Eighties pop culture icon and RJ Ledesma recently launched his first book, Lies My Yaya Should Have Told Me: RJ Ledesma’s Imaginary Guide to Whine and Women.

Produced by Anvil Publishing, the book was “inspired by a great deal of childhood memories,” says Ledesma, who thought the eighties was “a blur, except for Royal True Orange and my yaya.”

The book, available at National Bookstore and Powerbooks, is a rollicking compilation of random observations about dating in the twenty-first century.

While the subject certainly didn’t catch his interest when he began his writing career, Ledesma, who is the editor-in-chief of Manual magazine, admits that on second thought, dating is a very interesting topic and is something everyone can relate to.

Ledesma approaches the subject from an anthropological perspective, topping it off with a good dose of honesty and self-deprecating humor.

“The nice thing about humor is that you’re able to tell the truth in a way that you can accept it. Luckily I’m someone who has a very low threshold of embarrassment and can make fun of the fact that Yaya used to bathe me until I was 25,” he shares in jest.

To the children of the eighties, Ledesma will always be “Joey” of the Royal Tru Orange commercial. He has, however, grown up and has been a college instructor, brand manager, yoga teacher, and television host. Aside from running Manual, he writes a column, “Pogi from a Parallel Universe” on the Philippine Star.

Lies My Yaya Should Have Told Me is on its second print run.