JUST BE By Bernadette Sembrano
The Philippine Star 04/09/2006

I have this fascination for snow globes. It started when I visited San Francisco in year 2000. Was I in love with the place! I wanted to stay there forever – to breathe the cool breeze as I cruised the Golden Gate Bridge. To feel the cold air on my cheeks. To walk the side streets lined with Victorian houses… and to eat giant samurai balls, my favorite (popularly known as takomaki) in Japan town. What can I say? It’s one of my favorite cities.

I wanted to preserve the memory of Frisco so apart from taking pictures, I got myself a musical snow globe with a cable car circling it as it plays, I left my heart in San Francisco. Ironically, that song does not hold true for me because I took San Francisco back home.

I promised to get myself a snow globe for every place that I visit. Little did I expect that my collection would suddenly grow this year when I got the hosting job for Nagmamahal Kapamilya.

You must say, I’m one lucky lady. And I couldn’t help but agree. However, it’s different when you’re a tourist and when you’re working. My staff and I were so busy interviewing people and shooting spiels that we hardly had any time to appreciate the beauty of the place. I flew to six different states in the US, west coast to east coast, in a span of two weeks. It was very exhausting indeed, but it was during this trip that I received a special snow globe from Seattle.

Before I went to the US for coverage, my Mama Elaine sent notice to all our relatives abroad to take care of me in case I happened to be in their area. And like most Filipinos, I had a Tito or a Tita (not necessarily blood-related) almost anywhere in the US. My mother made sure I had their phone numbers before I left for my trip… in case of emergency.

True enough, those numbers proved handy. At a short notice, we had to fly to Seattle from L.A. to locate the mother of a letter-sender. I called one of the numbers that my mom gave me and got in touch with Uncle Pete who lived in Seattle and asked him if he could drive us from the airport to a town south of Seattle which was three hours away… and back. We arrived in Seattle at 10 a.m. and were leaving at 4 p.m. that same day. We had no time to spare. Uncle Pete did not hesitate.

When we were at the arrival area, I was on the phone with Uncle Pete asking him how he looked. I told him I was waiting in one of the gates. My director, Aloy, was astonished by what he heard. He was surprised to learn that I haven’t even met my Uncle Pete.

My uncle and I talked for hours on the road, about relatives and the roots of my Dominguez side of the family. He talked about his work and I talked about my new show. It was as if I was with a relative that I had always known.

We made it back to the airport on time, but still not enough time to say a decent goodbye. Uncle Pete promised to visit the Philippines, and I promised to try to make it to our family reunion this year.

The only token I brought home from Seattle was a snow globe that I found in the airport. It had a miniature Space Needle, (the space ship in the movie Men in Black), a tourist attraction that I only managed to see from a distance as we drove by.

As I sat in the plane staring at my snow globe, I thought of my Uncle and the wonderful surprise of meeting him in a foreign place and at the most unexpected moment. I am grateful.

I am grateful to see a kamag-anak, a kababayan in another country, even if only for a mere second. I appreciate the "Hellos" of TFC subscribers, even if they were only between takes. These encounters give added meaning to my travels.

When I see my snow globes lined up on my shelf, I am reminded not only of places but of people dancing in the snow.