Haunted homies

MANILA, Philippines - Halloween season means parties every day until the 31st. But it’s rare to find one that serves both tricks and treats. The folks at Belmont Hotel threw an awesome Halloween bash for Philippine STAR’s Lifestyle team last Oct. 26. Their basement 1 function room was decked out in spooky decoration with creepy music to match. To elevate the festive Halloween spirit, they even extended the theme to their food, serving pumpkin salads, jack-o-lantern cream puffs and blood stew (“It’s not your regular dinuguan,” says their food & beverage manager). Their setup could definitely make any Pinterest fanatic scream in delight. 

Of course, no Halloween party would be complete without any tricks. Alakim, Pilipinas Got Talent Season 1 grand finalist, showed some magic tricks up his sleeve. While he didn’t perform his winning act during the TV show finale — he disappeared from the Araneta stage and reappeared at the audience area —  he still got some oohs and aahs from the crowd with a spine-chilling guillotine act. (JSYK, no one got murdered.)

Belmont Hotel and The Philippine STAR also awarded the best costumes of the afternoon. Jonty Cruz, Young STAR’s editor-at-large, came as award-winning filmmaker Lav Diaz and won a round trip ticket to Hong Kong courtesy of Cebu Pacific and Bistro Group gift certificates. Kathy Moran, STAR Lifestyle’s managing editor, dressed up as Little Bo Beep and even had her dog-slash-sheep in tow. The cute duo also won a Cebu Pacific round trip ticket to Hong Kong courtesy of JG Summit and gift certificates from Rustan’s Supermarket, Pancake House and Dads.

The treats didn’t stop there. Because Belmont Hotel is celebrating their first birthday, they also awarded an overnight stay to each member of the Philippine STAR lifestyle team who also came in winning outfits. The Young STAR team’s Deal or No Deal-themed costumes were easily a crowd favorite and so was the #twinning outfits of YStyle and Young STAR contributors Koji Arboleda and Tom Bucag. Gift certificates from Rustan’s, The SM Store, SSI, Robinson’s, Daiso, Sfera, L’Indochine, and Edd Fuentes Publicity were also given away. 

By the end of the afternoon, our bags and stomachs were filled with goodies. If Halloween parties are always like this, then we don’t mind coming in costume all days of the year.