Dr. Vicki Belo officially opened her first cosmetic surgery clinic at Medical Towers in Makati in 1990. Last August, she opened her seventh branch at the Trinoma mall in Quezon City. “Pito pa lang,” she says. “Akala ng iba, ang dami-dami.”

Though she has only seven clinics, Vicki Belo’s name—along with the name of her enterprise, the Belo Medical Group—has become synonymous with success. In fact, when Lance Gokongwei, president and chief operating officer of JG Summit Holdings Inc., learned that YES! was doing a photo shoot with the doktora, he commented: “I think she’s one of the most successful entrepreneurs of her generation.”

Coming from no less than the SGV Foundation’s Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines awardee for 2005, that comment was music to the ears of Doktora Vicki.

These days, Doktora Vicki also hosts a beauty show, Belo Beauty 101, aired over The Filipino Channel (TFC). The show caters to future balikbayans who want to look good and feel good.

(YES! September 2007 issue)

The country’s premier cosmetic surgeon, Vicki Belo, lives with son Quark, 26, and daughter Cristalle, 24—her children with ex-husband Atom Henares—in this 900-square-meter, two-story, four-bedroom spread that stands on a 2,500-square-meter prime piece of real estate inside one of Makati’s exclusive villages.

The house-and-lot was his gift to his family, says Atom, a successful businessman who lists interests in a palm-oil plantation in Mindanao, a power-generator company in Cebu, and a partnership with the Ayalas in the Serendra realty project at Global City, Taguig. NU 107, the popular FM radio station devoted to rock music, was Atom’s brainchild.

The marriage of Atom and Vicki has been annulled, but the two have managed to maintain an enduring friendship. “She’s my best friend,” says Atom of Vicki. “She’s my closest confidante.”

(YES! September 2007 issue)

The entrance to Vicky's house is hard to miss.

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Greeting visitors who enter the foyer is an Oriental-inspired painting by Roberto Robles.

(YES! September 2007 issue)

Doktora Vicki initially wanted this place to be her hideaway, according to Atom: “Kasi her life is so busy, di ba? So intense. She wanted a place where at least she could relax or she could meditate, have peace and quiet.”

But being the sociable person that she is, the doktora ended up using the house to entertain her growing number of friends. Thus, the spacious living room alone—so spacious you could play tennis inside—actually consists of three receiving areas that have corresponding, but alternate, nooks right by the exterior hall. It was Atom’s idea to divide the area into three—but without walls.

“This is the formal living room,” says Atom. “Outside, the lanai is like the informal living room. We used to sit out there in the lanai for lunch.”
Adds daughter Cristalle: “I said, we have to have a lot of seating areas because minsan may dumadating na bisita and you’re still entertaining your first batch, and then my brother has a meeting with whoever…”

Cristalle, who admits she’s OC, or obsessive-compulsive, had her boyfriend, photographer Jeffrey Saez, take pictures of the whole house after the architect and a florist had groomed the whole place up. She then made an album of Jeffrey’s photos. She gives the album to the helpers whenever there’s a party.

“It’s like their guide on how to do the flowers and stuff,” she laughs. “Not naman gayang-gaya. Like, sometimes, we just get plants and flowers from the garden.”

(YES! September 2007 issue)

On the right side, where you now see glass door panels, there used to be a concrete wall with two windows. Atom asked his architect if they could knock down the walls and place glass panels instead.

“I think he wanted me to have the walls so we could hang paintings, etcetera,” Atom recalls. “But the garden is so beautiful in the back. It’s like a piece of art also, e, di ba? Kasi Ramon is also known for his pocket gardens, e. I told him, ‘Ramon, let’s open it up.’”

Ramon is modernist architect Ramon Antonio, whose work is featured in the book 25 Tropical Houses in the Philippines by Elizabeth V. Reyes. Being open to reasonable suggestions from his clients, Ramon knocked down the walls. “He’s a family friend, and he used to do work for my mom,” says Atom, who describes himself as a fan of Ramon’s “very sophisticated” works.

