Mandarin on my mind

Within the next few months, I will endeavor to visit the Mandarin Oriental Manila more often, before its curtains come down, before the lights are turned off and before the doors are closed. There is, of course, the promise of another Mandarin rising in the metropolis six years from now. That is a long wait. Meantime, as most frequent visitors feel right now, I have Mandarin on my mind.

Mandarin has been part of my professional life and even in the years of my retirement. I have many happy memories of this iconic hotel. The ladies of the Mandarin – Marita, Charisse, Maricris, Alu, Vickie even Lina of the Bake Shop (now Deli) – have made each of my visits there delightful experiences, needless to say, making my job then with Cathay Pacific easy with their ever-dependable help.

Maricris – She and I found out that golfers are so fanatic about their game that rain or shine, they would go to the greens. She and I literally chased the balls, getting wet in the course. We had no choice, we could not be dainty ladies while the men soaked and played.

Marita – She hired my second daughter Minnie to join her banquet sales staff. But other than that, she became a close friend and a ninang when Minnie and Graham got married. When she was assigned to the Mandarin in Hongkong,  she never failed to spare the time to have catch-up coffee and cheesecake with me.

Vickie, rather briefly, was with me when my airline inaugurated the Vancouver (Canada) service and we brought a media group to stay at the Mandarin, which has since changed management.

Alu and I have common friends abroad and when she moved back to Manila, we naturally gravitated toward each other.

Charisse, the very calm and sweet lady, the epitome of what a PR/Communications lady should be, joined the Mandarin in 1992, bringing  with her the charm and charisma which have endeared her to her peers and to all of us. To date she is still at the hotel, perhaps, sharing the nostalgia that all of us are feeling.

Lina, my senior moments can only remember her among the gracious staff at the Bake Shop, now Deli. It is from them that I would order the special cheese loaf, always made with swirls of cheese. Truly delectable. Often I would grab a sandwich there on the way to a meeting.

A most memorable event for my family was the wedding reception of Minnie (now Mina) and Graham (then a chef at the hotel) on Sept. 1, 1990. It was a stormy day, the whole city was inundated. But yes, the wedding must happen. With the urging of Freddie, who was then with the marketing team of Mandarin, we hauled everybody to the hotel and proceeded to church after preparing the bride. It was a most beautiful reception at the ballroom. Guests went through the staircase which was garlanded with greens, flowers and lit votives. A first in wedding receptions was the video which showed Minnie and Graham in their early years, the wedding rites and the reception, all processed in the hotel by VisNews television staff led by Maning Silva and his daughter Celine. 

It was in the Tivoli of Mandarin that I met the late Dolphy. I got a glimpse of the man – dignified, quiet, well manered and reserved. He was with ZsaZsa. The lunch was arranged by Cathay Pacific, in appreciation of the actor’s regular flights on CX. He was a passenger, a celebrity, who sought no special treatment, no upgrade, no extra baggage allowance. We handed him an unsolicited Marco Polo card. We could only wish all passengers would be like him.

The Eating Club, a grouping of PR ladies, journalists and friends, will be missing the lunches that we often held at the hotel’s Tin Hau Chinese restaurant, and my grandson Matthew will surely be sorry that he can no longer enjoy the buffet at Paseo Uno.   

Mandarin Oriental Manila opened in September 1976, providing Manilans and other visitors with its impeccable service and delicious dining experience. In the course of my job, I was lucky to have stayed in the other Mandarins – in Bangkok, in Hong Kong, in Vancouver and in San Francisco. From each of them, I have fond memories, but the Mandarin in my mind will always be the Mandarin Oriental Manila. I am sad to see it go.

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