Richard, Lucy, and Juliana Gomez: Living the Sweet Life
Hear the interesting stories inside the spacious Gomez household!
Uploaded: April 22, 2011
Lucy says that Goma, her husband of 10 years, can be very sweet when he wants to. "Malambing siya talaga in unexpected ways and days," Lucy smiles. Just the week before the interview, she recalls, they were at a branch of Fully Booked, a trendy bookstore, because Juliana was asking for pens and erasers. At home that night, Lucy learned there was a surprise for her.
"I was doing something on the computer that night na. Patulog na kami. Then he hands me a card. Kilig na kilig naman ako.
There was a note there that said na: ‘I had the chance to browse through the cards in Fully Booked. And I got this because everything that's written on it embodies how I feel about you. To my wife, the one I love endlessly, you are my home.'"
"Ay! Ang haba ng hair!" Lucy laughs, swaying her head to show off her long hair. In gayspeak, the expression means "maganda."
"Tuwang-tuwa naman ako!" Lucy adds. "I think it's sweet that way, na wala namang occasion."
For the first time ever, Richard Gomez and Lucy Torres have agreed to have their master bedroom photographed. The room takes up 110 square meters of space, and when Richard was still single, he thought it was so big. "But when Lucy and then Juliana came along, hindi pala," Goma laughs. "Lalo na pag nagkaanak ka pala—sus, parang ang liit na ulit ng kuwarto n'yo. It becomes a regular room."
That's because Juliana, the couple's only child, who agreed to pose for this shot, chooses to stay with them in the master bedroom, despite her having a room of her own. That's her bed behind her.
Lucy herself says she earlier told YES! stylist Gwynn Guanzon that the master bedroom "looked like a model condo unit before."
Goma points to the cabinets partly seen on the left. "Dati, wala 'yang mga cabinet diyan," he says. "'Yong kama ang nandiyan. But then, we needed one na, kasi dumami na ang gamit."
With three of them using the same room, Lucy and Goma have devised a system to keep things in order. They set up three nooks, where they can each do their thing without bothering the others.
The desk and shelves in the photo are in Lucy's corner. Admittedly an OC, or obsessive-compulsive, she has made sure that items that go together are all in the same box, and that each box is labeled accordingly.
When not busy with her studies or not doing any artwork, Juliana may be found on top of her Indo board. That, according to Juliana's athletic dad, is the training board of those who wish to learn how to surf.
"Sa ganyan sila nag-i-start mag-aral ng balance," says Goma. "Pag narinig mo sa ibaba na me bog, bog—si Juliana 'yon. Actually, magaling na siya."
Juliana shows us how she uses the board.
Amazing, we say.
Goma, by the way, doesn't display too many of his sports medals and trophies around the house.
Lucy explains why: "Although he's encouraging Juliana sa sports, ayaw niyang ma-pressure siya na, ‘Ah, my dad pala is this.' Especially daw if he had a son."
Also, Goma is the type of dad who doesn't set too many restrictions around the house. "Okey lang magasgas ang floor, okey lang madumihan ang wall," he says. After all, the walls and the floor can be replaced anytime, but childhood—especially a happy one—only happens once.
Recently, the couple had a bit of an argument about their matrimonial bed. "May gusto kasi akong bilhin na mattress," says Lucy. "Kasi, para mas umangat kami. Feeling ko, lubog na kami.
"Sabi niya, ‘Honey, instead of buying a new mattress, why don't we just buy a new bed?'"
She repeats to us what she told him: "Honey naman, there are so many memories there... How many times have we made love on that bed?"
Needless to say, Lucy, who treasures a lot of items in the house for their sentimental value, had her way.
The painting adorning their room is by Geraldine Javier, a recipient in 2003 of the Cultural Center of the Philippines' prestigious 13 Artists Awards.
Goma says he bought it because it has one peculiar detail that caught his attention. "Do you know why I like that?" he asks. "Papaano kasi, 'yong isang foot noong bata has six toes! Hindi ko alam kung sinadya niya or what."
(It was probably sinadya, since the painter has been described in a gallery catalogue as "a master of the uncanny and the strangely disturbing.")
The multilevel cabinet seen here serves a Juliana's "work station." It's where she keeps her school stuff, arts and crafts materials, and toys.
