She's statuesque, gorgeous, beautiful and smart. She's Klea Pineda, the Starstruck Ultimate Female Survivor. She also just celebrated her first year with her equally lovely fans, the Kleanatics.
I asked her about a couple of things, but what struck me most was how she was quite eager to thank her fans. If it was spending time with them, getting to know them on a personal level, she didn't hesitate to do it because as she says "They have been with me since the very beginning. They were the ones who went and voted for me when I was just a person joining Starstruck back then and now that I have the chance to do this, I'll be here for them!".
She went and joined them in small activities, she also talked to them all and broke the ice by playing games and giving away prizes with the help of her family and a couple of her sponsors. It was nice to see her Mom, Dad and siblings preparing food and taking part in small chat to thank these guys who did something for them when Klea was just starting. It was fun because the fans took it as a chance to be close to Klea as they've weathered a lot of challenges, not just voting per se but even going the mile and defend her from bashers online. That's stuff of legends, but they lived with dedication and love for the Kapuso actress and this is just a small way of appreciating that.
Here's our short interview with her during the event:
Thank you Klea, Kleanatics, to your parents and GMA Artist Center for making this possible. It was nice watching you had fun that day. I'm sure this is just the start. At 17 years old, you surely are one promising star!
"I knew a lot of things outside of the PBB house because we had a lot of time talking. Sometimes you just talk about it and I get him, even more.
If we have problems and fights, we make sure we have clear communication all the time. We try as much as possible to practice, so we don't end up fighting. Our biggest challenge was inside yhe house of PBB because he didn't put aside his love for me even if we went out of the house already. We're already talking about things that we did but he didn't let go and I think that's his biggest sacrifice. It's hard to love someone else's daughter but he did. I promise to be there for him no matter what. Yes I did get jealous, but we're human as Tommy said earlier. Selosa po ako. We already talked about it and we always fix things because Tommy is the sweetest." says Miho Nishida.
"My promise for Miho is to love her, I love her mother and daughter, the same as my own. That's what I did when I pursued her, that's going to be unconditional. I'm human and get a little jealous, but at the end of the day I don't hold grudges, but it's normal. I don't keep things to myself, I just say it right away. I always wanted to do a romcom too, it's going to be so cool." says Tommy Esguerra.
Miho has more drama scenes here and you'll get most of the feeling when they're not talking, just looking at each other. The Director added even if this is their first time, they did this well. You should also be excited with "Langit Lupa" a show that we're taping already. It's fun because you'll see how a relationship forms just by regularly seeing each other. But first, make sure you see "Ipaglaban Mo #IMPangako" this Saturday 3pm.
Oh and if you don't know thisnis where they'll do their first screen kiss!
I could feel Yael Yuzon was a little nervous when he went up the elevator and even said it was like his first day of school when we did Pioneer and FILSCAP's Campus Caravan and Music Writing Workshop today at University of Santo Tomas. They just did the one in University of the Philippines with Rico Blanco and this time, Thomasians are up for a great afternoon of learning (the writing part) and of course playing music.
Some Tigers went out and played a couple songs before the workshop proper started, which was quite amusing because it looked like they already have music learned to begin with.
Rico Blanco was there too to explain what FILSCAP was doing and their thrust is to try and go all over the country and teach or inspire soon to be writers. He also introduced Yael Yuzon for this leg's speaker.
Yael had a knack of rambling so he tried to put up some bullet points to talk about while he was doing the workshop. He also told the story of how he wrote some of his hits like "Makapiling Ka" which stemmed from longing for his Mom who was a Flight Attendant and had to work and not come back for several days. He also connects music appreciation to comparing songs like Gangnam Style and Hotel California, to relationships and how to take care of it, then goes on and proves his point about production of easy songs with just a few chords, break them into different ways to do it so it won't be branded as the same as an existing one. He says it's not a problem because you can do it in a million different tempos and it would already different. He encourages to read books, watch films, in different languages, watch plays, as what you see would only be the thing that you could give back to the art. He adds "The power resides where the people believe. There's no bad idea if you do things with your process. There are a lot of variables when you are making a song."
"Songs don't actually have to be finished at all, because that's an opportunity to team up with another artist. If you can't finish it, set it aside and work on new ones. Either that or just finish it even when it's ugly. It's important to have closure, in any craft or skill it's hard on the first try and move on. Don't be so pressured because the good news is you can make a new one. Not all songwriters make good songs. It should be real and natural, like if you see it too polished people in Youtube would find it not good. But you can write a lot of songs, that's the good news. Orignality touches on the survival of mankind, we learn that by experiencing it. We understand, we share the information and communicate it. A lot of people are doing it but you can do it your way with your own songs, we are all unique. What will be original is the perspective. Filipino music can be anything. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Just challenge yourself and maintain your excitement because you were knowing the relationship of it, you go from guitar to piano even if you don't know it, just play and pick up stuff from other people." Rico Blanco adds.
It'a nice to see students were REALLY enthusiastic about this whole thing. If you see how their faces would light up after getting their questions answered by these artists, you'll get a sense that the future is bright for the Philippine music industry. I'm a songwriter too, it kinda made sense on some instances for me even if I'm not a music major, and for these guys who are into it, I think they just need more inspiration because there are no rules in music, measurements perhaps but it won't have to be something that would be forced on your throat . I'm sure they've given enough mojo to these students and might give them more reasons to join the songwriting competition at www.moveonlang.ph (visit the website to know the fine print). You too can do that. You can win as much as Php 100,000 in cash for the grand prize.
