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[ This page was last updated on Friday, January 04, 2008 ] [Facts] [Business]
[Attractions] [Where to Stay] [Travel]
Registered
with The Aruba Chamber of Commerce since 1997
|
and the Minister of Tourism, Dr.
Lili Beke. Both ministers praised the resort's initiative and wholeheartedly
supported La Cabana's All Suite Beach Resort's interesting program. Our vision said Martin
Ras, Training Manager, in his opening remarks is to have healthy, well informed
employees. General manager Lou Roelofsen then addressed the audience and
stressed the importance of health over all material things. Both ministers then conducted
a short discourse, Minister Beke, urged the audience to use car seat belts for their kids,
while Minister Wever was a champion of second-hand smoke. Both supported a holistic
approach to health, upheld prevention over cure, and professed fitness and nutrition to be
important factors in their personal lives. Dr. Viana, an alternative
physician also mentioned his hope to
presentations and check ups
to be given by the professionals of Wit Gele Kruis, the white and yellow cross.
Vendors selling related health products will come and display their products, health
institutions, such as the Kidney Foundation and FADA/SAMBA dedicated to the fight
against drug abuse will also provide information about health and general well-being. 
A genuine Caribbean Clambake
unfolds each Thursday at the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino. The stage for
the fun-filled affair is set at sunset when party-goers congregate at Gilligan's Beach
Bar & Grill for a blazing performance of the sun as it dips into the ocean for
the night. Gilligan's has a sun-bleached, dessert-island look, most befitting for a Caribbean
Clambake. Executive Chef Matt Boland and his kitchen
brigade prepare a memorable feast each week. Diners are invited to take unlimited trips to
the salad bar, help themselves to a mountain of peel & eat shrimp, steamed clams and
mussels, then savor a Caribbean Paella brimming with seafood, flavored with saffron. The
giant chaffing dishes on the buffet reveal BBQ Jerk Chicken and Fresh
Fish in lemon/lime sauce. The
open coal grill sears Sirloin Steak, cooked to order right before your very eyes and for
dessert a wagon loaded with Blueberry Cobbler and Apple Pie tops the culinary adventure.
In charge of entertainment, Eddy Croon, an old salt, his Caribbean Reggae
and Calypso repertory, second to none. In the event that you've been missing a bit of old
island magic during your vacation, this is an opportunity not to be missed. The Thursday
Clambake is reasonably prices at $29.00 per person. It is served from 7 p.m. to
10 p.m. and reservations are suggested.
affair at Pasion,
just recently opened on the Palm Beach road, en route to Noord. The little
restaurant whose cuisine is labeled Japanese-Mediterranean belongs to Frans Sydow
and Venezuelan restaurateur/wine connoisseur Leo D'Adatzio. 
sommelier - pretty,
blonde Malvy, and carefully prepared boutique -type food creations. A small Bodega at the
entrance offers unusual candles, napkins and glassware for sale. Everything from furniture
to candelabras is for sale at Pasion, says Frans. You love the ice bucket, take it to go.
The special menu served for the press on Thursday featured the assorted Tapas
available for noshing and sharing at the restaurant's wraparound bar. We appreciated the
Japanese pizza topped with smoked salmon - those are deliciously crispy rice cakes;
Brochette Capresse, mini toasts with minced tomatoes under a blanket of melted Mozzarella;
shiny black and green Greek olives, diced Feta cheese in olive oil; a very good Pasion
spicy roll which dunks salmon, crab, seaweed, avocado & passion fruit into wasabi with
soy sauce; Japanese Carpaccio, this one is thickly sliced 
tenderloin covered with
zesty Ponzu sauce, a wonderful onion relish. All appetizing Tapas were nicely combined
with chilled, light and fruity Trinity Oaks Chardonnay, then the main course arrived. 
chocolate soufflé with
orange rum and vanilla ice cream, was the perfect topper for the sublime gastronomic
adventure. The décor of Pasion, pronounced Gothic Chic is unusual for Aruba. The
place boasts a circular wooden ceiling with exposed rustic beams, glass partitions,
dripping clusters of white candles, twisted rope candle holders, beige clean walls,
original art - a group effort created one night over a few bottles of red wine by the
resident Bohemian set. A raised stage awaits the chill-out Jazz musician who plays his own
version of Buddha bar tunes, each evening. The place is dark enough and comfy
enough to offer an intimate shelter yet provides lots of sexy social interaction
opportunities along the bar. Frans says he modeled it a bit upon South Beach's Tantra.
