Bakasyon grande

As Funfare reported several issues ago, Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos, husband (Batangas Rep.) Ralph Recto and sons Luis/Lucky and Ryan Christian (who's turning 4 end of March) are all set for a three-week bakasyon grande in the US.

"We're leaving for L.A. third week of April," Mayor Vi confirmed during a brief phone chat. "I and the Congressman (meaning Ralph) need a break, and so do our kids. We've been working so hard that we decided to reward ourselves. Ang makina nga napapagod, ang tao pa kaya."

By then, Mayor Vi shall have wrapped her remaining scenes for Star Cinema's Anak (directed by Rory Quintos) which is intended as a Mother's Day offering first week of May. She has eight more shooting days to go and she'll resume shooting on Feb. 10, 11 and 12.

"We'll come back just in time for me to help promote the movie," added Mayor Vi who's so pre-occupied with her job in Lipa that, despite the many offers, she might not have time to do another movie this year.

The bakasyon grande will include, of course, a visit to Disneyland and Universal Studio as Mayor Vi and Ralph's birthday gift to Ryan who's travelling that far for the first time.

Meanwhile, somebody close to the family told Funfare that the rumor linking Luis/Lucky to Joyce Jimenez is not true. "But friends sila," said the family friend. "What I know is that Lucky is loveless. He has broken up with (a certain) Nicole who, like Joyce, is also a Fil-Am girl. Mukhang malapit si Lucky sa mga Fil-Am girls."

Just when I thought I knew everything (well, almost!) about Jaclyn Jose, I'd get a copy of the latest issue of the new monthly magazine TV Star (edited by Eden C. Carlos) which carries an "I Confess" type of article (as told to James Tekiko) on Jaclyn who revealed facts about her life not quite known to the public.

Here's an excerpt from that article:

Entering show business was the farthest thing in my mind. Although I grew up with a moviestar-sister, Veronica Jones, I was definitely "unshowbiz," not meant for the business.

I was born on Oct. 21, 1963, in San Juan. My mom was a singer and owner of five clubs then. She is a Filipina. My father is a German American. Theirs was a whirlwind romance that ended in separation after reality set in.

From San Juan our family moved to Pampanga and there my mom engaged in the entertainment business -- clubs. We were affluent then. We could buy things we wanted, go to exclusive schools, join the latest craze in town. But that was not meant to last forever. After several years, the clubs were no longer the "in" thing and my mom left for the States to work.

We were left with our grandmother in Pampanga. It was a big ancestral house where all the grandchildren gathered. All we did all day long was play and roam around the village. Aside from that, I had international friends: Germans, Americans, French, Dutch, Filipinos, Blacks and a lot more.

At age six, I was already studying. Honestly, I was just an average student. I did not excel in school. Looking back, I was very shy then. I hardly joined clubs and organizations at school. I was not into sports either. And I felt I was not even that pretty. I was just plain Jane: simple, hardworking. I was a mother's joy but never a man's fancy.

We were just two siblings, me and my Ate Vero. My brother came much later after my mom's hiatus in the US.

Oh, yes, Ara Mina is taking her singing career seriously.

Don't look now but Ara is performing side by side with Martin and Bert Nievera on April 23 (Easter Sunday) at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, making her the "first Filipina singer" to perform in that venue.

Her back-up dancers and singers are the same group that backs up Celine Dion.

While the "bold" is in the freezer, Ara is doing comedy (Bubble Gang) and "action" (as the title role in Super Klenk) in her GMA 7 shows.

Ara has a big movie coming up -- Regal Films' Laro sa Baga, directed by Chito Roño based on the award-winning novel of Edgardo Reyes (who also wrote the screenplay).

She also stars in Don Escudero's Nag-Aapoy na Laman (Regal Films).