Cebu gets busy with the Chinese new year

A veteran hotelier, a master geomancer and a life enhancement advocate recently visited the island of Cebu, each one bursting with a wealth of experience on beneficial information about health and wellness.

Helmut Gaisberger, long-time and well-loved general manager of the Mandarin Oriental, Manila, breezed into town, touching on while subtly promoting the property’s special packages, specifically for local residents who may wish to stay in Makati City, the metropolitan shopping and entertainment capital.

Over a sumptuous Peking duck lunch at the Grand Majestic Restaurant, Gaisberger had this to say: "We at the Mandarin never cease to innovate and enhance our facilities. Having recognized the growing demand for health and well-being, the hotel opened the first premier yoga studio with yoga guru Prahask, who hails from Rishihesk, India. He conducts classes that focus on the needs of a particular guest, may it be on hypertension or asthma, or to relive back pains, eliminate stress and reduce weight."

"At the luxurious Oriental Spa, we offer signature bath choices, each with a different blend of aromatherapy oils for various purposes, to obtain a smooth complexion, healing, tranquillity and harmony," he adds.

Meanwhile, at the Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort, several activities capped their celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Professor Charlie Chao, an authority on Chinese history and literature, unveiled his sought-after forecast for the year of the water goat.

Most attendees were more than pleased to learn it would be a better year ahead. However, others, whose fortunes were not as favorable, hoped for the best. Altogether it was very interesting and enlightening to listen to Mr. Chao expound on the Chinese zodiac signs and its elements.

Executive chef Eddie Chua prepared a culinary treat which, as part of a popular tradition, is served only during such a happy occasion. The dish that caught our attention was yee sang salad, a raw fish appetizer that stands for prosperity. It is made up of a lot of ingredients and I quickly learned that the peanuts and sesame signify harvest, oil represents wealth, pomelo good luck and crackers happiness. In addition to all these, one can choose the meats and seafoods with jellyfish and salmon being the most desired.

What sets this all apart is the ritual that one has to execute before savoring this lucky salad. With chopsticks in hand, we tossed the ingredients as high as we could, for it is said that the higher it goes in the air, the greater the chance of prosperity. But some of the guests went overboard spilling the ingredients all over the place.

Yee sang salad has a balanced sweet, bitter, salty and spicy taste. "These represent the different experiences one goes through in life," claims chef Chua. "That is why importance and emphasis rest on the balance."

Another visitor not too long ago, was Philippine STAR Sunday lifestyle columnist Dero Pedero, a man of many talents.

A recipient of the grand prize at the Metro Manila Popular Music Festival with his song Isang Mundo, Isang Awit, the music composer has attended several seminars in America conducted by guru Iyanla Vanzant, top Hollywood agent Jay Bernstein, and promotion specialist Barbara Winter, to mention but a few.

With these accomplishments and more, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Cebu Pacific Airways hosted a four-hour success seminar-cum-show "Make Your Impossible Dreams Come True."

What made the presentation impressive was the unique fusion of computer and video technologies to present universal principles, formulas and techniques on life-enhancing secrets vital to achieving one’s goals and dreams that oftentimes seem unreachable and impossible.

Among the participants were working socialites Amparito Lhuillier, Joanna Lhuillier and Ada Martinez, style icon Rosebud Sala, travel specialist Marget Villarica, entrepreneurs Ben Yapjoco and Bunny Pages, civic-minded ladies Cherry Muntuerto and Lucy Garcia, banker Karla Go, doctor Henry Yu, and pastry chef Lorraine Dy Tian, who came with mom Loreta.

It was a most enriching experience. As Dero Pedero constantly reminds everyone, "Always dream high, dream big, dream beautiful."