Piece of cake!

Author: Alwin M. Ignacio, Contributor
Column: Life

Everyone knows success in show business requires much sacrifice and hard work. For the few who make it to the peak of popularity, it’s all stories of ups and downs, rigorous work and soul-searching, among other things. For actor Dingdong Dantes, it has been much the same, but now he is able to look back at his path with a smile on his face. In fact, for this in-demand leading man, it has been a “piece of cake” of sorts — a chocolate mousse, to be exact.

“(A) chocolate mousse...looks interesting from the outside, in fact it looks pretty, but it is more interesting inside since creating the perfect mousse is very tricky,” he tells this writer.

He’s right. When making this sweet creation, if you incorporate the egg yolks when the chocolate is too warm, it will cook; if too cold, it will seize up when the other ingredients are added. If you stir and not fold the egg whites and whipped cream in, your mousse will not be fluffy, but dense.

Dantes says whatever success he has right now can be compared to the creation of an unspoiled mousse. “This success that I am currently enjoying is not an overnight by product. I worked hard for it, endured sleepless nights, rigorous tapings, prayed diligently for guidance and all the things I encountered, starting from my days as a dancer, to my TGIS days up to now. (It has been) no easy feat. It feels good to be where I am, to be able to reap the fruits of my labor, so to speak, and I will do every thing, work and pray even harder, to maintain this. I like the view on top.”

Making it in showbiz is, of course, both a blessing and a curse. Along with success comes all sorts of intrigues, whether real or imaginary.

Pinky Yee, his latest endorsement Goldilocks’ managing director, shares, “Dong’s score is very high in all market segments — from the AB crowd down to the CD, he rated very well. He is credible to most of the respondents that we talked to.”

“It feels great to endorse a product that has long been identified with families and children, most especially. They are a very wholesome company and it is something that I really like to do. Even if I am health conscious and go to the gym regularly, I still have a sweet tooth and occasionally I eat everything I like,” says Dingdong.

Endorsing this family-centric bakeshop chain, he says, “means a lot to me because it shows that I have earned the people’s trust. And on my part, I assure them that I will not break their trust.”

Aside from the chocolate mousse, Dantes loves ensaymada and chocolate polvoron. For the food lines, his top three choices are the rellenong bangus, dinuguan with puto and the fresh lumpia.

With great success comes greater intrigues and Dantes, just brushes off all the predictions that this will not be a fruitful year for him and his perennial partner, Marian Rivera.

“The unpleasant things that happened last year made me realize that as a person, I am entitled to commit mistakes and that now I have the opportunity to change and make things right again. I am very much aware of the public’s negative reaction with regard to my break-up, and that things turned from bad to worse when other nasty rumors escalated, like me impregnating Marian, which is, of course, baseless. I just want to leave last year’s issues behind me. It’s a new year. We should be talking about new things,” he says.

“I do not need to prove anything,” he responds to the controversies. “I do not need to convince the people about me and Marian. We are a good team and I am happy about our team-up. I respect the fact that some continue to speculate, and I do not get peeved everytime I explain if there is something going on between me and her. What is important is if we are okay or not and we are okay, and for me, that is the most important thing.”

He continues, “All I know is you make your own destiny, you are the master of your fate, and on my part, not that I am being religious or something, I know that I am not alone and that God is guiding me through all these, I’ll stick to that, since He is the source of my strength. They can say what they want to say; at the end of the day, as long as He is my ally, I have nothing to fear, I am happy with Him.”

They recently started taping their next soap Ang Babaing Hinugot Sa Aking Tadyang, which will be directed anew by Joyce Bernal.

Source: The Daily Tribune

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