The Star & Swatch Dragon Ball: So like the Oscars

MANILA, Philippines - Whether a Dragon, a Rabbit, a Pig, or a celestial beast, all were beautiful and happy party animals at the Philippine STAR and Swatch Dragon Ball last Thursday at Salon de Ning, Peninsula Manila. Walking into the club was like being at the Oscars… glamorous place and people. I have never seen so many diamonds in one place in my life.

Beautiful and powerful women were everywhere. The battle of red lipstick began with the gorgeous Anne Curtis, who always looks beautiful with red lips… but must have felt a little insecure that night. Best dressed ladies of the night were Henny Zobel, Ching Cruz and Linda Ley who were given special Dragon puppet dolls with… what else?... the Swatch Year of the Dragon watch.

Drinks were overflowing. It was a nice feeling receiving so many compliments from so many women but that feeling quickly disappeared when I realized it must just be the lambanog in the halo-halo or when the husbands of these women asked for pictures with Anne. It was really just a crazy night and a lot of Swatch joie de vivre.

Swatch brand ambassador Anne Curtis doodles: “I’m a Swatch baby forever!”

The mixed group of creative people was there for the winning Dragon T-shirts runway show and the much anticipated presentation of the new collections of Swatch. The good news is the Chrono in gold comes in a collection of three watches… Remember Goldfinger? It was hot! Every girl I knew wanted one.

The food was soooo good (your food tasting paid off, Tita Virgie Ramos and Margarita Fores.). The yummy salmon burgers had little Philippine STAR flags (in honor of pescetarian Tita Millet Mananquil) while the beef burgers with XO sauce from the Peninsula Hong Kong had small Swiss flags (for what else? Cows!). I just had to keep asking “What’s in this?” For good luck, there were crab caviar beggars purses, Aussie blue cheese for Anne and truffle honey on walnut toast with Peninsula Hong Kong’s Spring Moon walnuts, Peking duck salad on crispy wontons for Chris Tiu, foie gras pot stickers, gold-dusted beef samosa, and baked Alaska.

Every detail was perfectly executed. Music was fantastic. Performances from the likes of Zia Quizon, who just won Best New Artist at the Myx Awards, with Robby Mananquil on the guitar, were perfect. Timing couldn’t have been better with their opening song Time After Time... what with Cyndi Lauper in town soon. Christian Bautista and his new sweetheart, Carla Dunareanu, were brilliant (holding hands the entire evening, except on stage).

The evening was lots of fun. Swatch faces were complete, except for Billy Crawford and John Lloyd Cruz who were both shooting for their movies. Guys, you missed out! Imagine our rookie Chris Tiu strutting his stuff on the catwalk. Chris is the ultimate good boy! Liz Uy had him covered in dragon tattoos but he still looked like a guy a girl would introduce to her folks.

STAR Lifestyle editor Millet Mananquil, Milette Belmonte, Maurice Arcache, Miguel Belmonte and Regina Belmonte

I still can’t get over it. There were so many beautiful faces like my mate Anne Curtis and the granddaughters of Jaime Zobel! Yes, Mr. Zobel was there and I froze when he shook my hand! Standing on stage with models all around me (big smile on my face), I suddenly froze when Mr. Zobel was asked to come on stage. He greeted me with a firm handshake and a smile. I did the same but my knees were buckling. I caught myself staring at a man who exudes so much power and respect. How I wish I could be like him!

Olympics is just around the corner, at least that wish of going from Beijing Olympics in 2008 to London in 2012 is another wish come true. In our script, Anne and I were supposed to play a game of tic-tac-toe, England vs. Australia. The script read “Derek wins,” and my line was “You lose! You lose!” But Anne being Anne did not follow the script and claimed to be the winner. Being the English gentleman that I am, I let her win but told everyone she cheated. Also, 10 London Olympics Swatch watches were raffled off. Good boy Chris Tiu knows pala how to be a little naughty by rigging the raffle and having his beautiful girlfriend win the first draw. He denies this though. Just kidding, Chris.

The night for me ended due to jetlag. As I walked out, I noticed most of the champagne and wine glasses with red lipstick marks. Hehehe! Beautiful smiles and personalities filled up Salon de Ning. Glad I didn’t miss out on this awesome party and miss out on seeing my little brother, Matteo, stepping into his favorite club for Round 2.

Congratulations, Swatch and STAR!