Lucy's collection of images of saints, all of them gifts that she treasures, includes figurines of the Immaculate Concepcion, Saint Expeditus, and Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus; an image of Jesus's face drawn by her designer friend Joe Salazar; and a bust of a suffering Jesus Christ.
The bust also has a back story. "Eto 'yong pinakita ko dati kay Juliana," Lucy recalls. "Bata pa siya, mga three years old. Sabi ko sa kanya, ‘'Yan si Jesus. Siya 'yong nagbibigay sa 'yo ng lahat ng gifts mo. Everything.' Sabi niya: ‘How can he give me, Mommy? He has no hands.'"
"My desk is really my work area," says Lucy of her nook in the master bedroom.
"That's where I write my column, where I write my notes, and also my checks. So it's important to me that I'm surrounded by things I like, things that make me smile. So I have there my photo frames, and then I had there a notebook—it's this notebook that Richard gave me mga four years ago, and on the first eight to ten pages, he wrote a really, really long letter.
"So every time I'm not having a very good day, I just get that notebook—doon ko na rin 'nilalagay 'yong mga notes na iniiwan niya sa desk ko—then I'd just go through it again and it makes me happy. Then I have there all of Juliana's little drawings when she was young pa talaga, na siya pa talaga ang naglagay using scotch tape noong bata pa siya."
"Those are Juliana's," says Lucy of the animated cartoon-style picture frames that have no photos yet. "She invades my space, e. Siya naglagay niyan diyan."
Lucy rarely throws anything away. "Unless it's talagang useless na at hindi ma-fix, like electronics," she says. "If it's something that I can fix in this house, I have my Mighty Bond. Ayusin ko pa, especially pag may sentimental value. Ako kasi, I have a tool box, 'cause nga I'm mabutingting. You should see my hammer—my hammer is bulaklakin! Hahaha!"
Indeed, it is. And it's part of a set that includes pliers and a cutter.
In his own nook, Goma likes tinkering with his gadget, a Canon PIXMA Pro 9500 printer, which instantly prints his "point-and-shoot" photographs in crisp, sharp colors.
Lucy says it's a misconception that her husband is miserly: "Before I married him, medyo I was set na on that, na ‘A, kuripot-kuripot.' But surprisingly, he's not pala. He just won't spend on anything that he really doesn't like. But if he likes naman, he will not naman let the cost stand in the way... Nakita mo naman, di ba, if he likes something? Like, baseball bats-he got hundreds of them."
Another misconception about Goma is that he's "mayabang." He says,"Nagtataka ako na maraming tao na nag-aakala na parang ang yabang-yabang ko. Sabi ko, maybe it's only because of the roles na nakikita nila sa TV. Di ba, 'yong mga pino-portray ko na roles, parang mayabang? Hindi naman, e."
Goma's Driade shelves—which are a lot neater now than before—remain the home of his acting trophies, of which four are from the Urian and two from the Metro Manila Film Festival.
Inside most of those boxes are the family's travel photos, which Lucy catalogued by country—Japan, Australia, and so on.
In foreground is Goma's collection of fishing rods, now virtually untouched, since Goma's current sport of choice is baseball.
Lucy the pack rat says she can't keep all of Goma's sporting goods because "hindi naman niya napagsasawaan, e. Paikot-ikot lang. Sana, kung may sport na napagsasawaan, di ba, you can keep it muna. E, hindi, e."
When their basement, which is the bodega, became too small for the family's accumulated stuff, Goma decided to buy four container vans and used them as storage. The vans are currently parked in Goma's rented shooting range in Taytay, Rizal.
Lucy had the floors of the container vans tiled, and had the walls insulated. "Nandoon ngayon 'yong iba naming gamit, like wood furniture, some of his medals... 'Tapos, everything that's inside one van, I write down in a notebook 'yong details. So I'd know."
Juliana has agreed to have her "bedroom" photographed, and while she's using her MacBook Pro, a high-end laptop she inherited from her mom, too.
The girl has started to warm up to people. But there was a time when she would anxiously ask her parents, before going anywhere: "Will there be presses there?"—meaning, the press, the reporters, and the paparazzi.
