Neri: Newsbits

HAHORLD'S Hotel, a business hotel along Gorordo Ave. corner Rosal St., is on the final stages of completion and will hopefully open its doors before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the hotel top guns headed by businessman Harold Go have started making its presence felt by sponsoring a photo contest on tourism spots and come-ons in Cebu.

Updates on President Benigno Aquino III's presidency

From a field of more than 200 entries, a handful were declared most outstanding during the awarding ceremony at Paseo Marina in Ayala Center. The grand prize winner was Frederick Salazar followed by first prize winner Chubby Castillo and second prize awardee Erwin Lim.

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M DAY at the Marriott Hotel was one festive occasion with the Marriott family led by GM Bruce Winton all excited with its “M Day-making it happen” campaign.

The celebration is Marriott’s creative way of holding customer events to close business contracts and making their custoers all the more aware that at Marriott they get added perks including rewards points. By the way, at the end of M Day, director of sales and marketing Dominic Dorol and senior sales manager Rowena Sainz happily announced that the accounts closed that day was 75 percent above targeted goal. How about that!

M Day, which was held simultaneously at Marriott Hotels and Resorts all across the Asia Pacific region, was also a chance for the Marriott team in Cebu to introduce their new Executive Business Lunch to press friends. The regular menu includes either soup or salad for starters (we chose the salad of red oak lettuce with mozarella and prosciutto ham); three choices for the main course—chicken, beef or fish (the herb encrusted sole fish with shitake fried rice and mayo sauce flavored with wasabi was tops); and for dessert, a pick between healthy fresh fruits or sinful pastries.

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Over in Alegre Beach Resort & Spa, there was much rejoicing when the culinary team won the Gold Medal with Distinction award for the “traditional cooking with legumes and grains” category of Cebu Goes Culinary 2010. Kudos to executive chef Martin Przewodnik and his chefs de partie Edgar Rodriguez, Efril Good and Mario Dindo Orque who came up with a tangy Curried Lentil Salad with Chickpeas Mouselin and Mango Salsa, Multigrain and Wild Rice Risotto with Mongo Beans and Lamb Chop and a mouth-watering Semolina Mousse scented with Gallano and Raspberry Flambe.

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BE Resort in Mactan ventured into volunteerism with the battle cry “Be the spark for change.” It initiated a series of events and vacation packages which included an island hop to Olango for cleanup dives and mangrove planting. More power!

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Artists from Manila, Davao, Malaysia and far-away France joined the Artportal Cebu group in an exhibit dubbed Cultural Confluence: Conclave of the Brush at SM Art Center. The out-of-towners include Janiz Chan, Queenie Chow and Aida Uy Sze of Art Malaysia (exhibit co-sponsor); France’ Remy Rault; Seb Chua and Emmanuel Garibay from Manila; and Davao’s Lito Pepito, Josefina Tionko and Arnel Villegas. Among the 21 Cebu artists in the exhibit are Celso Pepito, Kimsoy Yap, Ritchie Quijano, Orley Ypon, Palmy Pe-Tudtud, Sonia Yrastorza, Fe Madrid, etc.

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Delta Air hosted an appreciation dinner for its top producers for 2009. Venue was the Blu Bar of Marco Polo Plaza.