Showbiz trivia: Ramon’s father, the late National Artist Pablo S. Antonio—best-known as the architect of the Manila Polo Club—also did the Ideal, Lyric, Galaxy, Life, and Dalisay theaters, still fondly remembered by moviegoers of a pre-mall-cinema era.

(YES! September 2007 issue)

The house boasts high ceilings, huge doors, vast exteriors, and spacious everything. It’s also environment-friendly in one particular aspect: the whole place, both interior and exterior, is a non-smoking area. You won’t find ashtrays anywhere.

“Meron naman, nakatago lang,” laughs Cristalle. “Para mahiya ang mga tao.”

She explains why she and her brother Quark, both non-smokers, have hidden the ashtrays: “My grandmother smokes a lot, and my daddy used to smoke a lot also. And we grew up in my grandmother’s house. We grew up in an environment with smoke, so we hated it. That’s why me and my brother now, we don’t smoke. Even in high school, with all the pressure of our friends… I mean, we’ve tried, because every person may have tried it, but we really hate the smell of it.

“So, hopefully this is a smoke-free house, especially because I’m an environment person. In our church, I’m part of the committee called Justice, Peace, and Integrity of the Earth. I’m a scuba diver pa. So, it’s really important. You have to get all the youth on board, because as early as now they have to know the consequences on what’s happening to the climate.”

(YES! September 2007 issue)

This is one of the many living rooms in Vicki Belo’s house—there seems to be a living room everywhere! This is the one nearest to the main entryway and to the artwork-filled corridors leading to the second floor and the kitchen. The wall-to-ceiling glass doors lead to the conference room.

The best thing about the property is that it’s just six houses away from Vicki’s old house, where her mom, Nena, stays.

The old house is “just down at the end of the street,” says her ex-husband Atom Henares, who is a frequent visitor. “That’s the main reason why I bought it. Parang it’s very convenient, e. They treat it like upstairs, downstairs. ‘Saan si Vicki?’ ‘Nasa ibaba po.’ Akala mo, downstairs lang, down the street pala. We usually have our lunch there, with the mom.”

The painting on the wall (right) is by National Artist Arturo Luz. Atom bought it for his own 200-square-meter Rockwell condominium unit, but ended up donating it to this house.

“When I bought that one,” Atom recalls, smiling, “we all realized there was no signature! So I called up Arturo Luz: ‘Arturo, you used to sign your pictures, right?’

“He said, ‘Yeah.’

“‘Kasi, the one I got from your house’—I went to his house before they brought the paintings to the gallery, e, so, talagang fresh—sabi ko, ‘walang signature.’

“‘A, ganoon ba? Wait, I’ll go there now.’

“So, he came.”

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Vicky at the veranda.

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Atom says he looked at some 100 houses before finally choosing the one that formerly stood here. “If I didn’t like it, Vicki never saw it,” says Atom.

“Then her feng shui master has to approve it pa.”
After consulting with several architects before Ramon Antonio, Atom noted that they all had the same advice: tear the old house down and build from scratch. That’s exactly how he and Vicki did it. The present house took one-and-a-half years to complete.

(YES! September 2007 issue)

The pavilion comes complete with its own bathroom. Its walkway is bordered by a pond stocked with koi fish. This area, Cristalle says, is her favorite place in the whole property. “Because when you stay there, you see the whole house,” she explains. “I love seeing the whole house.”

Her father agrees: “It’s quite nice out there. If you go there, you have a totally different feel of the house.”

Ironically, Cristalle—along with the rest of the family—rarely stays there. “Kasi it’s so mainit,” complains the 5-foot-6 stunner. “I told nga the architect, ‘Tito, can we enclose it in glass and make it aircon, para we can hang out there?’ It’s such a beautiful place to be, di ba? And then when friends come over, we play poker or something.”
This time around, architect Ramon Antonio didn’t budge.

(YES! September 2007 issue)

Inside the pavilion.

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Dining in Doktora Belo’s home is like dining in a posh restaurant. Not only can you choose from among the many dining areas within and outside the house, you also have a choice of what to eat. The family’s own chef, Nonoy Legaspi, provides a complete menu—from appetizers to at least three sets of desserts.

