The lighter side of the Congressional Hearings

Well... I stayed up late last night just to see what our honorary... este honorable congressmen are doing in the session hall... Here are some of my observations/thoughts:

1. I think people should stop addressing them as honorable... and start addressing them as honorary... because the honor is not theirs but bestowed on them by their constituency.

2. It just goes to show how well-trained and well-versed we Filipinos are in English... Pinoys from all corners of our nation, represented by these men and women in the session hall, can speak english fluently... bisayan accents notwithstanding.

3. 2 hours just to vote on whether or not to hear the tapes?!

4. Teddy Locsin is a formidable thinker

5. The session hall... designed by Arch. Felipe Mendoza... has had quite a few knocks regarding its acoustics... cant blame the design... because its such a huge cavernous chamber... but then again... its difficult to hear and listen in a room full of talkers.

6. The television coverage of these hearings is an exposition of how beautifully varied and rich our aesthetic ethnicity is... hehehehe... congressmen of all shapes, sizes, get-ups, bouffants, barongs, ties, sarongs, etc...

7. I admire Way Kurat... the representative of Compostela Valley/Isabela... YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!

8. These people are masters of doubletalk!!!

 

Stationery English

 I'm still recovering from the severe neck/jaw/stomach cramps caused by the sudden burst of prolonged laughter brought about by this quote I saw on a piece of Japanese or Korean Stationery...

"The beautiful morning with the sunshine over the valley has beginning of the day"

grabe... sobrang babaw... pero sobrang patok... sold out siya sa akin

DLSZ campus planning

I had a short conversation with one of my former teachers in high school... Mr. Elloso, and I'm glad to hear that he's been promoted to Director for Administrative Services... I always thought he was a good teacher (of course it helped that I loved his subject... AP/Social Studies/History). So anyway... I'm meeting him today to prequalify my dad's office for campus/masterplanning of dlsz... the problem with zobel is that they have a lot of money and continuously build on the remaining open lots within the site, without even considering the problems it will cause in the future... DLSZ is in danger of ending up like a DLSU-main south campus because of the building density build-up and the inability to clarify vehicular and pedestrian circulation. The problem with clients is that they dont realize that open space is one of the most prime remaining commodities in this urban environment... I hope things go well...

Random Thoughts

Overheard from a bunch of G.I.s (Genuine Ilocanos)

 

Si Kristo Ilokano…

bakit Mare?

Nakikita mo ba yung nasa ibabaw ng krus?

Anu yun Mare?

INRI… Ilocos Norte Region 1

 

 

Does someone with a dainty sneeze have small lungs? Wala lang…

 

Tagaytay is just lovely… except for the creeping commercialization happening all over the place… its still a great place for a weekend sojourn…

 

Kudos to the designers/architects of Magallanes Square… well done, well designed…

 

All this political noise around us seems to have no effect among the silent/civil society middle class… I think we’ve become really numb to our country’s politicians… or maybe because we can’t seem to find a suitable replacement…

 

One thing for sure… the media are sure winners… with all the airtime and coverage being devoted to all the political happenings… I’m sure the stations are all jacking up their ratings… especially during the evening news segments.

 

TOXIC Day...

Arggghhh!!!

Left my cred card at home...

No cash... except for the 20 bucks I found stuck in my wallet

Gas tank almost down to the 1 notch...

Tons of revisions...

A rain of insults from my boss...

Hay Lord... kayo na po bahala... basta I'll keep pushing lang...

 

What JM says about me...

What I like about you...

   The fact that you have this tremendous amount of energy and passion in your field inspires awe in me. And the fact that I have these really stimulating conversations with you.

What song/movie/icon reminds me of you...

   Rhapsody in Blue, Gershwin.

What time of day I associate with you

   Eight o'clock AM. The beginning of things.

Single word that best describes you

   Headstrong

Most memorable moment with you

    The first time I met you in grade 7. I was eating pasta alone, and you decided to join me. (My first impression was, who the heck is this lunk?)

