Structured

I have this mission that before i can get to start my review, i should read first a book (oh yes, i don’t consider review materials as books even though they are “book-binded”). But the catch is, it must be atleast related to arhitecture. Hehehe. Just to help me get into the “zone” as others would put it. However small of a chance will i see one, I looked from one booksale to another (fact: here in Tarlac, we don’t actually have a certified bookstore. Sadly, all we have are small stalls or kiosks of a booksale of sorts, And I doubt if there will be a National Bookstore in SM Tarlac.)

After 2 hours of scouring the annals of our vast repository of for sale books, i saw one! yeepee! Aptly titled Sixteen Acres (Arch’re & the outrageous struggle for the future of Ground Zero) by Philip Nobel. The title seems intriguing so i bought it for 90php. It’s a good buy i think. Hard bound, nice cover design (although the dang price stickers and some scratches almost made me think twice), & the pages are complete & in perfect condition (no folds, and smells like a newly cut wood). Enough not to get teary-eyed while paying. Hehehe.

And now, how to manage reading a book and actually finishing it is mine to mind. I did already had a light reading though, just moments before i wrote this, and i quite liked it. It actually worked for me (yun yon eh!). Although i hope it will help me to jumpstart reading my “gabundok na rebyuwers” as i planned.

my neurosis kills me… the feeling of leaving something behind that i know would not be clearly understood nags me to at least make a move to straight things out… and this feeling never fails to prove it’s right. not angry at all… just this urge to explain something…

first, i left the dream job to take my dream torture of an exam. (explaining what happens next would be another story)

no, i’m not afraid of people who save their asses through ass-kissing and/or lying straight from their burgeoning asses (uy oh, tongue twister). not even from those in higher positions. i tell you, i had from my past experiences, stood-up to stupid teachers and instructors; disagreements from suppressive deans; arguments with Ps and VPs of our university and other organizations. (this is not a threat nor bragging, and definitely not too proud of it. but i mean, come on. can you just raise the standard you think what is due to me?)

and lastly between the freaking exam and my credibility to clients, i would rather have the latter as my bread & butter.

there… i said it.

evidence... you can decipher the level of their creativity when it comes to thinking of gifts in a limited time (1 hour)

I VISITED MY FORMER CO-SLAVES LAST THURSDAY - A DAY BEFORE MY BDAY - AND I HAD FUN. WHEN WE (with another co-slave -the real slaved of all slaved) GOT TO THE OFFICE, THERE WERE CHANTS, WISHES, CURSING(hehe) & BRUTAL URGING FOR MY “TREAT”. I FAILED THEM WITH GLEE AND FRUSTRATION. AND THEN THERE’S THEIR GIFTS. SURPRISE, SURPRISE! HAHAHA, MY FIRST SINCE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION.

AFTER THE LOUD LAUGHS, THE MARICARS AND KATRINAS, THE “LILET” of BELLEVUENESS (idiomatic expression meaning, hardships or battery & slavery or futile attempt to finish something), WE ATE AND GONE HOME. F-U-N.

i resigned… from my job… from the same freaking firm that im so proud of and happy to have been working for. i did it so that i could take the coming board exams this june. arghh… i think i might try hara kiri… hmmm…

i had just read an article about why we, filipinos, have no sense of originality and devote instead on (perfecting) mimicry -apparently the author said she suspects our lack of cultural upbringing or having no culture at all to ‘fill in the void’ made the huge impact. see colossus by jessica zafra.

then, comments below the article called my attention. one suggested to wait for the PAGCOR tower. the tower to put the philippines to the map of countries with their top scyscrapers. yey. but here’s the catch… it’s tagged as the philippines’ las vegas. nyah, so much for the author’s lament.

am sure am a filipino...

impressionist drawing of an aquarium inside Dubai Mall

Today marks the opening of Dubai mall. It would be then included to the list of the top largest malls in the world. It costs 20 billion dollars and boasts 1200 shops. But there’s just one teeny weeny problem. Read: Mega doubts as Dubai mall to open…

Speaking of gargantuan malls, i just read the list of the World’s Largest Malls, and it struck me that 4 of our malls (all from SM holdings owned by Henry Sy…ehem, the richest person in the Philippines) made it to the top 12. Three of which are in the top 7. Here i think, is a great inspiration should Alanis felt the need to fix her lyrics for her hit song.

speaking of pyramids… here’s an unfortunate fate of the so-called american pyramid… the sixth largest pyramid in the world…

Ángel Franco/The New York Times

“A quarter-century ago, the idea of a pyramid arose from the city’s desire to provide a larger venue for sporting events and concerts, and to have a structure as defining as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, 300 miles upriver. Along came Sidney Shlenker, a Denver businessman and visionary, to promote a pyramid of pyramids, one befitting a city named after the ancient Egyptian capital.”

Read the full article “A City\’s Horizon, Reshaped by an Empty Promise” by Dan Barry.

well, what can i say… a lot of my freinds and architects i knew was kind of fascinated and “bilib na bilib” in the recently publicized vertical city of dubai. ehem, i stand on what i’ve said last time. but in the name of architecture, my claim of profession and future bread and butter, if ever i stumble to any “vertical city” plans & concepts - may it be a proposal or scraped out - i will make it my duty to post and update you. (although someone tells me im just like talking to myself here.)

here’s a glimpse of one of Japan’s (scariest) future developments…