This formal dining room, the one adjacent to the well-appointed kitchen, is where the family’s favorite dishes—Hainanese chicken, steak, and sea bass—are served.

In this dining area with the nine-seater round table, guests can enjoy not just the bacchanalian feast but also the view. On the wall is a mixed-media artwork by Lito Carating, above is a Baccarat chandelier, and behind the glass panel windows is a Zen landscape of bamboos and pebbles.

(YES! September 2007 issue)

The conference room, adorned with Cesar Legaspi paintings, is a necessity in this busy household.
“It’s funny, but when I’m up here,” Cristalle laughs, referring to her room, “I really think it’s malaki. But sometimes my mom would say, ‘My house is so small, ’no?’ Kasi minsan, maraming tao. I have a meeting here, my brother has a meeting there, we all have meetings. That’s why we have a conference room.

“The architect wanted that to be an office, because there’s always an office in every house—where there is one table, two chairs. I told the architect, ‘No, we cannot have an office, kailangan conference room.’

“In our old house, everyone was gathering around the dining table to have a meeting. Pag dinner time na, ‘Excuse me…’ Habang nagmi-meeting, nag-aayos ang maids ng lamesa. Parang it was so weird.”

(YES! September 2007 issue)

The TV room, which has its own bathroom, has a painting by National Artist Ben Cabrera as focal point. “I like the red lines on the painting,” says Cristalle. “It goes well with the other red lines in the room, like the ones on the pillows.”

Her dad adds: “That’s Ramon’s thing. He can harmonize everything, when he designs. He’s really magaling.”

One recent Ramon Antonio fan is Doktora Belo’s former endorser, Kris Aquino. When Kris visited this house, she decided to get the architect to design her new house in Valle Verde.

The beige sofa here is from the furniture store Minotti, which sells modern European design pieces. The rest of the furniture pieces are either from FurnItalia, another high-end store, or custom-made by Allan Romero, following design specifications by architect Ramon.

“The details, kay Ramon pa rin,” says Atom. “Like, all the silk fabric used in some of the chairs are all Jim Thomson silk. It’s the same for all the curtains. We went to Bangkok for the fabrics. The native blinds are local, but they’re hand-made.”

(YES! September 2007 issue)

A close up of the Ben Cab painting.

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The kitchen is managed by a stay-in chef, who is possibly the busiest person in a house that is almost never without a guest.

It is in this kitchen that Cristalle and Quark usually dine. “E, kung kaming dalawa lang minsan kakain, dyahe naman sa mga helpers if we ask them to fix the food pa elsewhere,” says the well-brought-up Cristalle, who also manages the household finances, including groceries, maintenance, and manpower.

Occasionally, mother and daughter come to the kitchen for what Cristalle calls “baking trips.” But they haven’t done that for some time now. “Siguro mga three months ago na ’yong last baking trip namin. Sometimes, my mom, she bakes cookies. As of now, we’re planning to take up lessons with Florabel.”

Florabel Co is the chef and owner of the Florabel restaurant at The Podium, Ortigas Center.

(YES! September 2007 issue)

Doktora Vicki once opened her huge refrigerator for Korina Sanchez’s Balitang K and then later for an Extra Challenge episode that had her switching roles with her friend, the inimitable Lolit Solis. As a result, it suddenly became public knowledge that the doktora is passionate about chocolates. She collects all kinds of all brands from all over the world—Godiva, Lindt, Royce, Patchi, Valrhona, Fauchon, See’s candies, and Max Brenner, to name a few.

These are just some of the chocolates we found inside her new home’s giant fridge. The bigger fridge—also filled with chocolates—is still in her old home, just six houses away from this one.

“I can’t last a day without chocolate,” Doktora Vicki admits. “Konti-konti lang naman. Like, if I feel down or tired, I get energy from chocolate.”

The chocolates she loves best are those that are given by her tall-dark-and-handsome Chinese boyfriend, Dr. Hayden Kho, who is 24 years her junior. A former ramp model, Dr. Kho just passed the physician licensure exams this year.

