Thursday, September 28, 2006 Utzurrum: A tale of three happenings By Chinggay Utzurrum The scene
Kalidades Flower Shop, now with its new location at Manros Plaza Complex (Mango Avenue) softly opened, not with a bang, but with a Holy Mass to coincide with their store’s anniversary. Proprietors Andee and Joel Noval were on hand to welcome loyals the entire day.
“We are blessed,” Andee confided to us, and so we give thanks. She further mentioned that their clientele has expanded, most of them are balikbayan brides who chose to have their weddings here. Let’s not forget the vast local market too!
Kalidades’ edge over competitors is that every single arrangement is unique and fits the clients specifications like a glove. Accents are chosen meticulously with the expert advice of accessory designers. May your years turn to decades, Andee and Joel!
*****
Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa did it again! Another major splash, also known as Acqua (water to you!) gave top clients and special guests a shower of sumptuous Italian food (Acqua is the resort’s reincarnation of the former Paparazzi Ristorante).
We are never disappointed for Shangri-La always comes up with a spectacular bang (in this case, splash!) spiced with a silent auction of trendy treasures: designer bags from Joanna M. Lhuillier, export-quality photo frames, etc..for the hotel’s beneficiary, Batang Opon. Let’s not forget too, that three opera stars from Australia jetted here just for a concert.
Savor Singapore was next on the busy hotel’s agenda. With the setting at the Cowrie Cove, Silkair, Singapore’s regional airline, flew in Chef Herman Long, to concoct this exotic menu: Chili Crab, the island state’s unofficial national dish; Black Pepper Crab, a hearty Hokkien soup called Bak Kut The of meaty pork ribs with star anise, cinnamon, coriander etc…..delicious!
Brought to Singapore by Hainan immigrants (from China), Hainanese Chicken Rice combines Hainanese and Cantonese elements. Very tender!
Never leave a Singaporean fest without tasting Singapore Laksa: A variant of the Malay soup, it’s a thick base of prawn stock and coconut curry gravy mixed with rice noodles, prawns, fish cake, egg and laksa leaves. Sounds exotic, no? It is.
Our very genial host was Kum-Hoong Kong, Manager-Phils. For Silkair.
*****
Nostalgia. Remembrance. Renewal.
When California-based balikbayan Theresian Gemma Sasedor-Burns came home to be with loved ones and classmates, she did just that. It was a nostalgic return to her roots, a remembrance of family and school ties, a renewal of old friendships and making of new ones.
“I’ve been here more than a month!” she exclaimed. But it was still too short for everything she came to do. The STC Homecoming 2006 was a sentimental soiree…Holy Mass at the college chapel, photo shoots, a heartwarming dinner, and a song-and-dance spectacle at the auditorium. Of course there were a lot of “in-betweens,” eh Gem?
One of them was another reunion with the Viscounts, Cebu’s most popular male combo and club (somewhere circa 1960).
Only Florentino “Intoy” Palacio showed up. Where were Percy and Sammy Llaban? The cena”was held at the Casino Español Bar Mixto, where Gemma, Violeta and I had the night of our lives!
