First Christmas in 5 years! hehehe

Its great to be celebrating Christmas and the holidays na hindi ako
nagpupuyat for a competition plate or a submission... because the past
5 years all the important dates fell after the end-of-year holidays
kaya ayun... wala kaming pasko ng 5 taon! hehehe



1st yr = Comp Plate = Adaptive Reuse

2nd yr = Comp Plate = Aquinas Park

3rd yr = Comp Plate = Division of City Schools

4th yr = Comp Plate = Dreambuilders

5th yr = Thesis!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Good thing my mom and sister arrived today from the states, otherwise
Christmas eve would be very disfunctionally incomplete... although my
dad is still in sanfo, at least we're more than half complete for the
holidays...



Good thing I've recovered from a really hard bout with the flu
yesterday, my sister tells me that I hit 41c and that I was
hallucinating and muttering incoherent sentences...



Merry Christmas to everyone! God Bless!



Next up: my year in review... nax mala-abscbn/gma yearender ito...

Late Bloomer

Kahapon Ika'y nakita

ako'y iyong binati

wala akong nasabi

pagkat nabighani

ng kagandahan mong tangi



Matapos ang enkwentro

ako'y naloko

bat naman ako natameme

samantalang sa loob ko'y

alam kong kaya kong

magpakabibo ?



Kanina'y ika'y aking nakita muli

kasama mga ka-opisina

ngunit malayo palang

kayo'y napalingon,

lumiko't lumayo... maari namang

hindi ako nakita, ngunit

hindi lang naman ngayon

na ako'y nadedma.



Siguro hindi talaga ako click sayo

mahirap talaga tong late bloomer

marami na nagbago, maliban lang

ang tingin sayo ng tao.



Hindi bale ok lang

hindi narin bago sa akin ang

kahihiyan

tawanan ko nalang

dahil sigurado naman din ako

sa sarili ko, at alam ko sa

loob ko na ako'y

magandang tao.



Hindi bale ok lang

wala naman sakin yon

dahil siguro'y ako medyo

bibo at nasobrahan ng listo

sa pagantay at paghananap

dun sa bigay sakin ni Kristo...



Noon olats ako...

Pero Ngayon... tsk tsk tsk

Sayang, ikaw ang talo....

pasensya na kung makeso...

Lighting a Fire! - see photos in the album

Last week I was "volunteered" by my boss to work with the Ayala
Foundation... AFI, along with Intel run several computer
clubhouses in several depressed communities in Manila. As part of
their program, they invited their clubhouse suki members over to Tower
1 to see for themselves how computers are used in the real world.



Initially I thought we were just supposed to give a walkthrough of the
software that we use in architecture/presentations... mostly CAD,
Photoshop, Corel, Sketch-up/etc. But after getting a feel of the
"crowd", I figured that most them are already approaching the
HS-College crossroads, and that maybe they could use some advice on
their future decisions.



I found out that majority wouldn't be able to go to college because of
the high tuition costs...I told them that the truth is... college is
only a formality... the computer virtually opens up a whole world of
opportunities... and that I myself have seen (in my dad's office) that
college undergrads or HS grads can still make something out of
themselves through computer skills... I told them the story of one of
our former encoders... he was "discovered" by my dad in a silkscreen
shop drawing the templates for the t-shirts... my dad needed draftsmen
for one of his early projects... and so he called him up to work with
him. My dad tutored him on the basics of drafting and paid him an
education allowance so that he could train and learn CAD, eventually
after 5 years he was able to get a job in Abu Dhabi, where he has just
been recently promoted to CAD Production manager...



Over the years these stories are repeated in our office, and I have had
the chance to work alongside these exceptional and humble guys... I
learned firsthand that the lack of a formal education, despite its
initial handicap... is no obstacle to a person who has the fire in the
belly, the ambition, the fortitude and discipline to enrich
him/herself. Oftentimes, life  is a better teacher, and the people
around you, better mentors than the "professionals" you find in
college. If knowledge and skills are the things that you lack, well...
the internet/computer brings that to you... you just have to use it for
positive means.



