Did you know that before they were thrown together on an island in Thailand with 16 other castaways in the GMA extreme game show Survivor Philippines Celebrity Edition, Akihiro Sato (who would emerge the Ultimate Survivor) and Solenn Heussaff first crossed paths in a resort as fashionable as they are — the Misibis Bay Resort in Albay (which Leonardo DiCaprio was reported to have “almost” visited last year)?

They were there for the pictorial of Penshoppe’s 2011 Summer Campaign, photographed by Pilar Tuason (creative director/lead photographer for Wedding Belle Magazine, I Create, Stuff, Lonely Planet and Olive Magazine, and editor-in-chief of Digital Photographer Philippines Magazine) who has done most of the shoots for Penshoppe. The Misibis shoot was for the 25th anniversary of Golden ABC, the company behind Penshoppe.

    “Our team wanted to shoot in a nearby place that looks truly international. Misibis Bay evokes the exact vision that we wanted to achieve, and Penshoppe wanted to create a campaign that could transport you anywhere in sophisticated, jet-set summer clothes that can be as comfortable on the shore as they are on the streets,” explained Penshoppe brand director Alex Mendoza.

Brazilian-Japanese (Brapanese, for short) Akihiro and Fil-French Solenn unwittingly had some kind of “conditioning” for the rigid/rigorous Survivor challenges in the luxury Misibis Resort which is touted ”to have been blessed with the longest summer spell…180 days of pure bliss and sun” — with a big difference. On the Thai island, the castaways were reduced to their bare essentials reminiscent of soldiers training in jungle survival; but in Misibis, Akihiro and Solenn frolicked in sophisticated style, lounging under the sun on signature hand-woven outdoor furniture and white sand beach.

Both Kapuso artists, Akihiro and Solenn have inevitably ventured into showbiz, appearing with Richard Gutierrez in the new GMA adventure series Captain Barbell. Solenn is also cast with Heart Evangelista, Marian Rivera and Lovi Poe in Regal Films’ remake of its campy flick Temptation Island, a Joey Gosiengfiao classic.