What’s Vina up to?

When you’re Vina Morales — at the peak of your career, with a flourishing business (Ystilo beauty salon, with branches in Manila and the provinces) and an equally-rosy love life, you can’t ask for more, right?

Not quite. The Cebuana may have everything we mere mortals only dream of. But, just like us, she dreams of something money can’t ever buy: family.

Who wouldn’t? She’s of the marrying age (exactly how many Octobers, she will not reveal, but insiders peg her age at somewhere in the early 30s). An older sister, Shiela and her husband, Federico (German Moreno’s son) are doing fine as overseers of the 33 Ystilo branches. She has sound investments in real estate. And soon, Vina will open her own line of cosmetics.

Everything — except a dream trip to South Africa with her loved one — is falling into place. So what’s she waiting for?

Her nonshowbiz businessman-boyfriend has not yet proposed marriage. And though Vina admits she’s praying he’ll be the last man in her life, she’s taking it nice and easy for now.

"I’ll cross the bridge when I get there," she tells curiosity seekers who point out that her contemporaries have already settled down and beat her to the draw.

She even assuages their fears about a ticking biological clock by saying, "I can always adopt a baby, can’t I? It’s my right. But of course, it will be better if the baby comes from me."

Egg her about the identity of the Chinese guy she was with when she bumped into Borgy Manotoc in Greenbelt and slapped his face, and Vina is silent. Let’s protect his privacy, she pleads, afraid to rock the boat of their going-strong romance.

He’ll be there to watch her in her song-and-dance concert, Vina Morales: Showgirl at Araneta Coliseum on Feb. 24. The show, directed by Floy Quintos, is a repeat of her successful show last year.

"I’m grateful na nagkaroon ako ng chance to do a repeat," she says. "I consider this show one of the highlights of my career, so I’ll do everything to make it successful."

Thus, the ASAP host promises new numbers those who saw the first Showgirl have yet to see.

Energy is what characterizes Vina’s show. That’s why Rachelle Ann Go marvels at how Vina can do all those dance numbers without huffing and puffing.

The secret? Tap Vina’s rock solid abdomen and you’ll find out. That’s what hours of gym work can do.

Vina is not lying low in the acting department either. She returns to soap after two years via a short but meaty role in ABS-CBN’s new TV adaptation of Maria Flordeluna, starting Feb. 12. Vina plays the first wife of Leo Alicante (Albert Martinez) and mother of the young heroine Maria Flordeluna (Eliza Pineda).

It’s the first time she’s playing a mother role but that’s okay for Vina. The role is short and good for only a few episodes. But they are integral to the plot. So Vina doesn’t mind.

It’s but a sneak peek on what Vina foresees as a more active TV career after she returns from a concert tour abroad next month. A regular soap will do just fine, she smiles.

Is politics also part of her plans?

Vina admits her fellow Cebuanos are asking her to run for public office in their place. She’s not closing her doors on the prospect of joining the race. But she’s wise enough not to set her sights too high for starters.

"I’ll start from the bottom, if ever," Vina reveals. Again, as she has said before, she’ll cross the bridge when she gets there.

Till then, it’s still lights, camera, action — on stage, and on TV — for Vina Morales.