“Costume Fit for the Gasoline Station Commercial”

             Johanna Lagman , the producer for my gasoline station commercial texted me last Wednesday that I will have my costume fit for my gasoline station commercial the next day, a Thursday, April 17. She said it will be at 6:00 p.m. Originally, the venue was set in Kodak along Pasong Tamo in Makati. A few hours later, Johanna texted me that the venue was changed to Imachrome Studio at the opposite end of Pasong Tamo near Kamagong St. still in Makati. Kodak was fully book at 6 p.m. I later learned from Johanna. 

            I realized that I will not be able to use my car because it was a Thursday and under the Unified Vehicle Volume Reduction Program popularly referred to as Color Coding of Chairman The Next President Bayani Fernando of MMDA, my car with plate number ending in 7 is not allowed on Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Since the costume fit was set at 6 p.m. after my office, I decided to take the MRT. 

            I boarded at the GMA-Kamuning Station, got off at Boni Station. It is the most convenient station to go down since the buses that will pass by Pasong Tamo, the ones with LRT Ayala Leveriza signboard are waiting for passengers at the foot of the MRT stairs! Taking the MRT saved me  a lot of travel time from Quezon City to Makati because should I had taken the bus, I will delayed as the bus will deliberately have an extended waiting time to pick up for passengers in Cubao, Ortigas and Shaw. 

            The bus reached Pasong Tamo 5 minutes before 6 p.m. I transferred to a jeep that briskly took me to Kamagong St.  I was on time for my 6:00 call time!  Time discipline is one important value that I developed through the years in all endeavors that I had, be it for theatre rehearsals, movie shooting, TV tapings or pictorials. I attributed this to my mentor Director Tony Mabesa who inculcated in my young mind the importance of time discipline when he directed me for my first theatre play “Operetang Tatlong Kusing”.

             I told myself, the client for my gasoline station commercial must be very meticulous! Imagine, they asked for a costume fit before the actual pictorial! Costume fit as the word implies is trying out, wearing on the costumes and posing in front of the camera for still shots.  The photos will be presented to the client, from among the photos they will make the final decision what I will wear for the actual photo shoot.

             The costume fit lasted for an hour and I had changed costumes about 10 times! Afterwards, Johanna treated us to dinner at the restaurant on the ground floor.

             On my way back to Quezon City where I left my car, I simply took the jeep with sign board Mantrade MRT from the studio. The end of the jeepney ride was the MRT Magallanes station. I took the MRT to GMA station. It was jampacked with commuters but I enjoyed the trip after costume fit for my next major project.  

            Our next activity will be on Tuesday, April 22, a dinner where I will be introduced to the client. The venue has not been finalized yet.