When a sportswear royalty and glitzbiz queen celebrate their birthdays together, what happens? A natural combustion of style and sass, close family and friends from all the fields of fashion, art, business, politics and media. The whole point is not just nonstop celebrations, but also to bring all these people from diverse fields together. Cris Albert plus Ruffa Gutierrez equals nonstop fun and laughter, endless photo ops and clinking of glasses.
Just a month ago, Ruffa brought together an entire Manila contingent of close to 50 to Hong Kong for a “Great Gatsby†bash — complete with party bus, champagne showers and all. The celebrations had been free flowing until she left for Europe to do a shoot and then to pursue International Studies in London. Cris, on the other hand, has been making Balesin Island her second home. If she is not in the city at the helm of the Fila family headquarters, she goes to an exotic island where she brings her friends off to an exclusive adventure. Such is the nature of these two women who are so well loved and who love their friends and fam so much.
Old Manila at the Peninsula was closed that night for the exclusive event. The chefs were busy making sure everything was to be served right, the same top quality that the establishment is known for. The mainstays were there. Robert Blancaflor’s floor-to-ceiling floral arrangements, sassy social chroniclers, Cris’ caboodle, Ruffa’s rah-rah girls and guys (I’m part of both groups, you see) and other new friends who seemed to be surprised that the two larger-than-life women celebrated together!
No upstaging was involved, but there certainly was mic hogging, as the guests of the two lovely women took turns in delivering theirs well wishes over the microphone and, of course, there was singing — an impromptu number started off by designer Rajo Laurel, no less. I had escaped to another function by the time the mic was ready to be passed on to me, for good reason: I didn’t want the celebrations to end. The food was heavenly, the desserts were sinful and the company deadly fun!
To Cris and to Ruffa who are still both celebrating their birthdays all over the world as this article goes to press, continue spreading the love wherever you go!
Here are some snapshots from the above-mentioned revelry.
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More pics and picks from twitter.com/officialTIMYAP and snap happy selections from Instagram, officialtimyap.