After her send-off party last Friday, Miss Universe Philippines Ariella Arida is off to Moscow, Russia today to compete for the most prestigious beauty pageant in the world. Fiercer and tougher, this year's competition is packed with candidates from all over the world who have all the potential to hail as the most beautiful woman in the universe.

With two consecutive victories, Philippines' bet Ariella Aria is under a lot of pressure to bagged the crown, and now she is packing her bags and she is ready than ever. "I'm looking forward to going to Russia so I can represent the Philippines in the Miss Universe pageant. This is going to be my first time to experience the cold weather," she shares in her Rappler interview with Kai Magsanoc.

Since winning the Miss Universe Philippines crown, the Laguna-bred stunner has went a rigorous transformation to get herself ready for Russia: from personality training, pasarela, Q&A, gym, hair and make-up, speech and language lessons, and social graces. The 24-year-old Chemistry graduate also had a one-on-one coaching with fellow beauty queens Venus Raj and Shamcey Supsup, and she is more than ready to charm the world and eventually win the crown for her country.

When asked how ready she is to compete, Ariella confidently answers, "I can go to the Miss Universe pageant anytime."

After the back-to-back win of the Philippines, Arida is not letting the negative criticisms and pressure get the best of her. "The pressure has been there from the start, ever since I won in the Binibining Pilipinas 2013 pageant," she answers in an article posted in OPMB worldwide Facebook page. "It is a good sign that Mutya and Megan won. It serves as motivation for me to work harder; it pushes me to exert more effort."

Exactly four decades after Maggie Moran from Philippines bagged the crown in Greece, Arida believes that its time to have that elusive Miss Universe crown back on Philippine soil. Pageant-craze Filipinos are now all eyes on Arida as she takes the flight to Moscow and prove herself worthy for the crown at the Crocus City Hall on November 9.