(JP/Mariani Dewi)

The spanking Filipina singer, Julia Duncan, may look sweet and demure. In her low cut long pink dress and her loose long hair, Duncan looked very feminine when she spoke to the press on Wednesday at the Mulia Hotel.

But her soft appearance and voice only betray her tough fighting spirit and love of extreme sports.

The singer, who was only willing to say that she was in her 20s, spoke slowly and softly, just how she sings her songs in her first album, The Love Lounge. Her airy voice, coupled with a soft musical arrangement, is just right for the genre she has chosen, a mix of Latin, pop and chill.

The album contains 12 remixes of old songs and a new song, but with a new take that "zaps your stress away when you are stuck in the traffic."

"The genre encompasses who I am. It's a marriage between sexy Latin and the sensual soothing sound of chilled out rhythms," she said.

She has Spanish, American and Filipino roots in her blood and spent her early years mainly in the US. Duncan started modeling at 16 and took up singing three years ago after receiving encouragement from her friends.

"I sang on the bus one day and my friend told me that my voice sounded like Karen Carpenter's. She suggested that I should try singing but I didn't take her seriously until more friends said the same thing," she told The Jakarta Post when we sat together after the press briefing.

"For my whole life, before I started singing, I never sung. I didn't even sing in the shower, so I never really honed my vocal skills. I was really shy and quiet growing up. I used to have stage fright."

Stage fright is now history, although a slight uneasiness lingers, her modeling work has helped her overcome performance fears.

"Modeling put me at the center of attention, in front of the camera. Although I still did not get to use my voice," she said after sipping her ginger water in preparation for her show.

Duncan has had a dream run to success. After completing a three-month singing course in Manila in late 2005 to strengthen her basics, the rising star happened to jam at Merk's Bar and Bistro owned by famous Philippino jazz singer Richard Merk. He was instantly impressed and helped her put together a demo CD to send to Sony BMG Philippines. The signed her up.

To widen her musical horizon, the self-confessed foodie has also been taking up violin - the instrument whose sound can make her cry in melancholy - although her busy career prevents her from the three hour practice sessions she desires.

So far, so lady-like, until we talk about her favorite sports - a topic that makes her eyes sparkle in excitement.

"I play tennis, competitive tennis. I am a certified PADI search and rescue scuba diver. I do Krav Maga, an Israeli self-defense - a very intense and difficult training which I love. I love swimming. I love the ocean. I tried wind surfing. I am a level one kite boarder, which is more difficult than normal surfing because you have to control the kite.

"I also like to go to the gym to keep fit and healthy. I think it is very important for women," said Duncan, who has recently moved back to Manila from Hawaii.

She does lead a healthy lifestyle, including taking the ginger water mix regularly to keep her voice top notch to sing her songs, including the one she wrote, "Love Is."

"I was inspired to write this song from thinking about my ideal man or ideal loved one. I wrote that song because when I fall in love with someone this is what I feel with that person. Kisses in the morning. Kisses in the night. It is like a craving for someone who would be there for you," she said.

Although she is still looking for such a man, Duncan says she has experienced love before.

It is up to Indonesian listeners now to decide if they fall in love with her.

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