What animal you reminde me of

     I'd go for a beaver (nature's engineer), but I'm thinking more along the lines of a eagle.

Something I've always wondered about you

     How do you drive yourself to do the boring and mundane tasks of everyday?

Tribute to my bros...

I really miss my college barkada… imagine… I spent virtually 5 years with them… in a course that doesn’t allow for anything that resembles a social life… we found solace in the fact that we could all meet in UST and our suking net café/gaming station (Area 77) and unwind from the stress/hassles/frustrations of Arki life… or to celebrate our little triumphs…

Imagine! Araw araw kami magkakasama… lunch, dinner, laro, plate, pati pagtulog! I know I might seem a bit distant to them now from their point of view, but I really don’t want them to think that kasi feeling ko ganun talaga… especially with our workload and busy schedules (although I’m sure si Jordan, Dino at si Lea sawang sawa na sa isa’t isa). That’s what people do after college… move on and get jobs… and boisterously remember and meet during the few intersective free time slots.

Si Marts… si Figluht! Wow tong habuling look-alike ni Ritualo… great listener, pasensyoso, ang tigabuhay at closer ng mga group plates namin… he seals the deal! (may utang pa nga yata ako sa kanya) kung baga sa boxing siya yung huling sapak sa knock-out combination… yung killer blow ba! Lagi kong kasabay papuntang kotse after the barkada’s battlerealms and c&c marathons… our conversations during those walks and during our meals at patio… walang tatalo sa depth and breadth tsaka sa comedy narin

Si Dino… sipag, tunay na maasahan, talino… at siyempre pa… lufet na komedyante… bisaya at intsik na hindi… Klats Fhinzholes at Imvaloafs … he truly blossomed during his thesis… I was glad to see his output and that maski-paano I was able to help him love the course… he still has a lot of potential waiting to be unlocked with the right mentor and the right network.

Si Jordan… the social butterfly… kahit sino pwedeng pakisamahan… mukhang laging laseng… pero huwag ka… ang talino nito… I was always aware of his depth… and I’ve been trying really hard to coax it out of him… His defining moment with me: during our 4th year final rush… he volunteered to do our group’s FilMoMA concept work and explanations… while I had to go do the Sagada Agrotourism Development Masterplan… for that instance I was really impressed with what he could do… tapos yun natulog na siya… kaya medyo bitin yung pagkaimpress ko… Jords malupet ka… pero mas tamad ka kesa maabilidad! Peace bro!

Sama narin natin si Gilly… nung una gigil ako dito kasi parang laging magkamukha yung mga elevations namin pero… hindi din kasi pareho lang kami ng nakikita sa libro at magazine… Masipag na Ilocano… maasahan… workhorse ng lamayan… kaso hindi ko talaga maintindihan kung ano nangyare sa kanya nung thesis niya… shet sayang talaga… I hope he has not been eaten up by Manila, for it can be a destructive force… making you forget who you are and how you’ve been before moving to Manila.

If there’s one thing I learned from these guys… it’s a sense of humor… talagang hindi ka mabubuhay dito sa propesyong ito at sa bansang ito if you can’t humor yourself and laugh at the most simple things you see and hear. For all I know they have added valuable years to my life by just being there and cheering me up… College has made me patient… but they have given me the invaluable gifts of wit, comedy, sarcasm and silly wordplay to while away the long arduous interludes that life throws your way… Noon… I cringe at the statement of brotherly love… with the very prejudiced image of gay men… pero ngayon I know what brotherly love really means…

