a tale of two cocos
this is what i miss most in manille - the busy social life. almost everyday, people always find a way and an excuse to gather friends in one posh place, eat, drink, gossip - no matter what the state of the local and global economy is. if you need proof that the food, beverage and restaurant industries are indeed "recession proof", visit the philippines.
consumer spending, regardless if those relatives overseas are remitting money at home or not, remains the key factor that is fueling growth. that is why the government should lower taxes (including value added taxes and especially personal and business income taxes) so that the people and companies will have more money to spend (or invest) to prime the domestic economy.
let's face it, it has been proven time and again that the government is the most inefficient holder of funds - most of the money only goes to corruption and are therefore spent or funneled abroad.
but enough of these intellectual musings (chos!), this post is about a reunion of sorts and a birthday party at the posh barcino and metro club in makati.
and about the two cocos, the hottest men at the moment.
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first the reunion. anc's (abs cbn's twenty-four hour news channel for the uninitiated. sort of local cnn) coco, former chief at bloomberg's manila bureau, arranged a dinner with ex employees of what else, new york mayor michael bloomberg's profitable news organisation.
despite his immense popularity being the country's most sought-after business news anchor and journalist and posh background, coco is down-to-earth. jovial. he has this very warm personality and aura that make you feel at ease and comfortable even if you've just met him for the first time. unlike other trying hard conos around (coco is the real one, mind you and i use the term "cono" in a good way no?. haha), he has no airs, no "don't bore me with your middle class sentiments" look.
to this day, along side roel, dominic, mike, annie, kler, sue and sau, coco remains one of my favourite bloomberg colleagues. no chos this time.
another former bloomberger, dominic, now based in jakarta as managing editor of jakarta globe (the country's biggest newspaper), was also in town to join us - regaling us about his experiences working in indonesia and in an environment quite different from what we have gotten used to - the bbg newsroom.
yet another former bbg manila bureau chief, alex (now a gm at the gokongwei's high flying cebu pacific) also lent glamour to the evening, sharing his insights about the local aviation industry. i never covered the transportation beat, so it was indeed a learning experience listening to alex, another charming talker like coco and dom. chos!
of course, dinner is at barcino (a favourite among local wine snobs because of the restobar's rich stock of, what else, vino) in greenbelt two. pretending to be a sommelier, i ordered estrella beer (the restaurant does not have san miguel light or stella), a pricey spanish beer. it was good, but not as good as san mig light though. confession, i am a san mig child. i grew up in a household where everybody drinks san miguel (palesin, light, premium, you name it).
one thing i realised from that reunion slash dinner (my first time since i left bbg six years ago) is that it takes a while for some fomer bbg journalists (sorry, i don't share this sentiment) to shake off what they have learned from the bbg way: the four paragraph lead, the size and scope, the show don't tell and especially the what if or nut graph. for some, indeed, once a bbg reporter, will always be a bbg reporter.
i remember a quip from a former colleague in the singapore bureau (whom i've met for dinner last year in hong knog. she too had left bbg and tried her luck in the former british colony just like me): working in bloomberg is like entering hotel california, you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave. (luckily, i did!)
%%%%%%
then the next day, it was the birthday dinner of maricel, an ex colleague at the central bank beat and now a desk at telecom tycoon manny pangilinan's abc five network. it turned out to be another fun night with another popular but equally handsome coco. read on.
it was also a reunion of sorts with other reporters, donna of philippine star, erik of reuters, mitch of inquirer, joan of pna, james of manila bulletin, former anc reporter charo (now with metrobank), lawrence of philippine star.
unlike most reporter's event, this one was low key, with no high ranking officials from the government and the private sector around. i luv! i always prefer a simple, intimate gathering of friends where we can be ourselves and therefore there is no need to be guarded because "more respectable" people, our news sources, are around. there is also no need to be paranoid that someone might get a juicy story from a tipsy official while everyone else is having fun.
oh di va?
the event was held at the exclusive metroclub in makati, the poolside, which looked stunning at night with all the lights on. think maldives at night. chos.
from the video that donna showed to us, and from her stories detailing how coco hugged her so tightly, we all surmised that coco was indeed smitten by our gorgeous and sexy bff. haha.
we all got excited and asked donna to take us the next time she will have an interview with coco. indeed, it's proof of coco's immense popularity that he managed to steal the limelight from the birthday girl even if he wasn't around. hahaha. joke lang, maricel.
^^^^^^^^^
when i opened my email at around midnight at home, donna sent me this picture:
don't you think coco is more delicious than max's famous fried chicken?
^^^^^^^
that's all, fairies, princesses, queens, pa-queens, ladies and pa-ladies. have a great weekend ahead.
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