We hope he is equally successful.
a super-cop
in charge of the island's men in blue, Jan van Nes, a hotelier now at the
helm of Playa Linda Beach Resort, Roland Peterson, a high
ranking official within the Police and the Immigration department and Virgilio
Kinsdale a retired police-officer, then the Chief of Security for La
Cabana All Suite Beach Resort. 
session daily: Hotel
Executives will teach hospitality, Police officers will discuss legal matters, then Blue
Team representatives will review security issues. Among unusual topics on students'
agendas: Martin Ras, of La Cabana, discussing Emotional Intelligence, Ramon
Boukhoudt, of the Aruba Beach Club, describing Gracious Hospitality and Kinsdale
lecturing about the Hotels' Organizational Structures. 
scooters and ATVs, and
sport excellent tans, year-round. The overworked Beach Police - dealing with anything from
hatching baby turtles to lost kids and beach bums, will now get some help from the freshly
trained Blue Team which will improve the level of service in that area. They are also
shortly expected to switch to a 24-hour schedule, thus providing assistance around the
clock. 
consumers to use their ATM, Bancomatico, cards. They jointly raised Afl.
100,000.- dedicated to crime prevention on the island. Some of it, Afl. 25,000, was
donated to A.H.&S.F, last week and as documented in the local newspapers, the
Foundation immediately purchased 10 new computers and 2 printers, for the use of the
Police Department. Van Nes hopes to encourage the involvement of more local companies
until his official government funds, kick in. He is planning to present a Business Plan to
AHATA, and other stakeholders, shortly, and hopes to raise the level of overall
awareness.
haute couture he concocts, working
on his masters degree at a Dutch fashion university. All questions are now answered having
attended Couture Cocktail at the home of insurance man Fernando Mansur,
Friday night. The very glitzy event took off with a cocktail party on the front lawn,
valet parking included. The garden was dramatically lit by candles and made so much more
interesting with artwork by artist Ozaira Muyale on display amid the
profusion of greens. The list of invitees was impressive with many of the most beautiful
people in town in attendance as well as artists, members of the press, even an Ocean
Drive journalist/photographer. Fernando
emptied his designer home into the garden to accommodate just
about 100 chairs, all swathed in white, tied with a gold bow. The evening took off with
free-flowing champagne and canapés served by 
the female body.
Percy is a believer in skin, thus the cut out parts are an integral element of his design.
He loves the contrast of a fully dressed chest and a completely naked back; he plays with
trailing silk ribbons and holds his pieces together by flimsy hanging threads. He favors
pleats and enjoys vertical and horizontal stripes in contrasting colors. The fabrics are
all rich, dark, shiny, hue changing and light reflecting. The collection shown in Aruba
was dedicated to his sisters, and artist Ozaira Muyale put a poetic spin on the narration,
recounting Percy's childhood recollections, being the only boy, raised among six Little
Women. One of the most enjoyable elements of the show was the live music by guitarist
Ryan Maduro who accompanied child musical prodigy Jeremy Lanooij,
a charming kid with golden opera pipes. Their program included original Aruban
compositions, some of them by Jeremy's mom who was in the audience, discreetly directing
her son's musical performance. A show of that magnitude cannot be
realized without the help of
generous sponsors. The Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino accommodated the Ocean
Drive writer; 
festival of food and wines
called Best of Both Worlds, last week. The Eagle beach culinary powerhouse is
also steaming fresh mussels, which came into season late this year; it regularly caters a
deluxe sunset dinner sail with de Palm Tours and is looking into orchestrating an
unforgettable romantic weekly affair on de Palm Island. Still, management, including the
dining room and kitchen staff makes time to be friendly and charming and invites all the
movers and shakers of this community to a Wine Discovery lunch. The party held
last Friday at 
The lunch party hosted by Peter,
Luc & Werner on behalf of 
Napoleons, au jus, a
stacked marvel and very tasty Roasted Lamb Chops with Honey-Thyme Sauce
served with Belgian white heads, pale asparagus for those in the know. Dessert featured Caramelized
Apple with Cinnamon Ice Cream, coffee and tea. Brisket, flank steak and
lambchop were made to shine by the culinary team of 
Fabulous local artist Elisa
Lejuez-Peters is now showing a compilation of works at HUGO BOSS, on the
main street. Her work is especially striking against the white-washed tall walls of the
boutique. The major black and white piece at the entrance is called "The Way Life
Sounds" and is heavily influenced by Chinese musical notes. Elisa
developed an interest in Chinese music during her trip to Hong Kong two years ago. 
surfaces in much of her work as a decorative element of perfect
equilibrium. The two smaller paintings represent scenes of life, in motion, passing at a
dizzying pace, reality is blurred. It is Elisa's impression of how we live in a stressful
world that flies by before our very eyes. 
