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architectural food for thought July 8, 2009

Posted by leicia in arki trix&stuff, kewlness.
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Optimism vs Pessimism

Expressive vs Neutral

Radical vs Conservative

Emotional vs Cool

Inexplicable vs Understood

Hand vs Computer

Complex vs Simple

Political vs Evasive

Real vs Simulated

Unexpected vs Habitual

Raw vs Refined

Pointed vs Blunt

Memorable vs Forgettable

Communicative vs Mute

Risky vs Safe

Space vs Fashion

                                   Democratic vs Authoritarian 

                                             - Daniel Libeskind

 To hear the rest of the talk… “>

 

settle for more June 19, 2009

Posted by leicia in stream of thoughts.
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To be really candid, I am fine how and where I am right now.

But this doesn’t mean I didn’t yell  and shake my fist at the world.

This doesn’t mean I have always been on bended knees in gratitude and expectation.

This doesn’t mean I never questioned the events that happened in my life.

This doesn’t mean all my decisions were wise and right.

And still to be completely true and honest, even when I am fine right here and now,

there is still that yearning to settle for more…

And why not?  

I am finding it is actually not that  bad to want to have everything you desire.

It is the fuel that drives people to do their passion, to deal with life , and to live as they should.

Whatever works for you.  Without hurting or inconveniencing those around you.

Love. Sex. Money. Fame. Power. 

Or Kids. Family. Education. Fitness. Business. Your garden and crossword puzzle.

Salon day and food trips.  Massages and movie dates.  Flirting with a  stranger, talking to a long-lost old friend.  The dream wedding.

Shooting studio-quality pictures.  Day at the beach.  Your bug and stamp collection.  Trips abroad.  Fancy shoes and frilly dresses. Cliff-diving, bungee jumping or just surfing the net.  Heeding your destiny’s call. 

The list goes on and on.

The point is NOT to be not content with what you have or,  who you are this moment.  

But to appreciate and be grateful for those and also realize that the best may still be on its way…

Approaching 30… May 31, 2009

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Finally getting to THAT stage now. And somehow despite everything that’s going on,  all is good, thank God!

But shouldn’t I be anxious and fearful to turn 30 in 5 days?  They say women have a lot of issues at this point of our lives.   Shouldn’t I be suffering complexes now too complicated to articulate?

Well, yeah, half and half I guess.  Complicated issues are still there, but who doesn’t have problems and concerns ?  I guess the point is, its all in the mind!  That should be a good sign right? =)

The only thing I’m concerned now is how to mark it. Celebrate gratitude for another year by throwing a party? Or just have a nice dinner and drinks with good friends with mox?

Either or neither, I am very thankful I still have the chance to complete 3 decades of life here =)  And as always, I only ask THE power that be, for good health and protection from harm and danger for myself and family.  Any add-ons to that will be greatly, greatly appreciated! =P

A good friend, Ma’am Jean, sent me this SMS last week:  Remember 5 simple rules to be happy…

1.  Free your heart from hatred.

2.  Free your mind from worries.

3.  Live simply.

4.  Give more.

5.  Expect less.

A fitting reminder for this coming 5th June.   Cheers!

home sweet davao… May 18, 2009

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so finally arrived home…
and it’s raining! and had kinilaw and inihaw for lunch! and i’m gonna have my long-awaited massage in an hour! simple joys =)

to backtrack a little…

after almost 40 hours straight of being awake wrapping up work, final packing, traveling, layovers and waiting, we groggily disembarked at MIA close to midnight last may 14. good thing i was with friends, as they made the whole trip a little less stressful. though with this virus going around, we got a little paranoid. passengers were coming in from the US, korea, and i don’t know from anywhere else! this prompted us to don masks. only to find out we were probably 4 out of 8 passengers using them. haha. but immigrations officers were using them. and its always better to be safe than praning and sorry i guess…

we checked in around 1am and after spending the first night at the hotel, i woke up to a late breakfast of PORK tocino and bacon! hehe. just couldn’t help it. afterward, went to farah’s house in antipolo and had yummy, home-cooked lunch! then for dinner had oxbrain and keema at a kebab joint with vang in front of sterten place in maginhawa st, UP village. which is where i think my “discomforts” came from!