Namimiss ko na yung mga bunkerwork namin sa Mile Long, yung headphone-music trip naming papunta kina Jords… yung H to the Izzo na panggising natin sa isat isa tsaka yung spurts of explosive laughter na nangyayari every 10 to 15 minutes pag naglalamay tayo ng plate… yung nakakahigh na mga kurecolor… yung pagwawala ko pag may sablay sa trabaho… yung mga 2am trips to Select, yung bahala-na cheating este comparisons ng answers sa exams… yung walang pakundangang asin at msg ng instant noodles… yung pag magsusubmit na kami ng plate papunta kami ng UST… lahat sila tulog tapos ako lang yung gising kasi ako yung nagmamaneho… Yung pag cs, battlerealms, generals at pag-dota kasama sina Romyr, Junie, Gerald, Johan, Nino, EJ, si Kuya Mars, pati narin si Jen…

Priceless mga pre… priceless… I thank all of you, pati our block… ang pinaka anti-establishment at pasaway na block ng arki… I truly wish and hope that everyone will achieve and attain their own version of happiness, success and fulfillment…

Mag-antay at mag-ingat lang sila… Parating na tayo…

Life Soundtracks...

P = “Burnout” by Sugarfree

D = “Telepono” by Sugarfree

N = “Bitch” by I forget her name…

L = “Love Song for No one” by John Mayer

M = “Comfortable” by John Mayer

J = “Just The Way You Are” by Diana Krall… originally by Billy Joel ?

Haha… go figure!

My Official Thesis Soundtrack = “Liwanag sa Dilim” by Rivermaya

Official Dreambuilders lamay and driving soundtrack = “Bigger than My Body” by John Mayer

Official “Pagpapasensya sa Ama” Soundtrack = “Sometimes you can’t make it on your own” by U2

Official Psyche myself for competition Soundtrack = “Dirt off Your Shoulder” by Jay-Z and “Lose Yourself” by Eminem

Official Anti-Establishment Soundtrack (anti Arki-SC and Vision) = “Faint” by Linkin Park

Official Trying to Move-on Soundtrack = “Walk On” by U2

Lonely Depressed Soundtrack = “With or Without You” by U2

Pangbansang Awit na panggising sa inaantok na naglalamay ng Plate = “Izzo” by Jay-Z

Official “Unleash the Fury/Angst” Soundtrack = “All My Life” by the Foo Fighters and “Come With Me” by P. Diddy and Jimmy Page

Pangbansang Awit ng rakistang makabayan = “Noypi” by Bamboo

Pangbansang Awit ng rakistang Kristyano = “Hallelujah” by Bamboo

Frustrated Singer Soundtrack = “Di Bale Nalang” by Gary V.

Official “Watch your step” Soundtrack = “Grand March” and “Pomp and Circumstance”

Official Clarinet Solo Soundtrack = “Moonlight Serenade” by Glen Miller

Official “Take-off and Driving on the Skyway” Soundtrack = “Elevation” and “Vertigo” by U2

Official “Frustrated Clubber” Music = anything techno na nauso noong high school…

Official High-Speed/Dangerous Driving Soundtrack = “Mona Lisa Overdrive” by Don Davis from the Matrix Overdrive Soundtrack…

Is it just me or do we live and remember our life stages with corresponding background music/theme soundtracks that match each stage’s situation, goals, frustrations and partners, etc?

 

Hilaw/Raw

Its tough juggling 2 jobs at the same time… I feel totally clueless in both… with me looking like a fish out of water in the corporate world, and a fricking hatchling in the midst of jobsite vultures and birds of prey…

Marami pa talaga akong bigas na kakainin… in one side, I have to be able to meet their expectations on what I can do in terms of design… in the other… I have to look like I’m street smart enough to get down and dirty with the actual work…

Sa Office…

Leandro paki crit and gawan ng revisions itong schematics… icoordinate mo sa consultants natin…. <piling on 85 20x30 sheets of plans on my desk>

Sa Jobsite…

Boss… pano yan bumigay yung isang shear wall sa sub-basement… ano gagawin natin? <with the Oh Shit and the Lets see what this kid knows about this work look in his eyes>

 

Batman Begins, Hong Kong, Manila and Urbanism

Before anything else, just a random update… I’ve just uninstalled Madden 2005 from my laptop… it’s a big distraction, especially during lunch times… You’d think I would have outgrown the “gamer” stage, but I guess its just one of my outlets for my “Superbowl Head Coach” frustrations… besides, the football season ended last February, and the really brilliant people at EA Sports are sure to top this current release with Madden 2006… I’ve seen what ground-breaking work they’ve done with their other sports releases… and I just can’t wait to see this new one coming this August.

