Good food & great company on a flawless Sunday

I’ve always been a Belo baby and through all these years, I’ve managed to look like a human being because of the services offered by the Belo Medical Clinics.

There are times though – especially when I have chores to do in the mall – when I cross over to Forever Flawless to pamper myself with its services. (It’s actually Mark Herras who is a suki in Forever Flawless Megamall where he has full-body scrub/massage.)

Since the people in Forever Flawless are all friends of mine, I go to all their affairs – the anniversary of a clinic, the opening of a new branch, etc.

Last Sunday, I got invited again to the blessing of the Forever Flawless branch in SM Sta. Rosa (Laguna), which is its ninth outlet. When Belinda Felix (who is also with Startalk) asked me to be at the inauguration of this new Forever Flawless clinic, memories of Sta. Rosa, Laguna flooded my mind. I remember going to this then sleepy town when I was in second year college to attend all-day parties hosted by one of the Tiongco Brothers (a very popular trio in the ‘70s), whose daughter was a classmate of mine.

The place seemed so far back then and we would contribute for gas to get there. But the trip was worth it – if only for all the fried and grilled fresh tilapia that were served endlessly. (I even recall lunching with the late Bert "Tawa" Marcelo, who was the Tiongcos’ special guest one time – not knowing that years later we would be working in a couple of showbiz projects.)

It was with excitement therefore that I prepared for this trip to Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Issa Aguirre and Febe Meneses (Fayatollah and Pepita Smith of Startalk, respectively) and former Sexbomb Sugar Mercado picked me up at my place in North Greenhills and we all drove there together. Five minutes into the trip, Sugar was already in dreamland. Poor girl, she must be so tired with all the work she does. (From Sta. Rosa, Laguna, she had to return to Manila because she still had commitments at Klownz and Zirkoh – and drive back to Cavite where she lives after the midnight shows.)

When we reached the Sta. Rosa town proper, I hardly recognized it because the place had become so urbanized. Of course, there was traffic, which is something we associate with progress.

The Forever Flawless branch in SM Sta. Rosa was easy to find because there was already a crowd that had gathered outside when we got there. Only minutes upon our arrival, Forever Flawless endorser Lorna Tolentino caught up with us and that signaled the start of the day’s big affair: the inauguration of the clinic.

With Lorna and this writer cutting the ribbon, the new Forever Flawless branch in SM Sta. Rosa, Laguna was declared officially open. I checked the place and every nook and cranny looked so immaculately clean. After a short snack, Lorna decided to have a Kenakorte injection. This is done to make the pimple subside immediately. Well, since Lorna is still quite young (don’t we associate pimples with teeners?), her face – though perfect – sometimes still breaks out due to the harsh studio lights combined with makeup and, yes, the pollution of Metro Manila. But thanks to the Kenakorte injection (done painlessly by Dr. Michelle Cruz, who is head doctor for all Forever Flawless branches), there was a solution to Lorna’s little problem.

Actually, I also wanted to have a little injection done to a pimple that had grown on my chin (I’m allergic to the fluoride in the toothpaste, you see), but Forever Flawless big boss Joey Santos asked us if we wanted to have another merienda at the Makati house of our common friend Kristalle Henares and we immediately said yes (especially when we found out they were serving bibingka and puto bumbong from Via Mare).

Within the hour, we were in Makati (that’s how close to Sta. Rosa had become to the Metro Manila) – right at the living room of Kristalle’s house where we were met by the Pomeranian, who right away was able to distinguish the dog-lover from the dog-eater between me and Lorna T. The dog named Truffles ran toward Lorna and they bonded immediately. (The dog-eater is a joke. I may not be particularly fond of dogs, but that doesn’t mean that I have them for meals.)

While Lorna cradled Truffles (who fell asleep in her lap), we had our rice cakes (Atom Henares, Kristalle’s young-looking father, had also joined us by then) and I noticed how Lorna’s pimple had disappeared (that fast!)

Although we could have gone on talking, Lorna still had a badminton game and I was just hitching a ride with her. After saying goodbye to our hosts, I hopped into Lorna’s car and we had a nice talk along the way. (I swear she is really a very nice person and very sincere friend.)

Getting off her vehicle, I felt it was one of the best Sundays I had recently – a nice trip out of town, good food and great company. Another flawless Sunday, I have to say.