“Sometimes kasi, I get sungit,” she laughs. “That’s why my boyfriend is so cute. He gives me chocolates. Pag medyo mainit ang ulo ko, sinusubuan niya ako ng chocolate and—voila!—okey na ako.”

While she loves eating and collecting chocolates, she also loves giving lots of them away as gifts to her friends.

(YES! September 2007 issue)

The workout room—originally intended as a guest room for the family’s constant guest, Atom Henares—is filled with exercise gadgets, such as a treadmill, a stair master, hula hoops, boxing gloves, exercise DVDs, and Vicki’s belly-dancing belts. Vicki also made sure to have her dance pole transferred here, from the exercise room in her old house. But she rarely gets to use the pole these days.

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This is the hallway on the second floor, seen from the vantage point of Cristalle’s room. The closed door at the other end leads to Direk Quark’s room, which, like Cristalle’s, was designed by Almario sisters Ivy and Cynthia.

The other door, on the right, is supposed to be Atom’s room—“just in case” he visits. But Vicki recently converted it into the exercise room.

(YES! September 2007 issue)

These are the two sides of one painting. It is by Juan Luna, no less. “I bought it from Johnny Litton,” Doktora Vicki says. “Johnny bought it in Spain sometime ago. Ang corny nga ng subject, di ba—paa?” We said that, the painter’s signature aside, we liked it. “Really? It’s nice ba?”

(YES! September 2007 issue)

The paintings hanging in the hallway include an Ang Kiukok, from the National Artist’s mother-and-child series (above); a Malang, from his famous vendors series; and a Rock Drilon abstract. To this mini-gallery, architect Ramon has added antique elements, as well as Asian touches (from Laos and Cambodia).

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While the house was under construction, Vicki objected to Atom’s idea of having bathrooms and rest rooms all over the house, complete with Philippe Starck fixures.

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Atom laughs when he recalls Vicki’s words: “May banyo ka diyan, may banyo ka diyan, may banyo ka diyan, ‘tapos may banyo pa doon?”

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This toilet-and-bath in Cristalle’s room is one of several in the house. Just cleaning and maintaining all of the bathrooms requires a lot of manpower. This prompts YES! to ask how many helpers they employ. Cristalle makes a quick count: “We have six maids. ’Yong isa, pinag-aaral namin ng nursing. Then we have two security guards, two houseboys, four drivers.

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Cristalle’s Balinese-inspired room, with it’s canopied four-poster bed that has Malaysian antique doors as headboard, was featured in the May 2007 issue of Preview, sister magazine of YES!

“I’m very ethnic,” says the room owner, who also loves writing and painting with watercolor. “I’m very laid-back. When I want to go home, I make sure na it’s very comfortable, and very relaxing ang aura na ’binibigay. So if you notice—the walls are beige, para I can play with the pillows. Para kung gusto kong lively siya, I put nice, colorful pillows. But if I want things toned down a bit, I play with more earth colors, like a lot of browns, reds.”

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Cristalle’s already spacious room even comes with its own lanai, where she goes when she wants “a more playful setting.” Since she has been an avid diver for nine years now, Cristalle has also made sure that her room will remind her of her diving in such spots as Balikasag in Bohol, Anilao in Batangas, and El Nido in Palawan.

“If you notice, everything here is earthly and beachy ang dating,” she says.

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Posing with Cristalle is her friendly pet dog, Maui, a soft-coated wheaten terrier, an offspring of the original pair that the family brought in from the United States.

“When we got here, when we inquired kung puwede silang i-register, they had to open a new book, kasi those were the first of their kind dito sa Philippines. Pero the mom and dad had mga two litters na yata, so ’binigay na namin sa friends namin. Pero super-cute, mukha silang teddy bear. Nahihirapan lang sila, kasi mainit dito sa Pilipinas. Pero cool naman dito sa amin, marami naman kaming trees dito.”

Cristalle’s guess is that the trees surrounding their property, which are mostly mangoes, must already be 60 years old.

