AMANDA HUG AND KISS
Channel [V] VJ AMANDA GRIFFIN waits for Cupid's Arrow, but is a bit too shy to say so
By Lionel Zivan S. Valdellon

published in AGENDA: 2000

A burst of light. An arrow pierces a palm held out in defense. A smile blossoms from a young face-- turning the function room's dank into sunshine, even after the flash glare subsides. She jokes that the arrow is starting to go through her skin-- right where the red food coloring is painted on to look like blood. But despite the apparently cruel intent of the scenario, she is still all smiles once the camera is passive.
___ Welcome to the luminous world of Amanda Claire Griffin-- Channel [V] Philippines' Video Jockey, commercial model, entrepreneur, gypsy traveler. She's 21 years old, half-British half-Pinoy, and to top off the long list of curious facts about her, she's got a communications degree, majoring in Media Studies, Marketing and Spanish from Vaughn University in Australia.
___ "Give me burning eyes! A burning storm!" our photographer Jun De Leon coaxes. And Amanda emotes as well as she can, though she admits the difficulty: "It's so rare that I get to make faces at the camera! Usually it's just this look." She bursts into a generic, teenybopper happy-face which inspires us to nod our heads in agreement. We all know what it is-- the look that sells products. But upon closer inspection, I realize it's a look that belongs on her because it is also a reminder of her youth and her hopes. And maybe if we'd all learned in our youth to smile like that, there'd be less problems in the world today. Either that or we'd all be selling products on TV.

WORKING 9 TO 5
We sit and talk about what it's like to be in her shoes.
___ "It's crazy. Well, I have 3 jobs. With the swimsuit business, modeling and veejaying, my schedule's very erratic. But in the last few months I've been really busy. It's difficult, but it's never boring. It gets really stressful but it's fun!"
___ On certain days she might not have anything to do, and then other times, it might all be packed into one day. And she likes being on time, which is often difficult when schedules are sandwiched in-between one another. But as she says, she's enjoying all of it.

___ First off, Amanda is a marketing graduate with a love for the beach. Toss in some frustration over the lack of variety in local swimwear, add a few friends who are willing to lend support and you have: a brainy girl importing swimsuits, beachwear and beach accessories. Right now, she's busy finding new markets for the products and is gung-ho about it despite a dollar-to-peso exchange rate that can cripple an elephant. But hey, a beautiful woman selling swimsuits is a difficult thing to ignore, so I'm pretty sure she'll sell loads of bikinis.

___ Secondly, Amanda is a hard-working commercial and ramp model. She started out in print magazines and endorsing skincare products in ads.
___ "Two years ago, I think it was. I got some big contracts. The money was pretty good. I thought, I've got my degree already so why not take this opportunity while it's there?" Take it she does, as her modeling schedules continue to take up a large chunk of her time.

Finally, she is a video jockey for Channel [V] Philippines. And although life on the set of a music channel looks like it's one merry escapade after another, it's actually a lot of work for someone who's naturally shy.
___ "I'm the shyest out of all my dad's kids. And they were really shocked when I told them. Cause modeling's okay-- you don't have to talk. But no, I'm not one of those kids that was always hamming it up. I'm still getting used to it."

She confesses that hosting live events is a nerve-wracking experience where her lack of theater experience sometimes hinders the ability to keep things interesting without a script to follow. "In front of a camera, it's okay cause you can retake when something goes wrong. When you can see the audience in front of you… I get so nervous!"
___ But her regular segments like Channel [V]'s By Demand are a lot easier and fun. Especially reading viewer's requests and letters, where unlike the OTHER music channel, creativity is an option, not a prerequisite. "They (the viewers) can be really positive, it's always a good feeling. Makes me glad I'm a veejay."
___ In fact, she remembers one particular viewer who sent in a little comic book with Amanda as the superhero. He had cut out pictures of Amanda from magazines and pasted it onto his hand-drawn comic pages. She found it so cute, she kept it.

BEEN AROUND THE WORLD AND I… I CAN'T FIND MY BABY
I ask about her family and the myriad paths that have brought her to this place and time. It takes a while to tell but time matters little when you are being made up for a pictorial and have little else to do but stare at your reflection. In fact, the conversation gets a lot more relaxed as she opens up.
___To make a long story short: Her British father, an aircraft financier who buys and sells airplanes, fell in love with her mom, a Cebuana. They married, raised a family. Her dad loved the beach so much (and hated the weather in England so much), that he made sure wherever they lived, a beach was nearby. Thus Amanda grew up in Australia, the Philippines, the States (Florida) and England. She ended up going to high school right here, and then college in Australia.

