As one of the country’s most popular love teams, it’s no surprise that JM Ibarra and Fyang Smith have their schedules packed with back-to-back projects and other showbiz events. Since first meeting inside the Pinoy Big Brother house in 2024, the two have also remained close. They also made their first hiking trip together last month to Mt. Pulag, considered the highest peak in Luzon.
In their recent interview on PUSH BETS with host Gary Ann Lastrilla, the Almost Us stars shared how their outdoor vacation first came to be and how many other options they considered before making the decision.
“So ang kuwento niyan, nasa taping kami ng isang ginagawa namin na hindi pa puwede sabihin. Tapos meron kaming pahinga for one week, basta maraming araw. Tapos ang sabi ko, ‘Punta kaya tayong Thailand?’ Init dun. Vietnam? Yoko din dun, init. Kazakhstan? Nge, ang haba ng biyahe. Sayang yung oras natin diyan. Tapos sabi ko balik kaya tayong Canada? Ang mahal tapos ilang araw lang! Tapos (sabi ko), parang camping na lang kaya tayo? Ang dami naming thoughts, sobrang dami. Mt. Pulag na lang kaya? Sige! So dahil never pa din ako nakakapag-hiking, so Mt. Pulag talaga yung first ko na hike. Tapos ayun, napag-desisyunan namin na Mt. Pulag na lang kami,” Fyang said.
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Fyang shared that JM was so worried before the trip, mainly because it would be her first-ever hiking experience. Her love team partner ended up packing a lot of items, including ten water bottles, just to make sure Fyang would not be dehydrated.
“Minamaliit niya ako (laughs). Sabi niya baka mamatay ka dito, ganyan. Baka hindi mo kayanin. Sabi ko, Bro, dala ka ng protein bar ha? So ang dami niyang biniling protein bar para sa akin. Kasi baka magutom ako, ganyan. Eh ako kasi pag wala akong ginagawa, nagugutom ako. Gusto ko yung may kinakain or may nginangata. Eh ako parang na-bo-boring ako pag walang nginangata. Sohabang naglalakad kami (makes munching sounds), may kinakain (laughs),” she added.
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JM admitted that he was happy to get the chance to return to Mt. Pulag, so they could de-stress and just relax without worrying about work. He and Fyang made the trip with his two siblings.
“Second time ko kasi yung Pulag. Second time ko na nag-hike. So bigla na lang nag-sink in sa akin na parang ang sarap huminga. And I’m sure na walang signal dun! (laughs) Malayo sa showbiz. Makakahinga tayo dito. Sinuggest ko sa kanya. Agad naman siya nag-go. Sabi ko, ‘Kaya mo ba?’ Hindi ko naman minamaliit, kasi first time (niya) eh. Tapos yung mga clip sa social media ang lala naman. Yung dala naming tubig, sampu (laughs),” he said.
They started their hike early morning when it was still dark and ended it mid-afternoon, after which they had already visited three different areas of the mountain.
“Ang una naming pinuntahan is yung summit. First time ko mag-hike tapos parang tatlo agad yung napuntahan namin. Nag-summit kami tapos pinuntahan namin yung peak 3 tapos pumunta kaming tower. So parang nagsimula kaming mag-hike ng 1 a.m. Nakauwi kami ng 3 p.m. Tapos walang tulog yun!” Fyang admitted.
The Pinoy Big Brother Gen 11 Big Winner also shared how proud she was of JM for reaching the summit first out of everyone in their group.
“Actually, nakaka-proud siya. Siya ang pinakaunang taong nakapunta sa batch namin. Siya yung pinaka first talaga. Ako pang-fifth. Ano kasi ako eh, probinsyano girl. Eh ang daming pinupuntahan na sobrang tarik. Siyempre mga unggoy kami dun (laughs),” she said.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH FYANG AND JM ON PUSH BETS HERE:
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