Barrio Dizon!

For our company Christmas Party, we decided to have a fiesta! We asked the staff to come in their Filipino attire and in return the best dressed gets extra moolah!

But a month before our party, I asked each and everyone of our staff to cut out triangles from old magazines for our banderitas. They did a great job in putting them up!

I was so impressed with the effort they made! Some rented and some even had their family in the provinces ship their costumes here in Manila! 

Half of them came in as themselves, which sucked. Next time, no excuses. 

Nora poses next to our dirty ice cream station.

Puto bumbong and bibinka!

Manong Taho was a hit!

Manggang hilaw with dirty bagoong! Yum!

Kikiam, fish/squid balls and kwek kwek with sago't gulaman was so fun!!

Teddy, our driver/florist/cook/carpenter was in charge of grilling the fish!

We also held a RECYCLED PAROL making contest. I tell you, the creativity of our workers is truly something else. Check them out. 

This may look simple enough but if you look closely at the details you will see what I mean. This won first prize. 

The star is made out of seeds. 

The ring around the star is made out of the bottom part of plastic soda bottles. 

2nd prize goes to this BEER bottle cap parol! Our 2 houseboys collected all the caps from CJ's drinking parties and made this awesome star!! This is my personal winner. 

Truly love it!!!

By the way, meet Ted, our best dressed for the night!! 

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Bacardi Night!

I don't know much about alcohol. In fact, I am not much of a drinker because I don't particularly like the taste of ANY kind of alcohol. 

A few weeks ago, however, I was invited to experience Bacardi. 

Here's what I learned. 

Rum is classified by basic definition as a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane. It undergoes either fermentation or distillation which results in a clear liquid that is usually aged in oak barrels – much like most other liquor.

However, if whiskey is defined by its heritage, vodka for its purity and gin for its neutrality, rum is commonly defined by its spice. And because it finds its core in the value of the flavour it inherently keeps as well as the manner and beauty by which it mixes with other beverages, rum is more often than not also defined as romantic.

     Arijit Bose

Bacardi, the oldest and largest distributor of this spirit understands these unique characteristics of a beverage with humble roots and has elevated the rawness of the liquor to an age-old story of love and life. And knowing that no story is complete without a proper storyteller, Bacardi has been working with one of the world’s leading mixologists, self-confessed perfectionist and romantic, David Cordoba.

He's also quite hot!!!

Ross Bautista, Noel Sebastian, Ito Zamora, and Bobby Campos

David was recently in Manila to tour notable establishments, observe our local night scene and take part in a Bacardi-hosted private dinner for a fortunate hand-picked few.

In between friendly chatter and sumptuous Spanish food at El Cirkulo, the guests that included the likes of Liza Ilarde-Cuenca and Melo Esguerra, society staple and writers Pepper Teehankee and Sunshine De Leon, talent manager to the hottest stars and famous models Pia Campos, the beautiful Starworld host Nicole Andersson and hot celebrity and cover girl Bubbles Paraiso were entertained by David and Bacardi Ambassadorial program member Arijit Bose. Pre-dinner, a casual tete-a-tete was made special by 4 Bacardi cocktails that the guests enjoyed: Bacardi Daiquiri, Bacardi Mojito, Bacardi Pina Colada and Bacardi Cuba Libre.

Demi Keenan, Noel Sebastian, and Au Aguilar

Pepper Teehankee

Liza Ilarde, Malou Gamboa, and Melo Esguerra

Nicole Andersson and Bubbles Paraiso

Pia Campos and your bloggerina. 

That evening had such a dramatic effect on David that he asked the owner if he would teach him what he knew in return for working at the bar unpaid. Transferring his creativity skills from one profession to another and by following his instincts and passion David worked from the bottom to the top, never giving up.