A mind-blowing show

Dishing time

It’s dishing time, palanggas, so here moi goes.

Cosmo Manille gossip mill is abuzz with one hot, hot question: "How come, apres several years of being one of our town’s most admired lovey-dovey coosome twosome, this couple is now cooling off?"

She is a workaholic, attractively vivacious heiress while he is a suave, popular tycoon.

She has been partying with her close pals of late; he with his buddy-buddies. In fact, some of his buddies have tried to pair him with another civic-oriented heiress, but she ain’t bite-ing, palanggas.

So the question remains: "Why and what happened?"

Then there’s this dish about these tres visible lovebirds who were so in love, many of their pals thought wedding bells would ring sooner than soon for them. Then, wham!

The gossip mill was abuzz with why this couple went their separate ways. Both of them are tres, tres eligible and good-looking. She is another workasonic heiress of substance while her ex (for now, as whispers have it) is a handsome Southern sugar baron.

In both cases, dahlings, there’s no third party involved. It just might be both couples got too accustomed to their (ex) loved ones’ faces and habits. Oh, well!

Next, there’s this dish about some hotshots considered to be the creamiest of the ultra sociedad set. They are supposed to be–take note, supposed to be–perfect example of what breeding and manners are all about.

Well, palanggas, think again!

At a grand, elegant ball recently, there were around 350 specially-chosen invitees. "RSVP" was clearly specified in the invitation. Out of these, 280 responded they would attend while others called to give their regrets. Fine and dandy. Naturellement, being a perfectionist, the hostess of the affair spared nothing to make the affair a memorable one.

Well, a BIG problem came when many of those in our half-baked society said they would attend. Several calls even reconfirmed their attendance. Well, as not expected, they never showed up! To make matters worst, some who sent their regrets showed up, while others who did not even have the decency of RSVP-ing, showed up in full force, would you believe?

Thank goodness our hostess was well-prepared and still managed to make the ball a huge success.

So, what does one do with this kind of personas who supposedly belong to Manille’s alta sociedad (as in, dirty society)?

Scratch them off your list, dahlings, that’s what!

* * *

It all began when a scientist looked at an everyday product and saw a flash of opportunity, dahlings. The year was 1875 and the man was Jim Jannard. He created the motorcross hand grip with a unique orbicular design engineered to fit a competitor’s closed hand. That flash of brilliance mixed with passion and technology has fueled today’s most in-demand brand for personas with know-how, Oakley!

Find opportunity. Solve with technology. Wrap in art. These, palanggas, are the fundamentals that make up Oakley Inc.’s dynamic empire. Beginning with cutting-edge eyewear, the company has unleashed its technical ingenuity with high performance footwear, sleek timepieces, comfortable yet durable apparel and accessories.

Oakley, palanggas, has revolutionized the way we view eyewear. Take your pick from Mag Switch; Half Jacket; Gold Specific M Frame; Juliet and MX Frame Goggle, some of the coolest models available today.

Half a full moon ago, Oakley showcased its sleek, avant garde products in a show. Featuring Jaime Fabregas as Oakley’s mad scientist, the show also made use of Oakley’s local talents Diether Ocampo, Jake Roxas, Gaby de la Merced, Bernard Palanca, Victor Neri, and Game Plan’s hip hosts, Tricia Chiongbian, Rovilson Fernandez, Carlo Ledesma and Akiko Thomson. A live, all-star rock band featuring members of local rock icons, Razerback and Spectrum upped the adrenaline at the mind-blowing event.

Oakley also introduced its unique DNA for footwear, Red Code, a mid-sole system that customizes shock attenuation and stability. Red Code, dahlings, can be also found in other Oakley footwear, whose range of styles will be available at all leading retail sportswear stores next month.

The Oakley show, dahlings, also featured out-of-this-world sleek timepieces: The Time Bomb, Icon, Bullet, Torpedo and Crush.

