Before returning to Puerto Rico to compete in the 70th Miss World, Miss Philippines Tracy Maureen Perez spent a day at Nuwa Hotel at the City of Dreams before flying off that evening. City of Dreams hosted a sit-down lunch for Perez and even made her a going-away merienda of Chichingka—a cheesecake/ bibingka from Haliya, the newest Filipino-cuisine restaurant at Nuwa. Then off she went to the airport.
Perez’s Miss World journey has been a whirlwind experience. The 70th Miss World pageant was originally set for December 16th, 2021 but had to be postponed on the day of the pageant itself because of the worsening COVID incidence in Puerto Rico; some candidates and Miss World staff tested positive.
Miss World owner and chairwoman Julia Morley then decided to move the pageant date to March 16th, 2022 (March 17th, Philippine time), which was a cause of utter disappointment for the girls and especially for Perez. This sudden turn of events definitely killed the momentum. “I could not believe it, it drained me,” Perez told TheDiarist.ph over lunch at Crystal Dragon at the City of Dreams.
Perez enjoying her Cantonese steamed Dim Sum combination (Photo by Jorel Valmores)
Cantonese steamed Dim Sum combination (Photo by Jorel Valmores)
Thankfully she wasn’t one of the girls who tested positive, so she left Puerto Rico immediately and spent the holidays in the US. She switched off all her social media channels, which she said was something she didn’t regret. “I needed time to think and reengage myself,” she said. During her stay in the US, the Miss World Organization hadn’t announced the new pageant date so she decided to fly back home to the Philippines.
The rescheduled final date was in a way both a blessing and a drawback for Perez. “There were moments I wanted to give up,” Perez recalled, but she tried to keep her spirits up nonetheless.
“There were so many ups and downs. I felt uncertain if I should keep on.”
A good luck cake for Perez from City of Dreams (Photo by Jorel Valmores)
Also, not all of the original 80-plus girls could fly back to Puerto Rico for the pageant. Miss World announced in its website that only the Top 40 would be asked to fly back, and luckily, Perez was one of them.
The two-month break before the March pageant gave her time again to realign herself. She even flew to her home province of Cebu to focus on her Miss World Beauty with a Purpose project which helps single parents. She also organized a disaster relief drive for Typhoon Odette victims which badly hit her province. On a fun note, she even had a national costume made and a new competition gown for the finals.
Posing by the giant wooden Chinese doors of Crystal Dragon restaurant (Photo by Jorel Valmores)
The two months went by quickly and Perez was ready again to fly back and finish off what she came to do—to win, to give the country its second Miss World crown.
As a welcome respite, City of Dreams gave her a day stay at Nuwa Hotel so she would be well rested before her 20+ hour flight to Puerto Rico. Since she lives in Quezon City, the traffic and travel time to the airport could be very unpredictable.
An eight-course meal was specially made for Tracy’s welcome lunch consisting of Cantonese steamed Dim Sum combination, braised seafood broth with crispy dried scallops and fish maw, braised pork belly in steamed bun, wok-fried seafood rice with crab meat to list a few.
Then she was whisked off to her suite to rest for a bit before getting ready to be glammed up for her send-off to the airport. She even welcomed some of her relatives to the hotel who wished her good luck. And before she went to the airport, Nuwa gave her a send-off Chichingka, still piping hot, its aroma filling the Haliya restaurant. The cheesecake/bibingka is made of rice flour, cream cheese, sugar, salted egg and coconut.
Haliya’s famous Chichingka, the cheesecake/bibingka (Photo by Jorel Valmores)
Miss Philippines Tracy Perez’s stint for this unexpected second leg of Miss World will last only seven days. People can watch the pageant March 17th, 2022 8 a.m. at CNN Philippines or www.upstream.ph
Photography: Jorel Valmores
Styling: Francis Chee and Vhee Co of StyleIt.Ph
Makeup: Gen Villamiel
Hairstyle: MJ Rone
