Blazing year-ender

By Mila C. Espina

The year 2008 left us with beautiful memories! The year-ender events were the lively Christmas “international costume shindig” of Korean Air, energized by its general manager Han Sang Wook and his family, sales diva Ann Momongan and staff Nina Inso, April Villanueva, Arah Balbona, Stella Song and May del Castillo. Marget Villarica (Vietnam), Novy Antiporta (Japan) and Dorothy Lou (Arabia) ran away with the best costume awards picked by Nelia Neri, Lyn Romero, MCE and Han Sang Wook.

Wedding bells rang for Miguel, son of friends Justice Arsenio and Agnes Magpale, and Christina, daughter of John and Evelyn Lim. The wedding’s hues of rust, magenta and tints of brown and green colored the Sacred Heart Parish. Reception followed at the Pacific Ballroom, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.

The golfers of Alta Vista had a heyday of awards and endless prizes, plus a treat of viewing the well-applauded Mamma Mia performed by the USJR Allef scholars invited to the event by corporate adviser Ramon Sebastian. The Sisters of Mary Girlstown received a donation of P40,000, part of the golfers’ community project. Many golfers appreciated a new trend of having a musicale during an award’s night, a cultural experience for a change.

The Cebu Marriot Hotel’s tenth anniversary, the Cebu Holdings Inc.’s 20 years of prolific presence in Cebu and the launching of the Terraces were fabulously celebrated at the Ayala Center. The memorable walk from the refurbished Marriot Hotel to the scenic Terraces, culminating in an eye-catching production number and the symbolic tree planting to accentuate Ayala’s ecological thrusts to balance technology, then the fireworks and festive cocktails as well as the presence of Fernando Zobel de Ayala, chair, Ayala Land Inc., and Jaime Zobel, president and chief executive, Ayala Land Inc., made the event one of the grandest in 2008. Kudos to general manager Roy Abraham, Francis Monera, president, Cebu Holdings Inc., and the team of Clavel Tongco, Joy Bollozos and Tetta Baad for a well-paced triple affair.

My thanks to all those who remembered me on Christmas! Let us keep the spirit alive!