anyway, Bob Ong...
if you're Filipino and you haven't heard of him, you must be living under a rock. i kinda did until about two years ago when my cousin introduced BO's (yes, that's his initials) seventh book, Kapitan Sino (roughly translated to English as "Captain Who").
I was 14 and i didn't really care about it at first because, well, (and i'm embarrassed to say this) it's written in Filipino. But after about two months, i read his fifth book, Stainless Longganisa (a parody to skinless longganisa), and it was all about writing. and i have to say, it truly, truly inspired me. it actually got me started on writing. :)
after that, the rest was a blur. i read his first and second book, but... got sidetracked with Percy Jackson as you very well know.
then two years after, i saw his ninth book, "Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin" ("Get Away From Me") just this Christmas, and did i LAUGH at the cover. it looked like a pocketbook, for crying out loud! i was laughing my pants off for the rest of the day (don't worry, Bob, i actually bought the book).
it was sort of an insult... no, that's too strong a word... kind of like a parody of three kinds of Filipino movies: action, horror, and romance. it was hilarious, of course, but as usual, it was accompanied by this sort of sad wish for the readers to put a stop to the seemingly idiotic way Filipinos prefer to watch movies.
in three days i have finished 8 out of 9 of his books. i wish i can go and buy Ang Alamat ng Gubat now.. :( that's how addictive they are.
and you know what? my favorite, ironically, is the one i wasn't interested in to read at first: Kapitan Sino. it just shows Bob can be versatile, you know? ;) (to all BO readers, you know what i'm talking about.
