This is the master bedroom, located on the unit’s second floor. It serves as a supply room of sorts.

“Like if I need a picture frame for my room, I get it here,” says Cheska. During the photo shoot, Patrick finds an unopened set of glow-in-the-dark stickers and asks if he can have it, and in a corner, Cheska sees a display drawer that she wants to put in the living room.

Mommy Bing is fond of oriental fixtures, such as the Chinese chest in foreground, and genuine Persian rugs, such as the one pictured here. There are more Persian rugs in storage, Cheska volunteers: "Ang dami, nakabalot lahat sa taguan."

Mommy Bing explains: “Kasi, talagang tumatagal. Magi-invest ka na lang din, di, ’yong genuine na. Kasi, para sa kanila [her children] din naman ’yan pagtanda nila.”

(YES! January 2005 issue)

Patrick isn’t embarrassed to admit that he’s a mama’s boy. “Si Checs, daddy’s girl ’yan,” he reveals. “Si Pichon, palipat-lipat, kaya neutral. Minsan kay Papa siya umuuwi, minsan dito.”

(YES! January 2005 issue)

Mommy Bing won’t tell us her age. Cheska prods her: “Sige na, Mommy. You should be proud, dahil sino’ng ganyang edad ang ganyan pa rin ang itsura?”

But Mommy Bing, a fine arts and advertising graduate of the University of Santo Tomas, chooses to talk about her art collection, which includes works by ER Tagle and Caloy Gabuco. “Alam ko, ginawan niya ng painting noon si Ninoy [Aquino] saka ’yong Sultan ng Brunei,” she says of Gabuco. She also owns a sculpture by Solomon Saprid and paintings by two National Artists, Hernando “H.R.” Ocampo and Vicente Manansala. “Iyan ang ipapamana ko sa kanila,” Mommy Bing tells YES!

(YES! January 2005 issue)

Patrick’s bedroom is a gallery of his collectibles—perfume bottles; weird masks that he has turned into lampshade heads (such as the one you see on Patrick’s right); framed artworks from childhood; framed photos of himself, his family members, and his close friends; toys; and flags (such as the Ferrari flag above him). Below his bed, he has placed a lighting system that emits red lights and can be manipulated to make the lights move from slow to fast and from jumpy to flowing, or simply remain stationary. With a disco light hanging in another corner, this room can be easily transformed into a party place. But Patrick likes things quiet these days.

(YES! January 2005 issue)

The TV set in the photo, at far left, is connected to the computers, and is a multitasker. It serves as plain TV, computer monitor, DVD monitor, and Play Station screen. Patrick, however, is more inclined to downloading and playing music—mostly R&B—on his computer than spending time watching TV or playing. “I have about 1,737 songs, so far,” he tells us. “Pindot ka na lang nang pindot. Like, let’s say may kanta akong naisip. I either search by artist, by song title, or by genre, ayun na.” He’s also happy to download music for people close to him, such as one of the househelp, who gave him a list of her favorite OPM songs.

The Christmas lights you see here, by the way, are another tambak item in the house. Patrick explains: “Ako din naman ang bumili niyan, I think sa Mini Mart, last year. ’Tapos, natambak lang. Parang nagsayang naman ako ng pera, so sabi ko: ‘Kabit ko nga.’ Ayan. Hindi ko na inalis. All year-round, nandiyan.”

(YES! January 2005 issue)

The star of ABS-CBN’s defunct TV series Mangarap Ka and Regal Films’ Mano Po 3, My Love is a self-taught computer whiz—and a technician at that. “Itong laptop, sa mommy ko ’to,” he grins (below, right). “I have my own, pero nasira, so niligawan ko ’to. ’Binigay naman. ’Tapos, merong mga nakatambak na lumang speakers sa bodega. Kinuha ko, ’tapos, kinonek ko dito. Itong TV set, luma din, kinonek-konek ko din para siya na ’yong maging main [computer] monitor. So, anything I type or search here in my laptop or sa wireless keyboard [the one he’s holding], sabay mo makikita sa screen ng laptop at TV. Kaya hindi naman magastos, kasi I use old stuff naman.”

Patrick proudly says he did all these technical jobs by himself. “Pag may naisip akong ikabit, ’kinakabit ko,” he smiles. “Pati nga sa CR, may speakers saka maliit na TV as [computer] monitor… Ang dami na ngang kable dito, kung saan-saan, sala-salabat na.”

Then he jokes: “Isang araw, sasabog na lang ako dito, e. Pero meron naman akong mga safety gadgets din, para nako-control ang flow ng kuryente.”

(YES! January 2005 issue)

Cheska—Cheka or Checs to her close friends—refers to her domain as the pink room.

“O, di ba, parang room ng little girl?” she beams. “Halos lahat ng gamit ko, pink. Pag magkasama nga kami ni Doug, natatawa siya, kasi pag may nakita akong pink na item sa store, hihinto ako. ’Tapos daw, kahit anong liit noong item, bibilhin at bibilhin ko.”

Doug is her fiancé Douglas Kramer, who plays basketball for the Ateneo Blue Eagles.

(YES! January 2005 issue)

This ultimate girlie nook is what greets you when you enter Cheska’s room. Like other parts of the house, this is also a gallery of framed and unframed memorabilia, including photos of Cheska with showbiz cousins Sharmaine Arnaiz and Bunny Paras, and showbiz friends Danica Sotto and Anne Curtis. Also here are artworks that she did in her younger days.

(YES! January 2005 issue)

Like Patrick, Cheska has her own bathroom. Naturally, everything in it comes in pink or in shades of pink—bead curtains, shower curtain, candles, towels, bath rugs.

(YES! January 2005 issue)

Cheska has just rearranged some of the furniture pieces in this Asian or oriental-themed living room in time for this pictorial. “Pag wala akong magawa, inaayos ko ’yan,” she explains. “Like, if I find something nice from another room, I put it there.” The former interior design student regrets that she was unable to finish her course. “It’s so hard,” she laments. “I didn’t take [acting] jobs for nine months! I didn’t think the course was hard, pero when I was there na, grabe!” These days, she’s considering taking another design course—fashion. “My mom said there’s more money in fashion,” she laughs.

The display cabinet in the corner houses Patrick’s acting and sports trophies and citations. These include Most Popular Teenage King of RP Movies (from the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Foundation Awards); Dr. Jose Rizal Gintong Kabataan Award for Entertainment; best actor for Batang PX (from the Young Critics’ Circle and Star Awards) and best child actor for the same film (from FAMAS); German Moreno Achievement Award; and third place in the first All-Star Invitational 9-Ball Tournament, Gutson’s.

(YES! January 2005 issue)

The furniture pieces here are, like the chinaware in the display cabinet, all antiques. That door you see leads to Patrick’s room. Behind the blinds is a balcony from which you get a good view of Ortigas Center’s Pearl Drive Avenue.

(YES! January 2005 issue)

The Garcias bought this two-story, five-bedroom house in the Santa Clarita Valley in California, U.S.A., in 1994. The property has a three-car garage and gardens in both the front and the back yard.

(YES! January 2005 issue)

This will be her retirement home, Mommy Bing says: “Binili ko lang ’yan para bakasyunan. Pero halimbawa, may gustong diyan na mag-stay, mag-migrate, magtrabaho, di, diyan sila.”
Since all the members of her family are still enjoying life here in the Philippines, they’re just renting the house out to Americans. “Kasi wala namang masyadong Pinoy doon,” she adds. “Noong binili namin ’yan, me mga tumutulo pang part. Saka wala pa kaming kapitbahay. Ngayon, meron na.”

(YES! January 2005 issue)