So anyway… I saw Batman Begins last Tuesday, great movie… it tries hard to demolish the hapless, clueless and really annoying Joel Schumacher versions by sticking to the original Tim Burton formula… (plus the really cool Batmobile prototype which was designed daw by Ferrari)

Anyway, if you know me, or if you’ve read any of my previous “pilosopo” posts… you would allow me to go into a stretch of comparison, equalization/pattern recognition of what I’ve seen recently…

When Bruce Wayne’s parents wanted to help Gotham during the depression, they funded and built a mass-transit system to tie and unite Gotham together. How True! judging from what I’ve seen and experienced for myself abroad… particularly in cities with developed mass transit systems (such as HK, NY and Paris) nothing beats the subway or metro as a equalizing factor for societies and as an agent of change for decrepit districts.

Mass Transit Rail has by-far the most efficient passenger to space to resource consumption ratios… compare that to cars, wherein locally, we usually end up with a one to one car to driver ratio. Of course we have busses and shuttle taxis, but these pale in comparison in terms of energy efficiency because trains run on electricity which is produced from fuels which are efficiently burnt and consumed wholesale, while all road-based modes of transport run on “retail or tingi” burnt fossil fuels. And you know that its cheaper to buy and consume things wholesale…

Another point, Mass Transit Rail allows for higher densities, higher buildings, lesser cars, and a healthier way of life… I noticed that there aren’t that many fat or obese Hong Kongers because they really had to haul ass to move for short distances… compared to what we’re used to locally, people would rather take a trike to get from their village gate to their homes when they could have a healthy 10-20 minute walk instead.

Mass Transit Rail allows a more “urbanist” and “humane” city, with sidewalks that are alive instead of parallel or perpendicular parking lots flanking roads. Buildings in Makati meet the sidewalk gracefully because they have stringent zoning and planning laws, but if you look to the next 6 or so floors up or down… they end up losing valuable floor space which they have to concede as parking spaces for their users… imagine the prime rents that could be collected from these spaces… that’s precisely why we have ridiculous parking fees in our CBDs! Why is New York such a vertical city? Simple… because of the lack of land and because of their subway system.

Mass Transit and effective utilities/connections are the backbones for any city development… backbones that we do not have locally, that’s why we are forced to improvise… leading to massive visual blight.

The EDSA MRT isn’t much to look at… all the spaghetti wires overhead prevent sidewalk planting and clear views of the sky… and the LRT’s dark shadow over Taft and Rizal Ave. have brought “shady” characters into these areas and pushed businesses to brighter areas such as Ortigas and Makati.

The pace of our growth has outpaced our planning and development organizations, but don’t worry things are slowly changing, everything needs to start from somewhere… I really think Bayani Fernando… or any enlightened, educated executive politician has to take up the cudgels and be our Manila’s Baron Haussmann (Paris urban planner/demolisher) 

Next Post… The Signage Typology, Learning From Las Vegas (Venturi, Scott and Brown) and comparing it to our EDSA.

Hong Kong trip

Just got back from a short vacation in Hong Kong, our family had our fill of dumplings and msg... so anyway...

I'm really impressed with the pace of development in HK, I was there in 2002 and in 2003 and I've seen just how quickly their "new towns" have grown... in just a span of 2-3 years.

As for their city proper... They really are a model for urbanist development... heck... imagine we spent a whole weekend without even having to ride a car or bus... or any roadbased mode of transport...

