Katrina Halili after break up with Kris Lawrence: No regrets

You  hardly recognize the old Katrina Halili from the one who stepped into a function room of New Horizon Hotel to have dinner last Monday, October 13. She had her hair dyed and cut short and wore glasses (for aesthetic reasons, she tells you).

Now that she and Kris Lawrence , father of her two-year-old daughter Katie have split up, Katrina admits her new look is a statement.

“Nagising na si Sleeping Beauty,” the star of  Louie Ignacio's indie film “Child House” explained.

Go-getter

It’s easy to conclude Katrina is referring to her new life after she and Kris parted ways in January this year.

The single mom admits she has become more of a go-getter, now that she and Kris have agreed to split expenses, 50-50 for Katie.

“Mas aggressive na ako. Mas alam ko ang tama at mali. Bakit ako mahihiya?”

Like most moms, she is forever making mental notes of how much she will spend for her daughter’s education and other needs.

“Mahal na ang tuition paglaki ni Katie!”

#Happy

But make no mistake. Katrina is happy. Her Twitter account says #Happy #Contented.

“Walang bitterness sa puso ko. Mas mature na ako.”

Katie gives her reason to hope and to be glad na “parang sa exam, nag-level up na ako.”

“ Hindi ko na uulitin (ang pagkakamali ko). Alam ko na at maga-guide ko ang anak ko ”

Katrina refuses to discuss the reason behind her breakup with Kris. All she says is that the singer-songwriter is always in Katrina’s home, no longer as her boyfriend, but as Katie’s dad.

Not giving up on love

That’s just fine with Katrina, who is not giving up on love, despite everything.

“I’m not closing my doors naman. Kung siya ba talaga, e di siya. Kung hindi, di hindi. But as of now, we’re better off as friends,” she told Journal Online’s Mario Bautista.

For now, she’s bent on being a better mom.

“Dati blanko ako. Ngayon, kung kailangan umiyak, iyak. Pambayad din yon ang bills.”

Never say die

She has no regrets because Katrina thinks everything was meant to be. But she’s not letting things just happen to her. She is shaping her future.

If GMA doesn’t renew her contract in January 2015, Katrina will not just sit there and do nothing.  The single mom says she has plans of her own which she didn’t reveal.

The never-say-die spirit is a far cry from the Katrina who admitted thinking of quitting showbiz at the height of her controversial sex scandal with Hayden Kho in 2009.

Now, Katrina is here to fight life’s battles. She will stay in showbiz for as long as she can.

She's Sleeping Beauty no more.