Ben Chan with guest Sung Hoon
Ben Chan, founder and head of Bench and Suyen Corporation and steadfast advocate of #lovelocal, celebrated his birthday Tuesday evening (Aug. 27, 2024) with family and few friends, who didn’t seem prepared to see and meet a surprise guest (I wasn’t): popular Korean star Sung Hoon.
At Ben Chan’s birthday dinner table, from left (seated): Tina Cuevas, Alice Eduardo, Millet Mananquil, Margie Moran Floirendo; (standing) Ramon Antonio, Mons Romulo, Nenita Lim, Aileen Chua, Thelma Sioson
Every year, Ben holds a private dinner to celebrate his birthday with people he has built ties with through time. There is always a casual but very comfortable sharing of food and fun talk. Last Tuesday was no different, or so we thought. We were just starting dinner when a small entourage walked in, and it included a guy with glasses and almost full bangs, wearing loose shirt and pants—the so-now “idol” look. Must be Bench’s latest Asian model, we thought. It was only after he had walked past our table when we heard the Filipinos in his entourage say, Sung Hoon. Can’t be, we thought. But when he went to our table and I took a good look at those eyes behind the glasses, I knew instantly it was Sung Hoon. And before the others at our table could make out the name, I took that step to his side—never underestimate the big steps of a tennis player-turned-fan girl (me)—and asked for a selfie.
Sung Hoon’s selfie with TheDiarist.ph’s Luis Carlo San Juan
Gino Gonzales, Thelma Sioson, Ara Arida in after-dinner niceties with Sung Joon and his staff
Sung Hoon with, from left, Kai Lim, Mons Romulo, Agnes Huibonhua, Alice Eduardo, Lulu Tan Gan
Incredible. I almost didn’t recognize him with those bangs. I was just watching him in Perfect Marriage Revenge. Way before that, Marco Protacio and I (of YOU+ beauty clinic) loved him in Oh My Venus! with So Ji Sub and Shin Mi Na (also of Hometown Cha Cha Cha), My Secret Romance, and Woori the Virgin. We also enjoyed his eating shows (Mukbang Home Alone) on YouTube.
Sung Hoon had just flown in the other day, ostensibly in time for Ben’s birthday. Of course, that birthday dinner, we didn’t want to pin down Ben into announcing if the Korean star would be the next celebrity name for BenchActive. We didn’t want to turn his birthday into a presscon. And even at his own birthday celebration, Ben was a man of few words.
Even at his own party, Ben is the type who’d rather stay in the sidelines—until a guest performer could bring the attention back to him. Tuesday night, it was today’s most celebrated voice, Arman Ferrer, top theater actor and operatic tenor. Arman sang a few songs loved by the birthday honoree: If Ever I would Leave You (from Camelot), Ben’s favorite Moon River, The Impossible Dream, Kung Maputi na Ang Buhok Ko, and Minsan Minahal Ay Ako.
Among the few guests were Singapore ambassador to the Philippines Constance See, former Italian ambassador to the Philippines Giorgio Guglielmino—Ben received the Order of the Star of Italy in 2019 for bringing into the country Italian design and craftsmanship, notably in Italian furniture lines—and Philippine Airlines president and CEO Stanley Ng.
The guests sang in chorus the birthday song as Sung Hoon wheeled in the birthday cake. The guests stayed on way after dinner, chatting away, among them the Korean star. I found it notable that unlike other Korean celebrities, this Sung Hoon didn’t seem guarded—he mingled freely with the guests, some of whom were apparently starstruck. “You look much younger in person,” we told him as he joined a few guests in the den. “You look young too,” he replied smiling (how about turning small talk into big?).
This was his first time in Manila, he said, but not in the Philippines. He has been to Boracay.
Later on, we reminded Ben again about how he really has been at the beginning and now at the peak of the Korean Wave interest in the Philippines. Previously, we were never given the chance to join Ben’s family dinners with #globalbenchsetters and to watch the Hallyu stars up close. Until Ben’s birthday dinner Tuesday.
Of course, this fangirl forgot to ask Ben his birthday wish.—Thelma Sioson
Kai Lim and Nenita Lim
Fashion designer Chito Vijandre, who’s staging his 15-piece collection in Bench Fashion Week, and scenographer and Filipiniana author Gino Gonzales
Joey Samson, Philippine Star lifestyle editor Millet Martinez Mananquil, Rhett Eala
PAL president/COO Stanley Ng, Bulletin lifestyle editor Arnel Patawaran, Tina Cuevas, Chito Vijandre
Juliana Gomez, the only child of Richard and Lucy Gomez, who just graduated ‘cum laude’
Mons Romulo in Mandy de la Rama top and Vina Romero patch-strip skirt—both lines available at Katutubo on Sept. 13-15 at Bench Tower
Ben Chan with Singapore ambassador to the Philippines Constance See (far right), Alice Eduardo, Mons Romulo (far left)
Richard Gomez, Thelma Sioson, Ricky Toledo—before this selfie, Richard recalled how Ricky worked with him in the now-iconic Bench ad.
Ben Chan and his birthday guests
