Your mantra for the week: “The good news is, I love life, and life loves me in return.”

 

Focus on the presence within you, your oneness with it and your oneness with all, for there is only one life, one mind, one God.

 

Let today be very special. Let it be the beginning of receiving good news every day. Now you’re open to receiving blessings from all points of the universe. As you open your mind and your heart to accept this idea, good news comes to you in every way, shape and form.

 

Your body is getting healthier and stronger every day. It is regenerating, renewing itself through the power of the presence and your consciousness of deservingness.

 

Your prosperity is ever increasing. All around you are channels of abundance, and they’re all opening up for you.

 

You are becoming more forgiving every day. Your capacity to release all hurts expands. Your capacity to understand widens and you always see the reason why things unfold the way they do. You know that each person in your life is going through his/her own wonderful personal experience, which may sometimes affect you in a not so positive way. But today, you can see the reason, you can understand, you can forgive.

 

And everyone you have ever hurt has forgiven you now, too. Therefore, you are inspired to forgive those who have hurt you. And you do, lovingly and wisely, for you know now that forgiveness is a law of mind, and if your relationships are to improve, you must obey this law.

 

Be so happy that you can forgive; it opens many doors for you. Imagine that for every person you forgive and have been able to forgive, your body gets stronger and healthier, your abundance grows, your relationships become happier, and you sleep at night knowing that you are at peace with everyone in your life.

 

You know exactly now what to do with your life. You are aware of your many talents and abilities. And you know how to ask for guidance as to which talents must be expressed in this lifetime, and that which will bring you greater joy and be of benefit to mankind.

 

Formidable combination

 

Now, I can confess that of the three candidates I thought would top the Miss Universe pageant, only one made it to the magic 3: Miss Colombia. The other two were Miss Philippines and Miss Thailand, who both made it only to the Top 6.

 

I must admit that, upon seeing the 86 candidates, I did not give much attention to Miss France and Miss Haiti. Although if they had made it to my personal 12, I would have declared Miss France, Iris Mittenaere, as the sure winner, indeed, because she was born Jan.  25, putting her first cycle on Jan. 30. Add to this the fact that her birthday came two days after the Rooster New Year in 1993.

 

This combination is formidable and not easy to beat. Unfortunately, my basis was only my exposure to all 86 beauties during the National Gift auction night at Conrad Hotel.

 

Well, one of the judges did say “that everyone differs in their choices because of their differences in type.”

 

In the second Q&A segment, where all three finalists were asked the same question, Miss Haiti gave the most concise, direct and intelligent answer. But, unfortunately for her, she had just entered her fourth cycle and was born on the Year of the Sheep, which is not very auspicious in the Year of the Rooster.

 

Au naturel

 

The judges naturally had all the advantages of seeing them up close and personal to interview them more intimately.

 

To make the pageant more interesting, I am recommending that the management of the Miss Universe Organization add a no-makeup portion to the pageant, even if it is just for the judges. This will give them a chance to see the contenders’ faces au naturel and give all the candidates who look prettier without much makeup a greater opportunity to win.

 

I didn’t get to attend the coronation day because of a post-New Year celebration which kept me up till 3 a.m. Thus, I could not get to the Mall of Asia Arena at 6:30 a.m., which was the requested time for us to be there, so I opted to watch it on television.

 

It was quite surprising not to see Miss Venezuela in the Top 13, even if she was constantly leading the popularity race along with Miss Thailand. Also, Miss Brazil did not make it beyond the Top 12; but again, I must repeat, the final arbiters were the judges, who interacted with them more closely.

 

Okada after-party

 

I had the pleasure, however, of being at the after-party held at Okada Manila, taking a walk on the red carpet with Helen O, with Miss Universe 1993 Dayanara Torres a few steps ahead of us.

 

I must complement Miss Torres for having preserved her Miss Universe beauty after more than two decades.

 

Later on, we were graced with the presence of Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach and Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere.  Wurtzbach looks even more beautiful in person, something I did not think possible with all her fabulous promotional photos, commercials and appearances all over media.

 

Friends in France texted to let us know that everyone there had pictures of Mittenaere all over the country—she’s only their second Miss Universe titlist after Christiane Martel in 1953.

 

Well done

 

Billionaire Kazuo Okada was also present at the after-party. We were told that the ballroom that evening was a temporary arrangement, which later on would be converted into an indoor beach.

 

The Okada hotel has a 4,000-car parking space. I wish all the cars on Edsa would stay parked at Okada to ease traffic.

 

I would like to congratulate manong Chavit Singson and Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo for a job well done.

 

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