I think that I was able to light a fire in them... They were all
excited... I could see quite a few eyes narrow and squint... yung
tipong nanlilisik ba?

Ayala Foundation - Intel Careers in Computing Motivational Talk

Changing the world...

Sometimes a kind heart is not enough



good intentions



don't amount to anything



in a world of doubt



biases and prejudices



you fight so hard against it



so that you won't be eaten up



by the mediocrity...



i fear the day i wake up



part of it... like everyone else.



change the world? why change it?



can't you just enjoy the ride?



can't you just leave it alone?



Why would I want to be part of something



that spit me out?



Why would Christ knowingly sacrifice His life?



Because he knows his cause is just and correct.



Among people with good intentions and



barrels of hope in their hearts



this is the common thread of their silent vendetta



to change the world... from what is so



terribly wrong, into what is so individually right.



to seize their world and implant ours...



in the midst of these gripping polarities



we risk being dictators of what we deem as good...



and risk being as evil as them.

Booklaunch and a set of conclusions...

Last night, I attended the booklaunch of "Lonely Sentinels of the Sea"
by Arch. Manolo Noche of UST... its a good book for fellow students and
arki professionals... it was the product of several years of research
on old Philippine Lighthouses.



Anyway... enough with the paid advertisement... I ran into several
under and upperclassmen, and batchmates from college... It was nice to
trade battlefront stories: thesis struggles, apprenticeship booboos,
project problems and all sorts of shop-talk.



Conclusions: mahirap talaga pag underboard... rarely do you get any
respect from your coworkers and peers. Hindi bale,
mag-eevolve/level-up/promote din kami.  



Another Conclusion: All the good ones are taken... at least the ones that I meet!



Pahabol na conclusion: Holidays = Cold = Human Breeding season = tsk
tsk tsk... is it any surprise na December has more weddings than June?

Define Friendship and Pinagsamahan

I got into an argument with 2 of my closest college friends... several thoughts lang:



I expect and demand high standards from my friends and close peers...
because aside from the fact that I am an OC prick, I respect and trust
them... if they can't match those expectations... I feel very
disappointed... it feels like my judgement is skewed.



For some people... friendship means not being judged... I on the other
hand see friendship as a means to help and better myself and the other
person... if he or she can't see this... well thats too bad. Sino pa
bang magsasabi sayo ng tama eh di kaibigan mo din?



Its unfair... because when push comes to shove... I'd stick up for
them... I might not be present in all the parties/gimmicks but that
doesn't change a thing... 



Don't ever be makwenta with me... because I am one shrewd nut and you
don't realize this because I don't count... at least not in front of
you.

Random Shots

Congrats to the Philippines for an excellent showing during the past SEAgames!!! Galing!

Lets do it again in 2 years and hand Thaksin his broken limbs back to him...



Congrats also to one of our UST upperclassmen Jason Buensalido and the
UST students who won the CCP Masterplan Competition... saw the work...
it was a good urban design solution... Lufet! Watch out for this guy...
very well connected... especially with the press...



Once again... why we shouldn't let lawyers meddle with the built
environment... Pasay has tried copying Lito Atienza by putting up their
own version of the Baywalk promenade along Roxas blvd... they put up
their own terribly scaled diamond lamp posts... which I'm sure resulted
to huge cost overruns unknown to taxpayers...  because... these
lamp posts are spaced too close to each other... if only Pasay's staff
studied how Atienza did their baywalk they would realize the scale,
spacing and proportions are much bigger and wider versus what they
did... kamote!

Obviously... leave the urban design work to trained people! Arggghhhh!
or at least leave our metropolis alone if you can't do it right.

Talaga lang ah?!... ok... if you say so =)

I'm guessing because male architects appeal to a woman's nesting psyche... 

Online Folio Part 3

SFC Photos