I also went hunting for job and scholarship opps and I ran into some pretty promising leads... HKU is offering a great Urban Design Program tied up with the Asian Development Bank... too bad though kasi I was late submitting for this sem's intake...  HKPoly has a composite MBA program which is tied up with Architectural Design and Project Management... thats such a great program because it hits 3 birds with one stone... although I still have a lot of legwork to do in terms of fixing all the details...

Manila Metropolitan Government

     Continuing with the Metro Manila thread of thought… I think that all of Metro Manila’s Cities ought to be disbanded… and the entire MMDA be reorganized into a Metropolitan Government. It makes sense! Instead of each mayor having his/her own convoluted color schemes and infrastructure projects, we can have something coherent and that ties all of the City’s boroughs (if you want to be ala NYC), arrondisments (kung feeling Parisian), or districts.

 

     But the problem is… these mayors wont allow that to happen. Over their dead, decomposing, fetid bodies!

 

     The even sadder thing about this is that, it perpetuates the cycle of poverty and mistakes that has been committed… like a wound that continues to fester… unless the City’s fractured political boundaries are unified, solutions concerning housing, infrastructure, transportation, education and delivery of basic services will not be solved…

 

    Just to prove my point… Bayani Fernando was able to resettle all the squatters along the Marikina River, mainly because Marikina is not as congested as Manila and Makati… plus the fact that Marikina’s land values aren’t as high as Manila’s and Makati’s Zonal Valuations…

 

    But how about Manila and Makati, both highly urban gateway cities… which are unfortunately filled with depressed areas chock-full of urban poor… how can you relocate in-house if … number 1, your city’s land values are too high and too expensive to allocate low-cost mass housing… and number 2, if in the first place, you don’t have much land to convert/redevelop into mass housing?

 

    So what happens? They keep the urban poor captive inside their own cities… why? Because of the votes! If Makati’s poor populations were removed… the electorate would be composed of the educated middle class and the handful of rich families who live in Makati’s villages.

 

This explains why the squatters along PNR’s tracks never ever seem to leave…

 

    Now, if a Manila Metropolitan Government is instituted, this would allow the governor to relocate entire depressed communities into more open areas around the metropolis… with more space, lower land values… this allows the government to put in more money into infrastructure and transportation development, while at the same time, freeing the captive urban poor populations and maintaining the electorate status quo. A central city government would transcend petty geographical divisions!

 

Why can’t it be done? Well… you know why!

Feeling Rem Koolhaas hehehe...

     Metro Manila, I think, is a city in evolution… struggling to find a coherent identity in the midst of a ballooning population, patchwork infrastructure, and at its best, dislocated and disjointed utilities. As the metropolis’ core urbanites/new rich/middle-class move out to the suburbs, the replacement population takes up the cudgels of city living in the various depressed urban areas around the city. With a few exceptions of “reurbanization” wherein developers woo back the rich into the downtown/city centers via mixed-use condominium developments.

 

     Many of our Metropolis educated, well-traveled city/suburb dwellers long for the beautiful shaded avenues of Paris, the Asian “Tropical Garden City” Feel of Singapore, and the Skyward grid of Manhattan’s High Density core. But, are these cities really to be the definition of beauty and culture in our beloved Manila’s rapidly mutating, media-centric mix?

 

     MAYBE… If Paris has the Eiffel Tower/Arc du Triomphe/Louvre, or if New York has Times Square/Ground Zero and Central Park… maybe… for our city, in our current stage of city evolution, maybe we have our Signs for landmarks… Maybe Guadalupe could be repackaged as a Riverside Signage Viewing Park…

 

     If these cities are known for their elegant permanence, maybe Metro Manila can be known for its fleeting dynamism.

