Krista, Niño: Out together

HOLLYWOOD, California — Krista Ranillo shows up in a black mini, looking sexy on three-inch heels. It’s only when I remind Krista that, as I recalled what an OB-GYNE said, expectant moms are advised to wear flats especially during the first trimester, does Krista’s brand-new husband, Jefferson “Niño” Lim, notice.

“O, ingat, ingat!” Niño keeps telling Krista on our (including Raymond de Asis Lo, The STAR’s Hollywood correspondent) way to the second floor of Geisha House on Sunset Boulevard, the couple’s favorite Japanese restaurant, reportedly partly owned by Ashton Kutcher, which is full of customers this Thursday night. “Di ba I told you not to wear heels?”

It’s the first time for the couple to be out in the media together since their wedding(s).

As soon as we place our orders, Niño, who Krista says is media-shy, keeps saying, “No interviews, huh!” and Krista responds with a knowing smile. She’s ready to talk, even if Niño is not. Married twice, first on July 14 at a civil ceremony with only a friend as witness in Norwalk, California, and on Aug. 8 at an interfaith ceremonial affair held at Hotel Maya in Long Beach, California, officiated by a rabbi whose name Niño didn’t even know (and learned only from the media), the newly-weds are in honeymoon mood, often holding hands. Niño shares his food with Krista using his own spoon. You know, nagsusubuan sila.

Why the interfaith wedding?

“Well, a week before the wedding, I brought Jeff to the venue where a Jewish wedding was going on. Pinakinggan namin ’yung ceremony. It was beautiful. Ang daming mga rituals na very meaningful. Very unique. We met with the rabbi who was very accommodating. Nag-seminar pa kami, so that was it.”

Certain things have to be cleared.

“Some people are saying that Jeff and I got married only because I was pregnant. Not true. Sa totoo lang, when we got married on July 14, I wasn’t pregnant yet. But when we got married on Aug. 8, oo, I was already pregnant. ‘Yung July 14, pina-feng shui pa namin; lucky day daw ‘yon for both of us.”

They did plan to postpone the wedding to November but went ahead with it anyway.

“When you broke the story in your column,” Krista is telling me, “our guest list increased from 30 to 300, thanks to you. We didn’t want to have a big wedding so we thought of cancelling it. Pero sige na, itinuloy na rin namin.”

They plan to have a big wedding next year in Manila to accommodate those left out in the Aug. 8 affair including members of the Ranillo and Lim families (among them Krista’s paternal grandmother Gloria Sevilla).

By then, their first baby shall have been born, due on April 3 which is the birth month of both Krista (April 27) and Niño (April 25).

 “On Sunday (Aug. 29),” announces Krista, “I’ll be nine weeks pregnant na. It’s not a difficult pregnancy, although I suffered from little complications in the beginning. Very, very light spotting lang naman but as a first-time mom, sobra akong natakot. My doctor said it’s normal for something like that to happen to pregnant women and I was advised to rest in bed for one week. Now, I’m okay.”

Still, the expectant father is worried, that’s why he doesn’t want Krista to wear heels. He should know: He has three kids (aged 5, 8 and 11) from a previous marriage which ended in divorce.

What does she crave for?

“I’ve become more fond of Filipino food. It’s easy for Jeff because all he does is get whatever I want from their supermarket. (The Lims own the Island Pacific Supermarket with nine outlets all over California. — RFL) Naiinis ako kapag nakikita ko si Jeff palagi and at the same time I don’t want him away from me.”

So how is the adjustment period?

“Masaya,” says Krista. “We started out as friends, magkakilala kami since childhood kaya walang masyadong adjustment. Wala, eh. Very natural ‘yung process. Sometimes there’s tampuhan but it’s natural between a couple, di ba? We are both Taurus, pareho kami ng ugali, so sometimes we clash. Pero wala kaming major away talaga.”

She describes her relationship with Niño as “na-developed.”

“He was there when I needed company. Kapag nalulungkot ako, we would eat out and watch a movie, gimik lang kami nang gimik until we became closer and colder. Hayun, na-develop kami.”

He was free and so was she, her previous love having been, uhm, “over” and done with.

While infanticipating, Krista says she has been advised by her doctor to postpone her plan to take up Law. She holds an AB Interdisciplinary Studies degree from Ateneo where she was a Dean’s Lister (while Niño is a summa cum laude Commerce graduate from the University of Southern California).

“Bawal daw ako ma-stress.”

Are their families close?

“Oh yes, they are.” It was Krista’s parents, Mat Ranillo III and Lynda Tupaz, who gave Krista away during the Aug. 8 wedding. “They visit Niño and me every day. They cook for us. Parang may party kami araw-araw.” The newly-weds have moved to San Fernando Valley.

 Is Krista putting her showbiz career on hold?

“Yes, for the meantime.”

If Niño would have his way, he’d rather that Krista quit showbiz.

They’re going to the Philippines in November to attend their friends’ wedding.

And how many more kids do they want to have?

“Two more. Three are enough.”

Krista is all aglow, obviously very much in love — again.

Told that a lot of people congratulated her and Niño on their wedding, including Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, Krista smiled, her eyes disappearing into slits.

“Talaga? Thank you kung ganoon.”

She seems to have put the past behind her, refusing to look back. Or has she?

What’s up?

• From Edmund Sicam: I am a Hollywood trivia buff so I read your column of Sept. 1, 2010 with great interest. However, I noticed some minor slips that you may have overlooked. The guy who starred in The Jazz Singer (1927) was Al Jolson, not Al Johnson. What he actually said was “You ain’t heard (not seen) nothin’ yet.” The line “Life is like a box of chocolates...” is from Forrest Gump (1994) and not from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Looking forward to more trivia in the future. (Thanks, too, to other readers who called my attention to the errors.)

• From reader John Alexander Dungca: In your article about Alex Crisano that came out on Aug. 20, 2010, you mentioned that Dave “The Animal” Batista is half-Italian like Alex, but actually he’s half-Greek and half-Filipino. His father is a hairdresser based in Washington DC.

• Funfare Update’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre noted that Venus Raj’s now-famous “major major” expression is not a blunder since people have a tendency to repeat words to stress a point or to emphasize something. Edmund cites this example: “I am not ultra-ultra conservative on every issue,” Elisabeth Hasselbeck of The View said. “I actually support gay marriage. I think the gay marriage thing would definitely surprise people. I mean, for some people, it will surprise them to the point that they won’t want to hear it.”

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