Women eat, pray, love & win contest
MANILA, Philippines - After poring over the overwhelming number of entries received, the winners of the Eat Pray Love Essay Contest presented by National Book Store, Philippine STAR, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, and Columbia Pictures Philippines have been selected.
The winners are Marcia Evangelista-Sandoval whose winning piece, “A Different Kind of Love,” talks about the generosity of a Filipino family in Paris, France, who opens their tiny home to other Filipinos who are in Paris trying to make ends meet. This family who moved to Paris many years ago started life in the City of Lights by cleaning toilets and doing other menial jobs. Through determination and hard work, they were able to slowly climb the ladder of success and move their children to Paris as well. Sandoval, 79, wins a three-day, two-night stay in a Panorama Room for two at Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa and P10,000 worth of NBS gift certificates.
Janet Brent, 27, will be enjoying a dinner for two at Red in Makati Shangri-La Hotel as the winner of the “Eat” category. Her journey brought her to India as a volunteer English teacher at a slum school. This is where she discovered the virtues of becoming vegetarian from her host family who was Buddhist. Needless to say, she became a vegetarian herself.
The “Pray” category winner is Maria Lorenza Bernaldes Alba who wrote “The Believer in Me” and wins a a 60-minute treatment for two at CHI, The Spa of Edsa Shangri-La Hotel. Maria tells the story of how God answers our prayers in the strangest and most unexpected ways. In her case, after her mom passed away just before her capping ceremony, she found herself crying and begging God for a chance to talk to her mom as the ceremony was less than a week away and this was the fulfillment of their dream. Suddenly there was a song that came on the radio that said: “Don’t be afraid, oh my love. I’ll be watching you from above. And I’ll give all the world tonight, to be with you. Coz I’m on your side, I still care, I may have died but I’ve gone nowhere. Just think of me and I’ll be there.”
Winning the “Love” category and an overnight stay for two at the Traders Club Floor of Traders Hotel Manila is Adriana Cruz, 28, who wrote an essay titled “Unearthing Love’s Secret.” She chronicles how she stopped believing in love because of deaths and failed relationships but eventually rediscovered its true meaning when she lost her unborn son.
Janet, Maria and Adriana also win P3,000 worth of National Book Store gift certificates.
The judges for the Eat Pray Love contest are National Book Store vice president for purchasing Cecilia Ramos-Licauco and purchasing manager Xandra Ramos-Padilla, Shangri-La Hotel vice president for sales and marketing Peggy Angeles, and Philippine STAR Lifestyle editor Millet Mananquil and assistant editor Tanya Lara.
Prizes can be claimed at the NBS head office in 125 Pioneer St., Mandaluyong City. Call 631-8061 loc. 136 or 173 and look for Sherilyn Mendoza or May Argarin to set an appointment.
