Astute men generally would say that a second heaven is next to impossibility but aren’t second chances awaited in the offing at all times?
People learn from their own mistakes and a woman will forever be searching for what and who she feels is deservingly perfect for her.
Cherry Manuel, a smartly ambitious daughter of businesswoman Dolores and barber Eduardo Manuel of Floridablanca, Pampanga, was born to dream and win. She might not mean to outsmart other girls her age but at least she aimed to make a difference on her own sans stepping on other’s toes.
With a Physical Therapy diploma from Emilio Aguinaldo College (which she earned in 1990) neatly stashed under her sleeves, Cherry was all set to start a life all her own. .. ready to build concrete dreams and prepared to attain her goals.
But her being a health buff and figure conscious led her somewhat off-track when she met tall and dashing Nel Castellvi in the same gym where she worked out. Their constant togetherness inevitably led to more than just being friends which suffered a brief letdown when Cherry went to the US in May of 1991…only to return as Nel’s blushing bride before a San Fernando, Pampanga altar on May 6, 1992.
Being married failed to pin her down as a housewife. There was no stopping Cherry from having a career with an enormous vision of success…and to the US she enplaned back to resume what she had started while Nel followed six months later.
In a modest apartment in Astoria, NY the couple shared their innate selling ideas and converted them into a thriving business. Starting with a home-based enterprise engaged in selling rice, fresh and dried fish, and whatever saleable goods there were, Nel and Cherry became productively self-made entrepreneurs after merely couple of years.
“Nel was a great cook,” Cherry boasts of her ex-husband.
“He could create impressively great-tasting dishes from his own recipe… the reason why we put up Perlas ng Silangan, a Filipino specialty restaurant which catered to the public and the elite. Just too bad that it’s now under a new ownership after we operated it for ten years,” Cherry divulged with candidness trying to hold back whatever bitterness there might surface that could defy her emotional strength.
While employed as an Early Intervention Physical Therapist, with specialization on babies from birth up to three years old, Cherry tried her proficiency on real estate and she made it big. Her stint with Century 21 for seven years catapulted her as an efficient and one of the best real estate brokers. With an expertise on foreclosure, Cherry became the company’s asset with forty sales agents under her supervision.
Capably equipped with effectual business metrics and techniques while being motivated by her enthusiasm to really be in the league of successful entrepreneurs, Cherry was able to invest in five houses which she converted into rehabilitation facilities that indulge in the treatment of drugs and alcohol addiction cases. Duly recognized and supported by the government, every facility has its own house manager under one executive supervisor to whom Cherry solely deals with.
Despite having a sensitively assertive control and a tough personality behind her feminine pulchritude, Cherry couldn’t just deny that she’s emotionally devastated and temporarily affected by the separation. “It wasn’t easy to throw away memories and twice as hard to be all by yourself on a seemingly empty bed,” Cherry confesses in a low tone while I was merely waiting for her to at least shed a tear…but she remained composed. “That was a defining moment in my life when I was doubly challenged…all for the sake of our children.”
It’s not that they’re more married to chaos and dysfunction than to each other like other couples who never ceased to attack each other than being attached…they’re simply pushed by the urgency of separation rather than being together incompatibly. Both are arrestingly compulsive in their own ways and prolonging such situation could only lead to plunging the family into financial turmoil that could directly affect not only their personal economic status but the future of their children, as well.
“After being together for 14 years I was certain that separation or divorce was the best solution to get rid of our differences. He was a habitual drinker and a compulsive gambler which I was neither. We’ve been on our own for 9 years now. But honestly, other than those bad habits of his, I couldn’t speak ill or anything negative about my former husband. There’s so much goodness in him. I still believe he’s one of the best guys a woman could find but it just didn’t work for me.”
“We may be separated and already leading our own private lives but we never left a wall behind to divide and detach us. The mutual respect and esteemed connection remained intact and undamaged. After all, he’s still the father of my children and nothing could change that,” Cherry lengthily affirmed with her expressive eyes constantly glued on me…as if pinning down her pronouncement with unadulterated conviction. I could only stare at her and reflectingly listened while trying to decipher her faceted nuances.
Cherry, in spite of an amicably settled divorce, remains undaunted of what others may opine regarding her mutual connection with Nel. Like just recently when the latter was confined due to depression brought about by the successive wretchedness and desolation that badly affected him, Cherry, by no means, was persistently by his side (together with Nel’s latest partner…yes, they are very civil with each other) ready to extend any form of assistance that he might need.
Then there’s a new restaurant venture that Nel abandoned even before it was opened. Being an enterprising woman with keen business acumen Cherry felt obliged to take over and decided to operate it herself. She believes that she could withstand the tension of juggling between her professional career as a Physical Therapist while personally managing a new restaurant business which she has been passionate about and had grown accustomed to.
