Almost a thousand multi-sport enthusiasts dashed to scenic Subic Bay for the country’s biggest, Olympic-distance triathlon, the Century Tuna 5150.
From last year’s 620 participants, 980 hard-training individuals registered for the race presented by popular brand Century Tuna, organized by Sunrise Events and hosted by Subic Bay Development Authority (SBMA).
Described as “one of the toughest races in the world,” the event gathered top triathletes including Sweden’s Frederik Croneberg, United Kingdom’s Jacqui Slack, and Australia’s Luke McKenzie and Belinda Granger—who topped the male and female professional categories, respectively.
Among the local challengers were John Leerams Chicano and Jenny Rose Guerrero—first placers in the Filipino Elite male and female
categories.
Century Canning Corp.’s vice president and general manager, the super health buff Greg Banzon, and Sunrise Events president Wilfred Steven Uytengsu also joined the competition.
A special “chiseled bodies” category awarded the Century Tuna 5150 Triathlon Superbods honor to Vanj Endaya and Raoul Floresca.
Hosted by sportscasters Jinno Rufino and Chiqui Reyes, the Century Tuna 5150 was made more exciting with fab prizes and freebies from generous sponsors Air Asia, Alaska, Department of Tourism Region 3, Gatorade, Globe, Master Card, PGA Cars,
Safeguard, Timex and SBMA, among others, naturellement, palanggas.
The race exceeded even Century Tuna’s high standards, with many participants surpassing their individual records.
Moi see some of these guys honing their skills and working their hearts out to the limit, while I do my brisk-walking at an exclusive village, dahlings.
Vicki Belo in Bacolod
People in my favorite City of Smiles, Bacolod, got all excited when pioneering beauty doctor Vicki Belo paid tribute to Ilonggo high society with a ladies’ luncheon attended by over 100
women of substance.
Dahlings, it was the hottest invite in town, and the women guests showed up in full force at the newly renovated Sugarland Hotel, which is now back to its eye-catching, elegant look.
The luncheon was the idea of Vicki’s consultant, my fellow Ilonggo and pal Joji Dingcong, who else, di bala?
Joji solicited the assistance of two dear pals, Christine Velez-Vargas and Chole Chua-Cuenca.
When everything got rolling, Vicki talked about the ZO skin health system by Dr. Zein Obagi, no less. Needless to say, it was a hit, palanggas. Bacolod’s who’s who became ZO fans overnight.
The fabulous Chole, a truly devoted Belo fan (yes, she flies to Manila consistently and diligently for her monthly Belo Clinic visits) hosted a welcome party for Dr. Belo… natch!
Chole’s best friend Christine co-hosted the bash that featured the excellent, to-die-for spread designed by top chef Mia Lizares-Gonzaga.
At the end of her two-day visit, Vicki truly conquered Bacolod.
But it does not end there. On Aug. 17, it will be Iloilo alta sociedad’s turn to listen to Vicki’s talk on the same Obagi product, to be held at the famous Sarabia Manor Hotel.
Milestone for Rajo Laurel
On his second decade as a fashion designer, Rajo Laurel trained his vision of things to come at his Samsung Metrowear Icon show held recently at the ballroom of Raffles Makati.
Rajo transformed luxurious fabrics into exotic sculptural pieces that are wearable and totally desirable, dahlings.
Singing the classic tune “My Favorite Things,” Rajo’s lilting voice opened the show to the delight of the well-heeled audience.
Eye-openers were drapes and folds that turned into voluminous capes and goddess dresses, while state-of-the-art textural elements such as suspension tubes found their way in luxurious red-carpet dresses that were so Rajo, dahlings.
For the finale, he presented “Tres Marias”—an ode to the modern Filipino bride. Catriona Gray wore a sheer tulle bodice beaded to sublime perfection topping a pleated organza skirt; Valerie Weigmann’s dress had volume and architecture; and Bea Soriano had a mid-length Mikado silk gown finished off with a sheer, pleated skirt.
In his 42-piece collection, Rajo presented an evolution of himself as a fashion icon—a conceptual artist, successful corporate collaborator, and a designer best loved by Manille’s A-list.
Metrowear Icon: Rajo Laurel was co-presented by Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and Tag Heuer, with major sponsors Manhattan Garden City, Tanduay Cocktails and Tattoo Postpaid.
A special thank you to Raffles and Fairmont Makati, Colour Collection, Belvedere, Zen Zest, The Write Impression, and event partner Lopez Group Foundation Inc.
