ADVERTISEMENT

Manila Bulletin

Lifestyle

People and Events

Season of magic

Lifestyle | People and Events

Season of magic

Santa Claus kickstarts the Christmas festivities

By Poch Eulalia

At A Glance

Do you already feel the Christmas cheer vibrating through the air?

HO! HO! HO! Have you been nice all year?

Halloween is done, so the most wonderful time of the year is upon us. Do you already feel the Christmas cheer vibrating through the air? That Christmas feeling is now unmistakable at any Rustan’s department store.

CHRISTMASTIME IN THE COUNTRY Front row, from left: SSI Group Inc., Rustan Commercial Corporation (RCC) , and Rustan Marketing Corporation (RMK) president and COO Anton Huang, Lizzie Zobel, Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, Marilou Pineda, and RCC, SSI Group Inc., and SSI board chair Donnie Tantoco; Second row, from left: Happy Ongpauco-Tiu, Nikki Huang, Tourism Promotions Board COO Marga Nograles, and MJ Tantoco; Third row, from left: Dino Pineda and Dr. Hayden Kho

SANTA SINGS JINGLE BELLS Anton Huang, DOT Secretary Christina Frasco, Lizzie Zobel, Marga Nograles, and Donnie Tantoco

A Christmas party, the first for the season, kickstarted the holiday indulgence. Santa Claus and his elves welcomed guests over at Rustan’s Makati as its interiors turned magically into a winter wonderland. Every floor offered all manner of activities rife with the joyful vibes of the holiday. On the ground floor, Santa’s Chocolate Corner by the beauty section let customers get a taste of fresh cacao or take-home flowers from Rustan’s floret. Those in the men’s section warmed up to their drink of choice at the cocktail tasting booth. The fashionista titas had a blast on the second floor’s women’s section, thanks to all the special outfits made just for the occasion. You could even catch fashion icons Rosbert Villar, Yoya, Joyce Makitalo, Jim Weaver, and Puey Quiñones mingling about.

Ayala Malls head of brand strategy and acquisition in leasing Mark Sablan, Ayala Malls head of operations Hamm Katipunan, Ayala Malls marketing head, Mae Dichupa, president and CEO of SSI Group, Inc., Rustan Commercial Corporation, and Rustan Marketing Corporation Anton Huang, Nikki Huang, Ayala Malls COO Paul Birkett, and Ayala Malls deputy head of partner relations Mitch Suarez

Anton Huang, Nikki Huang, and Nina Huang

Isabella and MJ Tantoco with kids Isoletta and Jose Ennio

Magic was present throughout the third floor as Santa settled down for photo ops with the children. There was also an unlimited amount of train rides to give kids the true Polar Express experience. On the fourth floor, the home section transformed into a cozy holiday space as décor, yuletide tablescapes, and food samples from Mr. Happy Home Café kept things lively.

Rebecca and Chris Tantoco with son Andres

Kathy Huang with son Kameron and daughter Kenzie

Paolo Tantoco with son Zach and daughter Bella

On the fifth floor, everyone, old and young, was a kid in the Candy Shop again, as well as in the Gingerbread House. Heartwarming musical performances by the Mandaluyong Children’s Choir, the Pundaquit Virtuosi orchestra, musical theater star Arman Ferrer, and live music by the Naughty Pandas kicked up the already vibrant mood.

Dr. Hayden Kho and Dr. Vicki Belo

Kathy Huang and Kaye Tinga

Marilou Pineda, Lizzie Zobel, Mia Borromeo, Susan Joven, Marga Nograles, and Happy Ongpauco-Tiu

Nina Huang, Mia Borromeo, Susan Joven, George Salud, and Girlie Rodis

Ayla Malls’ Jara Lucero, Ayala Malls head of operations Hamm Katipunan, Ayala Malls COO Paul Birkett, Ayala Malls marketing head Mae Dichupa, Ayala Malls deputy head of partner relations Mitch Suarez, and Ayala Malls head of brand strategy and acquisition in leasing, Mark Sablan

Lizzie Zobel, Fortune Ledesma, Marilou Pineda, Mia Borromeo, and Jayjay De Ocampo

Mandaluyong Children’s Choir

Pundaquit Virtuosi Orchestra

The Naughty Pandas

A MAGICAL VENUE Rustan's Makati transformed into a winter wonderland to make way for the holiday season

Related Tags

Poch Eulalia People and Parties Lifestyle

ADVERTISEMENT

.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }

{{ item.section_name }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ item.subtitle }}

Read More

function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });

Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.