Newly proclaimed Miss Universe Asia 2024 Chelsea Anne Manalo flew back to Manila last night after successfully representing the country in Mexico City. The "Bulacan Barbie" said she is looking forward to eating adobo and spending Christmas with her family after being away for almost two months.

Chelsea arrived via PR flight 113 from Los Angeles wearing a black leather jacket. "Ang init ha. Ang init bigla! From LA, now I'm here in the Philippines. Grabe yung weather. I can feel the support. Maraming salamat po for coming here," she told the media and some fans who gathered to greet her at the arrival area of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1. 

(It's hot. From LA, now I'm here in the Philippines. The weather's suddenly hot. Thank you very much for coming here.)

In a press release, Miss Universe Philippines announced that Chelsea will go to Thailand and Europe "around May or June"  next year. As the first Miss Universe Continental Queen for Asia, part of her duty will be to "oversee projects and charity programs" of the Miss Universe Organization in different parts of the world. She will be traveling with the other winners, notably Miss Universe 2024 Victoria Kjær Theilvig of Denmark who is also scheduled to visit the Philippines. 

Chelsea believes her win has opened "more doors to women who want to pursue pageantry differently, that it's not all about how we look, but rather our personality, intentions, our advocacy."

She noted that showing the judges her "best personality" became the main goal during the Miss Universe competition. One of the judges asked her to sing during the closed-door interview since it's widely known that Filipinos love karaoke. Chelsea gamely sang "A Whole New World," which is the theme song of the Disney movie "Aladdin."

"I sang my heart out for 'A Whole New World', they saw the personality there and they really liked it so I guess that's why we have Miss Universe Asia now," she revealed.

Chelsea said she's also "very happy" to win the Best in National Costume award for the "Hiraya" creation by Bulacan-based designer Manny Halasan, reflecting the Philippines' different religious influences.

"Sobrang happy ako kasi nakita ng organization yung story that I have to put in my costume," she pointed out. 

Competing in the Miss Universe made Chelsea realize how the Philippines and Mexico have many things in common regarding culture. The 25-year-old beauty said she really liked Mexican food, especially tacos and guacamole, although now that she's back home, she can't wait to taste "adobo and puto bumbong."

As the first Filipina of African-American descent to represent the Philippines in Miss Universe, Chelsea thanked everyone who supported and prayed for her. "I didn't make it by myself. Hindi lang to dahil sa organization and sa judges, but it's because of all of you, yung support na binigay nyo sa akin. I won because of the votes of every Filipino and those people who supported me, kaya maraming maraming salamat."

The Miss Universe Philippines organization has lined up a homecoming parade, a victory press conference, and a slew of TV guestings for Chelsea in the next few days.