Floyd dragged me to Ascott (formerly Oakwood Premiere –and yes, it is always associated with the word mutiny) for the Oprah Presscon.  That means break from the usual day at work. The Press Conference started with a luncheon. The buffet spread at Ascott did not disappoint with a good selection of pasta, meat, casseroles, and desserts. After the luncheon, we were ushered to a mini-theater room. CABLE television’s Hallmark Channel has acquired a new asset to its channel programming in Oprah Winfrey.  Channel owners Sparrowhawk Media closed a deal with CBS Paramount International, the distributor of Oprah’s talk show, to give Hallmark Channel exclusive access to the Oprah Winfrey Show in Asia.   Managing director for Hallmark Channel Asia Pacific Andrew Hanna said, “This is truly a fantastic deal—Oprah, without question, is one of the most influential names on television and we are delighted to have secured these rights.”  

Oprah’s Filipino fans and followers can expect only the latest episodes via cable television.  Her shows highly anticipated celebrity interviews and inspiring stories sit well with a universal audience and complements the cable channel’s platform of showcasing quality entertainment.

Album: http://cushee.multiply.com/photos/album/178/07_0529-_Oprah_Presscon

It was a raining evening but I was so excited to attend the Appetite Magazine Cook-out event at Greenbelt Park.  The event was sponsored by ETC, Appetite Mag and participated by Sky Cable.  Clearly, I was excited because it was an event that was about food.  And being a foodie that Bubba and me are, we were really anticipating what concoctions were laid out. They had huge tents to cover the entrance, registration, the huge stage (set for the cookout competition), kitchen appliance mini-showroom, and the buffet and dessert table.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough tents to cover the seating area so everyone crowded at the buffet table (which was a good and bad thing because, we were standing while chowing, but it was so easy to reach for the food because it was right in front of us.)   CCA students prepared all the food, which is the reason why all the food were scrumptious.  Included in the buffet were fish and chips (moist fish fillet), barbeque, red and white pasta, tortilla chips and salsa, potato salad, crepes, among others. I totally enjoyed the tenderloin kebabs.  The beef were delightfully tender and the aromatic flavors and grilled taste made me finish several batches. Presentation of the deserts was absolutely at par with any 5-star hotels and would calm any aching sweet tooth. The cookout between 2 teams started while we were swarming the buffet table. The chefs battled it out under the paradox of drizzling rain and stove heat.  Chef Roberto Pengson hosted the affair.  Chef Robert is the culinary director of one of the fastest growing, innovative, and progressive cooking schools in Manila, Academy for International Culinary Arts.  His other business, which he shares with other budding extraordinaire chefs, is the Chef Cuisine restaurant.  Their website (http://www.chefcuisine.biz) was coincidentally designed by my former company, Sabiclub Corp.

Interestingly, Chef Cuisine tagline is “In our menu, you can pick the chef” because of their concept of pick a chef, pick a cuisine.  

Overall, the Appetite-ETC event, braved through the evening with delectable chow, Salsa music and free Appetite Magazines. Great food is such a treat and getting it free-of-cost makes it so much sweeter.  

 http://cushee.multiply.com/photos/album/176/07_0524-_Appetite_Cookout_Event

The event celebrates a rocking highlight for Animax as it selects Filipino alternative-rock band, Pupil, to compose an original song Set Me Apart for the channel. An exclusive media party was held at Hard Rock Café, Makati on Tuesday night, where the crowd cheered at Pupil’s powerhouse performance of Set Me Apart and their other popular songs composed by Ely Buendia.  I was invited to the party by the Animax Asia team and I brought along Bubba with me. The event was packed. Our table was right across Rhian Ramos’ group, which was only an arm away (Bubba must have had a field day because Rhian used to be his crush). Rovilson Fernandez, Mark Nelson and Brent Javier also graced the event. We started dinner as soon as we got there.  There was a buffet set-up that included butterflied prawns, Bolognese pasta, Yakinuku beef, assorted grilled veggies among others. We had Crème Brule for desert.   I saw from the event that Pupils, or Ely Buendia, for that matter, still has a major following.  I felt melancholy listening to the band sing old time favorites like Overdrive and other Eraserhead hits. It is a proud moment to see a Filipino band being recognized by an international group for their talent.  The Pupil continued to rock the house down with their performance of the song in Singapore at Bar None Club on 27 May. Thanks to Jamie Woon of Animax Asia/Singapore for the invite!

May 19, 2007.  Since Chris was out-of-town, I took this time to bond with the girls… 

 Dancing our hearts out at Piedra.   Racquel and Chai.

 Bumped into Antz and Carlo.

Album: http://cushee.multiply.com/photos/album/175/07_0519-_Piedra