Sisons’ greetings: Marianna Reyes, Kathy Sison, Patxi Punsalan, Triccie Sison, Trisha Punsalan, Camille and Mandy Reyes
It has been our family tradition to go to Baguio right after celebrating Christmas in Manila. Well, it seems there were about 800,000 visitors who also chose to go up the mountains for the holiday season. Despite the irritatingly long car ride that was caused by a number of one-way roadworks along provincial highways and bridges (paging the Department of Public Works and Highways, which failed to anticipate the terrible holiday traffic as well as the perennial road repairs), it was made worthwhile when we reached the Baguio Country Club after almost eight long hours of mostly bumper-to-bumper gridlock.
Luckily, we had a wide circle of fellow Baguio lovers who braved the terrible road conditions with us — among them were family friends who shared wonderful memories of the summers of their youth, while others were new acquaintances with a common appreciation for this city that was established in 1900 by the Americans. It is currently the number-one destination for local tourists with its semi-temperate weather and scenic mountainous terrain.
In a luncheon given by well-liked couple Lani and Conchitina Bernardo, we sat beside Stella Marquez-Araneta, who was being congratulated for her current crop of 2013 Bb. Pilipinas lovelies who won impressive top honors for our country: Mutya Datul, Bea Rose Santiago and Angeli Dione Gomez for Miss Supranational, Miss International and Miss Tourism International, respectively. When questioned on how to spot a winner, Stella remarked that beauty and a whistlebait figure were common in an international contest. Poise, confidence, and personality were definitely pluses but the candidate has to have the “X” factor to be able to rise to the top of the heap. And, Stella added, all her winners were natural beauties; without any plastic surgery or invasive enhancements that seemed to be almost routine among the candidates from various countries.
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