Dinner at Tiffany’s

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a movie about a naïve young woman (portrayed by Audrey Hepburn) who looks at the iconic  jewelry store on Fifth Ave. as the embodiment of her dreams.

In real life, Tiffany & Co. is really the stuff of dreams, and dreams-come-true. In 1837, Charles Lewis Tiffany founded his company in New York City, where his store was soon acclaimed as the “palace of jewels” for its exceptional gemstones. During the last century, its fame thrived worldwide, made even more legendary by Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s and its film version starring Hepburn as Holly Golightly and George Peppard.

Tiffany’s recently opened a store at Greenbelt 4, its first stand-alone store in the Philippines, 26 years after it opened a store inside Rustan’s Makati. The store, its third in the Philippines, “is positioned as the pinnacle of the Tiffany shopping experience in the Philippines.”

Once inside the store, guests are immediately immersed into the world of Tiffany. A Ricardo chandelier hangs from a high ceiling. The iridescent glass rods are a loose interpretation of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s archival favrile glasswork.

Tiffany & Co. Philippines GM Mario Katigbak, the author and Yvette Fernandez.

To celebrate the new store, Tiffany’s invited Manila’s glitterati to an elegant dinner in an air-conditioned tent erected adjacent to the posh mall. The tents were palatial, with glass chandeliers, fine china, crystal, Moët flowing and an exquisite dinner prepared by Makati Shangri-La. Reflecting the glow of the chandeliers were glass-topped tables, brimming with flowers.

In his remarks to mark the milestone, Rustan Commercial Corp. president Donnie Tantoco said, “As fruitful as the past has been, we are determined to present the elegance, artistry and the romance of Tiffany to you in a much more meaningful way. May whatever Tiffany and Rustan’s do be of immense benefit to you. May we get better and better in understanding your dreams and helping you fulfill them.”

The elegant table setting at the Tiffany & Co. dinner.

See, I told you Tiffany was all about dreams, and making them come true.

The ‘Bravo Awards’

Security Bank Corp., together with event partner Zonta Club of Makati & Environs, recognized recently remarkable Filipinas in the third Bravo Empowered Women Awards at the JYD Hall of Security Bank Centre in Makati.

The Bravo Empowered Women Awards program honors achievers and advocates of social change nationwide.

This year’s winners were selected across a broad range of demographics and interesting backgrounds. The awardees include a tribal chieftain from Davao; a 29-year-old Jiujitsu world champion; and a former investment banker who established the first sustainable and most technologically advanced rice processing complex in the Philippines.

Bravo Empowered Women awardees (seated, from left) Margarita Ochoa for Sports, Dr. Rosario Oreta-Lapus for Education, Waya Araos-Wijanco for Culinary, Mona Magno Veluz for Social Services, Lifetime Achievement awardee Lourdes Reyes-Montinola, Maria Rhodora P.I. Palomar-Fresnedi for Business, Bae Arlyne Salazar for Arts, Culture and Heritage; Magnolia Fernandez-Yrasuegui for Media and Public Affairs; and Rachel Marjorie Renucci-Tan for Science & Technology; (standing) judges Maria Isabel Ongpin, 2015 8 Bravo Awards awardee for Arts, Culture and Heritage; former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and Philippine Women’s University college dean of Arts and Sciences and Zonta Club of Makati & Environs director Olivia Villafuerte. (Judges not in photo are Security Bank Corp. director and Asian Institute of Management president and dean Dr. Jikyeong Kang and AGREA Agricultural Systems International Inc. founder and CEO Cherrie Atilano.

The awardees are Maria Rhodora Fresnedi, Rachel Marjorie Renucci-Tan, Margarita Ochoa, Magnolia Yrasuegui, Dr. Rosario Oreta-Lapus, Mona Magno Veluz, Waya Araos-Wijanco and Bae Arlyne Salazar. These women were chosen based on their individual achievements, personal advocacies, and inspiring stories of triumph over adversity in the categories of Business, Science and Technology, Sports, Media and Public Affairs, Education, Social Services, Culinary Arts, and Arts, Culture and Heritage respectively.

Lourdes Reyes-Montinola, the chair emeritus of the board of trustees of Far Eastern University, is this year’s recipient of the Bravo Lifetime Achievement Award. Montinola was instrumental in the re-establishment of FEU as a prominent educational institution. In 1991, she authored Piña, which gave renewed local and global attention to the cultural significance of the pineapple plant, helping revive the piña fabric industry.

“The accomplishments of these women are as breathtaking as the lives they chose to lead,” said Ada Mabilangan, chairman of 8 Bravo Awards. “What’s more inspiring is their unrelenting commitment to uplift the lives of Filipinos from socially marginalized sectors. We are privileged to put a spotlight on the exemplary work they do,” she added.

Security Bank president and CEO Sanjiv Vohra believes the Bravo awards are aligned with the spirit of Security Bank’s mission to uphold conscientious decisions and actions for a sustainable Philippines.

“Our corporate success is sustainable only if we lead positive social change. We are committed to the ideals of BetterBanking, which entails creating better opportunities for all. Our partnership with Zonta, through the Bravo awards, aims to promote the important roles and contributions of women in today’s landscape. Their work needs to be supported, highlighted and increasingly recognized,” said Vohra.

Through the Bravo Empowered Women Awards, Security Bank promotes the proactive participation of women from various sector. The bank also seeks to drive social change in favor of inclusive growth, in fulfillment of its mission to enrich lives, empower businesses, and build communities.

* * *

(People now comes out on Tuesdays and Fridays.You may e-mail me at [email protected]. Follow me on Instagram @joanneraeramirez.)