Her mom also recalls this exchange between her and the rather private Juliana.
Juliana had asked: "Mom, when will Sweet Life end?" The reference is to the Q-11 show that Lucy co-hosts with Wilma Doesnt. Its taping days are Mondays and Tuesdays, which is when Lucy is never home and when Juliana misses her.
Lucy replied: "It's never going to end, Juliana."
"Even when you're old?" Juliana asked again.
"No, when we're old, Juliana, it's going to be you and Asiana taking over." Asiana is Wilma Doesnt's elder daughter.
This portion of the cabinet is where Juliana keeps most of her collectibles. Her current fixation, apart from making three-dimensional star figures out of colorful scrap paper, is erasers.
"Kahon-kahon ang erasers niya," laughs Lucy.
"Hindi ko alam why she's into erasers. One time nga, sabi niya, ‘Mom, can you go back to the hospital where I was born?' ‘Why?' ‘I wanna check, baka I was born with a box of erasers. Naiwan lang siya doon.' Hahaha!"
And even if Goma and Lucy don't buy her too much of what she wants, Juliana gets these perks from her parents' friends—such as the late Douglas Quijano, the Gomezes' manager.
Says Lucy: "Si Tito Dougs, numero unong ano 'yon—madalas magpadala ng kung ano-ano kay Juliana."
At the time of the photo shoot, Juliana's own bedroom is occupied by her grandparents, Manuel and Julie Torres, who stay with the Gomezes when they are in Manila.
Juliana "always says she wants her own room, her own bed," Lucy says. "But she crawls back naman to our bed. What she does is, sa amin muna siya, then when we wake up in the morning, nakabalik na siya. Doon na siya ulit sa bed niya."
When Juliana sleeps in the matrimonial bed, she stays on either side of her parents, but never between them.
"I'm always in the middle," explains Lucy. "Kasi parehas silang mag-ama matulog—labas isang paa sa kumot. Ako naman, gusto ko, balot na balot.
Grabe talaga, they sleep the same way. I have pictures of them na tulog silang dalawa pareho—eksaktong-eksakto, pareho 'yong posisyon.
"Ako naman, ayoko talagang nakalabas 'yong paa, kasi feeling ko, puwede siyang paglaruan ng mumu. Si Mommy kasi said before, she heard daw the footsteps of her father. Her dad had just died then. That stuck to my mind. I never sleep with my feet out—never. Hahaha."
Juliana's "rock star" wall—filled with posters of her favorite foreign young stars and bands—is Juliana's own work of art, says her proud daddy.
"Siya lang mag-isa gumawa niyan," says Goma. "Siya nagdikit-dikit. Pati 'yong doon sa pinakamataas. Ang ginagawa niya, ginagamit niya 'yong mga fishing poles ko."
The biggest number of posters on Juliana's walls are those of the Jonas Brothers, a hit American teen band. She's also "in crush" with American Idol Season 7 winner, David Cook. Goma remembers Lucy telling him: "Alam mo ba, kagabi, pag-uwi ko, nalaman niya na David Cook is coming to Manila [January 2009]. Gumawa ng placard 'yong gaga—We love you, you rock!"
And when Juliana learned that Canadian rock star Avril Lavigne would be coming to the Philippines on September 3, 2008, she started pestering her parents: "Can I watch? Can I watch?"
Says Richard: "Noong tiningnan ko, ang mahal ng ticket—P6,000 ang isa. Sabi ko, ‘Hoy, anak, manood ka na lang sa TV.' Ewan ko ba, rakista yata ang anak ko."
Goma's Claude Tayag shelves on the second-floor corridor, which wasn't here in the early days, are now home to the family's collection of books and magazines of varied interests, such as cookbooks; travel books; books on art, fashion, photography, cinema, architecture, and interior design; titles on pediatrics as well as novels, autobiographies (Princess Diana, Jackie Onassis, John F. Kennedy), and even dictionaries."
Lucy, a Martha Stewart fan, has volumes of Martha Stewart Living magazine.
Those black bags on top of the shelves are Goma's camera bags.
Goma asked Lucy, when he first showed her this walk-in closet: "Is it enough for you?" Lucy recalls saying: ‘Sobrang laki na 'yan. Ano naman ang gagawin ko sa ganyang kalaking closet?' Hindi pala. Hahaha!"
