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WATCH: Miss Universe Spain 2022 Alicia Faubel gushes about hopiang baboy—and in Tagalog

By Rayven Daligcon Published Oct 06, 2022 4:57 pm

Have you ever seen a beauty queen gushing about, well, hopiang baboy? Meet Miss Universe Spain 2022 Alicia Faubel, who does so while speaking Tagalog.

In an Instagram reel uploaded on Wednesday, Oct. 5, Faubel is seen eating Filipino snacks, particularly hopiang baboy. "Sobrang sarap kasi," she said. "Yung last time I tried one pero ayoko kasi it had like the red bean paste. Alam mo?" she asked her companion who was taking the video.

"Monggo," her companion said in reply. "Ayoko monggo," Faubel continued. "Pero dito masarap." Her companion later said that what she's eating is called hopiang baboy. To which, the beauty queen replied, "Pork, pero matamis?"

Famous Filipino snacks like pancit canton, ripe mango, Dingdong mix nuts, egg pie, Happy peanuts, Fudgee bar, and Stick O can also be seen in her Instagram reel. 

The beauty queen announced that she would soon upload a complete video of her eating the Pinoy snacks, with the caption, "How can baboy be sweet? Explain mo ako!” 

Faubel, who was crowned Miss Universe Spain on September 10 last year, spent three years living in the Philippines where she studied acting and worked as a model. 

She said she was able to adapt to the ways of the Filipino people, including their language, during her time in the country. In her takeover of the  Instagram page MissUUpdates, the beauty queen rated her Tagalog skills with a mere "5 ot 6" and said that it isn't as good as it used to be now that she's back in Spain. 

She said, “Feeling ko ngayon mga 5 or 6. Dati mas fluent, ngayon medyo mahirap kasi wala pang practice. Dati nakatira sa Maynila…sa Manila maraming practice kasi maraming Filipino ‘di ba. Ngayon medyo mahirap pero kaya pa."

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From the same IG takeover, a netizen asked Faubel's favorite Filipino dishes and she answered, “Gusto ko sweets. 'Yung favorite ko, leche flan, buko pandan, turon, ube, halo-halo. I really love to eat sweets but from the sour dishes, kare-kare is really good. I like the peanut butter flavor on it. Umm, adobo syempre ‘no masarap.”  

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“I felt very close in the Philippines and I learned so much living in the Philippines, especially being Spanish. The Philippines was colonized by the Spanish [for] over three hundred years, then the Japanese came over and then the Americans came over.” Alicia said on a video posted by the Miss Universe organization’s social media page. 

The words kumustas, kubiertos, platitos, kutsara, and mariposa, which have the same literal translation in both countries, are examples of how much of our culture and material have been influenced by the Spanish, according to Alicia. She added that there are many culinary similarities between the Philippines and Spain, including adobo, leche flan, and many other dishes.  

Alicia reiterated that the Philippines shaped her as a person and she’s ‘grateful’ for it. “Living in the Philippines for three years definitely made a lot in my personality because Filipinos are well known for their hospitality and being appreciative and bubbly personalities and I‘m very grateful that I got inspired and I absorbed the best out of it and I’m actually looking forward to go there representing Miss Universe Spain 2022.”  

This Pinay-at-heart Miss Universe contender will go up against the two Filipina-blooded candidates, namely Miss Universe Philippines Celeste Cortessi and the Filipina-American Miss Universe USA R’Bonney Gabriel on January 14, 2023, at New Orleans, USA.