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Cristalle’s lanai is a favorite hangout of visiting birds. “Nahihirapan lang ’yong mga maids ko dahil the birds come here and then they poo-poo everywhere,” Cristalle laughs. She adds, pointing to the ceiling: “They even have their pugad there, o!”

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Quark’s sunny room, like all the other rooms in the house, is spacious enough to have its own receiving area. And there are shelves galore to accommodate his collections of to-die-for original DVDs, books, pop art, graphic novels, comic books, magazines, toys, and designer Nike shoes.

At 26, Quark is already thinking of living independently. “I think, in two years’ time, mag-o-on-my-own na ako,” he says. For the meantime, he’s loving his quarters just the way it is. “Actually, dito lang ako lagi,” he admits. “May isang day nga, di ako lumabas, e. Dito lang talaga ’ko.”

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On a wall of Quark’s room are posters of films by his favorite directors, including Blue Velvet by David Lynch and Batch ’81 by Mike de Leon.

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“Very dark, very intelligent,” he says of Mike de Leon. “Hindi siya melodramatic. Iyon ang gusto ko sa kanya. Very serious siya, pero kaya din niyang maging funny or hilarious, like sa Kakabakaba Ka Ba? Magaling talaga ’yong pagkakuwento niya.”

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In his birth certificate, Quark Henares is actually Enrique. “Pero ever since I was a kid, Quark na ang nickname ko. Kasi, di ba, smaller particle of an atom ’yong quark. E, my dad’s Atom.”

Showing on the giant flat-screen TV behind Quark is his latest work, a music video of Sugarfree’s single “’Wag Ka Nang Umiyak.” For the past five years, he has been directing music videos, TV commercials, and films, including Gamitan (2002), Keka (2003), the “Uyayi” episode in the three-part film ’Wag Kang Lilingon (2006), and Super Noypi (2006).

Last August, after shooting a TV commercial in Malaysia, he started filming Rakenrol, an indie movie that he is not only directing but has also co-written (with Diego Castillo of the Sandwich band) and is co-producing (with Reality Films).

He says he would rather leave the management of his mom’s renowned clinics to his sister Cristalle. “Ayokong makialam,” he smiles. “Eventually, baka pumasok ako sa businesses ng dad ko or something. Pero sa ngayon, films talaga’yong ano ko—parang suwerte ako in the sense na ginagawa ko for a living ’yong passion ko. So, in the meantime, stick with it, di ba?”

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A fan of pop and indie art, Quark collects the works of his friends like Ronald Caringal (“taga-band din ’yon, e”) and Louie Cordero (“actually, sikat na siya”). Direk is also an avid collector of hard-to-find miniature designer toys, which he mostly gets abroad—in Singapore, among other places.

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The doktora’s room, naturally the biggest in the house, comes with a lobby that serves as her office and library.

Because Cristalle remains her baby, Vicky often asks her daughter to sleep in this bedroom. “She’s very makarinyo kasi,” Cristalle explains. “We really grew up with her hugging, kissing, ganyan. So, until now, ganoon din ’yong pagtrato namin sa kanya.”

On the wall are a Cesar Legaspi nude and a small Malang painting.

(YES! September 2007 issue)

There’s also a lounging area a few steps away from the king-size bed of Doktora Vicki. Once inside her room, you’ll find another room that leads to an equally large room that houses her dresser, her bathtub, and her vanity mirror.

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Busy as she is, Doktora Vicki still finds time to watch, on DVD, episodes of her current favorite American TV show, House. This is an Emmy Award-winning medical drama that stars Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House.

When she’s too tired, however, a folding massage table, which often sits at the foot of her bed, comes in handy. Ordinarily, she gets a massage twice a week.

A bookworm, Doktora Vicki collects hardbound inspirational and coffee-table books. She’s currently reading Deepak Chopra’s How to Know God: The Soul’s Journey into the Mystery of Mysteries and The Way of the Wizard: Twenty Spiritual Lessons in Creating the Life You Want, as well as Rhonda Byrne’s bestselling self-help book, The Secret.

