I first saw Anderson Cooper last January (shame, shame... where have I been hiding all these years?) I didn’t catch his name then, he was in Sri Lanka covering the South East Asian Tsunami. From the moment he talked, I couldn’t change the channel, I was glued.

He is so different, not a typical anchor/reporter, sometimes he talks too fast and he also stutters a lot. His reports and views are very heartfelt and personal. Maybe because he writes his own reports. Or maybe because he's seen his own share of tragedies in his life so he knows how to relate to them.Not just a talking head I guarantee, he reports with his heart on his sleeves, really!

And then I never saw him again...I even forgot all about him until last August... eversince the tsunami hit our neighboring countries I’ve become some sort of a news junkie, switching the channels from CNN, BBC to Channel News Asia like some crazy-mental person. And after 7 months of channel surfing... one saturday morning, there he was again on CNN! the prematurely grey-haired, blue-eyed, pale, skinny and insanely gorgeous anchor/reporter that I’ve gone completely silly for!

He was in Maradi, Niger in a makeshift hospital where children are literally starving and dying in plain sight. He really felt badly when the 2 of the 3 kids in the hospital that he visited died because of severe malnutrition...he was upset because these children will soon be forgotten, no one will ever know that they existed except for their parents. In time, their parents may no longer remember their faces, they may no longer remember how they laugh or smell like...only their names will remain.

I love watching his news program, because of his very different approach in reporting and I especially love his Reporter’s Notebook segments, this is where he expresses all his emotions. And his writings – almost poetic. And the best one he did so far is “The Trouble I’ve Seen.” This piece is very poignant and in a way showed how much he respected and loved his father.

When hurricane katrina hit some part of the gulf coast in the US, I was glued on CNN because I know Anderson will be there, I know this for a fact because he’s been reporting on every hurricane that hit the US eversince he joined CNN (I think). He must have a hurricane fetish or something. True enough, he was in Baton Rouge that day, CNNI hooked up with CNN US and I was watching my Anderson live!!! wahooo!!! Don’t get me wrong, my heart goes out to all the victims of Katrina, I don’t wish anybody or any place any harm but when it does, I’d be watching it on CNN with the hope of seeing my Anderson, of course. Katrina’s aftermath was so severe and so unbelievable, and to say that they were all shocked and stunned by what katrina did to the historic New Orleans is not an overstatement. I couldn’t help but thank God we don’t have hurricanes and tornadoes here in our country. Had katrina hit us, i’m sure it will take us forever to recover. Even America, a country of great resources and power was paralyzed for days before they got it together.

And when Andy lashed out on some senator for not answering questions that needed to be answered and thanking fellow politicians when she should be doing something to help the victims,(our politicians are not so different naman pala) man! I didn’t really think that I could love him more that I already do!!! I didn’t think it was possible. On that episode, he choked-up about 10 times before he finally looked to his side and cried as he signalled the camera to look away or something. Everyone who watched that episode was shocked, and gone crazy over him, I’m sure. How could you not love the guy! He’s sensitive, intelligent (he was "JEOPARDY!" champion, by the way) and all human.

With Andy around,watching the news suddenly became more interesting and meaningful ;) hahaha!!!