An open-bar booze-binge jumpstarted the night’s sizzling party mood. The hip and beautiful Virgo celebrators and their chosen invitees definitely had loads of fun.
The star-studded event gathered a constellation of "chaste" celebrators like Joel Tantoco; Cherrie del Rosario; Tricia Cu-Unjieng; Edwin Arce; Vicky Antonio; Maiqui Dayrit; Christina de Alba; Chai Abaya; Bea Valdes; Christina Rivera; Mylene Dizon; Shaan Bermudez; Domini Primero; and Lisa Gokongwei.
Hosted by "The Voice" Charlie Ysmael and Monique Lopez, the night’s program began with a sultry game of "Strip Charade" where the "virgins" went onstage to act out sexually-charged words like "cleavage," "French kiss," and "light my fire."
Up for grabs that night were must-haves like brand-new Nokia 6210 mobile phones courtesy of Zed, no less, dahlings, for all the ladies and the gents who dared to bare it all. Debonair Jon Sulkin earned a phone by stripping to his bare essentials. Three fearless ladies – Wilma Doesnt, Girlie and Sabrina – who volunteered for a shot at winning gave the Zed judges a bloody headache deciding on who deserved the prize for daring to bare.
Powered by the music of Dish’s in-house DJs, Ayee and Jeff, the celebrators partied way, way past their bedtime hour, dahlings. Dancing wherever they could find enough space were the synchronized quartet of Pia Marquez, Ika Ysmael and Dish’s very own delectable treats, Liza Tan and Jeri Lee Zulueta; JM Rodriguez; and the timeless PMAP models Baba Parma, Eazel Don, Rachel Soriano and Wilma Doesnt.
Grace Molina and Phoemela Barranda also put on their dancing shoes and boogied to the beat. Table hopping and socializing, palanggas, were Jojo Manlongat; renowned contractor Rene Banzon; pretty, pretty Cherrie del Rosario; super eligible bachelor on the lose, Anton Gonzales; moi palangga, photo bug Pepper Teehankee; adorable couple Edwin and Digna Arce of Arce Ice Cream, which makes that one-of-a-kind favorite, the atis-flavored ice cream; and Mandy Boy Eduque.
Equally star-bright although not the only stars of the night were celebrities Robin da Rosa; Maxine; the angelic Assunta de Rossi; and surprise, surprise, Martin Nievera who dashed in late-ish holding hands with Pops Fernandez. Now, that was a feat of true friendship, dahlings, that is quite difficult to beat. Great!
Other delightful surprises that night for the Virgo "virgins," palanggas, included special gifts from Rustan’s, gift packages from FHM and Preview and the prized pearl pendant "Pearl of the Nights," courtesy of Jewelmer, which Shaan Bermudez took home. The swinging party just wouldn’t end until way past 3 a.m., would you believe? After all, dahlings, the no-holds-barred Virgin Offerings, "Dish"-ed up with an unbelievably intense flavor definitely had the party-phile hunkering for more.
Watch out, palanggas, for the next Zodiac Dish of the Month!
See you there.
The Spanish colonial Casa Manila Patio had been the setting of the last Cena. This time, los invitados were transported to a fantastic Filipino-influenced venue featuring furniture crafted with ingenuous Filipino artistry. The Españoles-speaking personas were flabbergasted seeing the Coconut Palace’s uniquely creative use of coconut and its by-products.
With the general manager’s simpaticisima y attractive wife Diana Diago as co-host, the guests were given a tour of the seven bedrooms representing various cultures and ethnic groups in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
The Cena has always gathered Cosmo Manille’s Spanish-speaking community consisting of residents, dignitaries from various countries and ranking executives of mega corporations.
The Cena was conceptualized by no less than Juan Carlos Diago, palanggas, when he was still Makati Shangri-La’s manager. He used to organize similarly pleasant dinners while assigned to different Shangri-La Hotels around the globe. Today, the Cena has become one of the most sought-after exclusive events. Here, one gets to enjoy the company of interesting hotshot personas from different countries and cultures, dahlings.
