ASEAN Life Vol 2 April 2016 | Page 35

The episode was later on referred to as Day 1, because that was the day that the love story of AlDub began. AlDub, one of the most popular fictional couples or ''love teams'' of this generation has conquered the hearts not only of Filipinos, but the people from all over the world. The phenomenal pair has been breaking records on Twitter by hitting millions of tweets every single day using the Kalyeserye daily hashtags. They are becoming two of the greatest stars in Philippine TV history. With their massive success, people believe that it is fate that brought them together. Kalyeserye is a live soap opera parody segment of Eat Bulaga, a Filipino noontime show on GMA Kapuso Network. It is being aired in the Philippines and even worldwide on GMA Pinoy TV. The segment focuses on the AlDub love team, portrayed by Maine Mendoza, the Dubsmash queen of the Philippines, and Alden Richards, one of the hottest young actors in the country. AlDub is a play on the names of their characters Alden and Yaya Dub in Kalyeserye. Yaya Dub's full name is Divina Ursula Bokbokova Smash, the daughter of Ursula, the youngest daughter of matriarch Isadora Zobeyala and former gardener Teodoro "Dodong" Smash. On the soap, they showcase their romance through Photo from gmanews.tv split screen television; communicating only through handwritten messages, as well as lip-syncing various popular songs and audio clips from different movies. Alden is normally based at Eat Bulaga's Broadway studio, while Maine usually travels to different barangays (villages) with the Lolas (grandmothers), Nidora (Wally Bayola), Tinidora (Jose Manalo) and Tidora (Paolo Ballesteros). What makes their story more special is that most of their scenes are not scripted and just ad-libbed. Their extremely great chemistry on screen is the winning formula, since people can't get enough of watching them show their affection and how they feel for each other despite the distance. As the show goes on, AlDub has taught their viewers many different lessons about life and love, including almost-forgotten traditional Filipino values. Their against-all-odds love story has proven that what's bound to happen will find its way. Lola Nidora, the employer and true grandmother (revealed later) of Yaya Dub was initially against AlDub's budding romance. Raised in a different era, she constantly tells them that true love waits, so they don't have to rush things because of their emotions. The old woman's advice can also be applied in real life – learn to wait, listen to parents' advice, think of the consequences and not rush headlong into something, just to escape the problems that currently beset you. It is okay to fight for the one you love, but make sure that you are not sacrificing the people who are taking care of you, especially your family. On Eat Bulaga's July 16, 2015 episode, Maine was performing her Dubsmash, when she suddenly broke out of her Yaya Dub character and accidentally smiled after seeing Alden Richards watching her on live split screen. Maine's spontaneous reaction was noticed by the other hosts of the program, and so they started teasing the two, which led to the creation of the AlDub love team. Asean Life APR 2016 35