by Tinna S. Bonifacio
Poor-girl-turned-comedy-queen Ai-Ai delas Alas sets her sights on the restaurant business
She is the country’s number one comedienne, but the story of AiAi delas Alas’s journey to the top is a very dramatic one.
AiAi’s life is the proverbial rags-to-riches story—except that in her case, it’s not a cliché. One of seven children, she was adopted as a child by her spinster aunt and grew up away from her biological family in the province.
It was a hard life, says AiAi. Although she was fortunate in the sense that she was the only one to be legally adopted by her aunt, she grew up without many of the things that her own kids now take for granted. For instance, she remembers how she had to walk to school (the Far Eastern University where she took up Mass Communications) whenever the streets were flooded. “Naglalakad ako mula Blumentritt hanggang sa amin sa Baesa dahil kapag baha, walang jeep,” she recalls with her usual humor. “Kaya sabi ko sa sarili ko, kapag yumaman ako, ang unang-unang bibilhin ko, kotse. Ang hirap maglakad!”
From sales girl to singer
After graduation, AiAi did not immediately enter show business. She held down an assortment of odd jobs, which included working as a salesgirl at a department store cosmetics counter. Tired from being on her feet all day, she would commute home, only to find the buses full—which meant another hour or so of standing in the middle of a crowded bus from Makati all the way home to Novaliches. On her salary, taxis were out of the question.
But AiAi didn’t see show business as a way out of poverty. In fact, her career came as the result of an accident, a lucky break. She and some friends went out one night, and ended up in a comedy bar called Music Box. As usually happens in places like these, AiAi was pulled onstage to sing. She was such a hit that the manager of the place offered her a job. But fame didn’t come instantly; rather, it would take AiAi years to attain the kind of popularity she enjoys today as the country’s top female comedienne.
She experienced many of the struggles that neophyte performers go through. “Lahat, dinanas ko na. Kung baga sa hagdanan, mula sa baba, paakyat. Lahat, A to Z,” says AiAi.
She remembers a time when she had a show in one comedy bar, and because she didn’t have a car, she was forced to take a tricycle, lugging a huge bag that contained her costumes and accessories. Getting off the tricycle, she lost her grip on her bag, sending the contents spilling out onto the street. It was quite a sight, seeing AiAi chasing after her earrings on the street while tears were falling from her eyes. “Super luhaan ako n’on,” she says with her usual humor. “Parang sine!”
AiAi knows what it feels like to struggle, to be in want, to need money and most of all, to face the bitter reality that no one is willing to help you. The sense of desperation is something that she became familiar with during those years. “Naranasan ko na yung humingi na walang gustong magbigay, at walang gustong tumulong,” she says.
The years of struggle
In the early 90s, when she was already starting to make a name for herself in television, AiAi was hospitalized because she needed gall bladder surgery. The surgery was done, but she couldn’t be released from the hospital because she didn’t have enough money to pay her bill. “Kulang yung pambayad ko. Kung hindi pa ako tinulungan nina Nap (Gutierrez, an entertainment reporter and columnist) at ni Tita Inday (Badiday), hindi talaga ako makakalabas ng ospital,” says AiAi.
At her first major concert titled AiAi Have Nothing, AiAi came face to face with reality when she peered into the audience minutes before the show to see a full house. When told that her producer had given away more than half the tickets just to ensure that there would be enough people. “N’ung nalaman ko yung ginawa niya, sabi ko, ‘Ay—akala ko pa naman, sikat na ako’,” she laughs.
But it was precisely those experiences that helped toughen AiAi up. Having been through the worst only made her stronger. Now, when she looks back on those times, she feels very blessed. Now, AiAi is no longer the AiAi Who Has Nothing. Now, she has almost everything—two homes (one of which is now occupied by her adoptive mother) and the other, a five-bedroom house in an upscale subdivision in Quezon City that she shares with her kids Sancho, Shawn and Sophia. She not only has a car now, she has several, and one of them is an expensive Ford Suburban. Her investments also include a salon, Benefits Salon (she is partners in this venture with a friend, Sandra Escalante) and a restaurant called AiSarap, which now has two branches, one in Manila and the other just across ABS-CBN’s ELJ Building , near the Pinoy Big Brother house.
Her kitchen in QC
Famed for its lutong bahay specialties like Kare-Kare, Lechon Kawali and Binagoongang Baboy and very pocket-friendly prices, AiSarap has become a favorite meeting place for ABS-CBN folks; one can often catch production people conducting meetings there. AiAi’s actor-friends also have food delivered when they have to stay late at night in the studios for taping. AiAi’s fans also patronize the place to enjoy the food and to see her whenever she’s there, which is at least once a week if she’s not busy with any showbiz commitments. She does, however, have a manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of the place.
This is not AiAi’s first restaurant venture. She used to have one called Ai Tsarap in Novaliches. Its specialty was Chinese food. “Nagsara ‘yon kasi hindi ko naasikaso,” says AiAi. “Pero mahilig na talaga akong magluto, ever since. Mahilig kasi akong magbabasa ng cookbook. Ang ibang tao, mahilig magbasa ng magazines para mag-relax. Ako, ang hilig ko, magbasa ng cookbooks.”
Although she closed the first branch of her restaurant, AiAi never lost her interest in food or cooking. In fact, she enrolled at the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) in Quezon City for their two-year Diploma in Culinary Arts and Management. She had to take a leave from her studies when her schedule became busy—she was doing her TV show Volta and filming her movie with Robin Padilla at the same time—but plans to go back to it soon.
AiAi has simple advice for people who want to go into business, particularly the food business. Says the celebrity entrepreneur: “Tingin ko, unang-una, hindi ka dapat matakot mag-fail. Ganoon naman talaga ang business. Hindi parating Pasko. Pag nag-fail, try ulit. Pag nag-fail ulit, try ulit. Ganoon lang.”
Coming from someone whose life and career has seen numerous ups and downs, that advice makes a lot of sense. Second, says AiAi, “Dapat hands-on ka sa business. Dapat tutok. At saka tiyaga lang. Dapat mahaba ang pisi mo.”
She has three reasons for putting up the restaurant and keeping it running. She describes those three reasons in three words: “hobby, fallback, charity.” Cooking is her hobby; the restaurant is a fallback for when she is no longer active in show business. As for the ‘charity’ aspect of it, AiAi keeps her business running because she knows that there are people depending on her.
That is what keeps her motivated after 18 years in show business. “Ang dami ko kasing binubuhay,” she says, but without a trace of resentment. “Magulang, kapatid, pamangkin, at siyempre, yung mga anak ko.”
She doesn’t mind helping other people; it’s her way of paying back the universe for the blessings she’s received. “No,” she says to our question of whether she feels burdened by all her responsibilities. “Rather, I feel so blessed. Sabi ko nga sa ‘yo, naranasan ko na rin kasi yung feeling na manghingi, na lumalapit ka sa mga tao, pero walang gustong magbigay o tumulong.”
Her life and career have taught her one valuable lesson: “Ang bait ng Diyos. Totoo ang promise niya na hindi ka niya pababayaan. Dapat, mag-trust ka lang sa kanya.”
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