Now, the couple's closet has found an extension in the main room, where they have built a floor-to-ceiling cabinet system that also houses the TV set in the center, a throwback to Goma's bachelor days.
"Marami rin kasing damit si Richard, especially for TV," says Lucy. "And he has too many shoes! 'Yong mga nandito, konti pa 'yan, kasi all the rest are in the basement."
Goma says that, when he was building this house, he made sure the bathroom would be big.
"I also made sure na dalawa 'yong sink na his and hers. Kasi when you read sa mga magazines, ang usual cause of conflicts ng mag-asawa, kadalasan, 'yong kunyari pag busy ka, nagmamadali ka, 'tapos nagbabanggaan na kayo sa banyo. 'Tapos, ‘Ano ba, bilisan mo nga! Ang dumi-dumi ng ginagawa mo diyan!' Nagkakabuwisitan kayo. Unless na very disciplined kayo na pag ikaw muna sa banyo, ikaw muna. Mamaya na ako."
Goma ordered the pair of Duravit toilet bowl and bidet from Hong Kong. He remembers asking his friend and former business associate Marilen Nuñez to take charge. Marilen, then new to these things, went to Hong Kong and literally picked up the heavy bathroom fixtures, checked them in at the airport, and came home to Manila with them.
The sink, made from one huge slab of granite, took 14 people to carry up to the second floor.
"Akala ko nga bibigay 'yong hagdanan namin, e," laughs Goma. "Noong nandiyan na, pinaukit namin 'to [for the sink]. 'Tapos, eto [ridges on the side]—hindi ito design. It's how they cut it... They used drills. E, gusto ko, 'yong uka. Sabi ko, 'wag alisin. Kasi, dapat papantayin nila, e."
Like any regular couple, Lucy and Goma also argue. But unlike regular couples, they don't fight.
"Hindi kami madrama," Lucy says. "We don't have 'yong mga arguments that would lead na mag-a-alsa-balutan ka, ‘Uuwi ako'ng Ormoc.' Siya, aalis siya-magda-drive. One time, nag-argue kami. Sa inis niya siguro, ayaw niyang salubungin 'yong inis ko rin, nagpalamig lang siya. Nag-drive siya. Ewan ko, around the village lang siguro.
"Ganoon daw siya. Even before, when he would fight with one of his girlfriends—sa Horseshoe Drive [San Juan] pa siya nakatira—naghuhukay siya sa garden, o kaya, nagdya-jogging lang nang madaling araw. Siguro, just to release. Maybe that's why he handles stress well, because may outlet siya, e.
"Ako? Iiyak na lang. Ako kasi, I'm the type na if I'm sad, I really wallow in my sadness. Hahaha! Nagmumukmok ako. Parang inaalagaan ko siya talaga. Madrama ako in that sense, na I'll just cry the whole day. Pero once I'm over it, I'm over it na. Feeling ko kasi, if I suppress it, it'll just come back to haunt me. So I always express myself. If I wanna cry, magka-cry lang ako."
When a marital discord does occur, Lucy says it's Goma who always makes the first move to reconcile. "Kasi, siya palagi ang may kasalanan," says Lucy, smiling. "But he's very sweet when he wants to be sweet."
Like their marital bed, this three-seater sofa is something Lucy won't let go of—not even after it became unpresentable, when Gaston, a black French bulldog owned by Lucy's brother Matt, chewed on part of it. But the sofa has sentimental value for Lucy.
Says Goma: "Ako kasi, if it's of no use any more, tapon na, o pag luma na, ipamigay. Siya naman: ‘Honey, baka puwede pang itago o ipagawa.'"
Lucy butts in: "Ganyan siya. Like, if he buys a new camera, ipapamigay niya 'yong old camera."
But Lucy thinks "holding on" to things runs in her family.
"Si Mommy ko kasi, gano'n, e. ‘Sige, you buy a new one, pero 'paayos n'yo pa din 'yong luma, kasi baka masira 'yong new, di ba?' Hahaha! Si Daddy naman, hanggat hindi pa sira, hindi papalitan, kahit panahon pa ni Magellan."
