Master mixer in Manila

David Cordoba is a self-confessed perfectionist and romantic. He is also one of the world’s leading and influential mixologists. Of late, Bacardi, the oldest and largest distributor of rum, has been working with him to create unforgettable events.

David is one of the leading bartenders to emerge from Latin America. His passion, commitment and attention to detail have made him one of the world’s best mixologists. David took an unconventional route into bartending. The Argentine guy finished a degree in Advertising and worked as a communications manager before discovering his true vocation.

He was enjoying a drink with his colleagues when he became captivated by what was going on behind the bar. It had such a dramatic effect on David that he asked the bar owner if he would teach him what he knew. David got what he wanted and he paid the owner in return by working at the bar without remuneration.

After working at top bars in Latin America and Europe for seven years, David began competing — and winning — against the leading bartenders in the world. Now, the multi-awarded mixologist is travelling the world to demonstrate how Bacardi Superior Rum is crafted to be a perfect balance of smoothness so that it will complement but never overpower a cocktail drink.

I was lucky enough to take part in a Bacardi-hosted private dinner at Cirkulo with David. That event gave us a very insightful history of rum and we had some of the most unique and amazing drinks that night. David made use of beer, coffee and egg whites for some of his most imaginative cocktails.

Before dinner, we tasted some cocktails including Bacardi Daiquiri, Mojito, Piña Colada and Cuba Libre, which were all prepared by Bacardi ambassadorial program member Arijit Bose.

The dinner at Cirkulo was made special by David’s perfect storytelling as he showed his most precious treasures: books from decades of rum research that were sourced from Cuba and the Americas, where rum’s romance truly started. After dinner, we had more drinks as we exchanged fascinating stories.

It was truly an unforgettable evening where each guest definitely got to love rum even more.

Raised to the M level

Award-winning racecar driver and road safety advocate JP Tuason became the first Filipino to be a certified BMW M driver trainer. He joins a handful of M certified trainers out of a pool of 160 instructors all over the world after he trained in the BMW facilities in Munich, Germany and Salzburg, Austria in different BMW car models for months.

JP, founder and president of Tuason Racing School, trains about 4,000 students a year in different road safety and racing programs.

The BMW Driving Experience is a driving program created by professional instructors, BMW engineers and designers to specifically match the skill, venue and vehicle to be used. The best professional instructors conduct the BMW Motorsports or BMW M program under strict standards. The program offers basic safety training to M race experiences including drifting and racetrack training.

For JP, being an M certified trainer is a natural progression in terms of growth as a driving trainer. He aims to improve and introduce new driving experiences.

He said, “It is such a great honor to be part of this elite team. The course was very hard. The theory and driving exercises we were asked to do were difficult for me and my more experienced classmates. On the roster were two BMW factory racecar drivers, a Swedish rally driver, a Formula car driver from Mexico, a German Rally champion, an engineer who helped build the new M3, an AMG instructor and a Porsche instructor. I hope we will be able to bring the program and the technology here in the region.”

Asian Carmakers Co. president Maricar Parco said, “With the launch of the M cars here in the Philippines, we feel it is important for us to be able to give our customers the proper training and experience on how to enjoy their BMWs without limits. We are very pleased to have the first Filipino BMW M certified trainer in the person of JP Tuason. This certainly means our customers and BMW enthusiasts will have driving experiences to look forward to.”

(For more information, e-mail info@tuasonracing.com.)

Discovering priceless cities

Traveling around the world opens up opportunities for discovery and gives everyone new experiences.

The MasterCard “Priceless Cities” program brings the long-running iconic “Priceless” travel concept to top destinations around the world. The program connects people with their passions — travel, shopping, dining and entertainment — and provides exclusive access to a collection of archived experiences across the city.

The program was launched two years ago with Priceless New York and Priceless London, followed by Priceless Toronto. Priceless Sydney and Priceless Beijing were introduced in 2011 and in October 2012, Singapore was the first Southeast Asian city to be launched under the “Priceless Cities” program.

MasterCard Philippines gave its customer banks a glimpse of the “Priceless Cities” at the Manila Polo Club. It provided a preview of exclusive privileges and events that Philippine-issued MasterCard cardholders can enjoy when they travel to “Priceless Singapore.”

MasterCard country head Poch Villa-Real welcomed guests with the MasterCard Philippines team of Judith Dayrit, Ailea Zialcita, Chris Paraiso and Rochelle Mayuga.

Others present were Allied Bank’s Rodger Avellanosa, Rolly Tanchanco and Jimmy Yu, BPI’s Ginbee Go, Citibank’s Sergio Zanatti and Bea Tan, EastWest Bank’s Jackie Fernandez, Maybank’s Eden Estrella, Metrobank’s Riko Abdurrahman, PNB’s Noel Tuazon, PSBank’s Francis Llanera, RCBC Bankard’s Myla Untalan, Security Bank’s Belen Lim and Jackie Papa and Standard Chartered Bank’s Anant Singh.

 To experience some of the “Priceless Cities,” MasterCard and Philippine Airlines raffled off Mabuhay Miles travel certificates to Toronto, Sydney, Beijing and Singapore.