MANILA, Philippines?With nary a tinge of irony, Ai Ai de las Alas notes that her new glass house in the hills of Quezon City best captures her off-screen personality.

"This is the real me," she says. "Simple. Subdued. Non-show biz."

Designed by architect Ricky Solatorio and built by Jomel Enterprise (owned by the family of TV director Malou Sevilla, her friend), the new home, which stands on a 650-sq. m. property, looks like a Baguio rest house.

Ai Ai insists that she was very much in charge of the interior design: "I filled it with wooden and clay pieces and limited the colors to brown and white."

The light fixtures in the patio are made from twine and twigs.

The dining table was created by Benjie Reyes and the brown sofa in the living room is from Julianne Collection.

Her old home, also in Quezon City, is the exact opposite.

"It's modern and more colorful, with green, orange and yellow walls," she says.

She still maintains the old house, where her adoptive mom, Justa de las Alas, now lives.

A large family portrait hangs in the living room of the old house. In contrast, there are no photographs in the open areas of this new one.

Ai Ai says she is not having reminders of work in her new living room.

"I'm planning to convert the den into an entertainment room, where I'll display all my pictures, trophies, posters and other show biz stuff," she says.

(Right now, the den doubles as commissary for her restaurant business, Ai Sarap.)

Beautiful view

She relates that it was her idea to install huge glass doors, so as not to waste the beautiful view in front of the house.

"That's what you pay for in this village," she quips. "It's also to let the light in. I don't want a dark house. I want it airy and bright, like a summer resort, minus the beach."

Instead, she had a fountain installed in the garden.

The new house, which she shares with her children Sancho, Shaun and Sophia, is her refuge from the grind of the biz.

(Just how busy is she? Although her movie with Robin Padilla, "Ikaw Pa Rin," is yet to premiere, she's set to start work on her "historic" film with former President Joseph Estrada, and a new TV sitcom with Judy Ann Santos.)

"I feel safe here," she says of her new abode. "It's my comfort zone. When things get too hectic at work, I rush home to calm myself down."

At the time of the Inquirer visit, Ai Ai had a special guest: birth mom Gloria Hernandez de las Alas who was visiting from Batangas.

"She doesn't like Manila," proud daughter says. "She'd rather stay in the province because she gets bored here."

Ai Ai candidly relates that their real-life family drama can put most soap operas to shame.

"My mom never recovered after I was given to my adoptive mother (who's also her aunt) when I was a baby," she recounts. "Imagine, I'm 43 and she still cries over it."

Ai Ai feels doubly blessed that she can share her blessings with her two moms.

"Having two houses after 18 years in show biz isn't bad," she says. "At least, I made something out of my life."

The new home is of special significance. "After I moved here, I always look forward to going home. After everything I went through, it feels like God's gift."

(E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com)