KUH Ledesma has many reasons to be happy these days. Her latest album, "Akuhstic" is now out in the market after a long gestation period.

Six years ago, American producer George Black worked on several songs as part of a Christmas album that Kuh wanted to release. However, the pop diva got sidetracked by her dream of cracking the international market. The result was an album called "Precious," which got good notices but failed to make a dent in the Billboard ratings chart. The Christmas album never got made and Black returned to the US.

Months ago, Vic del Rosario told Kuh at a social function that all the top female singers had new albums out in the market--Regine Velasquez, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Pops Fernandez. Only Kuh was missing from the prestigious list.

That resulted in a joint venture between Kuh's Bravo Records and Viva Records. Since she already had several songs in the can, Kuh decided to make them part of the new album but asked for rearrangements of some songs with the help of Bodgie Dassig and Odette Quesada.

This is Kuh's 17th album. The singer recalls that when she did her first album of George Canseco's compositions, she didn't even get study tapes. She learned everything in the studio before she recorded the songs. Things were different for "Akuhstic."

"I have become harder on myself," says Kuh. "I'm never satisfied with my work and I think that's good. I'm always looking to improve what I've done. However, sometimes you have to know when to stop or the album will never get finished."

The album is bannered by the carrier single "If I Could Reach You." Other selections in the album are "One on One," ""Sana," "Paano," "Got to be There" and "Don't Give Up on Us Baby."

Another source of happiness for Kuh is her newly-opened entertainment center called Republic of Malate, located at 1769 A. Mabini, Manila. It combines a Chinese restaurant, a cafe-bar and a dance club. The place is not as big as Music Museum but it's an enterprise that excites Kuh.

Several months, Apa Ongpin wanted her to do the interiors for a building on A. Mabini which he intended to turn into an office. Kuh fell in love with the place and kidded Apa that she wanted the place for herself. As it turned out, Apa's bosses had other plans so Kuh got her wish.

Kuh considers Malate an ideal location. "I like the crowd here. People hang loose. They don't care if your hair is red or blue. The Makati crowd is slowly coming to Malate because it's a fun place. Also, the place has culture, it looks lived in. It doesn't have an antiseptic look. Hindi de-cajon ang dating."

Kuh raves about her Chinese restaurant and her chef, Henry Chung, the man behind Good Earth. She says she tasted his cooking in Magallanes several years ago and vowed that, if she opened a restaurant, she would get Henry to cook for her. We tried out some of Chef Henry's delicacies during her presscon and everything was good. The cafe-bar will offer house music and small entertainment shows like poetry reading, instrumental numbers and stand-up comedy. There will also be a dance club for those who want to groove to the latest music.

The main source of Kuh's happiness these days is that her marriage to Louie Gonzales has entered a new phase.

"For the first time in my 16-year marriage, it is only now that I truly feel that we have become cohesive. Nafi-feel ko yung love niya sa akin and he feels my love for him. We understand each other better now," Kuh beams.

Several months ago, their relationship became grist for the rumor mills. They came out in blind items as a couple on the verge of breaking up if not already separated. Those were really trying times for Kuh. She's thankful, however, that she went though the crisis.

She explains: "I guess what we went through months ago was important. God allowed me to go through fire so I could become stronger. The crisis made us understand what was wrong in our marriage and helped us rectify the mistakes."

Kuh credits her newly-found happiness to her new-found spirituality. "Since I went 100 percent Christian, meaning everything is devoted to following God's will for me and my life, I've become more fulfilled. I think everytime we stray from God, things go wrong in our life. Sabi nga ng Bible, when you follow God's will, we can have eternal life here on earth.

I'm not saying this is eternal. I think I'm happy because I don't feel weighed down by life's burdens. Yung mga problema sa buhay are so light for me because problems are part of living."