Popi is the creative spirit behind the new Tokyo Tokyo restaurant which, indeed, provides a feast for the eyes and the belly. And the latest buzz is that Popi is giving Jollibee an altogether different look. "I'm doing Jollibee at Alabang Town Center," says Popi. "It's Aga Muhlach's baby, he's the franchisee. We're putting up a graphic mural of Aga and Jollibee."

Now, it's time for mother and daughter to live their separate lives. Yola knew it was time to let go of Popi.

"My mom was quite open to the idea," Popi smiles. "And it's not because she's tired of having me around."

In the same breath, she adds: "It's an idea whose time is long overdue. It's slowly become a trend for Filipino single girls to live on their own. Especially when you hit the 30s, and suddenly you feel you just can't live at home anymore."

Now that you've decided to go on your own, what's the next step?

"Don't procrastinate," Popi shares this first important tip. "Start house-hunting while you're still excited about it. Otherwise, you might lose interest."

But first things first. "Decide on a budget," Popi notes. "I decided I wanted to spend like P15,000 on rent, more or less. Even if I could afford more, this amount would already get me a nice studio which was what I was aiming for-something small, easy to clean, easy to maintain for somebody just starting out. Because I'm working and would be out most of the time, I just needed a place to come home to at the end of a hard day's work, yung uwian lang talaga."

Picture-perfect: There's no sofa in this living room. Instead, there's an abaca rug sprawled on the floor; there are wooden chairs from the Mountain Province and pictures of Popi's friends and family.

Now that you've decided on how much money you'd be willing to allocate for the monthly rent, what's next?

"Decide where you want to live," Popi points out. "When I was deciding, I told myself I wish I could find some place that was strategically located, that is, near my work. During the day, I have to go down to Alabang and up to Quezon City because of my work, my projects. I need a central location, a place close to my work. Choosing the location has a lot to do with your lifestyle and how you like to have fun. Or if you go out of town a lot or go to your parent's house during the weekend. Of course, you wouldn't want a place that's on the other side of town."

And the house hunting is on. Popi will tell you that looking for one's dream house is harder than looking for a dreamboat of a boyfriend, but it's certainly more fun. "I actually looked at maybe a dozen," Popi recalls. "But I couldn't find what I wanted so I felt kinda depressed. As you know, P15,000 will get you just a 20 x 25 sq.m. studio-it looks more like a hotel room. I realized when I was looking that very, very few studios were unfurnished. A lot of them are furnished simply because it's easier to rent them out."

And a lot of them look like they're designed for bachelors, not single women. "In the Philippines, we haven't quite gotten used to the idea of single women living by themselves. Ninety, if not 100 percent of the time, the place being rented out would be for single men, it's a bachelor's pad and the ambiance is different. So it's a little tricky for a girl to find a place of her own."