Life’s a beach
BY DIANA UY
Truly when the beach calls, everyone pays attention.
And when it spells B-O-R-A-C-A-Y, expect everyone to scram.
A trip to Boracay, after all, is not your ordinary beach holiday. It’s not called the party island for nothing, making it the ultimate venue for the much-anticipated Nestea Beach volleyball competition.
That said, who wouldn’t want to see cute, well-built college hotties tough it out on the white sands of the island, not to mention, glamorous celebrities and pretty and handsome models getting wasted with free-flowing booze?
Needless to say, the 12th Nestea Beach was flocked, mobbed, and packed when it commenced its five-day series of activities that included the final leg of the college beach volleyball competition, a celebrity match championship, a fashion show courtesy of Penshoppe and Nautilus by PJ Arañador; a beach cleanup, concerts, and party, party, and did I mention, party?
Let the games begin
The first few days saw 18 teams from 14 schools compete for the semis and final rounds. At stake was a whopping half a million pesos worth of prizes. Champion teams get to receive P100,000 cash each with their respective coaches taking home P25,000.
At the end, Rolando Agus and Arnel Amadeo of Foundation University won the men’s title while Janelle Tabio and Florian Gutierrez of Southwestern University won in the women’s division.
Runners-up in the men’s division were Jonrey Sasing and James Ryan Rivera of University of Southern Philippines Foundation and Emmanuel Marlon Luces and Mark Sabusap of University of St. La Salle Bacolod who won P80,000 and P55,000, respectively. Janez Armie Igot and Jusabelle Brillio of University of the Visayas and Mylin Que and Liezl Manatad of University of Mindanao-Tagum, meanwhile, were runners-up in the women’s division.
Of course, Nestea Beach would not be complete without the celebrities trying their hand at one of the most beloved sports of all time. Pinoy Big Brother housemates like Riza Santos, Gaby de la Merced and Will Devaughn, together with the other members of the Nestea team like Brad Turvey, Maggie Wilson, Cesca Litton, Lian Ramos, VJ Drei, VJ Sanya slugged it out with the members of the Penshoppe Team including Victor Basa, Matt Evans, Vicky Herrera, Melissa Ricks, Einar Ingebrigsten, and Dawn Balagot.
The next day, we saw Team Pinoy Big Brother, which now includes PMAP model and Nestea Beach Volley alumnus Ariel Atendido, beat Team Binibining Pilipinas with members like Maggie Wilson, Lian Ramos, TV personality Brad Turvey and columnist Armiel Cabanlig. Gaby de la Merced, of course, was the crowd favorite while the off-line hits of beauty queen Wilson proved to be more entertaining than annoying, thanks to her uncanny ability to laugh at her mistakes. Leave it to another beauty queen and PBB housemate Santos to remain poised and graceful as ever even while diving and eating sand just to keep up with her team members. Now, there is the mark of a true beauty queen, indeed.
Joining these celebrities were columnists JR Isaac and Philip Cu-unjieng, TV personality Sam Oh and the PJ Arañador male models.
Nestea Beach also announced the newest Nestea Beach VJs: Thistle Guevarra (Luzon), Shenna Hernandez (Visayas) and Cheska Mempin (Mindanao) at the welcome dinner held at La Carmela de Boracay Resort Hotel.
A night of fashion
The highlight of the following night was a fashion show featuring the latest island wear collection of PJ Arañador for Nautilus and the Penshoppe Summer Collection, at the Boracay Regency Beach Resort and Convention Center. PJ Arañador showcased a four-themed collection including Angel Lovers, Adventurer, Naturalist, and Explorers.
Angel Lovers featured beautiful cherubs in red and white skimpy wear on the catwalk. While Adventurer showcased sporty beach wear in summer colors like lime, orange and powder blue. We saw stripes, hooded tops and huge back pockets stitched on board shorts.
The Naturalist proved the most summer-y of the collection with the profusion of colors and flower prints predominating the line. Lastly, it was all metallic in the Explorers set. We saw gold and silver mixed with animal prints, which Arañador says is his ode to “wildlife conservation especially in this day and age of industrialization.”
The Penshoppe Summer Collection showcased funky prints and colors. Heart Evangelista and Nikki Gil, together with the other Penshoppe models, starred at the fashion show.
Beach cleanup
As part of its environmental effort, Nestea Beach conducted a beach cleanup, in partnership with Boracay Scuba and Boracay Foundation, in Boracay’s Station 1 and 2. The cleaners were Brad Turvey, Cesca Litton, Lian Ramos, and joining them were Devaughn, Santos, De la Merced, Sam Oh, and Myx VJs Drei and Sanya.
The five-day event culminated with a victory concert featuring Parokya ni Edgar at the Paraiso Bar. Despite the heavy rain, beachbums (drunks included) crowded the Paraiso Bar and rocked the night away with the “Banda ng Bayan.”