At 7 years old, Bjorn Lao knew he was different. Growing up, the Laoag City-based businessman preferred Barbie dolls over the toy guns, cars, robots and G.I. Joe figures his dad Johnny Lao bought for him and his brothers.
“He’d wonder why there were even dolls among our toys when he had six sons. He would hide the dolls, but then there were other things to play with,” Bjorn told Lifestyle. One of his favorites was a set of miniature palayok (clay pots), a specialty of the adjacent town of San Nicolas.
“Yun yung gusto kong laruin dati, lutu-lutuan (That’s what I liked before, playing house),” he said.
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