I went here last week and I was surprised to have seen all of the stores closed because I didn't know that they open after lunch. So I failed the first time.
The next week, I was so excited to meet Kris Bernal as she embarks in new territory because she's not going to act this time; as she's putting up a new burger shack called Meat Kris. It's a play on words because the actual shop personifies the young Kapuso actress and if you saw this in real life, those little knick knacks are actually personal items from her and the shows she's done all throughout the years. From the tons of stars she's worked with, to the men she was partnered with in shows like Alden and Aljur, they're all here!
It makes sense that all the things that might have been turning points in her career gets included in this very personal enterprise that Kris is doing. She wished to have had a BIGGER restaurant but she knew she was a neophyte to embark on something that big. She wanted to actually start small and do it how she wants to execute it. She's also got people from her fans (or related to) to actually be hired so she could help them with livelihood, she even feels a little off when they call her Ma'am when they were training. Now that it's all here, it's already selling like hotcakes, I mean burgers, good ones that is.
Of course, she's bound to have him on the menu. This is somehow a ride on Aljur Abrenica and his endorsements in the past. She wants him on the menu because that started all the things AlKris, that's the the love team name with the Kapuso hunk. It's got the lovely 100% Pure Beef Patty from MeatKris, plus the special sauce, Beefy Hotdogs, and an easy over fried egg. That's what they call Hotdog ni Aljur.
Now this one is her version of the Philly Cheese Steak. It's called "Dapat Ka Bang Philly-in?" patterned by Kris and Aljur's old show "Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin?" (Second Chances) back in 2009. I would recommend you have this while it's hot and DON'T Instagram (although it would be good to brag among your friends) because you won't enjoy it as much if it's cold. My friends agree. It's got beef strips, veggies, chili, and tons of cheese.
For those who don't know, Kris Bernal actually started in show business when she did Star Struck. The GMA show is still doing it and to pay homage she thought of naming this Dream, Believe, Survive which is the tag line of the show. It's got a quarter pound hand crafted burger patty, bacon strips and ham. All the good things, like the good stars who came from the show!
Kris has appeared with a lot of Kapuso stars and one of them is her good friend Alden Richards. She's admittedly also a fan of AlDub and to dedicate a burger for him was just right. This is Bacon Pa More, a lovely combo of the Pure Beef Burger Patty, Cheese, their special sauce, veggies and tons of Crispy Bacon Strips! For bacon lovers, this is a dream. It's not that expensive either and if you're looking for something to battle that fast food bacon burger you've always had, this could really live for that challenge. Then there's more!
Now you've probably had that quarter pound burger from another fast food restaurant, and this could give that a run for the money. This is their basic Cheeseburger. It's got that Quarter Pound Pure Beef Patty, melted cheese, veggies and a sweet soft white bun. Okay enough about basics, we're going BIG this time!
Their current best seller, this is the Chiz Bernal. It's a play on her name obviously and was found as a comment from a fan on her IG post. I think I've seen that when it happened. Anyway, it's like your lovely basic classic cheese burger with a HUGE monstrous piece of Mozzarela Stick in the middle. Now think about what will happen if you have a bite off of that, it'll just burst and melt, and that cheese will just ooze out when it's hot. Not that I'm telling you, but who doesn't love cheese right? I thought so.
This one is the Happy Lang Almusal which is a breakfast burger named after her famous line as Tinay in the iconic show Little Nanay. It's got everything you love including that spam/meat loaf slice, the easy over egg and cheese. That's how you start the morning even if they open in the late afternoon LOL.
Meet my personal favorite, this is their Meat Kris Cheeseburger with 5x the patty. Their hand crafted pure beef burger patties are about a quarter of a pound. If you think about that, this one is like a pound and a quarter all in all. This monstrosity is actually just right for people like me who want a REAL protein fix. It's for people who love burgers, this isn't really hard to eat because I finished it in a couple of minutes. It's got the usual suspects, cheese, 5 beef patties, tons of cheese and a leaf or two so you won't get guilty without it. Trust me, it's worth a try. Kris says she doesn't put salt on her burgers but this was actually flavorful as she uses a lot of dry herbs in the mix. I think the flavor profile was more on thyme. If I'm going to go back to Meat Kris, I wouldn't hesitate to order one of these again. It's worth it, and it's not expensive as I mentioned earlier. It's not even 300+ ish which I would gladly pay for.
Here's our interview with Kris Bernal this afternoon. Enjoy!
For those who would like to have the same Meat Kris experience that I had this afternoon, you may visit them at the COMMUNEATY at 120 Roces Avenue in Quezon City. If you know the Mc Donald's Branch in Tomas Morato, you can walk from there towards Roces Avenue in like a couple of minutes and you can get there. It's right at the front of the old Dragon Bar, and right before the street of Max's Scout Tuason, you wouldn't miss it. Here's a map so you won't get lost, just find the burger!
If you still get lost, it's not my fault anymore LOL. Love burgers? Then you'll really love Meat Kris!
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