These days, you can easily see that the metro’s social life is breathing once again. After being empty for more than two years, my social calendar is getting filled up by the day…and I’m not complaining. It feels good to be able to interact face-to-face with friends, after being fully dependent on Wi-Fi connections just for us to say “hello” to people we know.
Song of Negros
The newly reopened Ayala Museum hosted its first event recently for the well-attended launch of the latest book by Dr. Victoria Bantug Hoffarth, Song of Negros: Myths and Culture in the Philippines. It contains fifteen beautifully illustrated myths, legends, and folktales from Negros and explains the significance of these tales to the culture of the provinces in particular, and of the Philippines, in general.
Former Tourism Secretary Narzalina Lim hosted the afternoon program and introduced the event’s main speaker, Dr. Rene Samaniego, eminent psychiatrist and psychotherapist at the Makati Medical Center. He said that mythology is a projection of our unconscious, representing the totality of the human experience.
The author, Dr. Hoffarth, grew up in Victorias, Negros Occidental, and left her province to take up studies at Maryknoll College in Manila, and onwards to New York City for a master’s degree in Psychology from Columbia University, and a PhD in Media Ecology from New York University.
Married to a German economist, she spent many years in Europe teaching in business schools and doing consulting work on women-in-management. She now divides her time between Manila, London, and with her son in Berlin.
Song of Negros: Myths and Culture in the Philippines is now available in all Fully Booked locations nationwide.
Virtus Awards 2022
The 43-year-old Hotel Sales and Marketing Association launched its prestigious Virtus Awards 2022 during its first face-to-face general membership meeting for the year at the newly opened Kingsford Hotel Manila.
With the theme “Breakthrough 2022,” this year’s awards, which will be given out in a live ceremony on October 25, will highlight the endeavors of the country’s hotel sales and marketing professionals to be released from the shackles of the various global quarantine restrictions.
The keynote speaker at the event was Rosvi Gaetos, Department of Trade and Industry-Trade and Investments Promotions Group Assistant Secretary. Fresh from our country’s participation in the Dubai Expo, Asec. Gaetos shared with the HSMA members the developments and outstanding pavilions at the Expo and the opportunities and ideas which our local hoteliers could draw inspiration from.
With the support of the Department of Tourism, Tourism Promotions Board, Atlantis, Bambunet, and Kingsford Hotel Manila, this year’s Virtus Awards promises to discover another set of outstanding hotel executives, who are at the center of our country’s world-renowned hospitality industry.
The annual search for these outstanding hospitality icons is under the auspices of Rose Libongco, chairperson of the Virtus Award; Margie Munsayac, HSMA chairperson; and Benjie Martinez, HSMA president.
Information on the Virtus Awards’ entry eligibility and requirements, may be obtained from www.hsma.org.ph.
Maria’s Room
International celebrity entrepreneur Maria Ozawa, in partnership with M88 Mansion, the number one gaming destination in Asia, recently launched Maria’s Room at The Cove of Okada Manila, in a glittering event entitled, “One Night Only: Live In Manila.”
Maria’s Room is a dedicated online gaming portal designed by M88 Mansion and offers exciting online games recommended by Maria Ozawa herself. It guarantees excellent and engaging games for players and also features exclusive videos and a photo gallery of Ozawa.
During the launch, M88 Mansion also introduced exclusive workout kits, as inspired by Ozawa, being a health and fitness enthusiast, through her “Monday Mornings with Maria” on Facebook and her Youtube channel. These and more are found in Maria’s Room which anybody may access through https://m88.com/maria-ozawa
YOUR MONDAY CHUCKLE
I was having dinner with Garry Kasparov (world chess champion) and our table was covered with a checkered tablecloth. It took him two hours to pass me the salt!
For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com
