keep up with all the running and ball kicking. So he promised himself never to eat Big Mac Battery and space fries again.

After the game, he felt 0.5 lbs lighter. Even though James and Phil were tired and sweaty, they still look great! Gerard had a lot of fun. He wants to be a Younghusband too. With the fresh-out-of-game hair, red blush and all.

Gerard Younghusband, their brotha' from anotha' mutha'.

Luke Landrigan is one Son of a Beach

Summer is ending soon. What's the perfect way to end Gerard's last summer hurrah? SURFING! But the problem was that Gerard doesn't know how to surf...he doesn't know how to paddle...he's scared that maybe a shark will attack and bite his red plastic legs if he swims out too far in the ocean.

Good thing Gerard bumped into Luke Landrigan at the MYOH event. Luke is a professional surfer and instructor. He earned the Surfing Australia Level 1 Certification for surf instruction, a world-class qualification that permits him to teach surfing anywhere in the world! This dude got a surf school too, the Billabong Surf School in La Union. He's been surfing since the age of 10. No wonder he's got  washboard abs!

Luke and Gerard's conversation went like this:

Luke [in chill surfer lingo]: 'sup bruddah?

Gerard: I wanna hit 'em waves.

L: Cooool. -_-

G: I need your help, man.

L: Right on! Just gimme a call brah!

G: Awesome dude! Kawabonggga!

Gerard wants to surf epic waves..and wants abs too! Luke agreed to teach Gerard...but he's got 3 requirements for Gerard. First: buy board shorts. Second: take a 5-6 hour bus trip to San Juan Surf Resort. And third: to relax, enjoy and relish the surf lifestyle.

Gerard was excited for this summer trip—soon he'll be shaka-ing everyone at the beach, play with Poks and River, and eat chocolates after a long day of surfing.