Her more than ten years in managerial operation behind Perlas ng Silangan restaurant during its glorious years, which was managed by her erstwhile husband, was more than sufficient to keep her armed with a full knowledge with firm operational capability. And not to forget the fact that she’s from Pampanga…and Kapampangans are known for their versatility and expertise in culinary art.
A knowledgeable gourmand and meticulous food critic at the same time, Cherry, at some point down the road, still feels unaccomplished after formally opening Kabayan Authentic Filipino Cuisine’s doors to the public last June 12, 2015. The feedback was heartwarming. Customers come and returned in throngs and hordes. There’s constantly a multitude of diverse patrons which she personally attends to and exhausting ‘though it may seem but she doesn’t complain…not until when the day is done and night’s stillness grippingly embraces her in her aloneness.
“Finding Mr. Right is a gamble in itself… one never knew the real McCoy not until he’s been with you for some time,” Cherry openly shares her thought. “I don’t say I have an impeccably high standard but finding all the paramount qualities in one guy is tantamount to shopping for the right ingredients for a special dish… that a wrong choice of component or spice could spoil the entire flavor.”
“But once I’ve found the right one he’ll surely be enjoying every bit of my pampering ways,” she said straightforwardly and laced it with a hearty laugh. “I’m a one-man-woman and I give my all when in love.”
Cherry is one business-minded woman who understands the value of money and the price it commands, and more so, she knows exactly how to make the moolah. “After working hard and earning what you’ve toiled for, isn’t it just proper to invest it wisely into a profitable venture?,” she asked.
Now the Physical Therapist-turned-capitalist slowly divulges her sterling entrepreneurial side. “I don’t allow myself to pre-meditate or even consider an option. I instantly dip my feet into the waters the moment the idea flashes on my mind and allow its own temperature to convince my curiosity. And, amazingly, it always worked!”
Strong-willed that she is Cherry relentlessly aims for positivity in whatever she does. Driven, focused without diverse interest while in the process, Cherry is hands-on and directly involved in her job. “I really don’t settle for mediocre end-results. I maybe a risk-taker but I make sure I end up achieving what I aimed for,” she quipped.
“When I do things, I am always prepared to take the risk. The riskier it takes, the more challenged I get,” she readily justifies her statement while elaborating it profoundly. “I am a goal-achiever…I never allow impediments of all sort to hinder my way to achieving what I really wanted. I don’t know but I could already visualize the other end even merely during the early phase of what I do.”
An exceptionally atypical woman Cherry is adventurous… and audacious at that! She could be extremely guileless and frank to a fault. When I ask her if there’s already somebody new who replaces Nel in her heart, she had a ready response in an instant.
“Yeah, I won’t deny. We met in a dating site online,” she said as I merely nodded in conformity although I was taken aback by her instantaneous reply.”He’s Italian-American…and so very loving. He doesn’t only care for me but for my children, too. Now, I can say there’s an undoubted bliss in the second wind. I should know…I could feel it!”
Cherry has 5 children with Nel and all grown up. “Actually, Kabayan is a family-owned business. All my children, nieces and nephews are part and partners of this establishment. I want my children to be familiar as early as possible on business management, customer relations, and how to benefit from it since, sooner or later, they will end up having a family of their own…so at least, they already have the right foundation and concrete training,” Cherry cleverly stated.
Incidentally, Kabayan Restaurant which is strategically located at 4912 Queens Boulevard in Woodside, New York (11377), daily serves authentic Filipino cuisine from the kitchen of a home-cooking whiz. The newly opened eatery has 72 permitted occupancy but Cherry opted to just having 48 to provide ample traffic and smooth flow for the benefit of her most valued customers. “I want to see people enjoying their food amid a homey atmosphere…uncluttered and spacious. Personally, I hate it when I couldn’t freely move when dining. I always consider my customers’ satisfaction in regards to food and ambience…and that’s my priority.”
“I’m personally extending my invitation to everybody out there to visit Kabayan and enjoy a great culinary experience in a comfortably homey atmosphere. It’s just like dining in the comforts of your own homes but with pampering amenities at your beck and call. Contact us through 718-639-3113 and we’ll offer you the best Filipino hospitality and truly genuinely cooked native dishes,” was Cherry’s cordial invitation that is something hard to refuse after having spent a totally savoring afternoon at Kabayan.
Now who’ll have the heart to decline scrumptiously prepared native dishes that are cooked to perfection and appetizingly served by a strong-willed woman named Cherry Manuel Castellvi?
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