A winter wonderland farewell

It was scorching hot but people were game enough to don warm or even winter clothing for the last of the many farewell parties for the well-loved Nivat Chantarachoti, former Thai Airways GM in the Philippines.

Nivat’s very good friend Tim Yap organized the surprise and asked all of Nivat’s friends to come in winter clothing for a “Winter Wonderland” themed party.  It was the theme of the party because Nivat would be based in Zurich so Tim requested everyone to wear winter clothes to simulate that we were all in cold Zurich with Nivat!

Food and drinks were served in an area at the Ballroom of Dusit Thani Hotel. Aside from Tim, present to welcome guests were Dusit’s GM Prateek Kumar and PR Danelle Palang. Nivat’s successor in the Philippines Sern Chupikulchai was also present to meet people close to his predecessor. Fellow airline GM Andrew Budiman also said his goodbye to Nivat, as well as others from the Thai Embassy in Manila. Others present were Erik Cua, Ryan Ros Calmante, Manolet Dario, Raymond Gutierrez, Borgy Manotoc, Georgina Wilson and STAR columnists Christine Dayrit and Büm Tenorio.

Nivat’s heart is very close to the Philippines because he actually studied high school and college here when his father was based in Manila as a diplomat. He had extended his stay in the Philippines to the hilt. During his tenure, the presence and awareness of Thai Airways and its destinations were very well known and heavily featured and advertised. Nivat aggressively promoted Thailand, its products and its airline.

I wouldn’t really say goodbye as I know Nivat will be back soon to visit the country he calls his second home. So I shall leave it with, “See you again soon, Nivat, and have a great vacation in Zurich.”

Envied Saturdays at Nuvo

For at least one Saturday night every month, Nuvo Restaurant and Bar in Greenbelt 2 becomes the most envied place to be.

For instance, the Envied Saturday event at Nuvo last October came with the cool music styles of DJ Surf, former resident DJ of the now defunct Hey Jude! in Boracay. Hennessy cocktails were savored all around and the choices were The Hennessy Apple, The Hennessy Berry, The Hennessy Citrus and The Hennessy Ginger. As a non-Cognac drinker, I actually found these drinks excellent!

Celebrating their birthdays that night were Butch Lagdameo, Cherry Miguel, Edcel Ferrer, Samantha Lopez-Edwards and Cebuana designer Vania Romoff. Their night was made even extra special as Calvin Klein gifted them with fabulous colognes, exclusively distributed by Luxasia Philippines. Each birthday celebrator also got his or her own bottle of Hennessy.

Others spotted in the very full venue were Nuvo’s PR Mlu Yambao, Marcel Crespo, DJ Manolet Dario, Carlo Antonio and Channel V’s main man JM Rodriguez. The next Envied Saturday is tomorrow, Nov. 27.