An evening of music and friendship

If you give your best, the rewards will eventually come.

Discovery Shores Boracay recently came up with a truly relaxing and much-deserved three-day getaway to honor its top travel agents, friends in media and partners for 2011. Discovery Shores has been rewarding its top producers since 2009.

On Day One, guests were ushered into rooms with welcome gifts such as Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren products, scents from L’Oreal, passport holders from The Travel Club and a box of personalized room scents from Discovery Shores. During lunch, an international buffet was served at Sands restaurant, followed by sessions at Terra Wellness Spa.

By 4 p.m., Mexican-themed cocktails were served at the beachfront, followed by an intimate dinner at Kasbah Boracay. Guests then retired to their rooms with personalized monogrammed pillowcases. 

Day Two started with breakfast at Sands restaurant followed by a casual lunch at Jony’s Resort. At night, Discovery Shores was transformed into an enchanting Mediterranean alfresco ballroom with ornate chandeliers and sparkling crystals. The “Evening of Music and Friendship” dinner had chef David Pardo de Ayala and Discovery Shores’ award-winning culinary team prepare a dinner at Indigo Restaurant. They served a family-style Greek meze (appetizers), roasted Spanish piquillo peppers, slow-poached Pacific grouper, grilled US Duroc pork chops and orange and sesame givré (a homemade Turkish delight of sorbet and sesame halva) paired with wines.

Among the gracious hosts of the festive event were Discovery Shores Boracay GM and Discovery Group COO Jose “Jun” Parreño Jr., resident manager Leeds Trompeta and director of sales and marketing Joy Denoga.

The evening honored top travel agents and partners for the year 2011, with handmade trophies by sculptor Ferdinand Cacnio, who has designed the esteemed trophies for the past three years. This year’s trophy depicted a dragon boat with five rowers representing the resort’s five successful years. Parreño said, “More importantly, the five rowers symbolize our strength, teamwork, passion, excellence and service that’s all heart, five key ingredients that make a winning team; while the dragon boat represents our home, our family, our partnerships, as we travel together in our journey to success.”

Airphil Express SVP for sales and marketing Alfredo Herrera raffled off five roundtrip tickets during the event — three local and two international flights. A fireworks display lit up the Boracay skies and sky lanterns were released with wishes written by the guests.

Guests took home more gifts like a framed group photo taken during the appreciation night and a scrapbook filled with photos taken throughout their stay. Partners for the event included Terra Wellness Spa, The Foreign Post, Airphil Express, The Travel Club, L’Oreal Paris Dermo Expertise, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani and VMV Hypoallergenics.

(For inquiries and reservations, contact Discovery Shores Boracay at 720-8888 or 036-288-4500, visit www.discoveryshoresboracay.com or www.slh.com/discoveryshores.)

An all-adobo affair

Photos by Pepper Teehankee on a Canon Powershot

Designer Anton Mendoza practically eats one type of food for a week or two then switches when he gets tired of it. During his adobo phase, he decided to have a potluck adobo dinner at his place. So guests brought a dish of adobo each, from adobong puti to oxtail adobo. A total of eight delicious dishes were brought and guests enjoyed this adobo feast with their choice of white or brown rice. It was one truly memorable night with all of us eating for the first time eight types of adobo in one go!

Anton even gave out special bagoong and adobo recipe books to the guests. The best part of all was his guests had their take-home containers of their favorite adobo.

Stepping up for Philippine motorsports growth

Tuason Racing School (TRS), the only professional racing school in the country, took steps to further develop Philippine motorsports.

It launched Global Karting Westgate (GKW), a rental karting facility in Alabang. The facility, which offers rental karts and team-building activities, features a bridge and tunnel unique to any kart track in the country. It aims to give racing enthusiasts another fun and exciting entry point into motorsports and is open for corporate events and birthday parties as well.

Founder and TRS president JP Tuason will also be racing in Germany this month at the Porsche Sports Cup. Tuason said, “We believe that after boxing and football, motorsports is the next sport Pinoys will be globally known for. By participating in an event of this caliber, not only will we have key learnings on how to prepare more Pinoys in the global arena but that we will also be recognized as a major contender for opportunities in racing in Asia.”

Tuason — supported by Castrol, Bridgestone, Standard Insurance, Toptul, Aguila Glass, Coke Zero and Oakley — has represented the country in the World Karting Championships in Japan and Egypt. He has also had a successful career in the Asian Formula 3 Challenge, winning races in China and BRC Philippines. He now develops local motorsports through TRS and is a road safety advocate who has developed a safety program that includes touring the different schools to educate students about road safety.

(Check out www.tuasonracing.com, www.facebook.com/tuasonracingschool or e-mail [email protected].)