To make a long story short, instead of buying a new sofa, Lucy had this one reupholstered—just in time for this shoot. Tess Vargas of The Bowery was responsible for the reupholstering.
"That's because that's our first sofa," laughs Lucy. "And it's so comfortable pa rin naman. Kung hindi man siya nagawa, I'll keep it pa rin. Maghahanap na lang ako ng ibang storage room. I'll never give that sofa away."
The huge dining table, made of natural hewn solid wood, was purchased from Maestro Café, a restaurant in Parañaque that also sells its furniture pieces.
"Hindi siya nakatulog when he saw that," Lucy says. "Sabi ko, ‘Bilhin mo na, honey."
He did. The wooden table replaced his original dining setup—a Capellini glass table with eight Driade chairs, which are all now in the family den.
Under the 21-step iron staircase are Goma's bow and arrow. Archery, besides baseball, is his current sport.
For the shoot, Lucy acquired the services of Gaita Fores of the Fiori di M flower shop in Greenbelt 5. Gaita sent her staff to dress up the Gomez's dining area and living room.
There are three Persian carpets in the house—one that greets you when you enter the main door, another on the second-floor landing, and a third in the master bedroom. Goma got them at an online Sotheby's auction and in Singapore.
At first, Lucy didn't seem too keen on having carpets in the house, but Goma told her: "You know, carpets are really nice. They grow on you. They soften the room. Saka, sa laki ng floor natin, we really need carpets."
The pendant lamps are original works by the French artist-designer Philippe Starck, described by the online encyclopedia Wikipedia as "probably the best-known designer in the New Design style."
"Single pa ako, type na type ko na mga gawa ni Philippe Starck, e," say Goma.
The dining room's stainless steel door with a porthole—which Goma ordered from Los Angeles, along with two other doors, the main door and the one in the den leading to the pathway—is beside the buffet table and leads to the kitchen.
"Hindi pa uso ang Internet noon na puwede kang mag-order online," Goma recalls. "Doon ka pa talaga sa manufacturer sa L.A. o-order."
Only the Capellini buffet table, which complemented the former dining table, remains from the original dining-area arrangement. Goma even replaced his favorite painting, H.R. Ocampo's Green Revolution, with photos that he shot and printed himself. In fact, on the day of the YES! shoot, he's busy doing a last-minute fix-up of the dining wall.
The photos on the left, he says, were taken during their last family vacation in Ormoc and Boracay last year. The ones on the right were taken in New York in 2004.
"Point-and-shoot camera lang 'yan," he beams. "Gusto kong patunayan na you can shoot good pictures kahit point-and-shoot lang ang gamit mo."
This room, which has its own toilet, was intended to be the entertainment den. Through the years, however, it has come to serve as a guest room.
This was the room occupied by Tintin Gomez, Richard's younger sister on his father's side, before she got married. And this is where Goma's friend, seaman Clement Carrasco, stays whenever he's in the Philippines.
This is usually converted into a game room when Goma's poker barkada—John Estrada and Mike Gayoso among them—are in the house. It also serves as the display room for some of Goma's sports trophies and medals, particularly the medals he has won for fencing.
"Dati, walang mirror diyan," says Lucy. "'Pinagawa ko lang 'yan 'cause I like big mirrors."
The covered table is the Capellini dining table that used to dominate the eating area. "'Yong mga chairs, walo 'yan, di ba? Dalawa nasa labas," says Lucy. "The rest, dito na muna. Kasi, nginangatngat ng mga aso."
"Noong buntis lang ako," she laughs. "Hindi lang niya ako pinapakain, ginagawa kong big deal. I don't know—weird talaga siguro 'yong pagbubuntis, 'no?"
These days, she says, she always knows it when a particular woman is after her husband. "May instances na alam kong maanghang 'yong babae," she laughs. "Alam kong project siya. Siguro, in our ten years together, mga tatlo 'yon."
She adds, with emphasis: "Walang nakalusot, ha! Hahaha. I don't know, maybe my mom always says nga na marriage is so sacred that God gives the woman gut feel, kahit wala kang... even if you have no reason to believe that she is attracted to him. You'll feel, e. You'll know in the room, e, kung sino yong masyadong mahaba 'yong pagkaganoon [touches her hair]."
