Sometimes, the past will remind you of certain emotions and memories. Your childhood toy might remind you of days when you would go running out of the house to play. Your favorite dish can remind you of family gatherings and special occasions, or a souvenir from a trip will remind you of the fun times you had during your travel.

This is how Admiral Hotel reminded us of the past. This hotel was previously owned by my mother’s family, the Lopez-Araneta clan. It was one of the prestigious hotels during its prime years; even General Douglas MacArthur stayed there. Aside from that, it withstood the Japanese occupation in the 1940s. True enough, it is a historical structure and should be considered as one of the city’s heritage building.

When we heard of the demolition, it reminded us of the times we used to stay there. The family would often use the hotel for gatherings and get togethers. My sisters Michelle and Marie shared their fond memories in the hotel. Michelle said that, “I will surely miss this. They should have preserved the facade at the very least. I grew up here.” Yes, she grew up in Admiral because all her birthday parties and her debut were held there.

Marie shared the time when we watched the Pope’s motorcade from the balcony. I am sure that that is just one of the many remarkable memories we had in Admiral Hotel. She said, “So many memories here as Lola used to live here for a while.” She even reminded us of the food we enjoyed during our stays in Admiral Hotel which includes the Japanese food and the delicious lechon paella.

Raul Concepcion also took part in the discussion. He even shared that there was a time when Marissa and I invited them to the disco which was the popular thing then. Good old memories we enjoyed reminiscing.

I also remember the time when I was a young boy and we were still living in Pasay, my mother would always take me to Admiral Apartments, prior to being a hotel. When I was studying in La Salle, I spent my free time and lunch breaks in this hotel. My mom was the general manager during those days, that is why we were welcome to stay there anytime. One of my precious memories is when we spent our first night after our wedding in Admiral. I cannot forget that night because it was so hot and the aircon broke down.

There was also a time when my father, who was known to be a supporter of the Aquino administration, had to hide in Admiral during the coup d’etat. The whole family fled to Admiral Hotel.

I have more to share, but this column is not enough for all the recollections I have with Admiral.

It just saddens us that this memorable building will now be renovated, and given a modern look. I just wish the government could have imposed certain parameters to the new developers to keep some historical design elements or the facade of the building to remind us of the glorious past. But our family’s memories of the Admiral Hotel will remain intact.

When one asks a question, he seeks an answer. This is the first step towards learning. Many participants during our summits often want to hear advice from our panelists and speakers. So what we do is a group mentoring during our summits so everybody gets to benefit from the advice given to the one who asked a question. We also follow through by having our Angelpreneurs-mentors provide one-on-one sessions after. We give these mentorships for free because we want to share with aspiring and start-up entrepreneurs how to get into business the right way. It should be both with an entrepreneurial mindset and competency to have a greater chance to succeed.

Just recently, at the AFFI trade show, we had a mentoring program with Jorge Wieneke who gladly shared tips and tricks with the entrepreneurs who visited our booth. One of the visitors was Sharmela Hiranan who came with her son, Shievie. She wanted to help her son pursue his passion in entrepreneurship, that is why they dropped by our booth. It was a simple sit-down interview, but I am sure that those who visited us learned new knowledge on how to start their businesses.

We have been doing these sessions in the recent past with Angelpreneurs: Carlo Calimon, Paulo Tibig (who recently won the ASEAN Business Awards), Butz Bartolome, Vix Madlangbayan, Tess Dimaculangan, Pax Lapid, Mon Abrea and other partners. Only the other day, Jorge and our executive director Mon Lopez had a mentoring session with another start-up entrepreneur who has a unique food concept to offer in the Parañaque area.

We are inspired to see more and more enthusiastic entrepreneurs starting in this exciting world of entrepreneurship and taking control of their destiny. We wish them greater success, but we have to do it the right way, backed sheer hard work and diligence, knowing what the market wants and continuously innovating.