WAR CHILD: Three months after Japan invaded Guam, I was born on
this tiny island on February 22, 1942. I survived the invasion but my three
year old sister Doris died of exhaustion due to the frequent long distance walking
from camp to camp. My mother was a housewife and my father was a senator and a
career politician. I was the second oldest of six siblings.
GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE: My family lived at the edge of the jungle
and the jungle was my playground. I enjoyed climbing tall trees and swinging
from branch to branch. I am certain that I was the original George of the
Jungle in that area because I was the only George. My buddies and I frequently
went to another jungle where we tied a rope on a tall tree and would use the
rope to swing from the tree into the river.
FARM LIFE: I grew up on a farm with many acres of banana trees,
mango trees, string beans and egg plants. My family raised a lot of chickens
and a few pigs.
EDUCATION: I attended high school in Guam then I attended the
University of Hawaii where I obtained a degree in Business Administration. I
also attended in Paris the University of Sorbonne and Allianz Francaise to
learn French because my sons, being born in Paris and living there, spoke only
French and I wanted to be able to communicate with them.
Unfortunately, two
months after attending the two schools, I had to drop out due to a job
interview in California.
A COIN TOSS RESULTED IN MARRIAGE AND THREE SONS: In Madrid,
Spain, one evening about 10:00pm, after a friend and I just left a disco, we
went to a subway train station to go to another disco. At the subway, we saw a
beautiful elegant lady and my buddy and I tossed a coin to decide who will talk
to her. I won the toss and then after about ten NO's that she will neither go
out on a date nor just meet for coffee, we got married two years later and
subsequently brought into the world three wonderful and exciting sons. All
three sons attended schools in Paris and Madrid. My son Bruno graduated from USC
with a degree in Electrical Engineering (master degrees in business and
English), son Chris graduated from USC with a degree in Film Communication, and
son Ryan graduated from California Berkley with a degree in Pre-law..
TENNIS WAS A SPORT FOR SISSIES: In my nearby community in the
early 40's and 50's, tennis was considered a sport for sissies and for this
reason I did not play tennis in my junior years. About 1970, I qualified to
play with the Guam team at the South Pacific Olympics held in Tahiti.
Some of
the Pacific Islands that participated included, Tahiti, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, New
Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, and Nauru. In the 1970's, tennis in Guam began to
gain popularity. As one of the strongest proponents to build more tennis courts
and to secure funds, I testified in several congressional committee hearings
and attended meetings at several luncheons with influential businessmen and
high government officials.
SPORTS I PLAYED: Little league, pony league and babe ruth
baseball; fast pitch softball; volleyball; high school and city league
basketball; bowling; golf and tennis.
JOGGING ADDICTION: I was addicted to Jogging. I started jogging
from the age of six years old ~ until about the age of 55 years when my knees
started showing wear and tear. I jogged in many cities because it was fun for
me to see a city that way. I jogged in Paris, Cannes, Madrid, Rome, London,
Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Belgrade, Bern, Nice, Malaga, Valencia, Tokyo, Hong
Kong, Athens, Munich, Taj Mahal in India, Teheran, Jerusalem, Puerto Vallarta,
Acapulco, Mexico City in Mexico, Waikiki, Papeete Tahiti, plus numerous other
cities.
GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY: Cleaning up along highways to
beautify Guam; helping build a house for Habitat for Humanity in Contra Costa;
sorting out food for the needy at the Contra Costa Food Bank; handing out food
on Thanksgiving Day in Oakland to the homeless and to anyone who needed a
Thanksgiving meal; helping many Trilogy tennis enthusiasts improve their
tennis; participating in a blood drive committee for our U.S. soldiers;
coordinating raising funds for Relay For Life by bringing semi-pro tennis
players to Trilogy; and volunteering in Contra Costa elementary public school
to help students learn to read.
THREE RADIO SHOWS: By the time I was15 years old in Guam, I had
three radio shows. One of the most popular was the TNT (Top Nifty Tunes) show
which I did every Saturday for three hours when I played the 50 top records in
the United States. The other show was called The Chamorro Hour. a real money
maker for the station because practically every business on the island wanted a
commercial on this show.
OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Page boy at the Guam Legislature; Public
Relations Officer for the Guam Jaycees; Associate Professor for Chevron University;
Member of the Chevron Oil Company study team to determine if the company should
use the Spanish Language television stations to advertise gasoline products;
Internal Affairs Auditor reporting directly to the Governor of Guam.
LIVE OR EXIST: After college, I asked myself, "Do I want to
merely exist like the people in my nearby community or do I want to live a life
of excitement?" I chose the latter. After making sure I set aside money
for retirement, mortgage, and other necessities, I started saving for FUN
MONEY. I used this FUN MONEY to invest in real risky stock market investments
through a firm in San Francisco that deals only on options, futures and
commodities. For about 15 years I lost a lot of money but I made much more than
I lost. For 15 years, I was able to travel anywhere in the world as often as I
wanted and dined at some of the most scenic and expensive restaurants. I
exhausted my FUN MONEY but it was exciting while it lasted.
OTHER THINGS ABOUT ME:
1.
In Madrid, Spain, after getting off the airplane and visiting
four banks, all near each other, to find the best rate of exchange was arrested
by undercover agents probably because, I assumed, they thought I was scouting
the banks for terrorist activities...they declined to tell me why I was
detained for questioning.
2. In Belgrade, I was detained at
the airport for three hours because I was carrying a lot of cash.
3.
In my younger days I enjoyed hanging around discos until 4:00am.
4.
I still enjoy reading newspapers and magazines at sidewalk cafes
and love dining at restaurants on the water front or restaurants on the top
floor of tall buildings.
