Preserving Pinoy heritage

Global Heritage Fund (GHF) is a private, non-profit organization based in San Francisco that saves sites around the world where civilization began. Its mission is to enable long-term preservation of cultural heritage sites in developing countries. It has sites in India, China, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Malta, Honduras, Vietnam, Bolivia, Ukraine, Kenya, Peru and Guatemala and wants to branch out into the Pacific Islands where there are major archeological sites and ancient townscapes.

GHF flew to Manila to launch its Pacific Heritage Program.  According to its project development director Leilynne Lau, the organization sees the Philippines playing a lead role in heritage conservation in the Pacific.

A welcome reception was held at the residence of Greggy and Irene Araneta. Guests consisted of historians, archeologists, curators and officials from museums and other affiliated organizations.

Among those who attended the cocktail and dinner were Doris Ho, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Buddy and Ruby Roa, Allure columnist Philip Cu-Unjieng, Manuel Roma, Sari Yap, Billy and Eliza Romualdez-Valtos, Metropolitan Museum’s Ino Manalo, National Museum consultant John Silva, Oriental Ceramic Society’s Cynthia Ongpin-Valdes and Museum Foundation of the Philippines’ Din-Din Araneta.

Leilynne wrapped up the night by saying that she had never experienced such heartfelt enthusiasm over wanting to preserve and protect a country’s cultural inheritance. 

(Check out GHF’s website at www.globalheritagefund.org.)

Miniket is not just a gadget

People converged at the Ayala Museum as Samsung Electronics Philippines launched the new Miniket, a mini-sized tape-less camcorder that is also a digital still camera, an mp3 player, a webcam, a voice recorder and a portable data storage device. The Miniket is about the size of a cigarette pack.

There are three user-friendly models available, all with a one-gigabyte of memory, DVD-standard mpeg4 video recording format, a sharp two-inch colored screen, 10x optical and 100x digital zoom, Electronic Image Stabilization (to reduce camera shaking), multiple built-in digital special effects, and USB 2.0 compatibility.

At the launch, three top directors premiered their own short films shot just for the evening using the Miniket. Award-winning movie and commercial director Mark Meilly highlighted the Miniket’s special effects capabilities in a funny and twisted work focusing on his own face. Sid Maderazo illustrated just how portable and easy the Miniket is to use in shooting various everyday scenes and framing them in theater curtains. Music video man RA Rivera did a black and white video of his band Pedicab.

Entertainment was provided by the Akafellas and Martin Nievera while Joel Trinidad took care of hosting.

Also seen in the event were Samsung Electronics Philippines Corp.’s new president and CEO Hyuck Jae Shim, Borgy Manotoc, Ornussa Cadness, Jose and Tin Moreno, Jojo Silverio, Jesus Romero-Salas, Kat Abad and Illac Diaz.

The saga strikes back

Star Wars fans are thrilled that the third and final prequel for the Star Wars trilogy has been shown. Revenge of the Sith was one of the most highly-anticipated films of the year and Nestlé staged a private screening of the film.

The food company’s new offering, the Star Wars Wondercup, a Revenge of the Sith ice cream cup, took center stage as guests enjoyed this burst of blue strawberry slush. A special mini-figurine can be found as a giveaway in every cup.

Spotted at the screening were Paolo Villavicencio, Gippy and Hindy Tantoco with son Lucas, stylist Charmaine Palermo, makeup artist Leo Posadas, Isha Andaya and Nestle’s assistant vice president Myra Pineda.

Sunset Divas

A hair extravaganza exploded at the ballroom of the New World Renaissance Hotel as the season’s hottest hair colors were presented by L’Oreal Professionnel.

Top hairdressers presented color combinations for Asian women at the Sunset Divas party.

British stylist Andrew Barton and partner Tracey Gallagher were invited to share their expertise to an audience of 1,000 hairdressers. The duo did live cutting and styling techniques.

The Sunset Divas hair trend was also interpreted by local hairdressers, L’Oreal artistic ambassadors Danny Katalbas of Emphasis Salon, Francis Quiñones of Piandre Salon, Meldy Miram of Hairbytes Salon and Nelson Cruz of Essensuals Toni & Guy.

Their hair creations were complemented with fashion by young designer Puey Quiñones who used muted light, pastel color combinations with wool, linen, cotton and jersey in layers, distressed fabric, unfinished edges.

Seen at the show were Jacques Dupasquier, Gil Coscolluela, Carmina Sanchez, Philip Cu-Unjieng, Star writers JR Isaac and Cecile Zamora, F’s Daphne Oseña-Paez, stylist Michael Salientes, photographer Andy Maluche, L’Oreal managing director David Ennes, salon owners Jesi Mendez, Peachy Zulueta, Ed Angeles, Angelo Justin and Cherry Reyes.

The show was directed by Stephen Ku of Eventscape.

Provencale & Mediterranean treats

Something new is cooking at the highly-acclaimed Prince Albert Rotisserie at the InterContinental Manila.

The usually very formal place looks bright and cheery during lunch as it presents Prince Albert’s Provencale and Mediterranean Gourmet lunch. 

The InterCon team led by its new charming general manager, Christian Pirodon, let the guests try the restaurant’s eat-all-you-can a la carte menu which is pegged at P1,200++ per person.

Included in the menu are Pan-fried Scallops and Prawns with Crispy Greens in Citrus Dressing, Oven-roasted Rack of Lamb with Sun-dried Tomato Couscous, Steamed Sea Bass, Backed Duck, and Roasted US Rib Eye, all meticulously prepared by executive chef Richard Andrieux and his staff. Diners can also savor glass after glass of choice wines from small wineries from Southern France for P600++ per person. The wines were chosen by Sommelier’s Jerome Philippon and these mostly family-owned, estate- produced wines are light yet flavorful. 

The lunch is from Mondays to Fridays, 12 noon to 3 p.m. and will run through the end of the year.

(For reservations, call 815-911.)

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(E-mail me at [email protected])