Among the personas who enjoyed the fun event, palanggas, were Oakley Premium dealers from Executive Optical; Almeda Optical; Sarabia Optical-Rockwell; Optical Works; Good Vision and Eyecrafter-Davao like Sofia Zobel-Elizalde and Patxi Elizalde; Mia Borromeo; Jacques Dupasquier; Bea Valdes and her constant date, Archie Rodriguez.

Angelo Villanueva; Café Havana’s JR Isaac; Margeaux Salcedo and Hans Montenegro; TJ Manotoc; Garlic Garcia; Eddie Garcia; Luke Mejares; and Bobby Andrews turned into instant Oakley fan.

Oakley’s tres charmante sales and marketing director, Jane Ortega and advertising and sports marketing coordinator Julie Angeles made sure everything was up to Oakley’s standard–unique and avant garde. It definitely was, palanggas.

Check out Oakley’s eyewear, footwear, timepieces and apparel now available at leading optical stores and retail sportswear stores.

You’ll be okay, dahlings, wearing Oakley.

300 left with a smile

In the cut-throat world of travel, dahlings, one has to continually keep abreast of the latest information–new destinations, new market trends and new airline musts and must-nots.

Well, a new moon ago, palanggas, a huge meeting took place at the tres spacious PLC Audition along Padre Faura, Manille. Those hardworking personas of Passenger Sales Phils. hosted the whole-day assembly. They were joined by 300 participants from Non-IATA and IATA accredited travel agencies. The event, palanggas, dubbed The Transpacific Forum was hosted by sales country manager for the Philippines, AVP-PSP Milagros Revilla, district sales managers Josefina Baena and Soledad Solleza, and naturellement, Transpacific product manager Maryann Cabrebros.

The rah! rah! team welcomed invitees and speakers led by the US Consul General David Donahue and Non-Immigrant Visa Chief Christopher Rowan, no less, who tackled visa and immigration requirements.

Kerwin Go, Philippines marketing officer of the Guam Visitors’ Bureau charmed the guests and raffled off tons of giveaways.

Joining in as speakers were PAL’s SAVP for Revenue Management Systems, Estrelita Inoturan, product loyalty officer Apa Alviar, and tours specialist Jun Quiane.

The ever-vivacious sales team filled the hall with cheer. Emcees Dino Molina and Victoria Samonte gave out special gratuity tokens. Two lucky participants bagged round-trip tickets to Guam with hotel certificates, courtesy of Guam Visitors’ Bureau.

Seeing the many smiles on the faces of 300 travel agents coupled with pledges of support from our dear travel agents, it was crystal clear that all the efforts of the PAL’s team of workaholic was worth the while.

Oompapa!

Hundreds of ecstatic partying personas headed to the NBC Tent at the Fort Bonifacio Global City to experience the super fun of Mandarin Oriental’s renowned Oktoberfest 2002, dahlings. Staged for the second consecutive year and hosted by moi palangga, "Oh No, It’s Johnny" Litton, the event was again highlighted by non-stop "oompapa" music from the fantastic 11-piece Bavarian Sound Express flown in from Germany, no less.

With the generous support of PLDT, Swiss International Airlines, Siemens, Smart, San Miguel Beer, NBC, The Philippine STAR, GMA- 7 and Foreign Post, two fun-filled nights unfolded. Expats and local partyphiles danced the night away to join the pageantry of world’s biggest folk festival.

Adding to be Bavarian ambiance were 12 flags representing the regions of Germany, colorful decor depicting lederhosens (traditional Bavarian outfits), giant-sized, heart-shaped cookies, and two-long buffet spreads offering authentic Bavarian specialties like Schweinshaxn mit Rotkohl, Wuerstel mit Sauerkraut, Sauerbraten, Schin im Teig and Apfelstrudel.