Lucy then chides Goma: "Aminin mo, honey, magaling 'yong batting average ko."
"Ha?" Goma says. "Hindi ko matandaan, e."
Goma isn't the jealous kind, either. "Never siya talagang nagselos," Lucy says. "I can tell him about my ex-boyfriend, and he'd never say, ‘Ayokong marinig...'"
Just as it never runs out of guests, this home also never runs out of food. Most of the time, the couple's friends like it better dining al fresco. Thus, besides the solid wood tables and benches, Goma also bought collapsible round and square tables and chairs for dinner parties. The grill on the side also comes in handy for impromptu get-togethers.
"Ang dami niyang biniling tables and chairs," laughs Lucy. "Para kaming magtatayo ng restaurant."
"Kasi it's so practical, e," Goma defends himself.
"Kung gusto mong mag-set up dito sa labas, sandali lang tapos, ang ganda na."
Goma, who loves to cook for his friends, also loves doing the groceries. When it comes to food, budget is never a problem.
"You know what, hindi namin iniisip," says Goma. "We just love having our friends around."
"Saka si Mr. S&R 'yan, e," says Lucy, referring to the S&R "membership shopping services" store that sells practically anything. Goma shops at its branch in The Fort, Taguig.
"He can go there every day, hindi siya magsasawa," Lucy explains. "If I say, ‘Honey, wala nang Kleenex'—‘Okey, punta akong S&R.' Feeling niya siguro, it's a happy place. If we're stuck in traffic, ‘S&R na lang tayo.' O kaya, hindi kami aabot sa pupuntahan namin o kaya sa movie, he'd tell me, ‘Honey, ang bad news, hindi na tayo aabot. Pero ang good news, bukas pa ang S&R.'
"So, if he goes today, he'll buy so much stuff, and if he goes again tomorrow, he'll come home with just as much stuff. He usually buys mga gamit sa pantry, foodstuff."
Goma butts in: "Sarap, e. Even if we go abroad, ang first stop ko is the grocery."
Lucy continues: "Minsan, he'd buy diapers, gatas—'papamigay niya sa mga inaanak niya. Anything. Basta gusto lang niya bumili sa S&R."
It was Lucy's idea to change the landscaping all around their property, especially the backyard garden. She replaced the tall eucalyptus trees, which used to dominate the back garden, with oriental bamboo.
"Kasi, nauuka na ang bakod sa laki ng ugat nila," she explains, referring to the eucalyptus trees. "In fact, umabot na ang ugat nila sa may ilalim ng bahay. Hindi pala siya talaga pang-residential.
Lucy's landscape artist extended the oriental feel of the garden in the front yard, which used to be bare. The plants in the white jars, by the way, are called horsetails.
Goma sees himself growing old with Lucy in this cozy and functional house. "Kaya nga maganda that you build your own house," he says. "As compared to when you buy a house and then you just renovate it. Building your own house, alam mo kung ano gusto mong gawin. You have your design, your look... then you make sure na tama 'yong electricals mo, 'yong plumbing mo, as compared to buying and renovating. 'Yon ang sakit ng ulo, e. You don't spend as much, pero after a while, magbi-breakdown 'yong mga circuits niya."
This blue wall is where Goma set up a batting net. "Pag nagba-batting ako, diyan ko pinapatama," he says.
"'Tapos, may archery pa siya, hindi ba?" Lucy says. "So, sa umaga minsan, lalabas ako dito, biglang wooosh! Kung hindi bola, pana, hahaha! Tapos biglang may ‘I love you, honey.'
This pathway on one side of the house leads to the backyard. Behind the concrete wall, the design of which Goma copied from a Japanese house, is a piece of property that Goma and Lucy, given the chance, would like to buy.
"Kaso, hindi 'binebenta," says Lucy. Goma's other dream is to buy property in Silang, Cavite. "Ang sarap doon, e," he says. "Malamig."
The beautiful oriental garden turns even more stunning at night because of its dramatic lighting. It's huge enough to accommodate a swimming pool. But Goma never considered having one.
"I didn't want to, dahil 'yong isang sister ko noon, she died in the swimming pool sa States," he says.
He then tells the tragic story.
