Joyce determined to finish school

Joyce Jimenez is taking her winter break from Griffith University in the Gold Coast of Australia where she is a full-time junior college student taking up Bachelor in Business, major in Marketing.

The sexy star, dubbed as "pantasya ng bayan," has decided to finish her college course outside the country to make sure that she will finish as quickly as possible. She felt finishing her course is something that might be quite difficult to achieve should she stay in Manila, with all the tempting offers of work that are very hard to resist.

"It would be easy for me to skip classes and accept assignments if I am here, then before I knew it, I'd probably forget that college is my priority. Sayang naman if I won't be able to finish my studies," said Joyce. Anyway, Manila is just a plane ride away and Joyce makes it a point to come home whenever she has school break like her most recent trip a few days ago. Whenever she's here, she grabs the chance to do TV guestings.

She flew in from Brisbane last week and immediately went to the set of GMA's "Lagot Ka Isusumbong Kita," "SOP," and "Idol Ko Si Kap" for guest appearances. Manila was just a quick stopover. She left last Sunday for Los Angeles to visit her family, attend the wedding of her brother and baptism of her niece. While in LA, she will be taping an episode for "Magpakailanman," which incidentally will feature her life story.

Joyce also came to Cebu to have a LASIK Surgery on both eyes from Dr. Yong Larrazabal. "Ang galing! Goodbye na to contact lenses and eyeglasses. It feels like I have brand new eyes. Ang linaw ng vision ko, sobra. Yong made me feel so comfortable and it was really quick and painless. Donna was also there to keep me company. I am so happy and recommend everyone to go to Dr. Yong kasi ang galing niya," she said.

Last Friday, Joyce graced the opening of a new outlet for her bath and body business, Skin Private Joyce in Landmark Makati. This is the 22nd outlet since it was launched over two years ago.

While in town, Joyce also visited her lingerie shops, Private Joyce in SM North EDSA, SM Manila and Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall. Her fourth outlet is opening in the brand new SM San Lazaro in Tayuman today, July 15, coinciding with the opening of the mall itself.

"Although I won't be back here for the opening, I will be back to visit the SM San Lazaro store when I come back in August 1st before flying to Australia," said the sexy star. "I want to play tindera for a day in my latest store so I hope to see you there so I could serve you. This is my way of thanking our loyal customers for their support since we started in 2002."

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We saw Ian de Leon, the son of Nora Aunor and Christopher de Leon, Tuesday night at the NBC Tent during the launch party of PUMP Magazine and even if he was reluctant to grant an interview (it was an ambush interview), the erstwhile partner of Donna Cruz agreed to answer the questions of the press although he said he was a bit uneasy since he hasn't been granting interviews for a long time and had been out of the limelight for a good number of years.

Ian looked better. He's slimmer and we say he's even more handsome now. He wanted to beg off from granting the interview but could not do so since he was surrounded by a number of press people, including reporters from "TV Patrol" and "Saksi." He said his car club called MR 2 Club was invited to the launch of PUMP Magazine and that explained his presence there.

Of course, the press were curious about his mom, Nora Aunor, who is still in the United States and is facing charges of alleged bringing or carrying a prohibited substance.

"Kahit na anong malaking alon na dumating sa kanya, kaya niya iyon," said Ian. "And I just want her to know that whatever happens to her, we are all here to support her. Even if we are far away from each other, we are deeply concerned for her and her well being."

Ian said that whatever it is that the public or the press wants to ask about his mom, they'd only say the truth. "Kung anuman ang itanong sa amin about our mom, sasabihin namin kung ano ang totoong nangyari," he said. They would be willing to issue a statement in due time. But if you ask his own opinion, Ian believes his mom is a victim of blackmail.

There are reports that Nora is going to appear in the telecast of "ASAP 05" in the US, but Ian couldn't say if he'd be willing to take a trip abroad to be with her.

"Alam ko na kaya niya iyon. Alam namin na kaya niya iyon," he reiterated. He communicates with his mom through email although she hasn't answered yet Ian's email that he sent her two days ago. But according to his mom, she's just fine and doing okay.

"Lahat ng nangyari sa buhay niya, kilala naman namin siya. Ako, confident ako sa sarili ko na kaya niyang lutasin iyon," said Ian regarding the problem facing his mom.

Ian rues the practice of several people who'd badmouth another. "Mahirap kasi maraming taong mahilig manira sa mga taong nandoon na sa itaas. Siyempre Nora Aunor yan pero para sa akin, 'yung nangyaring iyon, true or false, para sa aming magkakapatid, alam namin ang totoo pero kung tatanungin ninyo kami, sa amin na lang iyon. Basta 'yung suporta namin sa kanya, nandoon iyon."

"Maraming pagsubok na dumaan sa kanya, and come to think of it, nalapagpasan niya. Very strong kasi siya. Kahit na ano pa ang dumaang alon o bagyo sa kanya, kaya niya," Ian added. Although he has plans of paying her mom a visit, he couldn't at this point in time. Maybe later, he'd be able to do it.