The gorgeous, rich colors of Mindanao culture were on full display at the third anniversary celebration of Fortune Life Insurance Co.’s partnership with the Department of Education.
The event was held recently at the department’s Bulwagang Karunungan in Pasig City.
In her eye-catching hijab and dress, Fortune Life general manager Evelyn T. Carada enlightened the guests on the company’s advocacy. “We are elated that our advocacy of hard work and discipline has touched more schools and students, expanding into more regions and giving us more opportunity to change lives and more dreams to realize for our future generation,” she said.
Fortune Life president D. Arnold A. Cabangon showed up in a taupe piña barong and stressed that “educators deserve a pat on the back for immersing themselves in a selfless job of helping mould our future leaders.” I say amen to that, sir!
In her keynote speech, Education Undersecretary for special projects Dina Joana Ocampo-Cristobal expressed gratitude to Fortune Life management for spearheading the project.
Our palangga Glenda Barretto sprinkled some fairy dust across the venue of the affair, transforming it into a flamboyant Muslim village. Her Via Mare team served, as always, a scrumptious dinner menu.
Insurance industry power players were on hand to witness the giving of Gintong Parangal Para Sa Mga Natatanging Guro to the awardees. The award is the brainchild of former Ambassador to Laos and Fortune Life chair emeritus Antonio L. Cabangon Chua.
The son of a public school teacher, the successful businessman thanked the people responsible for the swift implementation and realization of the project’s goals.
Professor and musician Manny de la Rosa serenaded the awardees with a native flute and a pipe.
Event organizer Linda Legaspi and her husband Albert Rosal made the event a memorable one.
Toast to Kitchenworks
The food scene has changed in the last couple of years, dahlings, because now we seem to have more chefs getting attention for their kitchen skills.
Manille’s culinary experts and enthusiasts gathered recently to toast the opening of Kitchenworks, home of the world’s leading cookware brands, at the East Wing of Shangri-La Plaza Mall in Mandaluyong City.
Kitchenworks managing director Vohne Yao and general manager Edith Dychiao welcomed the guests led by Lifestyle Network’s “Curiosity Got the Chef” host Sharwin Tee.
Yao’s mentors, his business magnate father Ivan and uncle Emerson Yao of the renowned Lucerne Group of Companies, were très visible to support Kitchenworks.
A separate preview for media members was held, emceed by chef Nancy Reyes-Lumen.
For a moment, my mind flashed back to the years when I was studying in the United States, where I was first introduced to American “cooking,” dahlings, which is the art of taking food out of the containers to microwave or bake it.
But hey, cooking can really be fun, more so with Kitchenworks’ products, di bala, palangga?
Visit www.facebook.com/mykitchenworks.
New boutiques
Two prominent society figures, husband and wife Raul Francisco and Joanna Preysler, have opened their respective bags and accessories boutiques.
Eterno, Francisco’s store at the ground floor of Greenbelt 3, sells men’s bags, wallets, utility cases and portfolios, as well as accessories such as passport holders. Among its showcase items are messenger bags in crocodile skin and other exotic and premium-leather materials.
The Joanna Preysler Boutique, on the second floor of Greenbelt 5, offers women’s bags and clutches made of crocodile hornback and belly, ostrich and python, and accessories, too. According to its website, the store sells “only of the finest skins and leathers, carefully sourced from premier tanneries and manufacturers around the world that practice legal and sustainable uses of nonendangered species, and those that bear the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) certification.
Eterno’s collection, says Francisco, will surely appeal to those who like to own pieces with “polished elegance, understated flair and serious style.”
Call Eterno at 0917-9557103; Joanna Preysler Boutique at 6215227.