AI AI De Las Alas is about to leave for the U.S. to have her anti-covid vaccine there. Folks are now curious as to why she still has to go to America just to have her vaccine.

“Sa US na ko magpapa-vaccine para ‘yung vaccine na para sa akin dito, ibigay na lang sa ibang taong mas nangangailangan,” she explains. “Ako naman, green card holder ako sa US, so libre rin ako roon. At dadalawin ko na rin ‘yung anak ko roon, si Niccolo.”

Before she leaves, she has just recorded a new song for Viva Records, “Siomai (what?)”, composed by Arlen Mandangan. Viva just presented her and the song in an exclusive zoom presscon. The colorful and energizing music video is now available on youtube and both the melody and the lyrics are so catchy.

It’s a tribute to this yummy dumpling which is now a fave of most Pinoys and the hooks goes like this: “Ang sarap kainin ng favorite kong siomai, lalo pag mainit di na makapaghintay. Di ko mapigilan ang sarili ko sa siomai. Pag siomai kasi, sarap ay pamatay.”

The lyrics also explains in the song why she likes siomai so much: ‘Fried man or steam, basta merong toyo, kalamansi saka sili, para medyo may anghang, para pag kinain ‘to mas malinamnam.’’

How did she get hold of the song?

“Out of nowehere, biglang binigay ng Viva sa’kin ang kanta,” she says. “Maganda naman, nakakatuwa, novelty, at saka mahilig naman talaga ako sa siomai, so I grabbed agad the opportunity to record it. Ang bilis nga, o heto, game na. And now, it is launched as a new single and we also made a very colorful music video for it na masaya at mala-K pop ang dating.”

She believes the song will help a lot of people who are feeling anxious about the pandemic. “Sa panahon ngayong may health crisis worldwide, dapat lang na maaliw ang mga tao with happy songs like this. Kantahan at sayawan, so let’s do this! Dapat nga, may guest stars pa akong Korean stars and si Jennifer Lopez, pero hindi natuloy dahil sa pandemic. For my next songs, I will record naman songs about pandesal and donut para mas masaya.”

She’s part of GMA-7’s ongoing primetime romcom, “Owe My Love”, as Vida Morales, and she’s also a judge in “The Clash”. What will she do with these shows when she goes to the US?

“Yung ‘Owe My Love’, tapos na ang taping namin doon. As for ‘The Clash’, nagpaalam naman ako sa GMA management and I promised them na babalik ako rito kapag nagsimula na ang Season 4 ng show. At kahit nasa US ako, busy pa rin ako sa promo ng ‘Siomai’, thanks to today’s modern technology puede nila akong ma-interview even when I’m there.”

You can now download the song “Siomai” on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and other platforms, including Viva Record youtube channel and also Ai Ai’s own vlogs.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Mario Bautista