You may want to know who the guys are in the banner. From left to right:

Jayson Gallardo: My second younger and favorite brother. OK, you may say I’m biased and all, but don’t you have brothers or sisters whom you treat as your best buddy / pal? You’ll also see him in my “Makulet” mood swing icon. He’s my favorite because he’s so “makulit” (fun to be with), without being tactless or hurtful to others. He’s now taking up BS Customs in the Philippine Maritime Institute in Manila. He knows how to play the guitar, crack jokes, and do mental Trigonometry.

Jofell Gallardo: That’s me. The eldest of six. Half-crazy, half-witty, all nerdy. I’m supposed to take the lead among the “Gallardo siblings”, meaning watch over my younger bros and sisses, be updated with their personal and academic lives, try disciplining them, etc. I just can’t because I, myself, am a hard-headed and ill-tempered “kuya” (older brother). I have patience over my profession and passion, but not with them. Kinda sad, but I’m making up with my shortcomings before.

Chritian Gallardo: The “virtual kuya” and the “best looking” among the “Tres Pepitos”. Though I may be paying most of the bills at home right now, he really does a good job being the “Kuya” in the house. My bros and sisses look up at him and play with him very often. We are both working right now, but he’s still living in our house in Valenzuela. Reason enough to spend more time with the family. Other people see him as “selfish”, but, who’s not selfish anyway. I’d rather call him “practical” than selfish. What I’m sure of is he is sincere with loving our family.

We all share three M’s: Math, Music, and Munchees.

We all get good grades in Maths and Sciences. Kinda runs in the blood. Our research traces our gift from our grandma (father side). she was the best in her Nursing class during her time (considering at that time, not much women gets the opportunity of going to college). She graduated with honors, but has a pretty interesting love story (she tied the knot with a college dropout and lived a very complicated marriage). Anyway, it’s not wholly credited from the genes. My mom used to read us books even when we were still babies, and my father always brings us books as “pasalubong” (arriving-from-work presents). We all grew up watching Batibot, Sineskwela, Beakman’s World, and National Geographic (shown in Channel 2). We already understand American shows like McGyver and Bev Hills, and we idolized Doogie Howser.

On the other hand, it’s pretty amazing that we share what we call “good ears and voiceboxes”. All three of us aren’t out of tune, can sing, and can hear and guess who sung a song we never heard before (of course given the fact that we should know the style and vocals of the artist). Though we might not share music interests (I, for example, am into ballads and RnB, my second brother with acoustic and alternative, while my third brother listens to acoustic and rock), we appreciate each other’s Music (rarely when we yell to each other about lowering the volume of our stereo). We all like RnB (Boyz 2 Men, Ne-yo) and we can even sing like a boyband (we know how to harmonize). Only problem is I can’t play any instrument.

We all love to cook, and we have our own versions of Adobo, Sinigang and Nilaga. Our mom taught us how to cook because when we were in high school, we take turns with the cooking / housekeeping while our parents go to work. We then started experimenting on food, without really playing with the ingredients. We also have good taste buds. We know if there’s a hint of excess (or lack) of anything, from salt to spices.

I love my brothers, even though I tend to lose my patience over them. If I had a second life and I get to choose my brothers, I won’t hesitate on choosing them again.