5 questions from Mac www.nakanamamboogie.blogspot.com

1.) Which currently existing building best personifies the things you believe in as an architect? explain.
Wow… tough question…  It has to be Rural Studio’s work (under Samuel Mockbee)… more particularly the Mason’s Bend Community Center… it touches the land lightly… it does not disrupt (in a way… it’s  designed with soft, urbanist tendencies) but instead brings everyone together, its sustainable… from the rammed earth construction… to the really cool recycled glass windshields cum breathing curtain wall… It shows that architecture doesn’t have to be grand to be effective… also… I like Rural Studio’s work because of how they take a more populist, almost socialist stand on the role of architecture in society. I hate what’s happened to architecture here in the Philippines, its become so commercialized… effectively turning architects into the housepets of the rich… while totally missing out on our mission… on our “Hypocratic Oath” of providing shelter for people…  www.ruralstudio.com

2.) Which period in history (apart from contemporary times) is your favorite? explain.
Definitely the renaissance/age of enlightenment… there would have been more opportunities for discovery, exploration… etc. It must have been great to be part of the frenzy… runner-up would have to be during the Local Revolutionary Period… hahaha… I can imagine the “unleash the fury” moments…  when it comes to kicking colonial butts.

3.) Which song best speaks about your current predicament in life? explain.
Hmmm… 2 songs please… John Mayer’s “Bigger than my Body” : Yes I’m grounded, got my wings, clipped, I’m surrounded by all this pavement, guess I’ll circle, while I’m waiting for my fuse to dry… Someday I’ll fly… someday I’ll soar… because I’m bigger than my body gives me credit for.

And U2’s “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” Bono’s tribute to his dad: You are the reason why the opera is in me.

4.) Which sitcom character best personifies you? explain.
Ray Romano… dripping sarcasm… dry sense of humor… with the “galeng sa  ilong” tone of voice… maybe a little bit of Ross din… with the nerdy, forever jaded/emotionally scarred personality…

5.) Who is your favorite visual artist? why?

Sol Lewitt, his work resembles simple lines and doodles… but its in the beauty of how he combines all of these basic things that turns it into art… I saw his exhibition in SFMoMA… and although it doesn’t move you as emotionally as the more “emotive” and expressionist artists… his explorations on patterns makes you realize that there are so many patterns and sequences that we see visually, and that we can discover and appreciate for ourselves… his work moves me intellectually… makes me think… his work is really hearty “brain food” www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/exhib_detail/00_exhib_sol_lewitt_bio.html

 

Questions...

     As he always says it’s a heart issue, but what if my heart is telling me something else, that I should learn about the home team first before joining the other side? I truly am inspired by these individuals, bilib talaga ako with the changes that Christ has helped make in their lives. I even ask myself if I’m just doing this because of the opportunity to break the clique boundaries, but if ganun lang, why am I asking deeper questions, and why do I want to learn more? I had a conversation with a good friend from Singles for Christ, and she cleared a lot of things, but a lot of questions remain. Whatever it is, I know that I am in this conundrum for a reason, and that it has been good… because it has cajoled me into reassessing my faith. I really wish to blur the lines between the catholic and the born-again, because essentially they preach the same Christian message. Is it the lukewarmness/parochiality of my church that is turning me off and making me open to other things? Isn’t that a shallow excuse? And if so shouldn’t I find opportunities to sate my hunger for answers within the context of my own church first?

 

     I know it’s not just the clique, in fact, I am willing to dislodge myself from the connection to these really inspiring people in order to explore and find out for myself. I don’t want it to be lip-service…

 

     In the mean time, I’m open to what’s being discussed in the cell meetings mainly because I get insights on scripture, which I otherwise wouldn’t find for myself. And as long as its about common, relevant lessons… not the hellfire and brimstone kind… I’m willing to listen.

 

     Ahhh…. Lord, pasensya ka na talaga sa akin, you made me this way. Sometimes I feel I’m too entrenched in the worldliness of the profession that I took.

