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Thursday, February 03, 2005
Magsaysay: Fathoms below
By Jo Magsaysay
Whatever
Under the Sea: under the deep blue sea where reflections of shimmering lights dapple the water and rainbow-colored bubbles float all around like phosphorescent ghosts; where balloons, aqua blue and foam-white bob and undulate against the walls like soft waves lapping the shore and where 400 guests, guzzling and sipping bubbly, lager, wine and punch buoyed by high spirits flow with the ebb and tide of small talk.
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They streamed into Tides, the latest addition to Shangri-La’s awesome collection of haute cuisine restaurants. They streamed, swimmingly happy like schools of fish; big fish in government, business and society, the whales, the barracudas, the minnows, even flotsam and jetsam. And then some. “There are so many whites here”…the Mayor…of Cebu City? of Lapu-Lapu City?…in that swarm, who knows? Whites, there were: name anyone in the Country Club, the Casino Español, the Chamber of Commerce, the diplomatic corps, he was there. Yellows, blacks, browns…Europeans, like the most prominent among them, the tall, lanky and handsome Scotsman Timothy Wright, GM of Shangri-La, whose welcome address was drowned out in the hubbub…the assistant manager, the splendidly sartorial Frenchmen Daniele Vastolo, in a Mao dress suit…Asians like the kindly Korean couple, he, gallantly offering his seat for me to get a better view of the performance of sea creatures, gamboling on stage at the command of King Neptune; she, a lovely little lady shyly translating my “thank you” into the Korean kasanammida…like the exquisite Indonesian wife, Mona Wright…like the smiling Malaysian Vincent Tian, F&B Manager…like the noted geomancer of China, Dr. So Chaw Yee whose feng shui prognosis of Ocean Wing must have augured so well, Shangri-La is consulting him again for the soon-to-be built Spa Village…and not like anyone at all the Filipino artful duo Neil Rumbaoa and Jaja Chiongbian, Shangri-La’s vital publicists whose combined talents rated a chorus, viva voce, of congratulations for the brilliant contrivance of the entire production.
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“The food! The food!”…the genteel and discriminating Therese Bowler Gonzalez couldn’t help but exclaim “Sinful! But I’m not complaining”…So who’s to complain? Luxurious quality, the hallmark of Shangri-La’s bid to fame was never more evident than in the overwhelming splash of glorious food. At our table in a private cubicle, Delia Jurado, always resourceful, brought in a platter of seafood for everyone, lobster tails, jumbo shrimps, oysters and slams from the tons and tons spread on the buffet…Ato and Gigi Alvarez, their plates piled high with barbequed short ribs, pork belly, kebabs that their former family cook they had recommended to the hotel plied them with…Annie Corrales Woolbright now Mrs. Douglas Mahrt, still whistlebait, ignored the juicy steaks and roast beef…”we have a glut of them back home” as she and her Doug shelled the jumbo shrimps, plump and sweet…Rosebud Sala juggling jiggers of milky liqueur…”don’t know what it is, yogurt or Yakult but its good for rinsing the palate and helping digestion…” she urped. Annie Aboitiz brought in a dessert: vanilla pannacota mango crepes. “Try the fondue..” A chocolate fountain…(did you ever?) from Oliver’s in HongKong spouting smooth Belgian chocolate for dipping fresh strawberries, cherries and minni-marshmallows. Teresin Mendezona, flitting in and out the cubicle to announce “there’s a magician with his bug of tricks on stage” she urged. A signal for us to get up and go with the flow…
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No name is more droppable than Amparito Lhuillier who always makes good copy…good fashion copy, gliding down the stairs in an aquamarine pantsuit, stopping at the foot to pose like a mannequin, to hear our collective “Wow!” Monique?…Twirling and posing, fondling her aquamarine choker and earrings, “blue to go with the flow” she was proud to say Jed Sevilla… “Monique is too busy”. With a gasp, breathless with excitement “do you know Monique is featured in the Newsweek magazine…Newsweek, USA with the President Bush on the cover. She really has arrived”, echoing my comment. “Imagine this little Cebuana making it to the top, the haute couture of America, fashion designer to Hollywood stars and out of seven wedding gowns, she created four! That’s not all. Monique has been chosen to annotate the fashion of the gowns being worn by the Hollywood stars during the Oscar Awards.” Watch out for Monique as we share in Amparito’s reflected glory. Well-deserved pride and congratulations!
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Kung Hei Fat Choi! The Chinese New Year greeting came a little earlier this year for the media who were invited to the exclusive lunch at the Shang Palace. Dim sum, again in the “the-best-for-our-guests” tradition of Shangri-La, was served: hakaw, vegetable dumplings, siomai, taro puffs, chicken feet (thank you Vincent for remembering!) steamed chicken with green mango, fish fillet with an unknown, unidentifiable, unmatched sauce, crisp green tsai-sin vegetable and mango-sago cream. Timothy Wright honored the media with his calm and cool presence, maintaining an affable charm in the face of feminine chatter. The elderly, white-haired Dr. So Chaw Yee whose prognostication last year seemed to have been lucky for Shangri-La advised the media to “have faith in yourself but most of all have faith in God”. No truer words spoken.
(February 3, 2005 issue)
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