John Estrada and Priscilla Meirelles ‘reunite’

If a picture paints a thousand words, then the fam pic of my good friends, John Estrada and Pri (Priscilla) Meirelles speaks volumes.

With the permission of John’s sis, Chin, I used her snap of their fam in today’s column. It was taken on Nov. 21 after the school play (“A Christmas Carol”) of John and Pri’s daughter, Anechka. With them in the pic are John’s son (Yuan), his mom (Lilia), Anechka, Chin and her hubby Buck and their kids, Zach and Zoe.

John & Pri remain to be hands-on parents to their unica hija, who is wise beyond her years. Even if they are taking a break from being husband and wife, their being a mom and dad to Anechka goes on and on.

Since I’m close to John and Pri, I really hope that it’s just “Time Out” and not “Time’s Up” for them.

Sometimes couples have to be apart for awhile to truly appreciate what they had together.

Louie Heredia on Miss U ‘BTS’

While we all woke up early on a Sunday to catch the Miss Universe (Miss U) pageant live telecast on TV, my dear friend, Louie Heredia, was at the venue itself. He flew all the way to Mexico to show his support for Miss Philippines Chelsea Manalo. That’s the kind of friend Louie is. He always goes the extra mile (literally and figuratively speaking).

Going over and beyond the call of duty is his forte.

Since Louie was with Chelsea every step of the way in “Burrito Republic,” I asked him to share his “Mexico kwento.”

Here goes: Prior to the prelims, the Continental Queens were already chosen by the Miss U organization. The judges had nothing to do with it. But the winners had no inkling at all before their names were announced at the presscon after the pageant.

The Continental Queens were not awarded during the pageant itself so as not to take the spotlight away from the new Miss Universe winner.

When Chelsea didn’t make it to the Top 12, of course, she felt down. So being named as the very first Miss Universe Asia really made her ecstatic. When the new Ms U (Viktoria Theilvig) travels around Asia, Chelsea will be joining her.

What made Chelsea even happier was the victory of her “bestie” in the pageant, Miss Peru who was named as one of the Continental Queens (Ms U Americas) just like her.

When the new Miss U crown by Jewelmer was unveiled, it seemed like all the contestants were in a daze. Seeing the fab crown up close served as their adrenaline shot.

The contestants hardly left their rooms unless there was an official event. The security was super strict. As Dyan Castillejo said, among all the Miss U pageants that she has covered, this year’s edition had the tightest security.

The next Miss U pageant will be held in Thailand or Costa Rica as hinted by the Miss U org. owner, Anne Jakrajutatip.

It was such a delight to be one of the selected few who were invited by Anne J. for dinner in her lovely home on top of a hill in Mexico.

Since a Mexican businessman, Raul Cantù, bought 50 percent of the Miss U org., its office is now in Mexico and no longer in New York.

Chelsea is taking a much-needed vacay with her relatives in the States. She will be back home before Christmas.

Cesar Montano’s bonding with apo

BFF Buboy (Cesar Montano) had an impromptu bonding with his son, Diego Loyzaga, “apo” Hailey (Diego’s baby), his ex Teresa Loyzaga (mom of Diego) and his GF Kath.

Diego had to rehearse for a Clark gig, so he went to his Dad’s place for some jamming with Buboy’s guitarist, Melvin. Teresa and Buboy did a duet that night. BFF is so into music. He gamely holds a “mini-concert” whenever there’s a gathering in his home.

Buboy even released his latest composition OMG on Spotify and will keep adding new songs. Just like his music, nothing is off-key and there’s no more sour note in BFF’s “blended family.” After all the controversies, it did not come easy. But now, everything in Buboy’s life is in harmony.