Pay-it-forward reality

     I’m currently acting as a third-party adviser for a few senior students in UST doing their thesis, sort of a mentor cum critic cum yoda rolled into one really huge sushi roll. I have very high hopes for them because they represent the cream of this batch, and I hope they kick ass. Don’t get the impression that I’m the first graduate to help out thesis students in UST… this thing has been happening from batch to batch, in an informal pay-it-forward kind of deal, and I would like to pass on what I’ve learned from all my mentors … from the faculty, my dad and tito, the staff in the office, mac, marv… I’m just stating where credit is due.

 

     So now, its my turn…  and I had to rip them from their initial dreams and visions of a magnificent Frank Gehry-like sculptural building and anchor them to the ground. Every year, so many senior students have this “postcard” perspective view of their proposed thesis, sitting magnificently next to a river, a lake or an ocean… with a beautifully lit afternoon sun, with the wispy clouds paint-brushed to perfection…

 

     A vision no doubt perpetuated by what students see in Vision magazine (the college mag) and Bluprint, both of which have done very well in optically documenting outstanding work, both built and imagined… but the sad thing is that, even if a picture is worth a thousand words, it does not talk about the depth and the breadth, the logic, the economics, the nitty-gritty of the design being showed in the pictures. All we get is shallow coffeetable-book commentary on something that undertook a whole year’s work.

 

     The problem is that, because of this, students are left with this hollow beautiful vision of something that they do not fully understand and comprehend. So… lesson number 1 for my little padawans was very simple:

 

     You are here not to impose your will on the project/problem, not to impose your ego on the project… You are here to learn how to solve it.

 

     With all due respect to Manolo Noche… one of the better professors in UST, yes I admire his idealism and his dreamy vision of things, but the truth is that, these students will be graduating into the real world. And yes, its good to teach them about the ideal, but first and foremost a school should equip students for what is real, because if they do not survive the initial onslaught of the real world, then they won’t be around to preach and change things to what is real!

 

     I read in a recent Time issue talking about how West Point educates and teaches its graduates… It teaches them how to survive and how to win battles and wars… by closely simulating the real thing. And I think that’s exactly what UST should do… because the truth is simple… Architecture is an old-man’s profession. And when you say old man… we’re talking about the survivors, the veterans, the steely-eyed mentors and masters who’ve looked into the eyes of pain-in-the-ass, sons-of-bitches, low-life, mud-slinging clients… architects who have lived to tell the tale, but the sad thing is that these are the same people who have become too jaded to make a difference!

    

     Youth is so wasted on the young… I hope to save this entry so that hopefully, when I’m as old and jaded as they are, I remember how passionate and fiery I was about making a difference in the profession and in my beloved city and country… 

 

 

Good Writers are tormented souls...

      Yesterday was my dad’s first time to run into my blog, much to my horror, he actually thought that I wrote some pretty interesting and funny stuff. He told me that I might actually make a good writer, mainly because he thinks all good writers are principally tormented souls. Hahaha… torment… yes… I kinda have a lot of that. But its positive torment, not exactly the negative, destructive type.

 

I’m a product of what my parents fondly call mushroom management… which basically consists off… keep them in the dark… and throw shit at them… and hope something edible comes out of the mess. Hehehehe… Really now, I’m a product of what Pinoy’s call sala sa init sala sa lamig… I was exposed to all the good things in life, but was also thoroughly balanced by the harsh realities of living in the Philippines.

 

      Truth is, I don’t really know where I am, my mom thinks I’m too tough, my dad thinks I’m too soft… I think I’m too fat! Hehehehe So really, I’ve been thinking about starting another blog, because aside from the fact that my parents have discovered this, I also want to talk about more architecturally-oriented things… most of what I’ve been writing about on this blog are really more on my psycho, sociological, cultural musings and not much on the torture in architorture. But then, I can’t seem to rip one side from the other, they feel too intertwined, too integrated together.

 

      So, to my “non-archi” friends… excuse me when I start writing about my dear profession, nonetheless, please do put up with the archi posts… I’m sure you’ll pick something new…