New Thinkpad

I am typing this on my new Thinkpad, which I was able to buy at a ridiculously low price of 42k, well it is relatively low, compared to how other similarly spec’d branded laptops in the market… the difference? Its parts and components are made mostly in Asia, in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, with more expensive parts coming from Taiwan and Japan… All of these brought together and assembled in China. What does this mean? It means China has busted down the doors of production quality discrimination and stepped into the “quality” psyche of consumers and producers.

 

Kudos to Lenovo Inc. for purchasing IBM’s PC division, this is a huge development in Asian business, considering that IBM started the whole PC boom, its kind of ironic to see an Asian company buy them out. Maybe IBM realized that they were better off with letting themselves focus on their core competency, which has always been the big, mainframe/server business, and letting their smaller, consumer/personal computing division go to a more production-savvy Lenovo, which has China’s production muscle as part of its main business arsenal.

 

What do all of this mean? Well, simply put, watch out for a flood of cheap, branded, quality PCs and notebooks from China. This will energize the local and regional electronics sector and bring about a wave of democratization of IT technologies throughout more backward and rural areas of Asia, particularly the mainland.

Come here little guppy !!!!

A380 take-off with learjet lead plane

Waiting for take-off...

Now... continuing my train... or... plane of thought... hehehe

I feel like an A380 fully fueled with the flaps down and the brakes off, lined up at the end of a long runway ready for take-off... but the control tower hasn't given me clearance yet. I really hope ALI finally set a date for my interview this week.

When I was in high school, in the midst of deciding for what I want to do for my career, I actually gave aeronautical design/engineering some thought. But the thing is, the opportunities for that profession don't sound so optimistic, especially here in the Philippines.

So I got into architecture, and don't get me wrong, I love what I'm doing right now, its just that I really want to be able to fly a plane someday. Oh well... in the mean time, I've kinda adapted a subversive design "image" in terms of my architecture... which, as one of my profs mentioned... "You're buildings look like they're about to take-off" hehehe ... which really is a compliment for me... because I guess... thats what I've been wanting them to do in the first place.

Now... about flying... Looks like I'll be travelling with my mom to attend my cousin Miguel's wedding in Vancouver. I'll be leaving in 2 weeks, and I can't wait to get out of Manila's heat. Hopefully, ALI calls na so I can clarify how long I can stay in YVR...

 

On the tarmac...

 

Kudos to the Airbus A380 design team... what a huge bird... hehehehe... it took off with a learjet observer/spotter plane ahead of it, and it seemed like it was about to gobble the poor thing up.

That is one of my frustrations in life, being a kid, and being blessed/allowed to travel the world at an early age opened my eyes to the wonders of flight. Nothing compared to the rush of take-off... well we always travelled stand-by (because my mom used to work for an airline) and because of that, we usually get stuck in airport departure lounges and check-in areas waiting for the clearance to board the flight. I really didn't mind the wait, because I always carried around a small steno notebook and I'd find the nearest curtain wall window and just sketch whatever new aircraft I see.

Its sad that for a lot of people, getting on a plane is almost the same as getting on a bus. hopefully, with the a380, this is going to change, hopefully it will bring back the glory and glamour days of air travel.

To Papang

Ran a lot of errands today. I was able to squeeze in some gym time this afternoon... really have to do this thing regularly... need to shake my deskbound ass. hehehehe

While I was at the gym I was suddenly overrun by a wave of sadness... I remembered my lolo, who died 3 years ago of complications brought about by brain cancer. The cancer was caused by his excessive chain smoking... yeah, he quit 5 years before his death, but obviously, it was too late.

Me and papang were very close, he was very grandfatherly to all his apos... I was lucky because my family lived a few blocks from them, which allowed him to take me out and treat me to the neighborhood Burger Machine stand... . He would also take me out every other sunday to have a haircut... He'd take me to this really "slummy" barbershop and we'd wait in line for one particular barber to finish and do my haircut. On our way home, he would drop by this ihawan and get inihaw na bangus and lechon manok for the sunday family lunch.

When I got older, he would take me and my sisters to makati to watch movies and to eat at Luk Yuen. I remember one time, when in HS, I couldn't understand anything in my accounting subject and I went over to their house to have him teach me. (He was a dean of the College of Commerce and Accountancy in University of Pangasinan) He made the hazy lessons crystal clear...

I  guess I kinda feel sad, because I didnt get to return the favor. With SM Sucat open, I'm sure he would be a regular... hehehe he'd be the one to open the moviehouse and the grocery. Especially now that I drive, I'd be bringing him places, to Palms, to Alabang... wherever.

Maybe what I miss most is his advice. I think, like all graduates, I am at a crossroads in my life right now, and that I would love to hear his thoughts on a lot of things. On relationships, on my career, and on life in general

Ayala Competition Awarding

People as Buildings

Had a long day... My mom left for Geneva yesterday, she has to undergo training with IOM, in the mean time, I'm left with all her chores. This means... bouncing between banks, paying bills, etc. etc. etc.

Took a short break to watch "Guess Who" ... relatively funny movie... it was funny in the sense that I had more fun observing the people who were watching it... cause some of the "funny" punchlines in the movie, were obviously out of context for a lot of them.

Went around the village again today, there's something I noticed ... with all the new houses popping up in phase 3, I realized, buildings/houses (again) are really so much like people... when the columns and walls go up, with the window openings clearly delineated, without any paint or exterior finishes... the houses, in their toddler stage... remind me of how honest and unpretentious kids are.

But as the roofing is installed, (whether its tile, or tile longspan, etc. etc.) and as the exterior treatments are put in... they start resembling teenagers, with the layers of masks and pretensions on.

As a designer, I've always been intrested in the concept of honesty... honesty of the spaces, the intention of the elements... the finishes and the materials...

Pondering all of this... I realize that in HS, I was a lot like these "noveau" houses... with their pastiche layerings of elements... the fake columns, the fake grilles, etc. etc. etc. I guess, I was (in a way) emulating the houses (and people) that I saw in and around my school...

But then, going to UST for college has opened my eyes to the rest of the world, to new people, and to a much more sensible aesthetic taste... which is why, I would like to think, that in one way or another, I have tried to minimalize my life and become a truer person... I realize that, as a designer, if I want to be minimalist and modern... I have to live my life according to the same ideas/concepts embodied in those philosophies...

College and the real world... they have their ways of changing you...