My kumadre hotelier

MANILA, Philippines - I have done lots of crazy stuff in my life. One of them is flying to Cebu late morning to eat Lechon Cebu for lunch and fly back a couple of hours later. Lechon Cebu is one Pinoy gastronomical delight I could never get enough of. I’ve tried lots of Lechon Cebu made in Manila but no lechon comes close to the original. There’s one hotel in Cebu where I go exclusively for my Lechon Cebu fix — The Park Lane International Hotel Cebu.

The Park Lane Hotel Cebu located a few steps away from Ayala Mall Cebu came to existence in 2003. I was there when it was inaugurated and had made it my official residence whenever I visit Cebu. In  2005, a feisty good-looking lady with lots of hands-on experience with the Waterfront Hotel group took over as the hotel’s general manager. Cenelyn Maguilimotan (it took me three years to remember the correct spelling of her surname right) became the first female hotel GM in the Philippines. Simultaneous to that distinction, she pioneered in serving Lechon Cebu in her daily lunch buffet. She also started to change the hotel’s image from conventional to hip and homey. In less than a year, she erased the hotel’s complexion from red to healthy black.

That’s me with Madeline and Cen

Cen became my Kumadre (godmother of my daughter Russel) two years ago. That ceremony even brought us close. Cen is single and a lot of my friends including artists who have met her have attempted to date her. One did succeed — Matt Monro Jr. — and they had a long distance relationship for over a year. I had high hopes they would tie the knot but the distance took its toll and they slowly drifted apart till they finally broke off.

On a recent pleasure trip to Macau, my better half and me took our recently single again kumare to the great sites in Macau like City of Dreams, the high-end shops at the Four Seasons and MGM Grand to take her mind off the emotional roller coaster of love. She was more interested in immersing herself in work than shopping or recreation. She was taking pictures of hotel amenities, restaurant set-ups and the like to further hone her craft in being an accomplished hotelier. We warned her it was a pleasure trip without work which she just ignored with a smile and continued taking notes. Once a workaholic, always a workaholic.

The highlight of our trip was when she ran out of superlatives when we dined at Robuchon A’ Galera — the only Micelin three-star restaurant in Macau — for the foie gras and black truffles we ate for lunch, the utensils and the wonderful service of the Pinay waitresses.

Seven hours after we landed in Manila, She was already making the rounds of the Park Lane Hotel in Cebu.