There’s definitely no doubt that Maricel Soriano and Sylvia Sanchez are among the most outstanding and versatile actresses in the local entertainment scene. And in a rare opportunity, we got to see them together in the latest vlog of the one and only Diamond Star!

Unbeknown to many of us, the two veteran actresses have been friends since the very first time they worked alongside each other in the 1991 drama flick “Dinampot Ka Lang Sa Putik.” They may often astound us with their dramatic and ferocious portrayals in the movie and teleseryes they starred in, but they apparently love to laugh and tease one another whenever they are together. And it seems that Maricel has always been at home at the Atayde crib as they both imparted how she would enter their house and holler at her as soon as she arrives whenever she visits.

Aside from their unmistakable closeness, another thing that we noticed is how Sylvia fondly calls her “Inay” or “Nay,” just like what other artists who get to work with Maricel do. The latter actually had various agenda during this latest visit of hers, with raiding the family’s refrigerator on the top of her list.

As soon as she opened the door, Maricel was indeed surprised upon seeing how packed their ref is, making it look like a mini grocery store. According to Sylvia, she always makes sure that they always have food stored in their ref or pantry because her children love to eat. She also got to take home a few stuff and to request Sylvia to cook dory for her, which she spotted while rummaging through her freezer.

While Sylvia was enumerating the ingredients for her sumptuous fish and chips, she wrongfully pronounced “red” as “rid”, which reminded her of the unforgettable funny moment she had with Maricel in “Dinampot Ka Lang Sa Putik.” Being a neophyte then in acting and a probinsyana from Mindanao, she mispronounced the Tagalog word “kinapon” in one of their scenes together, much to the amusement of the Diamond Star and everyone on the set. And that’s how their wonderful friendship began.

Their fun chikahan went on while she’s cooking, with Maricel asking her, first off, how her passion for cooking began. Sylvia related that her interest in cooking got kindled when she was just still young, as she would watch her uncles and siblings in Mindanao roast lechon. That further grew when she was dating her now-husband Art Atayde and found out that his family was fond of preparing a lot of food, as if they always have a feast. Thus, she sought the help of his nanny Nanay Pearl, who willingly taught her how to cook all of Art’s favorite dishes.

As she grew up to a family of litsoneros (or people who cook lechon), Lechon Bisaya and ginamos (or bagoong) have also become her most favorite food. Being a certified kitchen whiz that she is, Sylvia also told Maricel that she’s always eager to learn something new about cooking, as she would always bring her notebook and ballpen with her to jot down new recipes or hacks, and would even ask restaurants about their food that she liked.

While marinating the dory, Sylvia then stated the reason why she loves the Diamond Star so much by sharing the words of wisdom she received from her many years ago. She conveyed, “Every time makikita niya ako, sabi niya, ‘hindi ka lang hanggang ganyan. Aangat ka bilang artista. Magaling kang umarte. Kailangan isang araw kikilalanin kang magaling ka’. Tapos ang sabi mo, kapag may pera, mag-ipon, mag-ipon, mag-ipon.”

Maricel quizzed Sylvia afterwards about her kids’ favorite food that she cooks, to which the latter responded tacos, truffle pasta, baked potato, pizza, and her chicken dishes. As Sylvia returned the question to Maricel, the former guessed that one of her all-time favorites is adobo, which the latter confirmed and went on to enumerate tuyo, sinigang na hipon, and paksiw.

When Maricel asked her what’s the food her husband loves so much, Sylvia answered pasta and any viand with soup, which he prefers every lunch.

Their conversation then veered to her work and personal relationships with her celebrity kids Arjo and Ria, who she already got to work with in separate projects. She told Maricel how truly happy and excited she was when she and Ria starred in the 2022 iWantTFC series “Misis Piggy.” Meanwhile, she had fun and, at the same time, got nervous working with Arjo in the 2017 afternoon soap opera Hanggang Saan because of how unpredictable he was as an actor. Maricel agreed to it, as she also had the chance to work closely with him in the 2019 action-drama series The General’s Daughter, wherein she played as his mom.

She may be an award-winning dramatic actress, but little we did know that doing heavy drama or crying scenes is the toughest part of acting for Sylvia, citing how she actually finds it difficult to shed a tear in real life. Meanwhile, her most challenging role to date was in the 2016 Kapamilya family drama The Greatest Love, in which she played Gloria, a mom diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.

With regards to the artists that she has the pleasure working with, it would be Maricel, first and foremost, then Aiza Seguerra, who truly impressed her during their Be Careful With My Heart days. Others included in the list were Cherie Gil, Nora Aunor, Mark Gil, Michael de Mesa, as well as her The Greatest Love co-stars Dimples Romana, Matt Evans, Nonie Buencamino, and Rommel Padilla.

Just when we thought that she has already done every role imaginable, Sylvia divulged that she’s actually been dreaming of doing an action project. However, she wasn’t given the chance since it was not quite ideal for women to be action stars during their time. As Maricel shares the same sentiments, she hopes that it’s still possible for them.

They then went on to talk about Arjo’s much talked about engagement with host-actress Maine Mendoza, to which Sylvia is very glad about. If she has secret recipes that she will likely impart to her future daughter-in-law, it would be Arjo’s favorites, such as tacos and truffle pasta, which she never shares with anyone because she wants to pass them on to her kids. However, she doesn’t worry much about Arjo not being able to eat delicious homecooked meals once they got married since Maine actually has a degree in culinary arts.

In the end, Maricel didn’t just enjoy their chikahan, but also the fish and chips Sylvia specially prepared for her.