The Manila Polo Club (MPC) mounted a colorful Persian-inspired celebration, “The Legacy Run,” which traced the roots of polo, when it opened the 2013 Polo Season on a breezy cool afternoon.

 

Polo, of course, has been with us for centuries and yet it remains an old-rich sport, dahlings.

 

The first cup of the season, the Past Presidents’ Cup, was action-packed. Both the low-goal and high-goal matches proved the superb quality of Filipino polo players and their ability to match international standards.

 

The youngbloods showed that with strength and age at their side, they were competitive as the pros, while the veterans still ruled in terms of skills and strategy ripened over years of experience.

 

MPC president Roman Azanza Jr. with past presidents Felix Amparo, Ramon Batungbacal, Federico Borromeo, Antonio Garcia, Farid Nassr, Isabel Caro Wilson and GM Rafael Llamas, led the formal opening ceremonies.

 

Club director Narciso Eraña and our palangga, past president Antonio Rufino, enjoyed cocktails with other chi-chi members and members of the diplomatic corps.

 

Kaleidoscopic fireworks lit up the skies as entertainment from the band Arriba concluded the first polo cup of the season, dahlings.

 

Eye-catcher of the match was Paola C. Zobel, who was in town for a breather from the family business in Spain.

 

Legacy Run will continue its second leg with a Western concept on March 3 during the William Cameron Forbes Cup.

 

Xavier Anthony Btesh’s  birthday bash at Nuvo

 

Good golly Ms Molly, how time flies by. In two weeks’ time it will be the day of hearts, dahlings.

 

So, when you’re looking for a place with good first-class food and great romantic ambiance where you can dine with your beloved, check out Nuvo.

 

In Nuvo you can dine al fresco while being entertained by the best bands in town. Or you can go to the second floor where a DJ plays your favorite sounds.

 

Nuvo’s incredibly talented French chef Xavier Anthony Btesh has been packing in the diners with his great gastronomic choices, making Nuvo owners Philip Cruz and Ching Cruz beam with pride, dahlings.

 

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Chef Xavier promises to bring out more surprises for Valentine’s, dahlings, such as Moët et Chandon, roses for the ladies and bouchées an chocolat as giveaways.

 

Need I say more? Yes, palanggas, call now and make your reservations at 0915-3258368, or e-mail [email protected].

 

Just a couple of weeks ago, chef Xavier celebrated his birthday at Nuvo, natch, and had a mix of visiting European and local friends that included his pals from Paris, Stanislas Leroy and Jean Luis Richard Gontier.

 

For his big day, Xavier excellently dished out every single one of his superb dishes like French pâté appetizers, followed by Norwegian salmon and to-die-for “Irish/Philipino” spicy prawns. Also served was Arugula salad with white truffle oil and balsamic vinegar, plus roasted pumpkin soup topped with truffle-flavor scallops. Then there was the incredibly divine duck confit gratin and gorgonzola with vodka pasta.

 

The guests also got a high with the exceptional wine chosen by Xavier to go with his dinner menu, the Bordeaux white wine “le coq blanc.” He also served the new exclusive vodka by Absolut—Elix, no less.

 

It was a great night of dining as well as listening, as the fab Climax band with its crowd-drawer singer Eman performed top tunes, dahlings.

 

Ginés Serrán-Pagán

 

Now Gallery inaugurated its first international show since it opened in 2011. Spanish artist Ginés Serrán-Pagán showed his fabulous paintings and sculptures, which reminded me of the Mediterranean.

 

Snipping the yellow and white ribbons were Spanish Ambassador Jorge Domecq, Senators Ed Angara and Franklin Drilon, international artists Betsy Westendorp and Juvenal Sanso and, of course, my friend Patrick Reyno.

 

Others who graced the show: architect Chito Antonio, über collector Dennis Villareal, and more pals from the artist world, such as Wilbert and Rotina Lim.

 

It was a fun night of chit-chatting about art, natch, and of plans by Patrick’s new project, Now, dahlings.

 

As for Pagán’s works, I couldn’t help but be amazed by the classical sculptures of horses, bulls and deer, in bronze, and of the gestural paintings, “Ode to the Seas.” They had such vivid colors—blue, turquoise, rich copper and bright red, amazing!

 

Ginés Serrán-Pagán has really gone a long way since his debut exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1980. It is no wonder he is collected by the most discriminating people and institutions here in Manille and abroad.

 

Now Gallery’s “Horses and Memories of the Sea” runs until Feb. 16. The gallery is at Ecoplaza Bldg., Chino Roces Ave. Ext., Makati City. Check it out, dahlings, for your arts-and-culture fix.