The taste of Citrus

At last, after having been operational for a little over a month, the latest hot spot in town, Citrus, had its formal opening.

As expected, the place was filled to the rafters. Smokers converged on the charming outdoor area of the former V Bar. Louie Ysmael welcomed guests as Moet & Chandon flowed freely throughout the night.

Citrus is the newly renovated (by Anton R. Mendoza) V Bar which has become a popular night hangout. It is also known as the preferential bar for people to hold their birthday parties. The new bar has a refreshing orange and lime theme.

With great music, good food, fun people – what more does a bar need?

Others spotted at the opening included Alan Escaño, Amaya Legarda, Tim Yap, Chris Petersson, Tony Bambroffe, Mark Cox, Martin Litton, Philip Pastoral, Geri Giles and Boyet Sison.

Falling in love with L’Amour

Nokia and the country’s top fashion designer Inno Sotto launched the former’s latest trend-inspired mobile phones, the Nokia L’Amour Collection. A trio of works of art – the Nokia 7360, Nokia 7370 and Nokia 7380 – offer a beautiful mix of contrasts. Materials such as amber, ceramic, turquoise, silk and enamel were the main inspiration in the designs of the collection. Craft techniques such as enamelling and etching added a creative spark to the graphics, materials, finishes and colors selected for the collection.

The event at the NBC Tent featured a guitarist who strummed romantic tunes followed by Inno reading a piece on love and its influences in life, work and one’s choices in life with Joel Trinidad and Shereen Saiyed reading out the story as it was narrated.

Afterwards, a DJ started playing light dance music while models went around showcasing the new phones and guests feasted on food prepared by Margarita Fores. A raffle made Maricris Sarino, Kalorino Katna and Andy Santalan new owners of a brand new Nokia 7360, Nokia 7370 and Nokia 7380 while JR Isaac, Pauline Juan, Walter Lim, Carla Sibal and Joanne Ramirez won luxurious ISM (Inno Sotto Mondo) gift bags courtesy of Rustan’s Essenses.

Seen at the glamorous event were the Nokia team led by its country GM Parikshit Bhasin and wife Jini, Globe Telecom’s Andrew Buay and Ferdz Dela Cruz, Henry and Jojo Zabarte, Smart’s Dan Ybarra, Jay Lagdameo, Dick Perez, Louis Ang, Mellie Ablaza, CATS’ Felix Ang, Sari Yap, Silk Cocoon’s Frances Lim, Lorraine Belmonte, Eva Abesamis, Andre Wisniewski, Mariel Joaquin, designers Kate Torralba, Dennis Lustico, Puey Quiñones, Joey Samson and Ivar Aseron, Robbie Carmona, Carla Sibal, Raul Manzano, Philip Cu-Unjieng and RJ Ledesma.

The Nokia L’Amour launch is the first of three events that will showcase the creative imagination and elegant design of Nokia and Inno Sotto.

(Visit the Nokia Philippines website at http://www.nokia.com.ph)

All eyes on Colorblends

Popular cosmetic contact lens brand FreshLook held a party at Fiamma to celebrate its success as the best-selling colored contact lens in the world.

Manila’s party set was treated to a palette of eye-catching beauties and the fashion of Puey Quiñones. FreshLook’s 2006 campaign was unveiled featuring models Bubbles Paraiso and Mikaela Lagdameo, the new faces of FreshLook’s ads.

Bubbles and Mikaela changed their look by wearing the colored contact lenses. There’s a wide range of shades aimed to fit the different lifestyles and moods of its wearers.

More than three million people in the US have experienced the excitement and transformation brought about by this contact lens brand when it was first introduced to the market by CIBAVision, an Atlanta-based research and development company. The lenses are available in amethyst, turquoise, pure hazel, blue, honey, true sapphire, gray, green and brown. FreshLook ColorBlends is now available in optical shops nationwide.

Try a pair now and I’ll bet all eyes will be on you.

(E-mail me at peppertstar@yahoo.com)