press was invited for dinner
& show Saturday night; we cleaned our plates and were entertained for a long hour. Allen,
a vocalist from Costa Rica leads a cast of 3 good-looking showgirls – one
from Aruba, 6 terrific female ballerinas and 4 amazing male dancers, among them the
unforgettable Orlando, in earlier times with African Pride. The Viva
Las Vegas show opens against a theatrical backdrop showing off skin and feathers to Somewhere
There’s Music and goes on to explore the Bee Gees Saturday Night
Fever & Elvis’ Viva La Vegas. The girls wear pink g-strings, under red
velvet curtain-material pants with cutout butts and breasts! You Give Me Fever
costumes are equally striking: red vinyl topcoats and hats, Dalmatian-spots
topcoats and CHAIRS. Indeed,
what a lovely way to burn! A sizzling mock strip-tease duet by Anna &
choreograph Euvgenia Kaluguina, is followed by the Mission Impossible
soundtrack, cluttering the stage with Playboy bunnies strutting their
cotton-tails and floppy ears. A spoofy dominatrix scene unfolds next. The dancers all look
like Cruella de Villa in pillbox hats. Then they strip down to high-cut bikinis,
and chase the men packed into tight leather briefs around. They do Sex Bomb in
clingy silver dresses and blonde wigs; their Egyptian sequence has exceptional
dancing and 
more wonderful
costumes. The Bulgarian prima ballerina on toe-shoes is an import from the old Alhambra
Show. She is gorgeous, doing her tippy-toe thing to George Michael’s
music, mixed with Janet Jackson. James Brown in a snakeskin tight body
suit and cowboy hat? We’ve got it. Indians in very sheer animal print body
stockings, complete with boa hair helmets? We’ve got those too. Glitz, glam, stunning
bodies, the Allegro is brimming with talent. We have been working on the show for six
months says general manager Abdel Zouari who hosted the evening with
beautiful wife Rosaria. Then they all went to La Fiesta and
danced like crazy until daybreak . . .
place, the former location of his Carnival
headquarters carries the Trash collection, original designs by Ronchi in addition
to a compilation of popular labels such as D&G, Moschino, DKNY
and more. The entire store content was paraded at a brisk pace, Saturday night,
by 40 male and female Knockout models, in the designer's famed courtyard. His
prices are reasonable and the stuff for sale very wearable. Ronchi's original Solo
line of bathing suits in lime green, turquoise and black is no-nonsense and made to
actually be worn not just strutted. All his clothes are sexy: Frederick of Hollywood's
designs - apparently the giant decided to leave the bedroom in favor of more public
appearances, also some ultra feminine Victoria's Secret numbers. The colors are
appealing, beige, brown, off-white and mocha. Boys will be happy at Trash, where they can
crawl into very neat, comfy, reasonable fashions, mixed and matched in sensible colors,
no more
oversize monstrosities, no second-skin clingons. Ronchi did present a few more-extravagant
men's ensembles in yellow, one with butterflies, with long, past-the-knee coats, but those
may be ordered from the happy seamstress who works at the atelier. Busy executives may
call for an after-hour appointment and get some wine and cheese served on top of
couture, 24 hours a day. 
guests
at the showing Daphne Lejuez & webmaster Mark Cesareo
of 
designated nature reserve. Juan had it all mapped out in his head. At the time the area
was administered by the Foundation for Nature & Parks, and Juan spoke about restoring
the old cunucu house within that Garden of Eden; he spoke of tourists coming to visit our
national treasures; he envisioned a learning center and even professional park rangers. He
was a fountain of information, facts and trivia, folklore and myths. Juan has moved on
since then, but his vision is intact. The 13-acre nature reserve, a sanctuary for birds,
lizards and donkeys, Amerindians rock drawings, native trees and cacti was set aside in
1966, yet only in the past few years with the help of the Dutch kingdom, paths were
cleared, a 
rangers' station
established, an educational center built, guides hired, in short, 
marked. We saw the poisonous Bonaire tree, the snake like Iguana
tree, the almost extinct Naked Indian tree popular for its red/black good luck beads; two
types of Sea Grapes, the local variety of the American Weeping Willow and naturally many
Watapana trees often mistaken for Divis; flowering Almond, Acacia - also known as Mimosa -
and Cashew trees; a jungle-like parasite with air roots, Hilo di Diablo.
sheep shed, look exactly as they
did at the turn of the one-before-last century. 
doodle on the easily
decomposable quartz-diorite boulders, in the cavernous side. Many of the drawing are now
flaking away, because of the brittle nature of the stone but the bird in flight, the frog,
the twin suns, and the flying duck: you'll be able to recognize them all. 
degree
at the prestigious Universiteit van Arnhem, just landed the Franz Mollinar award.
It is the Dutch Haute Couture highest laurel, named after a top European designer. Percy
reports there were 50 competition-entrants, then 6 finalists, and at the end of an
elimination process, just one winner. The award winning design started with a heap of
expensive pink fabric, he says, which he didn't even dare put scissors to. Instead he
recalls, I started pleating and folding for a spectacular evening dress with a bare
plunging back, and irregular fan shaped sleeves. 
and family members. Included
in the honor, substantial prize money, which allowed him to buy the most-state-of-the-art
sewing machine. While here Percy will be showing Collection 2001, for the very first time,
at the home of his friend Fernando Mansur, August 10. A total of 10
creations will be on display. Fernando who is orchestrating the show envisions it against
the background of Opera, sung by a child prodigy, and poetry, recited by artist Ozaira
Muyale. With just 85 invitees the upcoming show is already the talk of the town. 
sewing classes at Linchie's academy in the heart of town. Sitting
on the floor among Linchie's aspiring student, Percy made colorful finger hoods from
leftovers, later he custom-designed fancy clothes for the neighbors' dolls.
