Finding love in the Year of the Water Dragon

(Feng shui expert Marites Allen gave a preview of her 2012 predictions during a recent press briefing at Manila Hotel. On January 22, 2012, the hotel will usher in the Year of the Water Dragon with a Chinese bazaar, fireworks, blessing ritual by Allen, and an exquisite midnight feast at the Mabuhay Palace. The dishes will symbolize luck, longevity and wealth in the coming year. Copyright Stella Arnaldo)

EVERYONE’S still talking about the bombshell that showbiz princess KC Concepcion dropped last Sunday.

Well, I won’t dwell too much on it, since I don’t want to add any more to the noise. And as her mega-mom Sharon Cuneta did say, KC and Piolo are adults. In other words, KC knew exactly what she was getting into.

Of course, like many single, unattached women...KC’s desperate cry about wanting to find true love does tug at the heartstrings. But who, where and how to find it—that’s the big question.

Well, if you ask feng shui consultant Marites Allen about love, she can tell you that she is proof positive of how geomancy can help us single women find Mr. Right. After a failed first marriage back home in Cebu was annulled, Marites says she was able to activate her love life and attract many suitors with the help of feng shui.

She says she found her Prince Charming—an Englishman whose name she declines to reveal due to privacy issues—and married him. That is, “only after I carefully studied his chart!” Marites says she is very much happily married, with a wonderful family life with their four children. What’s more, she now has a great career as one of the country’s top feng shui consultants.

Marites, who is president of the World of Feng Shui Philippines, spoke to the media recently in a preview of Manila Hotel’s festivities to help usher in the Year of the Water Dragon on January 22, 2012.

So, of course I asked her: What can KC do to find that elusive “true love”? (KC, by the way, was born in 1985, the Year of the Ox.)

Marites says that KC’s “best match are those born in the Year of the Rat.” She cites the UK’s Prince Harry (Rat) and his girlfriend Chelsy Davy (Ox)—“they were having an on-and-off relationship but they seem to keep going back to each other.... So an Ox pairing with a person born in the year of the Rat is surely a very good start in finding the right one.”

Marites adds that KC’s best allies or friends are Snakes or Roosters.

But the feng shui expert counsels: “For a very pretty, intelligent and independent lady like KC, surely too many guys are already waiting for their turn to woo her heart. However, it is best for her to enjoy her singlehood and surely, when the time is right, she will find another love.”

Marites assures that love will come a-calling again, especially if “KC activates the southwest section of her bedroom with love charms such as peony flowers or double happiness symbols, such as the dragon and phoenix symbol, etc.”

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(Just some of the lucky charms and feng shui books available at Marites' World of Feng Shui shops in the metro.)

SPEAKING of Rats, guess who was born in that year, KC?

Well, it’s none other than President Noynoy Aquino, who was born in 1960.

Hmmm...KC and P-Noy? Well, why the hell not?! I think it could be a perfect match!

Both of them are smart, well-bred individuals.

They are currently loveless.

They both belong to respectable families with their feet dipped into politics and show business. So there would be an immediate understanding of each other’s priorities, background, and ways of thinking.

Okay, so there’s a 25-age gap. But maybe a more mature man (accent on the latter quality) is exactly what the young KC needs.

After all, this is a lady who virtually grew up without a strong male figure in her life. It was really her mom Sharon who was both mother and father to her, rearing KC as best as she could.

As for PNoy, he is no stranger to relationships with younger women. His ex-girlfriend Shalani Soledad is 20 years his junior—so what’s an additional five years in the case of KC?

And apparently, he is not intimidated by intelligent, outspoken women, having had relationships with Korina Sanchez, Bernadette Sembrano, Shalani, Liz Uy, Bunny Calica, etc. And KC is the same...articulate, well-read, and with just a touch of the right demureness. (She is actually like a slightly refined version of presidential sister Kris Aquino, don’t you think?)

But more important, KC and P-Noy have compatible Chinese zodiac signs! She’s and Ox. He’s a Rat. Who knows, it may just work!

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(Manila Hotel Executive Chinese Chef Sun Bing will be preparing a delectable feast for the Chinese New Year celebration at Mabuhay Palace, on Jan. 22, 2012. Photo courtesy Manila Hotel.)

KIDDING aside, Marites says the year 2012 brings a “general” risk of illness for those born in the Year of Rat, so the President should watch out. “It is a mixed year, so look after your health. Adjust to a less demanding schedule.”

She advises Rats in general to “focus on mentally-challenging activities, rather than doing the party scene.”

Marites adds that stress will bring tension to a Rat’s life, but his allies “are there to the rescue him.” A Rat’s best friends are Dragons and Monkeys.

To avoid falling ill, Marites advises Rats to acquire a Medicine Buddha Moving Mantra Watch “to create an aura of good health around you.” Also they should place a Brass Wu Lou in the Northern sector of the bedroom “as an antidote to the illness star.”

The year 2012 will be a generally favorable for those born in the year of the Tiger, Rabbit, Horse and Sheep, she says.

According to Marites, the Water Dragon’s power will help push dramatic changes in 2012. It may not mean the end of the world as the Mayan calendar supposedly indicated, but it will certainly be a “year of transformation.”

To indicate how momentous the transformation in 2012 would be, Marites recalled the previous Water Dragon years, the last one occurring in 1952. That year saw the passing of King George VI of the United Kingdom and assumption into office of his daughter Queen Elizabeth II. The first hydrogen bomb was detonated in 1952, ushering in the nuclear age. World War II also came to an official end with the Treaty of Peace signed between Japan and 48 countries aligned with the Allied powers coming into force.

She says although 2012 “will be better than 2011,” the Year of the Rabbit, “it does signify continuing disharmony, with conflicts between governments and social classes, and political and social unrest. There are to be key leadership changes; and social and industrial disputes are to escalate.” 2012 in an election year in the US, France, Russia and India, she points out.

Asked whether this meant a new President for the U.S. next year, Allen said: Yes, [US President Barack] Obama is an Ox (1961), and is slowly losing popularity with the yearly economic challenges in the U.S. So chances are, he may not make it to another term… unless he implements major changes more favorable to the U.S. economy.”

Marites will unveil her other 2012 predictions on January 22 at Manila Hotel’s Chinese New Year celebration. A Grand Chinese Bazaar will be held on the hotel premises featuring different stores selling lucky charms, house decorations and delectable Chinese delicacies.

While the fireworks light up the evening sky, hotel guests will dine on a feast prepared by Executive Chinese Chef Sun Bing at the Mabuhay Palace. The dishes will symbolize luck, longevity and wealth in the coming year.

Doomsday enthusiasts believe the world would end on December 21, 2012 because the calendar of the Mayans—a now-extinct indigenous civilization that once dwelled in Mexico—ends on that date. Well, I looked through Marites’s feng shui almanac for 2012 and it does include a 2013 calendar at the back. Whew!

(For ticket inquiries and reservations to Manila Hotel’s Chinese New Year celebration, call 527-0011 local 1108 or 1243.)

(My column, Something Like Life, is published almost every Friday, in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. This piece was originally published on Dec. 2, 2011. If you need to borrow the entries and photos on these pages, pls. cite your source. Thanks.)