AMIDST a swirl of sea creatures, from the smallest sea horses to the most monstrous of mantas, the Sea Princess and her Pirate celebrated 15 years of wedded bliss at the Manila Ocean Park. Our country’s first and largest oceanarium was the venue for our Crystal Anniversary, and I can already see this giant aquarium will be the latest event destination in our city.

China Oceanis Philippines, the local subsidiary of a Singaporean firm of the same name, put up this P1 billion project, combining the aquarium, restaurants, a small mall and soon, even a boutique hotel. Also in the plans are for the aquarium to offer scuba diving for marine enthusiasts. Manila Ocean Park’s Tina Romualdez helped us arrange all the festivities that day, assisted by my Assumption classmates, Girlie Sison, and Popsie Gamboa.

We began with a solemn Sunday Mass, celebrated by Father Manoling Francisco. It’s heavenly to renew one’s wedding vows while facing the Manila Bay sunset. I wore a seashell-inspired masterpiece by Rajo Laurel as I walked down the aisle again, with my daughters Annika and Athena leading the way, wearing matching outfits from Crossings Department Store.

After the Mass, we had some light cocktails from Tamayo Restaurant, then moved to the main viewing aquarium for The Mermaid Show. Days before the party, I had been rehearsing with the synchronized swimmers of St. Scholastica’s, and even had a mermaid outfit done by Edwin Tan. Unfortunately, on the big day, I was nursing a cold and thus, my swim with the mermaids had to be postponed.

Aside from the viewing aquarium, Manila Ocean Park has other sections, each educational in its own right. There’s an area for kids to interact with nature and learn conservation in a literally hands-on manner. The Agos (Flow) section has a rainforest theme with eight freshwater tanks, while the Bahura (Reef) section exhibits 48 tanks of corals and fish. The main attraction is a 25-meter walkway that snakes under the Laot (Fishing Ground) and Kalaliman (Deep) sections.

After The Mermaid Show, we had the main dinner at the circular Laot, beautifully surrounded by huge aquariums teeming with eagle rays, giant trevally and other exotic fishes. Caterer Gaita Fores put up a wonderful buffet with shell centerpieces and fish bowls. Even better, she was able to stretch the food as my original head count proved underestimated.

Nokia launch

I was fortunate that the folks at Nokia allowed me to launch their Nokia 6700 Classic during dinner. This new phone features a five-megapixel camera, GPS navigation, and WebKit browser, all packed into an 11-mm slim design. My fave feature though is that I can reject a call just by turning the phone over onto its screen. That’s a quick way to do it!

How does one launch a Nokia phone? I wanted to do it during The Mermaid Show by making a call from underwater, but the technology just isn’t there yet. So instead, the 6700 and I were carried into the Laot by three hunky mermen.

And then I got to do an Oprah, raffling off 70 Nokia phones, including three of the new 6700. The lucky three were JR Isaac from my fashion buddies, Ram and Emi Jorge from Dennis’ underwater hockey group, and soon-to-be-wed Charlie Carmona and Leana Farrales from my growing triathlon friends. All of the phones were given Smart SIM cards, thanks to the support of Smart Infinity.

Infinity continues to be the most premium postpaid brand in the country today. Up to the end of this month, they’re offering switchers a free Apple MacBook or alternatively, three new Nokia phones, including the techie N96, the stylish 6600 slide or the trendy 1680c. Call 0918-8884636 for details.

Ironman triathlon

I love playing Oprah. Timex, the brand of Ironman Triathlon timepieces since 1986, gave me 10 of their Ironman watches to raffle off as well. This part of the raffle was especially popular among Dennis’ and my athletic friends, as many of his hockey friends are also into triathlon.

We’re all going to be together again at the first-ever Ironman Triathlon 70.3 sporting event in our country on Aug. 23 at the Camsur Watersports Complex, all wearing our Timexes, of course. The tech innovations of this watch are amazing, including a heart rate monitor, iControl for iPod, fitness tracker and so much more. I’m deep into training for the 1.9k swim, 90.1k bike and 21.1k run already. The total distance is 113.1 kilometer or 70.3 miles, aka the Half Ironman. Timex also donated P30,000 to the Tour of Hope campaign against cervical cancer.

The other popular raffle items that night were Phiten titanium products from Japan, which improve one’s recovery rate from fatigue and muscle strain, and prevents injuries by reducing muscle tension. It’s all quite high-tech but wonderfully fashionable at the same time. One of the raffle winners was my 72-year-old dad, Alex, who has been a Phiten aficionado for a few years and still plays his single-digit golf handicap, partly thanks to Phiten’s technology. Phiten also donated P30,000 to my Assumption Batch ’81 Foundation, earmarked for the Tubbataha Reefs.

As with any event, I have so many to thank for making it a success. As always, Norman and Mye Cruz of Adworks did the invitations, and this year’s graphics were exceptional. Norman and Mye can customize your own party. Call 636-5570 or e-mail adworksgrfx@gmail.com.

Firma, World of Feng Shui and Picture Company all donated gift certificates, Sonja Ocampo sent small, cute cupcakes for giveaways, 3D ME set up a photo booth for souvenirs, and Goldilocks sent a Pirate and Sea Princess cake that was just remarkably on theme, and yet still delicious. Unlike our wedding 15 years ago, where we were so harassed we skipped the cake cutting, this time around Dennis and I performed for the photographers.

My best photog that night was Marty Ilagan of M+M Photography. Some of his photos of the evening can be browsed on their website, www.manilawedding.com. As you can see, Marty truly made our 15th a crystal-clear anniversary to remember!

E-mail the author at seaprincess@inquirer.com.ph.