Joyce graduating ‘with honors’

Curtain-raiser:

• The grand launch party of PUMP magazine will be held tonight starting at 8 at The NBC Tent, The Fort, sponsored by yehey.com, Solar Sports, Forsc Ink, IO Family KTV, Miller & Pony and media partners Blazin’ 105.9 FM, Jam 88.3 and Wave 89.1. Sexy stars will be there, led by Chynna Ortaleza who’s the cover girl of PUMP’s "virgin issue." Other guests include Ella V., Myles Hernandez, RU Miranda and "surprise" guests. The cover girl of the next (August) issue will be introduced.

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After spending a few days here, Joyce Jimenez left Sunday night on a PAL flight to Los Angeles for a two-week vacation with her family, taking advantage of the semestral break from school in Goldcoast, Australia, where she’s taking up a business course major in Marketing.

During her "stopover," Joyce took a quick trip to Cebu where she underwent lasik surgery under Dr. Yong Larrazabal (ophthalmologist), husband of Donna Cruz who herself had her eyes treated the same way also by Yong.

"It was fast and painless," said Joyce whose vision is back to 20/20, "lasting for only a few minutes."

Yong’s team included Drs. Bryan Canton, Myra Ocubillo and Yul Dorotheo.

Joyce also did guesting stints for the GMA shows Lagot Ka Isusumbong Kita and Idol Ko si Kap, and guest-co-hosted S.O.P. Last Friday, she graced the opening of the new outlet for her bath-and-body business, Skin Private Joyce (SPJ), at Landmark Makati. It’s SPJ’s 22nd outlet since it was launched two years ago.

From L.A., Joyce will make another "stopover" in Manila on her way to Goldcoast (where Robin Padilla’s wife Liezl Sicangco and their four children live) to resume her studies.

"I will star in the episode about my life story for Magpakailanman (hosted by Mel Tiangco on GMA)," said Joyce.

No, the episode won’t dramatize Joyce’s colorful showbiz life in the Philippines, punctuated by a turbulent romance with Jay Manalo. Rather, it will focus on Joyce’s life as a self-supporting student in Goldcoast where she hopes to graduate "with honors" next year.

Joyce made a "supreme sacrifice" for her desire to tuck up a college degree, turning her back, even only temporarily, on her showbiz career.

"I worked hard for it," Joyce said over dinner at Annabel’s Restaurant (Tomas Morato Avenue, Quezon City) on the eve of her departure for L.A. "I really saved for it."

Asked why she chose Goldcoast instead of any of the schools in the US, Joyce said, "For a change."

The tuition alone for the whole course costs Australian $25,000 (excluding board and lodging). Joyce lives alone in a pad and, like everybody else in Australia, does the household chores except cooking. "What do I miss most about the Philippines?" she repeated the question. "The food. Yes, the food!"

Asked if she has a boyfriend in Goldcoast, Joyce shook her head and broke into a smile.

"Often," said Joyce who left for Goldcoast in March last year, "I help clean my friends’ pads and they treat me to dinner."

After graduation, Joyce plans to open her own business and, of course, resume her rudely-interrupted showbiz career.

RP bet in 2005 Miss Maja Mundial pageant

Ma. Anna Kathryna de Guzman Yu, a 22-year-old Filipina-Chinese, is representing the country in the 2005 Miss Maja Mundial pageant which will have its grand finals on July 23 in Sincelejo, Sucre, Colombia. She’s competing with more than 30 other beauties for the title now being held by Sandra Milena Sanchez Valencia of Colombia, with our very own Margaret Ann Bayot as first runner-up (the Philippines’ highest win so far) and Canada’s Natalie Glebova as second runner-up (Natalie, a Russian immigrant to Canada, was named 2005 Miss Universe in Bangkok on May 30.)

The Miss Maja International pageant was launched 1966 in Zaragoza, Spain, to honor the memory of Spanish painter Don Francisco de Goya (most of whose masterpieces, such as the Naked Maja, paid tribute to feminine beauty). The first Miss Maja winner was Denmark’s Jennette Christjansen. The Philippines started sending a delegate in 1972, Bernice Romualdez, who was a semi-finalist.

In 1995, the title was changed to Maja del Mundo and, last year, to Maja Mundial. The pageant was cancelled in 1990 due to the Gulf War; no pageants were held from 1992 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2003. It resumed only last year.

Here’s some info about Ma. Anna Kathryna de Guzman Yu by Funfare’s "beauty expert" Felix Manuel:

Kath was chosen by Pageant Enthusiasts Guild of the Philippines, Inc. (PEGPI), the new franchise holder of the contest.

Born on Oct. 7, 1982 in Manila, Kath is the eldest in a brood of five of Chinoy businessman Benjamin Yu, Jr. and the former Imee de Guzman, proprietors of Purifil Water Corp., a firm that deals with franchising of water refilling stations.

Kath’s younger sister Stephanie won as Miss Philippines-Fire at the recently-concluded Miss Philippines-Earth pageant. Proud of her Chinese-Filipino ancestry, Kath hopes to put this heritage to a good use at the Maja pageant in Colombia; in fact, she is the lone delegate from the Far East.

Kath graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Humanities major in Management from the University of Asia & the Pacific. She owns and operates Coldstone Café in Eastwood Libis and is part-owner of Chi Asian Fusion in APC Magallanes. Kath has demonstrated her astute sense of business at a very young age; when she was in second year high school (at Jubilee Christian Academy), she was already operating her own sit-down bakeshop, baking being one of her favorite hobbies.

Blessed with a very fair complexion and fine Oriental features, Kath, who stands 5’7" tall, has also modeled for Bench and CK Eyewear and has been featured in MOD magazine. She maintains her 34-25-35 well-toned physique by indulging in healthy high-protein, low-fat diet and working out at the gym regularly.

Aside from being a kitchen buff, Kath is also into swimming; she also loves traveling, having been to the US, Australia and some parts of Asia.

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