First flirtations & lasting love

December 4, 2017

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Photos by Beatrice Faicol

Perfect matches are a myth. Let’s face it—a fresh flirtation with someone can make us pander to their likes and spruce ourselves up like foam art on a latte. Once the new car smell of dating has worn off, however, some guys aren’t willing to drink up the reality of who we actually are.

Luckily we met some couples whose being a little at odds with one another has made quite a difference in love. And when the occasional disagreement arises, well that’s nothing that a sweet treat from a matcha master like Tsujiri can’t fix.

Straight out of Kyoto, Tsujiri recently set up shop in Manila with branches in the Podium, SM Aura Premier, and S Maison at Conrad Manila. With each branch carrying the brand’s wide range of cold and hot cravings, they offered the perfect spot for some homos to cozy up to one another for the holidays. Over easily paired sips and slices, TEAM got these boyfriends to talk first meetings and what’s made their love last.

Cy & Reg

Owner & Baker at The Bald Baker / Ad Executive

Together eight years

How they met

Reg: Niligawan niya ako.

Cy: Ha? Siya nangligaw sakin.

Reg: I had a girlfriend at the time.

Cy: Five years later…

Reg: I came out. We have a common friend and she’s an ad executive from Lowe. This friend of ours thought of setting us up.

Cy: Crush ko na siya nung time na yun.

Reg: When I came out, I was being set up with people but it took a year before I got comfortable. Eventually, we were introduced. It started with his CD being sent to the office. He’s in accounts, I’m in creatives. Our friend was trying to ease it in and she said, “Hey, you might want to try out this guy.” Then later, “Hey, you might want to date him.” And then yun, niligawan niya ako.

Cy: Siya nangligaw (Laughs).

Give, take, and triumph

Reg: Humor is very important. If you don’t make fun of yourself or make the person laugh every once in a while, it’s just going to be fear and putting your best foot forward all the time. But being together for some time, you stop projecting any kind of facade. This is me and whatever differences you still might have, you work it out.

Cy: Eight years na kami eh so parehas na kami sa lahat. Even when we think of what we’re gonna wear. We watch a lot of the same shows. He got me into watching RuPaul’s Drag Race. But [when it comes to food], we’re really different. I’m more adventurous. Creature of habit siya eh. Everything he orders, it’s what he was ordering when we started dating. He doesn’t like sweets, and I bake. Sometimes he’s forced to try it and I can’t really rely on his opinion. Pero he’s my number one supporter.

Kenji & Karlo

Advertising Creative Director / Advertising Business Unit Director

Together 11 years

How they met

Karlo: We first saw each other at the most romantic of places, our friend’s wake. That was the start of our new life so to say. We had our first connection at our second meeting in a club in Makati. I guess you could say there was an instant connection considering we kissed that night (Laughs).

Give, take, and triumph

Kenji: Karlo is into science and politics while I’m into Disney, animation, and comic books. He’s the rational one. I, on the other hand, am the emotional one. How do we make our relationship work? We find the balance, we acknowledge each other’s differences and embrace it. The reason why we’ve been together for almost 11 years now is that despite our differences, we’re able to communicate well with each other. We rarely fight and when we do, it will last for just about five minutes. As soon as the dust settles, which usually happens after five minutes, everything goes back to normal.

Andrei & Pax

Consultant / Incoming Med Student

Together two years

How they met

Andrei: I think that was two weeks after cheer dance competitions. I had a major injury so I was using crutches.

Pax: Somebody invited me to judge a dance competition, a really small one between chemists. It was in a bar called Oblivion in Timog.

Andrei: My friends were the chemists and I was alone. My friends left me ‘cause they wanted to party and I was using crutches nga, so they just left me at the table.

Pax: I saw him and I offered shots. We started drinking and talking.

Andrei: I was judging naman a debate at UST at the time so we were staying at a hotel in the area, which is why I ended up there.

Pax: So we went out to eat.

Andrei: And then we went back to my hotel room to watch Scream Queens. Ever since then, we’ve seen each other every day—unless we’re out of the country or something.

Give, take, and triumph

Andrei: A lot of my friends actually say I’ve become a lot nicer ever since I started dating Pax. I feel like I have an internal filter na rin.

Pax: He gets along a lot with my mom and I hate it. They gang up on me because they’re super strong personalities and I just go with the flow. My mom used to complain that I’m passive but she says that I’ve started opening up and talking when I’m pissed off about something. I’m the type that if we have a small spat, I’ll need an hour just to cool off ‘cause I don’t want to say anything that’s really hurtful.

Andrei: I’m the type who’s always like, “I want to talk about problems now na.” He’s just not. We worked on it and we’ve found our rhythm when we get into disagreements.

Pax: Now we kind of have a compromise…at least 15 minutes (Laughs).

Tsujiri’s O-Matcha and O-Matcha Cappucino

Matcha Blanca, Tsujiri Ube Cake, and Matcha Jelly Sundae are now available in all of Tsujiri’s branches—The Podium, SM Aura Premier, and S Maison at Conrad Manila.