The shy singer explodes with passion on stage

Sari is a young, shy singer. So shy is this dusky, exotic-looking chanteuse that in her press launch held recently at the Hard Rock Café, some press people said she looked coy and timid. When she was introduced to the press, she mumbled and kept to herself most of the time, avoiding eye-contact with the probing press people.

Her publicist, the amiable Walden Belen explained that "mahiyain lang talaga siya. But when she performs onstage, oh! You’ll be blown away."

And blown away indeed were the press people when she strutted onstage to sing a number of songs. She looked confident and sure of herself. She belted out her songs with the passion of a scorned geisha left by her lover. And her voice was so soulful and intense you wouldn’t think she was the same shy girl we saw earlier.

Maybe it’s these qualities that convinced XAX Music Entertainment to release Sari’s CD Maxi-Single. Titled Bakit, the CD Maxi single is available in record stores nationwide and contains six singles including the title track and an instrumental version of it, Flowin’, You Are..., Goodbye and Wag Na Wag.

Sari was born on Jan.17,1978. Her parents noticed right away her singing talent and by the time she was five, she started informal singing lessons and joined talent showcases in her school. By 12, she joined the Tanghalan Ng Kampeon and went on to train under a United Methodist pastor as part of the Angelic Voice Choir.

Sari then joined an inter-province singing competition and won the grand prize: an educational scholarship which took care of her high school tuition fee. In 1993, she joined the Denise Williams sing-alike contest in Lunch Date and bagged second prize. She then joined Lea Salonga’s Hiyang Contest in 1995 and won the grand prize. Then, she traveled across Asia as a singer until she was discovered by Paulo Kurosawa, XAX Music Entertainment’s Managing Director and offered a recording contract.

Asked who her idols in music are, Sari admits she likes soul singers. "I love the voice of Aretha Franklin. Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey are also on top of my list. On the local front, I adore Lani Misalucha."

In fact, Sari dreams of being featured in a back-to-back concert with Asia’s Nightingale. "That would really be great," gushes the young singer. "Dream ko talaga iyun."

Well Sari, the world is full of dreams. In fact, with the taxes imposed on the moribund entertainment industry and our volatile political and economical situation, dreams are one of the few things in the planet that are for free. They cannot also be hostaged by the Abus.

So, go on dream. After all, fairy tales swear they do come true.

The Asian Wok experience

If you don’t know Tony Chua, you would think he is a Chinese action star. He has the looks and the body that kick, tumble and fly in a movie like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

But Tony, as his friends call him is not into movies or martial arts. He is actually one of the best cooks (of Chinese cuisine) in town. Last week, my neighbor Kuya Ben dela Cruz invited me to dinner in Asian Wok, a restaurant in Mabini owned by Tony Chua.

It was a gastronomical experience that started with roast duck for appetizer, followed by chicken fish lip soup. I particularly like deep fried boneless eel with chili. It awakened some timid nerves in my body. Good thing my sense of propriety forced me down to my seat. Otherwise, I would have walked across to the next table and asked some gorgeous blokes if they would like to be part of our main course. I’m of course joking.

But some say eel is an aphrodisiac. My assistant Ryan swears that indeed it is because after that dinner at Asian Wok and having devoured almost half of the eel, he suddenly disappeared into the dark corners of Mabini on what he called a "joyful trip."

Other delicious dishes served that evening were deep fried prawns with minced pork, minced duck with lettuce, sliced abalone with mushroom, sliced fish fillet in soy sauce, fresh scallop with beans sauce and yang chow rice. Dessert was mango sago.

Food was excellent. Tony makes magical sauces. I intentionally forgot my diet. Animated conversation on current events spiced the already spicy dishes. Tony, by the way is also a good conversationalist. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day he runs for public office. He’d probably squirm at the idea and would say, "I’d rather cook."

Well, if you’re interested to dine in Asian Wok, call him at 400 6491, 400 6395 and there is another branch in Parañaque with telephone number 820 2857.

You don’t have to walk long and hard to eat excellent Chinese food – all you have to do is walk to Asian Wok!