How Cristine Reyes, Ali Khatibi balance work with family time

MANILA, Philippines – Although Ali Khatibi and Cristine Reyes are busy working on separate projects at the moment, family will always be their top priority.

In an interview with Ali and Cristine at the Simply Shoes event where the Khatibi family was launched as endorsers, the couple talked about the importance of spending time together as a family. No matter how hectic their schedule gets, the couple still sees to it that they’re with Amarah every step of the way.

“It’s always important that you always prioritize family, and throughout the week, we make sure na we get to bond and spend time together. Sila yung priority ko talaga eh. Kesa anything else sila talaga muna so I guess that’s the most important sa isang pamilya: prioritize each other,” Ali said. (They’re really my priority. More than anything else, they come first, so I guess that’s the most important thing when it comes to family: prioritize each other.)

As for Cristine, she shared that being a mother really changed her outlook in life. Rather than go out with friends, she prefers spending whatever free time she has with Ali and Amarah.

“It’s a very fulfilling job. I didn’t realize it’s going to be this important to me. I’m happy where I am right now. When I don’t have work, like pack-up ‘yung shoot,  talagang nag-spend time ako with family, with Ali and Amarah, kasi andun ‘yung longing palagi na gusto mo sila makasama.  (When I don’t have work, like when the shoot is packed-up already, I really spend time with my family, with Ali and Amarah because there’s that longing to be with them.) When we have time, we go outside, sometimes we eat, we watch movie or we go to the church.”

Although they have different styles when it comes to parenting, Cristine being the disciplinarian and Ali being the “laidback dad,” both of them are very hands-on with their two-year-old.

“We’re actually both hands on, hindi lang ako. Minsan, when I have work, si Ali, when Ali has work, ako naman. With everything, like for example, magpapatulog sa kanya, we read her a bedtime story first and then we pray bago matulog and we eat together,” she shared.

(We’re actually both hands on, not only me. Sometimes when I have work, it would be Ali, when Ali has work, it would be me. With everything, like for example, when we put her [Amarah] to sleep, we read her a bedtime story first and we pray before sleeping and we eat together.)

Ali and Cristine also refuse to let what other people think of their family get in the way of how they choose to raise Amarah. Fortunately for Cristine, she said that they’re lucky enough to not get a lot of hate on social media.

“There are some na may masasabi (who say things) but I let it slide na lang kasi (because) it’s not that important eh. They just see lang naman a glimpse, like a short video, or a picture, and that’s it but basically they don’t know everything. So you just let it slide,” Cristine said.

If it were up to her, Cristine said that she wants to have another baby. Ali, however, wants them to wait until Amarah, who is currently two years old, turns 4.

“I told her we have to wait lang siguro [for] a bit. There are things na we want to do muna. We want to enjoy Amarah, we’re enjoying her right now, and siguro ‘pag nag (when she turns) 4 [years old] na sya or 3 and a half, then we can have a baby boy.” 

Cristine’s new movie and Ali’s teleserye debut

Currently, Cristine is in the middle of shooting a family comedy-drama, titled Seven Sundays, alongside Aga Muhlach, Dingdong Dantes, and Enrique Gil.

“So far, tuloy-tuloy naman kami, tuloy-tuloy yung shoot. Nakapag-bond na kami, okay naman,” she shared. (So far, we’re on schedule and the shoot is ongoing. We’ve bonded, we’re all okay.)

Meanwhile, Ali recently made his teleserye debut on La Luna Sangre. The mixed martial artist revealed that he’s enjoying learning more about the craft. Ali added that he wanted to take on more action roles in the future.

“The whole art of acting, it’s fun. Nakakapagod din pala s’ya, so grabe ‘yung puyat. Sabi ko nga ‘yung vampire, walang tulugan talaga.” (It’s also tiring because the late nights are really exhausting. As I said, when you play a vampire, you really don’t sleep.)

Ali and Cristine are also very open to working on a project together. While Cristine is a bit wary to be acting in front of her husband, Ali thinks that it will be a good experience for the both of them.

“Ako (Me), I’ d love to work with my wife. Feeling ko kasi (I feel that) I’d learn from her and the comfortability nandun (is there) so I wouldn’t mind working with her,” Ali said.

“Ako, yung parang ma-awkward pero syempre gusto ko makatrabaho yung asawa ko. Pero baka ma-awkward ako kasi di ako sanay, aarte ako sa harapan nya di ba? Pero gusto ko,” Cristine said.

(I’m the one that’s awkward by of course, I would love to work with my husband. But I might feel akward because I’m not used to it acting in fornt of him right? But I’m open to it.)

Ali also shared that he wouldn’t mind Cristine taking on sexy roles again in the future, saying that it’s entirely her decision. When asked, Cristine revealed that she’s keeping an open mind but only if it’s the right project.

“If I still got it, why not? Depende po sa role kung ano ‘yung bagay sakin (It depends with the role, if it suits me),” she said. – Rappler.com