Dennis & Rhian's hot summer at Puerto del Sol

Curtain-raisers:

•A popular young actor (the playboy kind) is being accused of being the father of a love child delivered by a non-showbiz girl last week. According to the actor’s manager, it’s the actor’s brother who’s the new father but it was the actor who shouldered the hospital bill that’s why he became a “suspect.”

•Could it be true that a once-powerful executive at a TV network has, well, fallen out of grace (just like an equally-powerful colleague)? Did he also squander a sizable sum on failed projects?

•Did a popular young couple really check into a hotel/suite in Ortigas Center for an overnight(?) stay? Maybe they just wanted a much-needed day-off from the rigors of showbiz, away from prying eyes?

* * *

The rainy season has started but there’s enough left of summer — and what better way to celebrate it than to venture into a beach escapade in the company of Dennis Trillo and Rhian Ramos?

The Puerto del Sol Beach Resort in the picturesque town of Bolinao, Pangasinan will be the backdrop for your fantasy date with SODA Fragrance endorser Rhian, and SODA Man endorser Dennis.

Simply purchase P600 worth of SODA apparel or P300 worth of SODA fragrances and get one raffle entry that will qualify you to win the grand prize of an all-expense paid dream date with them in SODA’s Two Hot Summer Escapade promo.

A uniquely-inspired seaside resort hotel, the 10,000-square meter Puerto del Sol is the ideal vacation spot that offers the ultimate in grace, elegance and detail. World-class accommodation, first-class amenities and the warmth and friendliness of the staff make for one unforgettable summer (or even post-summer!) experience.

At Puerto del Sol, you can have your choice of things to do: Go for a refreshing dip in one of the resort’s outdoor pools or jacuzzi, take a stroll along its unspoilt sandy beaches, work off your excess energy with water sports activities, or if you’d rather take it low and slow, enjoy the massage services they offer and sip a tropical drink while you watch the sunset — and with Rhian or Dennis for company, well, that just makes the prospect of a summer at Puerto del Sol so much hotter, doesn’t it?

The resort, which is the brainchild of SODA creators Lucero and Amor Bona — for whom it was a dream to come up with a resort that everyone could enjoy — can also be booked for private functions like weddings.

Since the promo was launched a few weeks ago, entries have been pouring in. So to give everyone an equal chance of bagging their fantasy date for one last summer fling, SODA is giving more opportunities for its customers to join the promo.

(Note: For more details, visit the SODA website at www.sodalove.com.ph.)

Diet and company get Oxford nod

Congratulations to Diether Ocampo and his groupmates Aleem Guiapal (AIM alumnus) and Arif Hasan in Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR), who had their paper abstract admitted for presentation in the Oxford Said Business School Fifth Asia Pacific Retail Conference in Hong Kong on Aug. 25 to 27.

Their paper is titled Retail Trends Among Small and Medium Sized Enterprise in Pakistan and the Philippines: A Comparative Study to Sustain Local Market in Asia. After analyzing the retail trends of SMEs in the Philippines and Pakistan, the paper offers suggestions on how to sustain the local markets in Asia.

This is the fifth in the conference series on retailing in the Asia Pacific region organized by the Oxford Institute of Retail Management at Said Business School, University of Oxford, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Retail Technology Industry Association. The conference aims to bring together academics and practitioners, in order to expand relationships and develop sharing of knowledge. Previous conference venues were Tokyo (March, 2000), Beijing (October, 2002), Seoul (March, 2005) and Bangkok (September, 2007).

Aleem is a graduate of AIM’s Negotiations Program in 2008 and Basic Development Management Course in 2005. A recipient of the Ten Outstanding Muslim Youth (TOMY Awards) in 2007, he is currently completing his requirements for his Master in Development Management degree.

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