I talked to him for the first time about a month ago over the phone. He didn’t know who I was, and I asked the FXUSA receptionist to put him on the phone. As soon as he answered “hello, this is Ernest” I asked him “anong ginagawa mo?” Which is “whatcha doing?” in Tagalog, the native language for the Philippines. He replies back “who is this?!” I started laughing, and introduced myself and told him I came over to the USA from the Philippines back in 1973 at 11 years old. He chuckled and said I was the first fellow Filipino airgunner he has ever met. We had a good laugh and a good short chat. I kept it short as I know he’s swamped with work and I’m respectful of his or anyone’s else’s time.
One of these days, I’d like to meet the legend in person, over some San Miguel beer and balut, lol