MANILA, Philippines—She actually wanted to take a nap, but since a TV crew was already setting up to tape her birthday special, singer Regine Velasquez headed straight to the kitchen to whip up a home-cooked meal for the 300 or so guests that gathered in her new Quezon City home.

“I got so stressed that I decided to cook; it’s therapy for me,” she now tells Living Stars.

Since moving in last Nov. 11, Regine, the cook, has mastered dishes as varied as puttanesca, risotto and kaldereta.

She says Michelle van Eimeren, boyfriend Ogie Alcasid’s ex-wife, shared some recipes with her.

“It’s inspiring to cook in my new kitchen,” Regine says. “I instantly fell in love with its design when I saw it in a magazine.”

She was initially shocked to learn that her Bontempi Casa kitchen showcase had to be ordered and shipped from Italy. “I had to wait five months,” she recounts.

(These days, when she goes malling, she says, she is inevitably drawn to the kitchenware section.)

Her state-of-the-art kitchen was put to good use on taping day, April 11.

Á la Streisand

The birthday special, titled “The Best of Me,” will be aired April 27 on GMA 7. The backyard concerto is described by neighbor and guest Ai-Ai de las Alas as an “intimate concert à la Barbra Streisand.”

“Unlike Barbra though, I don’t have a mountain in my backyard,” Regine quips.

The home stands on a hill, though, and was designed by architect Anthony Nazareno, with Cynthia Almario as interior designer.

Regine says the infinity pool was inspired by the Korean soap, “Full House.”

“The edge of the pool is glass,” she notes.

(Regine is the lead star of the local version of the Koreanovela “Kim Sam Soon.” A weekly special, “Songbird,” is in the works.)

For the birthday concert, a stage was built on top of the infinity pool, which offers a breathtaking view of the city and a nearby golf course. “I’ve always wanted a modern glass house—[so] there’s a view from every corner,” she points out.

Regine’s new home inspires nature-tripping; fittingly, the birthday special has an environment-friendly theme. “My actual birthday (April 22) is Earth Day,” she said. "And I’m learning about the environment."

Although she values her privacy, she gladly threw her doors open, she says, since “it was for my birthday and most of the venues considered were booked.”

Non-usual lineup

Apart from Ai-Ai, other celebrity guests that night were Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Kuh Ledesma and daughter Isabella Gonzalez, Michael V, Jaya, Marian Rivera and “Urduja” producer Tony Tuviera.

Onstage, Regine was joined by singers JayR, Kyla and boyfriend Ogie Alcasid.

“Ogie and I sang our favorite, ‘Falling Slowly’ from the [Irish] movie ‘Once.’ It won Best Original Song at this year’s Oscars,” she says.

Most of the 15 songs in the repertoire are very un-Regine, she concedes.

“I sang [Kenny Loggins’ dance hit] ‘Footloose’ and [Josh Groban’s Italian ballad] ‘Per Te.’ These are songs that I don’t usually do in my shows,” she says. “I wanted to do something different for this one.”