Rocio's bags at Prive

Rocio Bags made its debut at Members Only’s Prive Fashion Series. The unique bags created by designer Rocio Olbes have been showcased in London and Paris for fashion week. The collection is made from different distinct materials thus giving the items unique textures and with a wide variety of shapes and sizes for every woman to identify with. 

The current collection is all about classic luxury with twists that are modern. Business partner and VP of global operations of Rocio Bags Tessa Nepomuceno says, “Our collection is a fusion of luxurious materials and non-traditional materials such as wood and sea shells that you don’t normally see on other brands.”

The bags were paraded by her beautiful muses like Solenn Heusaff, Heart Evangelista, Stephanie Zubiri, Alessandra Perez-Rubio, Koby Parcell, Mikaela Lagdameo-Martinez, Lulu Tan-Gan, Xandra Rocha and Ma. Christina Hernandez de Cacho-Olbes.

In choosing her muses, Rocio says, “I selected people who are very dear to me and super close to my heart. They are all such special and amazing beings who work hard and represent such great achievements in their respective fields.”

Members Only is the country’s first and only private membership bar and lounge.

(For inquiries, please visit [email protected])

A place called Mahogany

VConsunji Inc., one of the country’s fast-rising real estate developers, launched its newest venture –– Mahogany Place III.

In his message, VConsunji’s CEO engineer Victor Consunji anchored on our pursuit of happiness, on our desire to provide the best for our family — a healthy place to grow up and a peaceful place to settle down. He took pride in designing homes that are affordable, functional and practical, exceeding quality expectations and suiting discriminating lifestyles.

Miriam Quiambao hosted the event as comedienne Candy Pangilinan, alternative rock band Hale and DJ Martin Pulgar provided entertainment. Event corporate partners included DMCI Homes, Lexus and Dimensione. Great prizes were likewise provided by Sea Air and The Tides Boracay.

Celebrities and unit owners Marc Nelson and Bianca King led the guided tours to the Mahogany Place III and proved that they were more than just brand ambassadors for the project. They explained how the house models were tailor-made for specific types of people and families and how they could be customized, with the lifestyle of the owner in mind. The model units shown to the guests were Ariana, the essential home; Helena, the house for out-of-the-box living; and Sofia, the townhouse reinvented.   

Guests experienced its tight round-the-clock security and top-of-the-line facilities such as the gym, the spa, the mini-theater and the clubhouse. 

(For more information, call 828-1481 or e-mail [email protected] or visit www.vconsunji.com)

Food for thought

Makati Shangri-La’s Japanese restaurant Inagiku is having its Winter Buri Festival ongoing until Feb. 17. Experience the palatable buri from Japan’s winter seas, the flavorful yellowtail tuna prepared by Inagiku chef Wataru Hikawa, who was awarded “Best Japanese Chef in Asia” by the Gourmet Summit in Singapore in 2005. 

Inagiku’s friendly manager Yoshio Ishikawa suggests Zensai (five kinds of appetizers) for starter. This is composed of boiled duck with tea, boiled tsubugai (Japanese snail), edamame (salted soya beans), strawberry and butter appetizer, salmon and lapu-lapu roll. He also recommends the Buri Hohba-Miso Yaki (grilled yellowtail with hohba leaf), which is served on a miso leaf with a burning flame underneath. The tuna is separated by a thick layer of miso sauce to give the guest an option to have the fish raw, slightly cooked or fully cooked depending how long the customer leaves the fish on the low flame. I personally prefer it raw. 

The yellowtail can also be had as sushi, grilled with teriyaki sauce, steamed with radish, baked in a salt block, with ginger sauce, as a tuna steak with black pepper and several other ways chef Hikawa prepares it.

This is not to be missed, call 813-8888 extension 7588 or 7599 for inquiries or reservations.

Another thing I’d like to share with readers is something about Pringles potato chips. This has been my staple food when watching TV or having my DVD night. My suitcase is often packed with potato chips when coming from Australia, the US or Thailand because of the different flavors they have like spicy Moroccan chicken or lime and cracked pepper. 

Procter and Gamble’s Chad Sotelo one time casually mentioned that Pringles has new flavors — seaweed, grilled shrimp and soft shelled crab. At last! New and exciting flavors of potato chips in Manila! He sent me some samples and they are all in my stomach already, perfect to munch on during my DVD nights. These are only sold in ASEAN countries and are really hard to find since they disappear from the supermarket shelves so fast! If you see them, do as I do... hoard them. We don’t know how long these flavors will be available!