Michelle now an English teacher in South Africa

RP short film first place at NY filmfest

FLASH: The short film Miko, that features Sam Concepcion and his dad Raymond as leads, won first place at the Bogen Imaging Film and Video Shorts Competition in New York last June 12. Miko was directed by Paolo Dy.

Sam also won with Playshop kids first place as Best Folklore Performance at the Korean World Travel Fair held in Seoul June 5 to 12.

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Remember Michelle Aldana, the 1993 Mutya ng Pilipinas-Asia Pacific and that same year’s Miss Asia-Pacific who, like her predecessors (Baby Delgado, now based in New Jersey, and the late Rio Diaz among them), joined showbiz after she relinquished her crown?

A few years ago, Funfare did an exclusive story about Michelle’s romance with a German guy named Christopher Heinermann whom she eventually married. Not long after that, Funfare did a follow-up story about the couple’s life in Germany where they had their civil marriage (in Sttutgart), followed by a church wedding on June 9, 2001 (in Marl). The Funfare feature included their son who was then barely a year old.

What has happened to Michelle since then?

Felix Manuel, one of Funfare’s four "beauty experts," has the answer.

"Michelle is now based in South Africa with her family," reported Felix who met Michelle at the recent 2006 Miss Philippines-Earth contest where Michelle sat as one of the judges. (The organizers of the Miss Philippines-Earth, led by Joji Felix-Velarde and Lorraine Schuck, herself one-time Mutya ng Pilipinas, were formerly behind the Mutya ng Pilipinas Asia Pacific/World annual search.) "Michelle is as ravishing as ever," added Felix. "Movie fans probably remember Michelle for the more than one dozen movies she starred in. In one of them, Hindi Pa Tapos ang Laban (1995), she had FPJ as leading man."

Michelle’s other movies included Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko (1994), Ober da Bakod The Movie (1995), Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Balat ng Lupa (the remake, with Ruffa Gutierrez in the title role, 1995), Hawak Ko ang Buhay Mo (1997), Estranghero (1997) and Tikoy Aguiluz’s Segurista, Michelle’s boldest and sexiest movie where she played a career woman by day and an escort girl by night.

"Her performance in Segurista got good reviews both here and abroad," said Felix. "Many people were disappointed when she quit showbiz just when her acting talent was starting to be recognized."

Before showbiz, recalled Felix, "Michelle was a student at UST’s College of Nursing, our batchmate during our freshman year." (Felix is a nurse; he used to work in London.) "Michelle was already a head-turner at that time. She was a campus crush. She was a semi-finalist and Miss Photogenic special awardee during the 1989 Miss Nursing contest. We used to call her Gloria Diaz Jr. because of her resemblance to the first Filipinas Miss Universe (1969). Michelle was chosen Miss Herway in 1992, the year before she won the Mutya ng Pilipinas-Asia Pacific and then the Miss Asia-Pacific crowns."

Felix bumped into Michelle again recently during the taping for Boy Abunda’s mid-morning ABS-CBN show Homeboy where Michelle was one of the guests and Felix a resource person.

Here’s Felix’s report on his second encounter with Michelle:

A year after they got married in church, Michelle and Christopher migrated to South Africa where Christopher works as director of a telecommunications firm.

"I am busy raising my two sons, Dustin, five years old, and Kai, 20 months old," said Michelle. "Aside from that, I’m helping run The Midlands Forest Lodge which we own."

The lodge is located on a 20-hectare property with timber chalets raised on stilts; every chalet is luxuriously-furnished. The place combines straight-lined architecture and contemporary Asian design, adding to the ambiance of calm and serenity. It is a perfect venue for weddings, conferences and corporate events.

"We also offer guided forest walks along trails, bird-watching and hiking," said Michelle. "Nearby, you can enjoy horseback-riding, fly fishing, golf and water sports."

The lodge’s restaurant, Eurasia, serves a wide selection of mouth-watering Oriental and Western food.

"My chicken-pork adobo is one of our best-sellers," smiled Michelle, her cute dimples showing.

On the side, Michelle teaches English in school and does modeling and theater productions. She said she hopes to penetrate South Africa’s TV industry.

"I’ll work on that as soon as I go back," she said.

Would she welcome an offer to do a TV show or a movie here?

"I would love to," she replied.

If that happens, Michelle said she will have to stay longer.

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