A new image for Thai Airways

Thai Airways celebrated its new comprehensive rebranding at a cocktail party held at the Dusit Hotel in Makati attended by GM for Philippines and Guam Dol Bhasavanich and other Thai executives.

The Dusit Ballroom was festively decorated as cocktails were served amidst a grand buffet table offering an array of Thai-inspired food. As dancers performed to the beat of Thai music, the new logo of the aircraft was projected onto a white canopy draped over the center of the ballroom. Thai Airways also announced that Moscow will soon be added to the list of key world cities serviced by the airline.

The new corporate logo retains the purple, magenta and gold colors which symbolize traditional Thai imagery – the rich hues of golden temples, tropical orchids and lustrous silks. The new logo, with its associated typography in English and Thai, will be used from the aircraft and company vehicles to ticket offices and airport signage.

With all these welcome changes, Dol Bhasavanich assured the guests that the airline will continue to provide better options for travelers. He added one thing remains steadfast, Thai is still the airline that flies as smooth as silk!

Oktoberfest 2005!

Mandarin Oriental’s two-night Oktoberfest 2005 celebration was a prime event of the activity-filled German month. Held with the support of Siemens, Lufthansa German Airlines, Lufthansa Technik Philippines, Lifestyle Network, NBC, San Miguel, The Philippine STAR and the German Club, the NBC "beer tent" in Bonifacio Global City was the fifth and so far the biggest Oktoberfest celebration.

Having all the ingredients of the popular Bavarian festival in Munich is what makes the Mandarin Oriental’s annual celebration special. They flew in the Bavarian Sound Express, an 11-piece band that gave guests the perfect ambience to the genuine Oktoberfest. The band, led by manager Robert Birnbrier, performed German folk songs which had the guests dancing all night long. Bobby Soul, one of the original members of the ’50s music group The Platters gave a surprise performance on the second evening.

A traditional German buffet included spannferkel (suckling pig in dark beer sauce), sauerbraten (braised beef in sweet and sour sauce), leberkaas (meat loaf on creamed spinach), spit haendl (herb-marinated roast chicken), roast pork knuckle with sauerkraut, and a variety of grilled and boiled sausages, salads and desserts.

Mandarin Oriental Manila’s GM Helmut Gaisberger, together with Taguig Mayor Sigfrido Tinga, led the traditional tapping of the barrel on the first night. On the second night, Gaisberger was joined by German Club’s Albert Robert and Thorsten Franz with German Ambassador Axel Weishaupt.

Spotted at the event were Lufthansa German Airlines’ Christopher Zimmer and Abu Ignacio, Siemens’ Tertius Vermeulen and corporate communications manager Mhei delos Reyes, Lufthansa Technik Philippine’s president and CEO Andreas Heizner, Rose Marie Arenas with daughter Rachel, Tom and Annabelle Wisniewski, Alex Timbol, Taguig city administrator Wilfredo Villar, Aurelio Paulo Bartolome, Elpidio Javier, Baltazar Mariategue, Lufthansa Technical Training Philippines’ GM Michael Paarmann, Cathay Pacific’s country manager Vivien Lo, Philippine Airlines’ GM Jaime Bautista and fashion designer Lulu Tan Gan. 

A round trip economy class ticket to Germany courtesy of Lufthansa German Airlines and Lufthansa Technik Philippines was raffled off as grand prize. This was won by Pilipinas Shell’s Dennis Palomar.

The beneficiary of this year’s Oktoberfest was the German School Manila Foundation for its scholarship fund.

Dreaming Of Debenhams

British household name Debenhams has been known for its fashionable clothing and stylish pieces for bed and bath for over a century. The brand made its presence felt in Manila through the introduction of its 15th international outlet.

EVP of Store Specialists Inc. Anton Huang said, "Debenhams’ unique niche in the discerning retail industry comes from its philosophy of offering top quality clothes, fashion accessories, cosmetics and household effects with a higher proportion of exclusive label brands than any other retail chain in the world. We are confident that the success of Debenhams will be repeated in its newest overseas home, the Philippines."

Debenhams head of international product and development Alice Holmes adds, "We feel so strongly about the Debenhams concept in Asia that we think this is just the beginning."

The Debenhams Manila store is 17,000 square feet and was completed in less than six months. Their collection of over 50 highly successful in-house brands includes Red Herring (casual directional clothing for men, women and children), Pineapple (a fun range of exclusive sports/loungewear for women and girls) and Maine New England, as well as Casual Club, J Taylor, Debut, Babbleboom (babywear and younger kidswear) and Tigerlily (girlswear). The "Designers at Debenhams" range currently has 19 in-house designers. This range includes J by Jasper Conran, Butterfly by Matthew Williamson, Star by Julien Macdonald, Rocha by John Rocha, St. George by Duffer, Betty Jackson, Antoni and Alison, Elie Tahari and Janet Reger.

Albert Martinez, Epy Quizon, Dominic Ochoa, Aiza Marquez, Maoui David and Anna Larrucea modeled Debenhams’ trendy pieces that gave the audience a sneak preview of what is to come. Debenhams is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc. Watch out for the opening at the third level of the Shangri-La Plaza Mall on Nov. 9.

A Heavenly Brew From Cebu

Cebuano Glenn Soco runs several operations in his hometown. He has expanded his business interests to other parts of the country, particularly outside Cebu. The young entrepreneur has opened his newest branch of Coffee Dream, conceptualized to be the perfect little café, at a nook at the Art Level of SM Megamall.

The small opening was attended by Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, Gia Apelo, Gail Soco and Toni Abad and Rhoda Campos of Rustan’s Essenses to name a few.

Coffee lovers may enjoy this heavenly brew at SM Megamall, Cavite and San Lazaro. Watch out for the opening of three more branches soon.

Shanghai Night

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts Philippines hosted a Travel Trade Appreciation Party for their loyal partners at the Garden Ballroom of Edsa Shangri-La, Manila. 

Themed Shanghai Night, the ballroom was dressed up for the occasion as drapes and tablecloths were in red and gold, complemented by elegant glass trays with lotus leaves. The stage was a pagoda with panels, windows and Chinese calligraphy.

The extensive Chinese cocktail menu included suckling pig, wok-fried scallops, assorted dim sum and dumplings.

The program was opened with a Shanghai dance number from the sales managers of Makati Shangri-La, Edsa Shangri-La, Manila, Traders Hotel, Manila and Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa. Hosts for the evening were singer-comedienne Tuesday Vargas and model-host-actor Brad Turvey.

Lucky guests won weekend suite accommodations in different Shangri-La hotels and resorts all over Asia, Australia and Dubai while the grand prize was a weekend stay in the Shangri-La Pudong inclusive of roundtrip airline tickets for two from Philippine Airlines.

Imprints

Jose Ramon "Pitpit" Mercado is an architect and an interior designer by profession who earned his degree in architecture from the University of the Philippines. He studied classical painting from 1985 to 1990 under tutors in Cebu where he was born. He has documented his travels around America, Europe and Asia through photography which he has transformed into photo mosaics. Imprints is a one-man exhibit of photo mosaics assembled from various photographic vignettes. The photo mosaics create ethereal abstract images which combines pop art imagery and surrealism.

The exhibit will be held in Absinth on the third floor of Greenbelt 4 from Nov. 15 to Dec. 7. The collection of 10 photo mosaics will have its opening on Nov. 15 at 8 p.m.