Home (as usual) for Christmas

Did you know that Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas has lost more than 30 pounds in the last eight weeks?

“How did I do it?” Alfred repeated Funfare’s question. “All I do is intermittent fasting, work out and follow a low-calorie diet. I’m still following the program every day. Hopefully, I will be back to my original shape by early next year.”

Not many people are like Alfred who can resist the temptation of good food (guilty pleasures such as chocolates, cakes and the like) when, according to Alfred, “All it takes is strong will and determination.”

During the Christmas season when he has to attend parties left and right, Alfred sees to it that he carefully chooses the items he gets from the buffet table knowing that the hosts will understand his strict-diet regimen.

As usual, Alfred and family (wife Jasmine Espiritu and their daughters Alexandra and Aryanna) are spending Christmas either at their home or in the province, and not in Italy where Jasmine’s folks are living.

“We do the usual noche buena together after attending the midnight Mass,” said Alfred. “Then, we hold a talent program prepared by our own kids and those of our relatives.”

Two years ago, the Vargases spent Christmas in Milan and Alfred recalled that it was very cold.

The models and presenters with Renee Salud (third from left), Consul General Theresa Dizon-De Vega, Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations Teodoro Locsin, Jr., Eleanor De Leon and Susan Del Mundo. — PDOT photo

“I don’t think I can spend Christmas there again because my body was built for the tropical weather of the Philippines. I love Christmas back home.”

Alexandra recently celebrated her seventh birthday. Asked when he and Jasmine planned to have their third child, hopefully a son, Alfred smiled.

“If God blesses us with another child next year,” he wished, “we gladly welcome it regardless of what the gender is, as long as the child is healthy.”

Phl tapestry show in NYC

Fifty-seven looks using Philippine indigenous materials and traditional weaves in high fashion and wearable designs were showcased during the Philippine Tapestry Show to an SRO audience at the Philippine Center New York on Thanksgiving weekend last Nov. 25.

Presented by the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) and Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) with the support of the Philippine Consulate General in New York, the fashion show highlighted the versatility of Philippine ethnic weaves in mainstream fashion design, interpreted in modern and street-friendly or “neo-ethnic” styles by Renee Salud. The materials came from ethnic tribes in Luzon (Cordillera, Lumban and Bicol), the Visayas and Mindanao (T’boli, Caraga and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao).

Consul General Theresa Dizon-De Vega expressed her pride in putting on the show in New York, highlighting the Philippines’ best in one of the world’s fashion capitals. She thanked the DOT under the leadership of Sec. Wanda Teo for bringing the show for the first time to the US via New York.

Philippine DOT Representative to New York Susan Del Mundo noted, “This is just another facet to the many wonders the Philippines has to offer the world.”

The show was a prelude to the Philippines’ participation in more major New York fashion events in 2018. — Reported by Felix Manuel

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)