MILLENNIAL MELLIE
Not to be deterred by superstition, MELLIE ABLAZA celebrates a milestone in the most fun, festive, and innovative way
Amelia “Mellie” Romero Ablaza, the honorary consul of Guatemala recently celebrated her 79th birthday with a grand party at La Hacienda Amelia, their most elegant expansive estate in Alfonso Cavite. According to Chinese superstition, it is best to wait and celebrate a milestone, but Mellie is not the type who will be deterred by superstition and skip a year without a grand feast. The fabulous Ablazas are famous for their much talked about themed extravaganzas and would never pass on a chance to enjoy a party with friends and everyone dear and close to their hearts. So, to ward off that notion, Mellie decided to celebrate as a 25-year-old Millenial with 54 years of experience. She has always been vibrant and young at heart and at the same
time a veteran party host. Her Chinese friends were happy at the brilliant idea and celebrated with her as she turned “Millenial Mellie”!
At ten in the morning, Mellie, who looked decades younger in stylish and chic streetwear created by her 2nd son Jun Jun Ablaza, welcomed her guests who attended mass at the Ablaza's La Capilla de Santo Niño that lasted for an hour. Cocktails followed at the Ablaza private museum and garage where everyone enjoyed a scrumptious grazing spread, refreshments, and overflowing champagne. By noon, their vast ballroom which was turned by the highly creative Jun Jun into a totally “lit” (a millennial term for something wonderful) dance club opened its doors for lunch and party proper. During her speech, Mellie acknowledged the different generations where her guests belong to, highlighted by her party's inspiration—the "Millenials" (born 1981-1996) who were born in an era of fast technological advancement and the founding of social media. There were her most dignified friends of well-loved society matriarchs and patriarchs who belong to the "Silent Generation" (born 19281945), post-war babies who saw the TV become dominant called “Baby Boomers” (born 1946-1964), The “Generation X” (born 1965-1980) who experienced the evolution of the computer. Of course, among the guests were the younger ones that include Mellie's grandchildren who belong to the “Post Millenial” generation (born 1997 onwards).
The delightful lunch was prepared by the Ablazas’ favorite culinary expert Chef Jessie Sincioco of the Rockwell Club, and she took “inspos” (millennial for inspirations) from millennials' favorite food. With the millennial mania for ramen, bowls of heavenly ramen noodles with homemade chicken broth with an oozing cloud egg were served. The guests also indulged on green salad with tiger prawns, a roast U.S. black Angus rib eye and mushroom roulade with foie gras served on truffled wild rice vegetable risotto, lemon sorbet, and mixed berries smoothie. The party will never be complete of course, without the millennials themselves! Aside from Jun Jun Ablaza's dashing young male models/ ushers wearing his Ablaze streetwear collection, K-Pop style dancers who rendered high-octane dance moves in Korean club music and the "Teenage" band who sang cute versions of popular songs, brought in an authentic millennial vibe.
The Ablaza celebrations have always been the best parties in town where they put great importance to every detail such as their invitations like the cute Millenial Mellie paper doll complete with outfits that brought back the kids in us. As stylish as Mellie's invitation, guests took on the cue and wore their “On Fleek” (flawlessly/very well styled) trendy clothes and age-defying street chic looks while they click on their smartphones to post photos in social media with hashtags just like what millennials would do. Among her well-heeled guests were H.E. AMB. Igor Khovaev / Mme. Ilina Khovaeva (Russia), H.E. AMB. Rodrigo Do Amaral Souza /Mme. Lais Amaral De Souza (Brazil), H.E. AMB. Ly Quoc Tuan / Mme. Dan Tam Vu (Vietnam), H.E. AMB. Gerardo LOZANO Arredondo / Mme. Maria Lozano Arciniega (Mexico), H.E. Koji Haneda / Mme. Ihoko Haneda (Japan), H.E. AMB. Han Dong-Man / Mme. Jang Soo-Kyung (Korea), H.E. AMB. Rafael Harpaz / Mme. Shulamit Harpaz (Israel), H. E. Bjorn Staurset Jahnsen (Norway), H.E. AMB. Steven James Robinson / Mme. Rhonda Claire Robinson (Australia). They all partied with some of Jun Jun Ablaza's true blue millennial social media influencers of today who joined the festivity—the popular twins Drew and Nate Venzon and celebrity Kyle Vergara.
Mellie remarked how the fantastic, idealistic, hardworking, and smart millennial generation strives to create a great impact on all our lives whenever and wherever with hashtags to remind us like "YOLO" (You Only Live Once). And so, we all have to “Glow-Up” (millennial for evolve, beautify, or improve, physically, mentally, and financially).
Mellie definitely had an Instagram-worthy “Millennial” party of the decade surrounded by her beloved “BAEs” (special people who are Before Anyone Else): husband Louie, her children Marc, Jun Jun, Czarina, and her grandchildren. The two millennial words I could only think of to describe her unforgettable party would be “So Fab!” (So Fabulous).