Former Pinoy Big Brother housemate Say Alonzo took to social media to share an emotional update after a fire damaged her family's restaurant, Aidalicious Chicken Inasal by Aida's Bacolod, in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
In a heartfelt Instagram post, Say thanked those who had reached out with prayers and messages of support as she, her family, and their team begin to recover from the incident.
“Thank you to everyone who’ve sent prayers and messages. 🙏 It’s really hard to accept what happened, but we have no choice but to move on and plan what we will do next,” Say first wrote
She also asked for continued prayers, especially for the restaurant's employees, who rely on their jobs to support their families: “Please pray for all of us at @aidaliciousarcadia so we can get back on our feet, especially for our team who really needs to work for their families.”
Say admitted she has yet to visit the restaurant, as it has been a heartbreaking scene.
“I haven’t been to the site. I was with the kids at home yesterday and I’ve only seen the videos from the news - each video made me cry and those videos are still making me cry,” she admitted.
“Ryan and I couldn’t sleep at all last night even if we took melatonin, but I think it will take weeks or months before we get a good night’s sleep again.”
Her family also decided to halt their supposed Sunday tradition after mass.
“After Sunday mass, we usually pass by for inasal take out but today, it was different, I cried in mass, and the kids told me if we could please not pass by the restaurant because they don’t want to see it. Ryan and I don’t want to see it either.. It’s like seeing your hard-earned money and dreams burned,” Say expressed. “I actually don’t know when I will be ready to see it.”
Despite the heartbreak, Say said her husband has been her source of strength during the difficult time, encouraging her to focus on their children and take a break from social media.
“Between me and Ryan, he is the strong one. He told me not to look at social media muna pero ang hirap kasi it is my work.. Mag focus daw muna ako sa kids and other things I like to do.. 🙏🙏🙏.”
Although they are still grieving, Say remains hopeful that they will eventually rebuild their business soon.
“Anyway, don’t you worry, we will be back stronger!! 💪🏻 When that time comes, I hope all of you will still be here to support us. :) For the meantime, please pray for us. Hope things will be better for us, soon!🙏🏻 God bless you all and Happy Sunday! 🙏🏻” he said, ending the message.
Say and Ryan opened Aidalicious at Paseo Outlets in Greenfield City, Sta. Rosa, Laguna, last year. In a previous interview, Say said the venture gave her the opportunity to put her college degree to good use while sharing her passion for food.
"I tasted Aida's. I found out about it when we had the PBB mall show. They brought us to Bacolod and the first thing we did was we ate an Aida's and sobrang sarap. So when he told me about it sabi ko alam ko 'yan, na-taste ko na 'yan, okay let's do it,"she said.
READ: Former ‘PBB’ Season 1 housemate Say Alonzo now owns an Inasal restaurant
"Sabi ko baka this is the right time to do it, to manage a restaurant, to put some of my recipes in. He (Ryan) didn't have to super convince me naman, I was all for it," she expressed.