Ernie Bower and his team BowerGroupAsia (BGA) started in Singapore in 2009 an APEC tradition hosting a so-called Wheels up Party to bring together folks from APEC governments, companies and leading CEOs and personalities from the host economy to relax, celebrate their hard work, and share stories from the official APEC meetings and the CEO Summit.
This year, BGA was represented in Manila by former U.S. Ambassador to APEC and to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Honorable Larry Greenwood, its Managing Director for the Philippines, Dindo Manhit, and Senior Director, John Hellmann.
Philippines, Inc. in partnership with Stratbase Group, Ernie Bower & BowerGroupAsia, Monica Whaley and the great team of the National Center for APEC, hosted the APEC 2015 WHEELS UP PARTY on the 18th of November 2015 at 8:00 PM.
I wore a simple and monochromatic dark green dress I recently bought from Hungary.
I was terrified with the thought of being stuck in traffic so I left the house at 6 pm. And there we were, running along EDSA uncontested. There were very few vehicles. Where did they go? Wait, I would be too early to my 8 pm call time.
I was thinking maybe I should go to the mall first to waste time. By 6:20 my vehicle was at the Blackbird Restaurant’s driveway. I noticed there were about 30 people inside. Oh it was not only me. Many people got scared of being late so they gave two hours allowance. Sobra kaming napaaga.
I chatted muna with some old acquaintances. Businessmen who have retired. Some I met from Philippine presidential trips abroad.
The event was held at the Blackbird restaurant, Ayala Triangle Park, in Makati.
Trick or treat, ang dilim.
Val Co with his dad William Co. Val is 37 and is very much single. He graduated from Xavier but went to Canada for his college degree.
His dad asked me to introduce him to Oyen, sabi ko meron na syang boyfriend. I told his dad I believe in love, let love find him. Hindi na daw uso ang love ngayon. Sa Chinese ang tawag kawshao (I don’t know the correct spelling, basta yan ang tunog). It means being paired or introduced.
Interested single ladies aged 25-30, go to his Facebook and introduce yourselves.
Serge Ortiz-Luis, in barong, arrived before 8 pm. He had many stories about the CEO lunch attended by President Obama. He said Jack Ma’s speech was the best.
I wasn’t able to attend because I was busy with my trips I didn’t think I would be back by then. Serge said people paid US$4,000 to attend the luncheon, to see President Barack Obama.
His ticket and Freddie Yao’s were complimentary but the other businessmen coughed up four thousand grand. At the last hour, the organizers dropped it to US$2,000 for a few. Serge said hindi daw sulit. Kala daw kasi nung iba makakapag-pa-picture sila with Obama.
Raymond Garcia, Jeffrey Ng, Annie C. Tan-Yee, Antonio Lopa, Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr., Arthur Lopez, son of Consul Ceferino Benedicto, Val Co.
___, RP Manhit, William Co, Jun Periquet
Every time the waiter brought food, I got. Subo ng subo. They all tasted good.
Nganga leaves
#4 exporter of Philippine mangoes, Bobby Amores, OMB, Chairman of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Jun Ortiz-Luis, Elizabeth Lee, Tony Lopa, William Co.
I got engrossed comparing notes with one of Toyota’s top dealers, Atty. Rey Oben. He’s a veteran dealer and it was good listening to his experiences. Marami akong natutunan sa kanya. His 35 year old son Cosco, is now the president of all his four Toyota dealerships which include Toyota Otis, Toyota Balintawak, a consistent Toyota Dealer of the Year awardee, etc.
Host, Prof Dindo Manhit, Union Bank Chairman, Tito Ortiz, Raymond Garcia, ______, Tony Lopa,
The party was well attended. with delegates from the U.S. Government, members of the U.S. Business Delegation and other members of the delegation of the APEC country-members.
I was waiting for Ernie Bower to personally greet and thank him for hosting this APEC Wheels Up Party but according to Dindo, he wasn’t able to fly out of Washington DC.
