In between shooting the hit teleserye Ina, Kapatid, Anak, his regular stint on the Sunday noontime show ASAP 18, filming scenes for his upcoming movie with his reel life love interest Kim Chiu, and honoring his commitments as one of the country’s top endorsers, it’s amazing that celebrity hunk Xian Lim still manages to have time to unwind. He was recently introduced to selected members of the media as the face of Avon’s new Defense-C vitamin tablets, where Female Network had a fun chat about the many things he likes doing in his free time. Read on to find out what he has to say!

HE WANTS TO GET FIT THIS SUMMER.
“I used to always work out. I try to be really fit… I want to do a triathlon. That’s one of my goals,” Xian shares. He also plays basketball in his free time.

HE LIKES EXPLORING NEW PLACES.
Xian shares that he likes going on road trips with his mother in his free time. “Either we drive around--mahilig kaming mag-drive around lang--or we visit different places… kasi mom ko, taga-Bulacan, so she knows the Bulacan area. Usually ako magda-drive, then sasabihin namin, ‘bahala na.’ 'Dun kami sa Bulacan area (We just like driving around, or we visit different places…my mom hails from Bulacan, so she knows the Bulacan area. I usually drive, then we’ll just go with the flow. We usually end up in the Bulacan area.). Road trip!”

He also shared a number of places he’d like to visit if his schedule was more relaxed. “If I had the time, gusto ko talaga bumalik sa States. But not for long. Visit lang (I really want to go back to the States. But not for long. Just for a visit),” he shares. He also counts Palawan and Europe as his other dream destinations.

HE PLAYS A LOT OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
Most of us may know Xian as a good actor, but not everyone knows that he can also carry a tune quite well. In fact, he’s been playing the piano since he was eight years old! “My mom’s a piano teacher sa States, 'yun 'yung ginagawa niya… and syempre, ako, I can’t help but naririnig ko sila, nakikita ko sila, so that’s how it started (My mom’s a piano teacher, that’s what she does… and of course, I can’t help but hear them, see them, so that’s how it started.). So the piano’s the foundation,” he shared, adding that he is also learning how to play the harmonica.

HE TAKES CHARGE OF HIS ONLINE ACCOUNTS.
Xian's fans would be delighted to know that he manages his Twitter account himself. “I don’t have an admin. Kaya minsan corny [yung tweets ko],” he explains, laughing.

He likewise updates his blog personally when he has the time. “It’s a personal site, more about me… because people, [sometimes] they wonder about what I’m doing… they want to know, ‘saan ka ba tumatakbo (where do you run?)?’ ‘where do you work out?’ mga ganun (things like that.). It’s all in the site.”

HE TOOK UP ART LESSONS.
A true creative soul, Xian has also admitted to taking art lessons recently. “I like drawing… This past month, I enrolled sa mga classes for drawing, for painting,” he shares. His medium of choice? “Oil pastels and watercolor.”

(Photo by Marianne Salazar)