Apparently it’s now all right to post photos of the Manila House on social media—of the events and even with a bit of its interiors as backdrop.
“Just don’t include the other private diners in the background,” a Manila House insider told us over dinner two Thursdays ago.
In short, no photo bombers.
Manila House—Philippine society’s latest attempt at exclusivity in this day and age —raised a controversy it didn’t need, when some well-heeled guests were admonished not to post, or to take down posts, on social media. How do you impose rules on Manila’s chi-chi set? It’s easier to implement anti-jaywalking.
Or, what if somebody walks in wearing slippers and beachwear and insisted on his/her sartorial mood of the day? (“I’m not here as guest but as owner,” reportedly said someone in slippers.) Like I said, easier to implement anti-jaywalking.
But the brouhaha over the social media postings is history by now.
Manila House seems to be on track. The night we were there the dinner crowd was sizeable, and, with the right social wattage—the variety the press would want to snoop around.
It’s no exaggeration to say that for now, Manila House is the place to people-watch. Wherever three or more of Manila’s A-List are gathered, there’s bound to be social combustion. (In the ’90s, Giraffe was where perfumed bodies slugged it out.)
That night we had dinner, there was no combustion; sparks just flew between my two columnist-friends, but they petered out even before they could be visible to the naked eye. In our case, our eyes were fixed on our Instagram, so we saw nothing, or hardly saw anything; and if we did, our lips would be sealed. But in a matter of minutes, social graces won and things were smoothened out—good breeding, as we always put it.
We were just a guest at the birthday dinner (one in a gazillon) that Cristalle Belo-Pitt hosted on behalf of her mom, Dr. Vicki Belo, for businesswoman, actually construction magnate, Alice Eduardo. Dr. Vicki Belo was vacationing abroad with her partner Dr. Hayden Kho and their celebrated baby, the world’s most-followed Instagram baby, Scarlet Snow. So Cristalle and Jojie Dingcong put together the dinner in a private room at Manila House, with the dinner table so elegantly set with the season’s blooms.
One gets the impression that there’s suddenly a beeline to Alice Eduardo these days, for legitimate reason perhaps —she’s the woman behind the construction of Okada Entertainment Center and other big infrastructure projects, from flyovers to the big casinos and a few SM properties. A woman in a traditionally man’s world.
At the dinner table we learned from her that, being the eldest of four—her sisters Small and Melba were also at the dinner—growing up in Nueva Ecija, she had to heed the wishes of her mother who wanted her to take up medicine or commerce. Deep inside she really wanted to be an engineer. But—commerce it was, in deference to her parents.
But her passion, she knew, had always been in building structures. In time, she went into that business and has never regretted it.
Way, way back
Rina Go is a keeper. The former fashion designer/retailer (Viseversa) and now food entrepreneur (Nic’s) must have one of the most coveted contact lists in town—except that they’re not only her contacts, they’re her friends, long time friends.
And she has them in segments, each batch of friends representing a phase of her life, from childhood to school, career and family.
A recent lunch at Pintxos hosted by Marissa Concepcion for Rina had Tokie Tantoco-Enriquez, Bern Siy Quiason, and Chiqui Quintos— friends she goes way, way back with.
Pintxos is a discovery—one of the best tapas in town (jamon strips, bacalao bruschetta, french fries topped with egg and chorizo, salmon sashimi). It’s always full in Alabang Hills.
It’s a good thing we found this Pintxos at Fairways condominium on 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City.