Enjoying themselves immensely were such vibrant personas of the chic-ky diplomatic set like Ambassador Julio Velarde Cardenas from the Embassy of Peru; Charge d’Affaires Carlos Augusto Carvalho of the Embassy of Brazil; Chile’s Ambassador Carmen Lynam; Kristopher McCahon of the US Embassy; Martine Vassuer of the Embassy of France; and Economic and Commercial Counselor Oscar Via and Sol Via from the Embassy of Spain.
In all, the Cena boasted of good company, an excellent menu and the best of wines.
Salud, amigos!
The biggest incentive, palanggas, was the guilt-free-shopping’s huge discounts and free customized arrangements. And take note – a part of every sale was donated to the Foundation. The more you shopped, the bigger your donations! Not bad, huh? Not bad at all, palanggas.
Bravo, that popular Italian resto in downtown Malate and up, uptown Alabang, donated its sumptuous bar chow and best-selling dips. It also offered free wine-tasting which the buyers enjoyed while awaiting their purchases to be fashioned into room accents. The bright organizers sure knew how to pamper their invitees. No wonder the turnout surpassed expectations and the Foundation can now confidently embark on its Christmas gift-giving projects.
Foundation members who played hosts that day, dahlings, were such civic-oriented movers like Eve Sarmiento; Emily Alvarez; Sigrid Datumanong; lawyer Charito Cruz; Ellerie Dayrit; nice Ching Rufino; Lory Lina; Ces Cabrera; and Cora Abalos.
The ladies are the spouses of Presidential Adviser on Agricultural Modernization Angelito Sarmiento; Transportation Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez; Public Works Secretary Simeon Datumanong; Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Avelino Cruz Jr.; Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit; Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs popular Jose Rufino; Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina; Press Secretary Noel Cabrera; and MMDA chairman and super achiever, Benjamin Abalos, respectively.
Loads of pals from the legislative branch supported the project. Among them were popular golden-hearted Rep. Cynthia Villar; Aleta Suarez; Josephine Sato and Vicky Reyes. Milagros del Rosario, the wife of Davao del Norte Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario; and congressional spouses Ruth Padilla and Betty Nantes also enjoyed the worth-while affair.
Others who took advantage of the guilt-free shopping were Dante Lantin, chairman of the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board; Marivic Concepcion; our dearest palangga, Justa Tantoco; and Vivian Motomal of the Journal Group of Publications.
The main beneficiary of this worthy project, palanggas, is the Elsie Gaches Village, an orphanage in Alabang. Marketing committee co-chair Emily Alvarez said, "Part of the funds generated will (be allotted for the) salary of a nanny/caregiver of the orphanage for one year. The Foundation will also use the funds to spread goodwill in other charity institutions during Christmas."
According to Designer Blooms founder Rica Garcia, dahlings, "The company readily agreed to this arrangement with the Cabinet Spouses Foundation to help support its projects. The showroom was set up for industrial buyers with volume sales but we were happy to convert the showroom into a retail outlet for a day to help the Foundation. It is good to see the ladies trying their best to work out ways to help our country."
Aside from gift-giving projects in the next few weeks, the Foundation will serve as a linkage for existing government programs and NGOs and other volunteer groups.
"We are not re-inventing the wheel," said Lory Lina. "We are not devising new programs or projects. We are just connecting capabilities to areas of concern."
Word of mouth has spread so fast about the fantastic bargains that there is a clamor to repeat the fund-raiser soon.
"If there are supporters ready to help," said marketing committee co-chair Ces Cabrera, "we’re game."
So get to it, palanggas. You’ll be helping this terrific organization attain their goal of improving the lot of our orphan children.
It’s crystal clear, dahlings, the holiday season has arrived.
See you!