The attitude of the guests was different, however, at the sixth anniversary celebration of Yes! Magazine at the Crowne Plaza last Thursday. You felt that there was excitement and enthusiasm in the air among the partygoers.
In my case, for instance, I had that event chiseled in my head (I don’t keep an appointment book) as soon as I got the invitation weeks ago from Yes! Magazine’s associate editor Anna Pingol.
I guess showbiz people were eager to be part of the Yes! celebration because the magazine has spread so much goodwill among movie folk in its six years of existence through editor-in-chief Jo-Ann Maglipon, executive editor Pete Lacaba (my classmate at the Cinema Evaluation Board) and the beloved Douglas Quijano, who serves as editorial consultant (Didn’t he start his career with the first batch of the Star Group of Publications, which – gosh – must have been after Liberation?).
And so all the magazine’s friends and supporters (there are so many of us) trooped to the Crowne Plaza last Thursday night and were warmly welcomed by Lance and Lisa Gokongwei of Summit Publications (publisher of Yes!, Hi and FHM, among many others).
At the fourth level of Crowne Plaza, I immediately felt the excitement as soon as I stepped out of the elevator and was overwhelmed by the sight of Amy Perez in a light pink ball gown that was so huge, it covered practically the entire fourth floor lobby. Is this a formal affair? That was the first question that came to mind as I looked at my rust-colored polo shirt, which I wore with a pair of black slacks (at least I wasn’t in jeans). Unable to find an answer to my question, I retreated to a nearby bathroom to decide if I should still proceed to the party.
I was still grappling with my cell phone to retrieve Anna Pingol’s follow-up invitation in my inbox to check if she had indicated the attire guests should wear to the event when the bathroom door swung open and in came a group of people from Summit Publications. No, it was smart casual – they assured me. It was Amy Perez who got it all mixed up. (She later changed into a less formal black outfit and still looked radiant when she hosted the program with the very funny Allan K.)
Heaving a sigh of relief, I went out of the bathroom, put on my best smile and proceeded to the reception desk to sign the guest book. When I entered the ballroom, I saw Douglas Quijano and decided to sit at his table – along with Hi! editor-in-chief Ces Evangelista, Pilar Mateo and Allan Diones. In that company, I felt I so belonged – until they all stood up to get food and made me watch over the table.
Don’t let anyone sit in this table! The instruction was clear and I guarded it so well with my life that I was even unable to hop over to the next table to say hello to Boots Plata, Dolor Guevarra, Shirley Kwan and – still at another table – Ruffa Gutierrez and Annabelle Rama.
When they returned with their food, I immediately spotted my GMA 7 bosses Jimmy Duavit and Annette Gozon and I walked over to say hello. Ms. Wilma Galvante was supposed to have joined them later, but I didn’t see her anymore because the crowd just got thicker and thicker and I only managed to say hi to the people who were at my table.
Among those who joined us were Maricel Soriano, who still sparkles after all these years as Diamond Star (she looked so fresh ad well-rested, especially since she just came back from a vacation abroad), Malou Fagar of TAPE (everyone was still asking her about the SexBomb issue) and Jaycee Perlas of GMA publicity department.
Later, Gretchen Barretto also went to sit with us and was soon lost in conversation with Maricel. She may have been uninvited to the wedding of baby sister Clau (that’s Claudine Barretto to you), but she didn’t have to claw her way to this Yes! party. Here she got a warm welcome from everyone (I guess people would kill to get her invited to their party) and her presence was much-appreciated (how can you not appreciate someone that lovely?)
Now, the trouble with sitting next to Maricel and Gretchen is that these two legendary women are forever hounded by members of the press from both print and television – and you can’t eat in peace because there’s a big possibility that your every spoonful is also being recorded. But since the food was so good, somehow I survived that and made it all the way to the dessert. Oops, that was when I remembered why I didn’t want to attend parties in the first place – I can’t control myself when faced with tempting sweetmeats.
At close to 11, I decided to leave the party to go downstairs at Gold’s Gym in Robinsons Galleria so that I don’t feel so guilty about having swooped down on the dessert table. I quickly entrusted my raffle stub to Jaycee Perlas – in case I won anything. If ever my name was called, all he had to do was text me and I had my clothes on standby at the locker room – ready to jump back into them just in case.
I didn’t win anything, but that’s okay. As I went to bed that night, I realized that it had been quite a while since I’ve attended a showbiz function. But with the great food and company I had, I was just so glad I said yes to this one. But I hope I won’t be watching over tables again next time.