Reigning Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach showed her bubbly side during an interview on Sunday ((24 January) at the Novotel Hotel in Quezon City.

Wearing a pair of beige Schutz pumps and sleeveless blue-green jumpsuit by designer Bessie Besana, a fully rested Wurtzbach shared snippets of her life in New York City, her views on being taxed for her prizes, and what she would say to President Aquino when she pays him a courtesy call in Malacañang.

“I will say ‘Thank you,’” she said of her planned Tuesday meeting with the President. “Actually, I don’t want to expect anything since it hasn’t happened yet.”

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Her feat, which was initially marred by controversy after pageant host Steve Harvey announced the wrong winner, ended the Philippines’ 42-year title drought. Wurtzbach became the country’s third Miss Universe after Gloria Diaz in 1969 and Margie Moran in 1973.

 “After the pageant, I just kept saying ‘Thank you,’” the 26-year-old Wurtzbach said. “When you pray, you usually say thank you and ask for something. Ask for blessings. Ask for this and that. When I went to a church in New York, all I said was ‘Thank you.’”

Like her former rival Ariadna Gutierrez of Colombia, whom Harvey initially declared the winner, the first person Wurtzbach sent a text message to, was her London-based mother, Cheryl Alonzo-Tyndall.

“I… said, ‘Ma, your baby won!’” Wurtzbach said. “Because of the time difference, she was already asleep.”

Tyndall, who’s prone to hypertension, deemed it wise not to fly to Las Vegas to watch the pageant. Her blood pressure shot up twice during the times she was in Manila to watch her daughter compete in the Binibining Pilipinas contest.

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It took Wurtzbach three tries before finally bagging the coveted Miss Universe Philippines crown. Tyndall still felt nervous even after Wurtzbach finally won the local tilt.

“She saw a delayed telecast of Miss Universe,” Wurtzbach said. “It was a good call because of what has happened. I don’t think my mom would be able to take it.”

But Wurtzbach described her mother as “palaban” (feisty), a trait that she took after and put to good use while competing in the Miss Universe pageant.

“She’s a fighter,” she said. “She’s fearless. My mom flew as a young woman to Germany on her own. She learned the language and lived there for 10 years. During that time, it was a brave move to do. I got that from her, malakasangloob (brave).”

Her late dad, a German national, taught her discipline at a young age. “He was very particular with time, with my grades. He taught me discipline and to always aim for the best,” she said.

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During the interview, she also drew the line at taxing her diamond-, topaz- and sapphire-encrusted crown because it did not belong to her, but was merely “on loan” from Miss Universe Organization (MUO).

“I’m the second one to wear this [type of] crown,” she said while holding the New York skyline-inspired crown that’s reportedly worth $300,000.

“But I have to pass it on. They will give me a tiara instead. I don’t even know what it looks like because I haven’t seen Paulina’s (her predecessor Paulina Vega) tiara.”

Just “like any employee,” Wurtzbach is aware of her duties to pay the right taxes. She has been doing it all her life, she said, ever since she entered show biz as a preteen.

“When I start working in the US, I will be doing that as well. I”m a law-abiding citizen, I believe,” she said.

Wurtzbach also said that winning Miss Universe was everything she dreamt it to be “and more.”

“I don’t think you can imagine what it’s actually going to be like until you’re actually there. It’s surreal. I still can’t believe it up to now. I feel like everything will really, really sink in once I finally do the press con and parade.”

Her advocacies include promoting HIV/AIDS awareness, relief operations for disaster-prone countries, and measures against cyber bullying.

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When being asked to describe New York City in one sentence, she said “it is timeless.”

Whenever her schedule allows, Wurtzbach would head home, a Fifth Avenue apartment she shares with Miss USA Olivia Jordan, and quickly change into flats and wear sunglasses before going out again to explore the city.

“I really love watching Broadway shows,” she said. “I’ve only seen three so far, including one starring Lea (Salonga).”

Wurtzbach was so moved by Salonga’s performance that she found herself crying while watching “Allegiance.”

She probably has more reasons to cry once she sees her credit card bill. “Oh, the shopping in New York,” she gushed before breaking into laughter. “I really have to control myself. I’m afraid to see my credit card bill now.”