{"id":5682,"date":"2018-09-02T06:54:41","date_gmt":"2018-09-02T06:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/?p=5682"},"modified":"2020-01-22T02:25:20","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T02:25:20","slug":"the-faaabvlous-gift-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/2018\/09\/02\/the-faaabvlous-gift-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"THE FAAABVLOUS GIFT OF LIFE"},"content":{"rendered":"

People love birthday parties. There\u2019s always a sense of sharing and bonding, a cel\u00adebration of the art of living\u2014of living the good life. For his birthday, \u201cPho\u00adtographer to the Faaabv\u00adlous\u201d exhibits Rupert Ja\u00adcinto<\/strong>, we whipped up an intimate dinner at home, brightened by a collection of modern art and with the Makati skyline adding to the nighttime sparkle.The menu shone with specialties like slow-roasted lamb done by the king of roasts David Lim<\/strong>, stuffed garlic chicken, zarzuela de mariscos<\/em>, and others prepared by yours truly. It was a night filled with laughter and song, with Mellie <\/strong>and Louie Ablaza<\/strong>, Helen Ong<\/strong>, Mario Katigbak<\/strong>, Joy <\/strong>and Joel Rustia<\/strong>, and Ping Valencia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The following evening, nothing short of dazzling and glittery, was businessman, globetrotter, and bo\u00adsom friend David B. Lim<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cCham\u00adpagne Society of the Philippines\u201d din\u00adner held at his well-appointed Forbes Park residence. David\u2019s love of cham\u00adpagne initiated his dinner. As the gor\u00adgeous invitees were ushered into the dining room bathed in the glow of the warm candlelight, the stage was set for a lavish dining experience. Four friends flew in from Cebu especially for the evening: Cebu society doy\u00adenne Mariquita Yeung<\/strong>, Rep. Gwen Garcia<\/strong>, and jet setters Joel <\/strong>and Car\u00adla del Prado<\/strong>, who have made Hong Kong their \u201chappy place.\u201d David took the opportunity to launch this dinner to celebrate Rupert\u2019s birthday. Mariq\u00aduita whispered to Rupert: \u201cDavid told us it was a surprise dinner for you.\u201d He garnered praises for this display of vintage champagnes. The splen\u00addid flowers, which decked the long dinner table, was executed by Nina Hailey <\/strong>of Love Garden, and the Baccarat candelabras, the Christofle dinnerware, and more, were all feast for the senses.<\/p>\n

David\u2019s refined palate reflected on the fine selection of the specially designed menu from renowned chef Gaita Fores<\/strong>, which made an ex\u00adcellent complement to the vintage champagnes. During cocktails, Veuve Cliquot Le Grande Dame 2006 was poured. Then with the field greens of rucola<\/em>, manchego<\/em>, and candied pears, it was the Krug 2004. The live lobster \u201calla <\/em>Catalana spaghettini<\/em>\u201d came with the Louis Roderer 2012. Next, the Chilean sea bass in parchment, paired with the Taittinger Comtes Blanc de Blancs 2006. And the US an\u00adgus rib cap salpicado <\/em>climaxed the champagne piece-de-resistance<\/em>, the Dom Perignon P2 2000. For the des\u00adsert of churros <\/em>and crema <\/em>Catalana, the Moet 7 Chandon Ice Imperial was a refreshing finale.<\/p>\n

The mood was celebratory marked with continuous toasting by Frannie Jacinto<\/strong>, Nina Halley, Ping Valencia<\/strong>, Mayenne Carmona<\/strong>, and Chris Badiola<\/strong>. Knowledgeable about his wines and spirits, Joel said that the Dom Perignon P2 2000 was an excellent choice, 2000 being a good year for champagne. Rupert recalled his photo shoots with Mariquita and Gwen in Cebu: \u201cWe moved from one room to the other, with waiters trail\u00ading behind with buckets of chilled Pol Roger making sure our flutes were never empty.\u201d Sipping the final cham\u00adpagne, the Moet Chandon Ice Impe\u00adrial, which was served with strawber\u00adry-flavored ice and paired with the dessert, Mariquita told Gwen, \u201cWe must have this for breakfast,\u201d which brought out more laughter. Gwen, a former governor of Cebu, announced that she would be running once again for governor in May 2019. Everyone cheered her and to more champagne dinners. Everyone took to the living room to sing with the pianist. David\u2019s philosophy in life: \u201cThis life is a gift. Make the best out of it.\u201d And that night, we did.<\/p>\n

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People love birthday parties. There\u2019s always a sense of sharing and bonding, a cel\u00adebration of the art of living\u2014of living the good life. For his birthday, \u201cPho\u00adtographer to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-having-a-ball"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/1.jpg?fit=1000%2C491&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9FePs-1tE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5682"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5713,"href":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5682\/revisions\/5713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinajacinto.com\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}