"Nasa States noon si Dad. He had a daughter, mga four years old. They were staying in the house na may swimming pool sa likod. In the afternoon, natutulog ang mom niya. Paggising niya, the kid was nakalutang na sa pool. Traumatic talaga. The police called my dad daw in the office: ‘Mr. Gomez, you have to come.' Nasuntok daw niya 'yong asawa niya. 'Tapos, eventually, naghiwalay din sila."
The pair of lovebirds in the cage under the yucca ornamental plant are Juliana's pets.
"They were actually four lovebirds," says Lucy.
"The two were in a different cage. But for some reason, nakawala 'yong dalawa. Pero nandiyan lang sila sa garden, hindi naman umaalis. They don't want to go back to the cage, pero nandiyan lang sila sa mga bamboos."
While we're busy shooting parts of his house, Goma leaves for the deli to buy ingredients for the dinner he's planning to cook for us. He comes back with garden salad, a few veggies, and some canned goods.
"Magsa-salad tayo," he announces on his arrival. "Gagawa ako ng dressing, plus soup—minestrone or vegetable soup. Masarap mag-soup pag ganitong umuulan."
He then starts whipping up the salad dressing. Asked for its recipe, he says: "Wala. Kung ano lang meron dito sa kitchen." He looks around, finds a bottle of strawberry preserves, and says: "Eto, ang main ingredient—strawberry preserve. Lagyan mo ng konting lemon or lime juice. 'Tapos, vinegar—patakan mo nang paunti-unti habang halo ka nang halo. Konting pepper... Ganito lang ang paggawa ng basic na dressing, e."
He tastes the dressing, looks around the kitchen, sees a bottle of honey, and pours some of it into his concoction. "Pang-add ng body sa lasa ng dressing," he explains. "Okey na 'yan."
He then instructs a maid to roast some chopped almonds for toppings, and instructs another to cut the garden veggies into his desired length.
Asked how he learned how to cook, he says: "Noong bata ako, pag nag-uusap kami ng lola ko, nasa kitchen kami lagi. Napi-pick up ko mga ginagawa niya. 'Tapos, ngayon, ang hilig kong manood ng mga food channels, mga cooking shows. If I find something interesting, gagayahin ko, o kaya itu-tweak ko nang konti. Basta ako, kung ano laman ng ref, me magagawa ako diyan. Hindi na kailangang mag-aral ng culinary."
Goma serves his minestrone, and his garden salad with strawberry-preserves dressing, with a platter of cold cuts, slices of cheese, wheat bread, and four types of spread (traditional cheese-style mayonnaise, crema de olive, sun-dried tomato pesto, pesto a Genovese) for the panini.
The Gomez family is considered one of the young royal families of Philippine showbiz. And all three members of the family—Lucy, Juliana, and Richard—are effective products endorsers, too, whether as individuals or as a family.
Richard is the spokesperson of GNC Live Well health store, as well as of the Bench clothing line, for which he has been the main endorser for 20 years.
Lucy, on her own, endorses four brands: Kashieca clothes, Del Monte Pineapple Juice, Mistine White Spa deodorant, and Belo Essentials whitening products.
Lucy and Juliana, as mom and daughter, have three endorsements going on: Appebon Kid Syrup multivitamin, Ascof Lagundi cough syrup, and Canon Selphy Series portable photo printers.
These days, Goma says the family is enjoying a lot more quality time. Their Sundays are particularly hectic.
"Now kasi that Richard doesn't do S-Files anymore, our Sunday really feels like a Sunday," says Lucy. "We can really do things together, like catch an early movie. That's why we like hearing Mass on Saturdays. Kasi Sunday talaga, free na. And we have to sleep early din."
"And then I can do my sports activities pa," says Goma. "Kasi, siyempre, 'yong competitions, Sundays usually. Ang dami kong nagagawa. Enjoy talaga. Lessen pa 'yong intriga. So for how many years, even noong nasa ABS-CBN pa ako, laging wala ako pag Linggo. So now, Sunday is family day talaga."
With the Gomezes in photo is Gaston, the French bulldog owned by Lucy's brother Matt. Lucy's dad, Manuel Torres, calls Gaston "the dog that never barks." Lucy calls him a pig—"'cause he looks like one, and he snorts like a pig."
