‘The best weekend’

A weekend designed for relaxation was recently set at one of the country’s top destinations.

Discovery Shores Boracay once again pulled all the stops for a truly relaxing, refreshing and much-deserved three-day getaway to honor its industry supporters, travel agents, partners and friends in media. The hotel has been rewarding its top producers since 2009 to express its appreciation with the unmistakable Discovery Shores’ service mantra: “Service that’s all heart.”

Day One was all about ushering the guests into their rooms where welcome gifts awaited them, including a “Life’s a Beach” tote, and a delicious personalized cake. Guests had their dinner at Pau Patri, a quaint and charming Boracay-style restaurant that serves Filipino dishes.

The following day was welcomed with a breakfast buffet at Sands Restaurant and a relaxing day in the island that included complimentary spa sessions at Terra Wellness Spa. Cocktails were served at the beachfront with the setting sun as the backdrop. At night, Discovery Shores was transformed into an enchanting haven with  “Under the Sea” theme.

Guests were seated for the “Weekend with the Best” dinner in honor of the hotel’s top producers for the year. Corporate chef Anthony Raymond and his team served an Alaskan gindara medley of brûléed citrus, cherry tomatoes and crispy basil with a calamansi vinaigrette, followed by grilled Palawan lobster with a sweet corn and chive risotto, mushrooms in a bacon dashi broth. For dessert, a warm citrus-honey pudding explosion of almond ice cream, brown butter-roasted tropical fruit, topped with salted brandy snap crisp was served.

Gracious hosts of the festive event were The Discovery Leisure Company Inc. COO Jun Parreño Jr. with Discovery Shores Boracay’s resident manager Leeds Trompeta and director of sales and marketing Joy Denoga. The top travel agent producers and partners for the year 2012 were awarded with trophies by sculptor Ferdinand Cacnio, who has designed the trophies for the past five years.

A fireworks display lit up the Boracay skies before guests headed to their suites.

(Discovery Suites, Discovery Country Suites Tagaytay, and Discovery Shores Boracay are owned and managed by The Discovery Leisure Company.)

Here’s to a memorable game of golf

Manila’s golf enthusiasts recently played for the fifth Grey Goose Invitational Golf Tournament at the Alabang Country Club. The annual tournament had 120 competing players who formed their own teams for the invitational.

A pre-tournament party was held at the Long Bar of Raffles Hotel Makati to celebrate the competition. Brand master Jason Druckenmiller, who flew in from the US, joined Manila’s golf and party crowd to put together some amazing Grey Goose cocktails.

Grey Goose country manager for Philippines and Indonesia Sanjit Randhawa said, “Grey Goose is one of the top luxury icons in the world today. It proactively connects with consumers who love life, lead in life and who seek the best. Our participating golfers here in Manila epitomize just that.”

“Grey Goose is a favorite among golfers,” shared Bacardi-Martini Philippines commercial manager Bobby Campos.

After the tournament last May 29, an awarding ceremony was held right after at the Jaguar/Land Rover showroom at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

(This year’s tournament partners included Jaguar Land Rover, U-Boat, Raffles & Fairmont Hotels Makati, Thai Airways and Club Car, among others.)

At top speed

Globe Tattoo recently showcased the Manila Speed Show at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds where an actual Lotus F1 race car, piloted by Tattoo brand ambassador Marlon Stockinger, the first Filipino to make it to the Junior Driver Team of the prestigious Lotus F1 team, whizzed past pavements at about 350 km/hour.

The Filipino-Swiss race car sensation made lap rounds with his Lotus F1 car every few hours. Globe senior executives, led by president and CEO Ernest Cu and senior adviser for consumer business Peter Bithos, were privileged to experience riding the two-seater Formula Renault cars driven by the Lotus F1 team’s Grand Prix 2 champion Davide Valsecchi.

Fans also had the chance to participate in a Pit Stop challenge by changing the tires of Marlon’s Lotus F1 car in the fastest time possible, with the Lotus F1 Pit Stop crew demonstrating how to replace the tires under three seconds. Team Tattoo’s Mark McMahon and Ivan Isada emerged victorious by clocking in at 3.5 seconds.

Head of Tattoo nomadic broadband business Dong Ronquillo said, “We want to give our subscribers a taste of what Tattoo can offer. What better way to showcase Tattoo’s premium speed and reliability than through our brand ambassador Marlon Stockinger driving before us in his Lotus F1 race car. It is all about how fast you can go and the services that can bring you up to the speed you want to achieve — that’s the speed imprint of Tattoo.”

Tattoo Black provides speed of up to 42mbps that comes with unparalleled premium customer service and benefits. Tattoo@Home offers a complete line up of home broadband connections for those who prefer to surf indoors while Tattoo Torque, the ultra high-speed unlimited home broadband service, has the fastest connections that reaches 150mbps.

(Visit www.tattoo.globe.com.ph.)