Bike Festival Asia

It was a weekend that celebrated Philippine tourism, fun and compassion when the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) joined hands to stage the first Bike Festival Asia, an 80-km bike trek aiming to promote the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), the country’s longest expressway. 

PTA general manager Mark Lapid and 600 biking enthusiasts took part in the event that also featured trade shows, parties, a fireworks display and concerts by top bands. Lapid shared: “Bike Festival Asia is a great event to help boost tourism in Central Luzon, especially since the aftermath of tropical storm Ondoy. This is just one of the ways of showing the world that Filipinos remain undaunted despite the devastation brought by Ondoy. In fact, all collected registration fees for Bike Festival Asia will be donated to victims of Ondoy.” He added: “We’re setting up wakeboarding facilities, a cable car and other water sports activities in Clark.”

The bike run kicked-off in Expo Filipino in Clark where bikers made their way along SCTEX enjoying the warm and fun atmosphere with the picturesque views of Tarlac, Pampanga, Bataan and Zambales as their charming backdrop. The race ended in Remy Field Subic.

A perfect nightcap was a concert headlined by True Faith and South Border, which got everyone grooving till the late evening. Two mountain bikes and two road bikes were also raffled off.

PTA Bike Festival Asia was organized by Len Plus, Inc. and was supported by the Bases Conversion Development Authority, SCTEX, Clark Freeport Philippines, Tollways Management Corp., Subic Bay Manila North Tollways Corp. and New North Luzon Expressway.

No limits

The evening was all about BoConcept design, contemporary art, wine and food as the celebration of the new 2010 BoConcept collection, catalogue and website kicked off in style with the longest worldwide release party. 

The 2010 BoConcept collection is being celebrated across 27 nations, 86 cities and 115 BoConcept Brand Stores, which began in Düsseldorf, Germany on Sept. 3. The release party culminates this month in Beirut, Lebanon.

The 2010 BoConcept collection is an exciting mix of new sofa models, tables, chairs, accessories — and lots of colors! There will be stripes and graphic patterns, black, white and gray mixed with splashes of ochre yellow, bold pink and deep purple. Food served at the party was by Cav, which included cured salmon on truffle puree, mirin melon and crab salad, espuma curried egg and shrimp tartar, French onion tarts, and speck and leek quiche, aside from a buffet that featured fritto misto with tomato sugo basil dip and baked ziti with prosciutto and capers. Great wine were selected by I Love Wine by Manny O. proprietor Manny Osmeña who creates his own wines from vineyards around the world. For the worldwide release party, he served Discipulus Blanc 2007 and Summilier 2008: a single varietal wine from the Spanish region of Yecla.

To set the mood, DJ Caliph 8 played lounge music alongside a digital projection of images from the 2010 collection and its style inspirations. Mo space featured an art project titled Interior Motives within the BoConcept style vignettes. Featured contemporary artists were Poklong Anading, Juan Alcazaren, Felix Bacolor, Buboy Bahado, Eng Chan, Lena Cobangbang, Louie Cordero, Geraldine Javier, Romeo Lee, Pardo De Leon, At Maculangan, Kaloy Olavides, Mawen Ong, Bernardo Paquing, Gary Pastrana, Yvonne Quisumbing, Gerardo Tan, MM Yu, Hanna Pettyjohn and Reg Yuson.

(Visit www.boconcept.com or check out BoConcept at Ground Floor, Mos Design Building, Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Fort Taguig; tel. no. 856-2745 or 856-2748 ext. 1 and BoConcept Mandaluyong, 4th floor, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Edsa corner Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City; tel. no. 634-1292.)