newlyweds

may 16th was ggdoll’s wedding day. after all preparations and we were heading to the church in the afternoon, fatigue suddenly hit me. hard. literally, my eyes were drooping and my head started to ache coz i felt so sleepy! in the church, i just sat down  for fear of swaying or worse, fainting! something i’ve never done my whole life…

so i was on and off of it, even at the reception. then started to think paranoid stuff when i threw up that night. and it was worse the following day, when i woke up really feeling bad! had to call several “advisers” in the medical field. after reassurances and instructions on which meds to take and what else to do, i started to feel better. a little weak still, but not sickly. morning nap was helpful and so was good lunch and another nap before dinner. had to be better for my morning flight the following day.

seeing the whole college gang was worth all of it though. spending time with them felt like nothing changed. but of course, a lot did change. but some things, like friendships, deep bonds shared over joys and sorrows, the mundane and special, and most especially surviving UP, count for something else…

UP barkada...

thankfully, i woke up well-rested and feeling way better today. and after breakfast with a few dear friends, i was off to the airport for the final leg of my trip home…

fastforward now….

just had my body-melting massage. my new masseuse was good really, strong. had a hearty dinner of tinolang tuna belly and pork sisig at banoks. and after chatting up with several good friends abroad, and finally catching up with them, I’m ready to crash in my own bed. at last…

miniatures April 15, 2009

Posted by leicia in arki trix&stuff, kewlness.
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as far back as i can remember, i have always been fascinated by diagrams and drawings, maps, pictures of  houses, buildings – the inside and outside, dollhouses and small versions of whatever.  one reason i can think of now, was a big drawing mox made,  when i was maybe 4 or 5 years old?

it was a full colored illusration done in 1 whole manila paper showing  an airplane cut in its longitudinal section, hand-drawn by my grade-schooler big brother that time.  for the kid i was then, it was huge! colored crayons depicting the seats, people and the big plane.  fine details are quite hazy now, but i guess it really left an impression…

enough to make me take up architecture. but i admit i dont have the patience at all to make this minute renditions, thats why i opted for the big versions. one artist for miniatures remarked he had to go into a meditative state. he has to slow down his heart rate so his hands wouldnt tremble as much. wow. im even having trouble just completing some of my more challenging yoga asanas!

when i stumbled upon  peter tucker via the weburbanist, i was simply floored. (the parquet, tiny version =)… lots more other artists there, but i simply like that he has contemporary models and designer stuff as well. simply amazing and in my language, “nakakagigil”.  miniature settings you can imagine, he can make. see the following images and tell me you dont go crazy over the LED lights for lamps, minisicule designer furnitures and the fine grained-flooring and woodworks…

miniature-loft_2012<

miniature-art-deco

miniature-loft19cropped
to see more of his work, his website is roomboxes.com

neuro holographic recovery unit April 15, 2009

Posted by leicia in arki trix&stuff, kewlness.
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i saw this from information aesthetics and i hope world builder wont mind me linking this here.

really awesome, quite surreal but also poignant… the star trek holodeck come alive…

dubai impressions + the aftermath March 29, 2009

Posted by leicia in graveyard shifts, stream of thoughts, traveling shoes.
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this is a little delayed somewhat since i went to dubai first week of march. but just never got the time to go online in my own time… anyway.

