A ‘Cointreauversial’ night in Bangkok

I was told I had 15 minutes to interview Dita Von Teese at Hotel Eugenia in Bangkok. Colleagues Tessa Prieto-Valdes and Melo Esguerra were each given the same amount of time to interview her. I certainly didn’t want only 15 minutes with the “Queen of Burlesque” so I told Melo and Tessa of my plan, which they agreed to. Remy Cointreau liked the idea and granted the three of us to jointly interview Dita for 45 minutes.

The three of us entered the room and were met by a pretty, smooth-skinned lady with a stunningly tiny waistline.  She was warm and fondly remembered her brief but fun vacation in the Philippines. It was hard to believe that she was 40; she looked so radiant. As the interview progressed, she loosened up and even insinuated naughty topics, which none of us really had the guts to get into. 

She was born Heather Sweet and her name was not named after “tease.” Dita was a name she really liked and was one of her favorite silent film actresses. “Von” was added to make it sound classy and she chose “Teese” from a phonebook. When Playboy magazine published her photo spread, her name was erroneously printed as “Teese” instead of “Treese.” She asked for an erratum but still it was misspelled so she just decided to stick to “Teese.” In our interview, she shared with us that she is  vegetarian and she does Pilates every day. She also told us of her collection of vintage lingerie and her own fashion line. She advised us not to eat yoghurt because, according to her, it is really bad for us.

On that same night, we had a small cocktail where the regional Remy Cointreau team met us and we all mingled with Dita. The menu featured special Cointreau cocktails and Dita demonstrated her own mix of Cointreau Teese cocktail. Dita has been a global ambassador for the delicious orange liqueur for several years.

It was a nice introduction to the Queen of Burlesque as we prepared for the “One Night in Bangkok” party where Dita was going to perform the following night.

The next day was free for us to shop and do what we wanted to accomplish. As we always do in Bangkok, Tessa and I shopped till we dropped with Sunny Ku of Masterminds. Remy Cointreau Philippines commercial manager Joey Pineda was busy with his meetings and only joined us for lunch. Aside from shopping, I needed to do two things I always do in Bangkok —  eat my curry crab from Somboon Seafood Restaurant and get my santol sorbet fix from iberry. I gave in to my cravings and then I felt content.

The big night came and the crowd waited for the performance of Dita. The organizers promised it would be “Cointreauversial.” She finally performed after we had tanked up several glasses of those delicious Cointreau cocktails. She danced, stripped and took a bath in a giant martini glass and the crowd diligently adhered to the “no photo or video rule” the organizers asked for.  

The crowd gave her a rousing applause, something she deserved as she mesmerized the audience with her amazing body and her ability to capture the attention of every single member of the quite large audience. We didn’t get to say goodbye to the Queen of Burlesque as she was quickly whisked out of the venue from her adoring fans but that 45 minutes with her and her quite memorable burlesque act will forever stay in my mind.

Redefining real beauty

In line with Dove’s longtime advocacy to promote real beauty globally, the brand mounted a one-of-a-kind photo exhibit at Bonifacio High Street Central featuring 10 new Dove women. These women were chosen to represent the thousands of ladies who joined the Dove Glowing Skin online campaign. 

The “Women on Women” photo exhibit presented the original works of 10 female photographers as they tell the beautiful and inspiring stories of these 10 new Dove women as subjects.

Dove brand manager Julian Gollayan said, “This photo exhibit is a celebration of real beauty. The stories of the 10 Dove women prove that in our county, beautiful women with beautiful life experiences are in abundance. By highlighting their stories in the photo exhibit, we hope to inspire women from all walks of life to know and believe that they are beautiful in their own right.”

The women behind the lenses include Denise Weldon, G-nie Arambulo, Isa Lorenzo, Jeanne Young, Jo Ann Bitagcol, Lilen Uy, Mandy Navasero, MM Yu, Pilar Tuason and Sara Black. The new Dove women include urban planner Michelle Lim, videographer Sabs Bengzon, mom-and-daughter tandem of Jennifer and Jillian Bantang, lupus survivor Kat Catapusan, Olympian Rachelle Ann Cabral, alopecia advocate Abby Asistio, chef Jackie Ang-Po, museum curator Maria Isabel Garcia and author Samantha Sotto.

Their stories essay real-life challenges and how they triumphed over these challenges to define the women that they are today.  Photos by Pepper Teehankee on a Canon Powershot S100