What was it like being a gypsy, shuttling back and forth?
___ "I loved it. It's made me a really tolerant person of different cultures. But it also has taken away a sense of what I could really call 'home'. I suppose right now home is Australia because I lived there for five years and my parents are there. But now I'm living here and I've got family here and family in England… In that sense it's always hard when someone asks 'Where are you from?' It's such a long story to tell. I say I'm half-British, half-Filipina, and then they ask why I have an American accent. It goes on and on!"
___ These days, even with her work being based in the Philippines, she's still constantly traveling due to modeling stints in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand Vietnam and Europe. Hard to believe that someone so used to globetrotting actually has a fear of flying!

YOU OUGHTA KNOW
Back at the pictorial, Amanda sits on a stool in a black PVC corset and plaid skirt accessorized with padlocks. She is directed to look 'intense' and 'smoldering' by our photographer who never seems to run out of adjectives. She acquiesces with grace, keeping quite silent unless someone talks to her. When I ask her about it, she shares: "There's always that misconception about shy people… that we're aloof or snobbish. But you see, I've always been scared to butt into a conversation. Growing up, I was always taught to be polite. You know, 'kids should be seen but not heard?'"
___ Ah. That explains it. You'd never guess she was the shy type seeing her introducing music videos on TV. But then again, as I soon discover, there are a host of things that you'd never guess about Amanda without getting to know her really well.

For example:
She considers herself a pack rat. She collects things like magazines, books, sunglasses, and beauty products ("Which I never get to use anyway!"). She's messy, her room perennially chaotic. She considers herself adventurous in the sense that she'll always try a new roller coaster or explore a new beach or take an African Safari, but then again she'd just as soon stay at home with a good novel, preferably crime fiction or a political thriller with something in it about history or DNA.
___ The factoid that kills me however is finding out she loves to eat. Fine cuisine, junk food, but always, always chocolates. Once she starts expounding about the fine ingredients of English chocolates (which she considers the best in the world), you can't stop her. Brands like Galaxy, Cadbury's and Lindt spill out of her mouth with the same intensity usually reserved for conversations about lovers.
___ She confesses: "I'm a junk food eater. I'll always prefer fries than a piece of fruit! I have no self-discipline when it comes to food. Which is why I gained something like 40 pound back in college. If I have to, I can maybe diet for 3 days, but after that I have to have a Really Good Meal." Which can mean anything from Thai, Indian, Japanese or good old fatty American food, depending on her mood.

So is the best way to Amanda's heart through her stomach, you ask? I have to wonder myself. Which is how the conversation turns to relationships and boys.

LOVE IS THE ANSWER
I ask her about her earliest crush and she giggles about an incident way back in 4th grade. There was a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy whom she liked but hardly noticed her. He liked another girl. Amanda tried to make him jealous by holding the hand of another blond boy during class. "It didn't work. First failed attempt!"
___ These days though, she doesn't have to make them jealous to get their attention. She has to beat them off with a stick. No, I'm kidding. I think.
___ She tells me the kind of guy that appeals to her. "Gosh. I need a guy that can make me laugh. I love laughing. I think it's also the shyness thing which makes me giggle a lot. I can be really crazy and stupid when I'm with my closest friends so I need someone who can tolerate that… I want a guy to be really sweet. I don't like aggressive guys at all, or macho guys cause I'm kind of a feminist. You know, 'leave the woman at home' kind of thing or 'tell you what to wear?' I hate that!"
___ A dream date for her would have to include the beach. "I'd probably say Boracay. Have the whole beach to ourselves. A really romantic, candlelit dinner on the beach under the stars. With really good food-- probably Indian cause I love Indian food. With some wine, and music, maybe someone playing a violin somewhere there. I'm a big romantic."
___ Don't forget the English chocolates though. Or you're in trouble.

The last shot for the pictorial consists of an extreme close up on Amanda's face. Except this time it is made Kabuki-white with a small heart shape painted onto her lips. Amanda grows silent. Turns out the white face paint is making her itch. We promise to hurry the last few shots but even then the allergic reaction is making her nose itch like crazy. And though we are sympathetic, we have very little idea what it's like underneath all that paint. Still, after the shots are taken and Amanda's gamely posed for the group shot, she bounces back after clearing the makeup off, a smile effortlessly balanced on her lips, ready to take on the world.

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