dubai wasn’t so bad. or maybe it’s just that i visited it so late, but just right on time when global recession hit and everybody else was leaving… but it wasn’t as intimidating, messy and impersonal as i thought it would be.  it is a bustling place, with its distinctive districts, busy streets and hurried people. attendant to that would be myriad issues and problems inherent to a burgeoning city. i just hope they’ll clean up their act there soon, literally and figuratively. i found i was slightly right when i refer to dubai as manila and muscat as davao…

old and new

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

my cousin is there and several school chums are there,  so it actually felt more homey than when i first came here in oman. great thing i now have wonderful friends here in muscat who are making it a little difficult to leave the place…

cousin ateg

ok about the aftermath. the weeks following that trip was hazy. i came down with the flu for several days  right  after i came back. must be all the fatigue during the travel and the pile-up of work before and after the trip. when i was getting better, i ate something that upset me for a couple more days. my  immune system must be really low, then this monthly thing came which i’m slightly embarrassed to say, made me even weaker. at the same time,  i got the colds which is everywhere. its the changing weather here now, so sunny one moment, raining the next with lots of gusty wind blowing everything your way. Presently, i’m sneezing all over the place, trying to do damage control and praying my usually-reliable and  strong physical resistance kicks in and finally shove all these maladies goodbye once and for all. as my best friend farah said, i’ve maxed out my sickness quota for the year. the last time i got kinda sick was maybe 2 years ago when i first came here. and if im not mistaken, that was my first attempt to go to dubai as well! that story is one for the books, i swear. to refresh the memory, click 
here

 

this time around, we made sure i’ll get there without any hitch. before i even i flew in, we called up both sides to ensure i’ll  get my visa upon arrival. thankfully, it was all good albeit time consuming. but compared to my previous experience, still way way better.

12:08am February 7, 2009

Posted by leicia in daily doses, graveyard shifts, stream of thoughts.
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i should be crashing now, resting my eyes and easing my budding headache…

but i know i wont be able to sleep that quickly, so might as well just burn whatever’s left in my prepaid broadband…

today was pretty busy, as workdays  here go. but i didn’t finish a lot of work, not really. just meetings and meetings and presentations draining time…

good thing the latest product line is a very interesting one.  im really hoping we get to use them a lot for projects. chairs, desks, accessories of noted “authors” of the day.  they may be pricey, but they’re for keeps. the kind i will get and bring home by air, sea or land!  but hearing those big designer names again made me think of architecture, my first love…

i can feel something coming up this year. exactly what and when, i have no idea. its probably going to be something of a crossroad and such. again. i wouldnt mind. im looking forward to whatever it is god has in store for me and my bro. with all my heart, im praying its gonna be good and wonderful =)

they say all you have to do is ask and hope fervently for something to come or happen. what if you dont know exactly what to ask, only that you feel there is something…something missing? something that should make sense of everything around you?  all im pretty sure of asking god and the universe right now is good health for my family and protection from all harm and danger. or maybe that is it and should be enough…

i know im rambling, havent written my disconcerted thoughts here in along time.  not since i was floundering my way teaching back in Davao.  i used to feel so clueless then but at the same time brimming with things to say. now im wondering how i affected the students i had the chance to meet and spend time with that one memorable year. i just hope i didnt do much irreparable damage to their pursuit of architecture! coz id like to get back to it someday, honestly. when im more grown up in the ways of the world and would definitely have things to say till they would ask me to shut up already…

oh by the way, visit this site and rate and vote for my bro if you please…   http://www.islandreefjob.com/#/most-recent/watch/IXtGCyQvTIg

its turning out to be a  fierce competition but im wishing him all the best and luck.  whatever the outcome, i salute him for  making a go with this. but he really is perfect for this, best job or not.  besides having a degree in physical therapy, he’s a trained rescue crew and he’s adventurous enough for most of us.  but most importantly, he’s got the right attitude for it. i just hope the panel sees it, coz an  island caretaker would definitely be his forte =)

without any help from booze or any other vices, im pretty mellow now. music full blast from OST of the crow, the movie.  kinda dark, but cool and a little dramatic. the last 2 tracks still remain my favorites. time baby 3 and it cant rain all the time by jane siberry. classic.  and with that i leave you…

 

We walked the narrow path, 
beneath the smoking skies.
Sometimes you can barely tell the difference 
between darkness and light.
Do you have faith 
in what we believe?
The truest test is when we cannot, 
when we cannot see.

