A quick tour of the awesome Kimura-Vale Entertainment Center

I’m happy for my good friend Bobby Valle who has come a long, long way since his days as a singer (starting as a member of the Ambivalent Crowd in nineteen-forgotten). Still a singer at heart, Bobby is now president and CEO of Tri Kape Kape, Inc., a company he owns with his charming Japanese wife Chieko Kimura. They have just built the five-storey Kimura-Vale Entertainment Center which occupies a 500-square-meter area at 1971 Leon Guinto St. near corner Quirino Avenue in Malate.

That’s the couple’s newest business, which should give a big boost not only to our tourism industry (foreigners as well as locals will love the place) but also to our country’s art and culture. In Japan, the couple also runs, among others, a club and a restaurant which employ mostly Filipinos as waiters, entertainers, etc. In that sense, Bobby and Chieko are, in their own humble way, helping us cope with our unemployment problem.

Last week, Bobby took Aster Amoyo, Nestor Cuartero and me on a quick tour of the Kimura-Vale Entertainment Center which is undergoing a few finishing touches in time for its inauguration on Monday, Aug. 8. Bobby has also been mounting shows (first a concert featuring Marissa Sanchez, followed by the Raging Divas show) at the lobby (very spacious, I tell you!) preparatory to the formal opening. Dry run, yes!

The facade alone is very impressive, with a decorative artificial coconut tree (quite a sight when lighted) at the entrance. Located at the lobby is the Kape Café which promises to be the next hot spot for yuppies and coffee-lovers, serving an array of drinks (espresso-based, twisted, built-on-ice, blended or fruit-based, take your pick).

An elegant, winding staircase leads to the mezzanine which can accommodate 20 to 30 people seated on soft cushioned sofas.

Adjacent to Kape Café is the fine-dining Maku Hari Japanese restaurant, with a bigger-than-life statue of a datu. (Bobby Valle hails from Mindanao.)

In the upper floors are located a theater (should be finished by now) which Bobby himself conceptualized, furnished with tables and chairs made more attractive by artistic designs, and covered with colorful curtains (that open and close and/or serve as "wall paper" at the turn of a button). There’s also a big room for training dancers and singers Bobby and Chieko send to Japan, a room where tailors sew the entertainers’ costumes, Bobby and Chieko’s offices, and all other amenities.

Soon, one of the floors will be ready for occupancy as a condotel for foreigners (mostly from Japan, I suppose) that the complex will surely lure people with its hard-to-resist offerings/attractions.

I could go on and on describing the place. But it’s better if you drop by and see for yourself.

"Everybody is welcome," said Bobby.

(Note: For inquiries about the place, call Kape Café at 536-6868. Look for Junifer Abatayo or Louiesse Morales.)

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