Everyone cheered as a Bavarian band marched through the main entrance, sparking off the electrifying rhythm of traditional "oompapa" music. Mandarin Oriental’s well-respected GM Helmut Gaisberger then assisted the event’s guests of honor who included Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano and Municipal Administrator Willy Villar (representing Mayor Sigfrido Tinga) on the first evening and German Ambassador Herbert Jess and German Club president Albert Robert on the second evening, as they performed the ceremonial tapping of the beer barrel.

Having a blast with the unlimited refills of San Miguel Beer and delightful spread of Bavarian specialties prepared by Mandarin Oriental’s executive chef Norbert Gardler and his award-winning culinary team (recently acclaimed the overall champion of the sixth year in the Chefs on Parade Odyssey) were hotshots from the diplomatic community like Austrian Ambassador Christian Krepela and his wife Irmgard; British Ambassador Paul Diamond and his wife Caroline; Portuguese Ambassador Jao Caetano da Silva and his wife Ulrike; and Belgian Ambassador Christian Tanghe. Seen dancing were the French Embassy’s Marie Tanguy and her husband Claude Castel; Erich Edralin and Miko Valenzuela; and Carol Santos.

Joining in were Rotary Club Makati colleagues Dennis Decena; Lito and Veronica Baluyut-Jimenez; Bobby Lim and Christopher Naraso. Hotshots like Gunther Matschuck; Arthur Lopez; Rose Marie Arenas; and Total Fina managing director Jeffrey Atwood; Toshiba Information president Ippei Futaki; Asiatype’s Philippe and Martha Gaunthier; Jean Pierre and Lali Etroit; socialite Helen and Sonny Ong and her famille; journalist Teddy Montelibano; restaurateurs Alice Segismundo and Gino Martel. Those fun gents were stockbroker of Strategic Equities Corp., Joselito Ongsiako and Empire Chemical Co.’s CEO Edmund Castañeda socialized while enjoying the "oompapa" music, palanggas.

Naturellement, the event’s top supporters tres visibly partied: Swiss International Airlines country manager Paul Schenk and his colleagues Bernadette Vidanes, Daniel Geiger, Antonette Borja and Merlie Surban; PLDT’s SVP Claro Ramirez; sector head Jon Agustin; promotions manager Ana Mae Javellanos; Arnel Crisostomo; Cecil Marino; Christine Ignacio; Tess Raymundo; and Patrick Tang; Siemens president and CEO Hans Weckherlin and chief financial officer and EVP Juergen Schwarzbauer; SVP Guenther Binder; VPs Sven Fischeder and Hans-Peter Haesslein; SVP and COO Werner Geisert; Enterprises Network head Albert Manlulu; general services manager Bernhard Heilmann; business administration head Ulrich Rehmund; AVP Buddy Bonifacio; and business administration manager Emily Esparaz; GMA 7’s SVP for sales Serafin Bautista and VP for TV Sales Jimmy Po Alanis and account executives John Urutia, Doray Cortez and Jonjie Alanis; San Miguel Beer’s AVP Willy Agbulos and trade channel manager Bobet Briones and his colleagues Mon Buendia, Iya Rodriguez and Asie Carpio; NBC Tent’s GM Conrad Castañeda and Agustin Lim; and Foreign Post’s Simon Halley and his wife Nina.

Apart from the thumping, swaying and rocking on the dancefloor, the crowd cheered and rallied behind the courageous men and women who bravely joined the beer drinking and yodeling contests. Judging the contests turned out to be fun and challenging for the Micheline Jess; Ulrike da Silva; Caroline Diamond; Siemens president and CEO Hans Weckherlin; and Swiss International Airlines’ Paul Schenk; Gunther Matschuck, to name drop a few.

Many staggered out to their wheels while some had to be carried out. It was crystal clear, dahlings, from the smiling faces and super high spirits of the crowd that this year’s Oktoberfest was a smashing success, promising an even more rip-roaring Oktoberfest 2003. Wow! What a night!

A week of "oompapa" was more than enough reason to hide those hangover eyebags with one of the world’s best sunglasses Oakley.

See you, palanggas.