I hear pounding feet in the, 
in the streets below, and the,
and the women crying and the, 
and the children know that there,
that there’s something wrong, 
and it’s hard to belive that love will prevail.

Oh it won’t rain all the time.
The sky won’t fall forever.
And though the night seems long,
your tears won’t fall forever.

Oh, when I’m lonely, 
I lie awake at night 
and I wish you were here.
I miss you. 
Can you tell me 
is there something more to belive in?
Or is this all there is?

In the pounding feet, in the,
In the streets below, and the,
And the window breaks and,
And a woman falls, there’s,
There’s something wrong, it’s,
It’s so hard to belive that love will prevail.

Oh it won’t rain all the time.
The sky won’t fall forever.
And though the night seems long,
your tears won’t fall, your tears won’t fall, your tears won’t fall
forever.

Last night I had a dream.
You came into my room, 
you took me into your arms.
Whispering and kissing me, 
and telling me to still belive.
But then the emptiness of a burning sea against which we see
our darkest of sadness.

Until I felt safe and warm.
I fell asleep in your arms. 
When I awoke I cried again for you were gone.
Oh, can you hear me?

It won’t rain all the time.
The sky won’t fall forever.
And though the night seems long,
your tears won’t fall forever.
It won’t rain all the time
The sky won’t fall forever.
And though the night seems long,
your tears won’t fall, your tears won’t fall, 
your tears won’t fall
forever.

oman won! January 17, 2009

Posted by leicia in kewlness, oman!.
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 oman-win

and i got to watch part of the finals from the office. i dont know much about the whole technicalities of the sport but the sudden death was truly curse-inducing! (for my part anyway)

playing against a strong Saudia, the match came to a draw 0-0. With players from both sides one on one in the goal, I waited impatiently for 1 player to screw up. And he did. 6th player from the opponent missed the goal whereas last home team player scored! sudden death. 6-5.

first time ive seen scores beyond 4-0. if football is always like this exciting, i swear ill probably turn out to be bigger fan =)

football in oman January 15, 2009

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 …is CRAZY. And that’s about the only thing I’m pretty much sure about the sport here.

Gulf Cup 2009 is hosted by the Sutanate and since it started a couple of weeks back, football fever was on. Though the home team’s initial game was a draw against Kuwait, they rebounded back in the next two against Iraq and Bahrain, reportedly putting up a good show. Crowds reached frenzy level when Oman won the latest match against Qatar, just early this evening, ensuring them a place for the Finals.

As of writing, highways are still jam-packed with rallying cars carrying fans crazily hanging outside the windows waving the red, green and white colors of Oman. Non-stop honking, lights and sirens blaring, all-out noise barrage and people just out acting bonkers. I’ve never seen the locals behave this way, not even on their National day, new year or any other holiday for that matter!

oman-fans

I cannot totally join the whole national feeling of exhilaration, since I’m not exactly a fan of the sport, which incidentally we know as soccer. Naturally, growing up with bastketball as the most popular sport in the P.I., followed by volleyball, bowling and maybe tennis didn’t give me much opportunity to appreciate the nuances of this sport. Same goes for cricket, rugby and lacrosse. But even now, it seems so tiring and frustrating to look at all the running around chasing after one ball. Fans will kill me, im sure =) Although I have to say, freestyle football is looking much more intriguing to me.

But all in all, the merriment here is quite contagious and I believe it’s actually beneficial to everyone’s health and work. So at this point, and for whatever it is worth, I congratulate the home team for reaching this far and I wish them all the best for the Finals. And I  DO fervently hope that they emerge champions as well. That way, ALL of us will be celebrating the one-day holiday promised when they do so =) CHEERS!