Lying around the room, too, are catalogues from fashion houses such as Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Phillip Treacy, and Roger Vivier, along with books about gourmet food and, needless to say, about chocolates.

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This refrigerator in her room, just like the one in the kitchen, is crammed with chocolates and bottles of Perrier designer water from France.

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Like many women of means, the doktora loves shoes. She has them in all forms, styles, colors, and brands. To make it easier to mix and match, she has arranged them using a color-coding scheme. Some of the brand names we managed to note down: Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Christian Dior, René Caovilla, Armani, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Ferragamo, and Casadei. Most of these names also appear on her clothes and bags.

(YES! September 2007 issue)

The bags are mostly LVs (Louis Vuitton) and Chanels. “Before, they were all covered with a bag, or they were inside their cloth bags,” says Doktora Vicki. “But if they’re in the bags, we never get to use them. Of course, when you don’t put them back in their bags, nasisira, nagkikiskisan, then the white becomes beige, then the sun comes in… Ay, naku, bahala na!”

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Doktora Vicki—here being groomed by one of her favorite makeup artists, Jerome Chang—says she likes the way her make-up room and closet turned out. “It has a touch of my personality,” says the sexy 50-year-old beauty doctor. “Ang galing! Before, it was such a mess. Now this room is so nicely fixed, di ba?”

Although her make-up room is already bigger than most beauty salons, Vicki and her daughter Cristalle still often go to salons. It’s a mother-and-daughter bonding thing.

“We go to the parlor and then we work together,” says Cristalle. “These days kasi, we really work together na, e. I need her a lot now. Like, pag may questions ang mga tao and medyo technical for me to answer, I have to approach her. ’Tapos, we work together.”

Cristalle is referring to her job as managing director of Belo Essentials, the family’s line of skin-care products.

“I’m her eyes and ears kasi sa company namin na ’yon,” Cristalle explains. “So, anything that comes to me, if it needs a major decision, I go na to her. But if it’s something that I can decide on, I handle it na because she’s very busy rin.”

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Much like in her choice of shoes and bags, Dra. Vicki also collects designer clothes. The ones she used in this shoot, for instance, carry these tags: Neiman Marcus, BCBG, and Byer.

Lots of them, too, still have their tags attached. Meaning, they’re still waiting for their shapely owner to use them.

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Cristalle, 24, a business management graduate of the Ateneo, is now managing director of Intelligent Skin Care Inc., the company that manufactures Vicki’s own line of skin-care products called Belo Essentials. The product line was launched only last July.

Asked to describe her mom, Cristalle says Doktora Vicki is not one who would deprive her family of anything.

“Kunwari, like, ’yong daddy ko, he grew up in a house where Coke is bawal. So, no’ng nagpakasal na sila ng mommy ko and they lived na together, sobra siyang naging Coke addict. As in, parang tubig… dahil deprived siya.

“Like, for me, when I ask my mom for a computer, then I just tell her that I need it dahil sa work or sa ganito, she will buy it for me kaagad. Hindi ’yong tipong, ‘Wait for your birthday, or till Christmas.’ Hindi ganoon.

“At dahil doon, I was able to learn how not to take advantage of that. Like, with my computer, I really make it last. I’ve had it for two years na. Kahit na may bagong iMac with a camera, et cetera, I don’t buy it right away because we don’t need it pa naman.

“Ever since we were small, and then even in high school, ‘Mom, can I go out?’ Di ba, ’yong ibang parents: ‘No, hindi puwede!’ Ang daming rules. So, ano ginagawa ng mga bata? Tumatakas, nagiging pregnant, you know… ’yong mga gano’n. With me, my mom goes, ‘Go out, go out, magsasawa ka rin!’

“When I got to college, I was so sawa na going out. Homebody na ako by that time. So, my mom never deprived me of anything material, or even her permission for me to do anything. You’ll learn not to take advantage of that because she gives it to you with total trust, di ba? You wouldn’t want to let her down.”

Cool mom, huh?

(YES! September 2007 issue)