I was on TV! Big deal...

I never looked good in camera :( O baka, bagong gising lang? Ahaha. 

Here's a video of the Healing Eucharist TV Mass (6th Sunday of Easter) presided by the Most Reverend Honesto Ontioco that aired in ABS-CBN yesterday (Sunday - May 29, 2011 - 6.00AM). It was the first time I ever got in a television studio or even witness first-hand a live broadcast so, yeah, it was somewhat nerve-wracking. Good thing it was a Eucharistic Celebration though. I'm glad my first time on TV was in a Mass singing with all my heart (even though I looked completely haggard and emaciated). Tsk-tsk.

Of Love and Prostitutes

Image borrowed here

Talbog ang ingay at hiyawan sa aliw-iw ng mga lumang kanta ng karaoke. Amoy ang ningas sa mga upos ng mga ginamit na sigarilyo. Habang kapwa nakalatag ang aming nagbabagang katawan sa maliit na kabaong na pangdalawahan, dahan-dahan ko syang pinagmasdan. Mataimtim. Matahimik. Mapayapa. Taglay nya ang makamundong pagnanasang kanilang inaasam-asam, kulang na lamang syang paliguan ng mga naglalaway na hayok sa laman.

Maputi, makinis, mala-perlas na kutis. Gandang Filipina at gandang napakarikit. Mariin kong idinampi ang aking mga mata sa hugis at sulok ng kanyang mga mukha. Dama ko ang lumbay sa kabila ng ngiting pilit nyang ipinababakas sa kanyang mga mata.

8 Days To Go

Photo by Teng Borabon

The haggardness of yesterday's cram slash panic submission of overdue report and presentation led me to take this day off. I stayed indoors with my eyes literally glued on to the ten-episode marathon of Grey's Anatomy Season 2 mainly because 1) the weather's crapped up all day and; 2) I have no other better place to be.

Countdown to the evaluation of my thesis proposal starts today and truly what nerve I've got to slack off and even write this article and metaphors by a street storm runoff gutter and passing auto headlights in the middle of the night. Seriously, will someone please tell me what am I doing with my life?

Update 05.23.11

I have not posted anything for almost a week now. Nakaka-miss rin pala. Eto, isang week na nagtamad-tamaran  after ng internship program. Naki-party sa isang graduation celebration nung Wednesday. Nag-rehearse with a new choir (yehey!) nung Thursday. Umattend ng kasal nung Saturday. Kumanta ng walang humpay nung Sunday. At ngayo'y nakasubsob sa two days overdue na presentation at compilation ng aking internship experience. Hopefully, matapos ko na bukas ang mga dapat tapusin para naman masimulan na ang mga gawaing nakaamba para sa mga thesis proposals na ipapasa naman bago mag-enrollment. Haggardness talaga ang buhay. Nawa'y magawa ko pang ngumiti kagaya nito...

...pakatapos ng isang taon pa sa kolehiyo at tatlong taon pa sa pagiging pultiko. In fairness, ngayon ko lang naeenjoy ang 'summer' vacation ko kung kelan umuulan na. O di ba, ang saya-saya mabuhay? 

Internship 2: Week 6 Daily Logs

{Day 24 - 05.10.11}

The weather’s considerably fair today as compared to yesterday’s unpleasant stirrings. I bet there’ll be a lot of activity in the site. With the completion of my required hours and final day looming, I can’t help but to feel nostalgic and relieved at the same time. My mentor greeted me with a rather sad news that he’s been thinking for a quite a while. He won’t be around in Thursday and Friday and most probably in my final day at the company. I had quite a time listening to the lecture of the two engineers during today’s site inspection yet somehow my mind’s been drifting off to what my mentor imparted earlier. I wish there is some kind of way I could make him feel special before my final day of completion that he won’t be witnessing.

{Day 25 - 05.11.11}

Today was a special day with my mentor. I am not quite sure whether he’ll be around in my final days at the company so my fellow interns and I invited him over a small merienda that late afternoon and even prepared a small gift of appreciation. Though we get to spend only an hour of casual talk with him, what things he imparted that moment was surely something. We talked about the industry, tips on starting out our early career and experience in the construction scene and even titbits of details about his personal life – the things you only share with quite a few intimate circles. I felt a pang when I realized my abrupt tendencies to refer to the people in the construction industry as hollow beings where only labour and money seemed to make their world go round. I failed to see at some degree that they are human beings as well.

{Day 26 - 05.12.11}

Our mentor is not present today so we’re a bit saddened and laid back. I walked into the office this morning to see a tableful of JACMI engineers and personalities from the architectural design consulting firm deliberating over issues. Their conversations can literally be heard as murmurs from across the room but just audible enough for me to listen quite intently. I was asked by an engineer to work on an architectural monitoring sheet that will be used for punchlisting in the mock-up floor of Tower 3. It’s a good thing I already ran a draft of it from the earlier weeks of this program.

{Day 27 - 05.13.11}

I literally spent the day buried over various plans of Tower 3 to work on the monitoring sheet I’ve been tasked to finish. I’ve had a few chat with some mates from class how they spent the entire summer program doing some punchlisting. It is ironic indeed how this just came up only in the last days of my internship. I am careering this monitoring sheet as I figured this’ll only be my legacy when I leave the company. Though it was just a simple task, I honestly had some great time studying the entire plans of Tower 3 in such depth. It felt like having an intimate time with the design consultants of the structure.

Sing

The above image makes me wanna sing :) Borrowed here

My brother and I have been asked by a member of this cool choir group to join them in their practice every Tuesday nights at Sacred Heart Parish to be attended by a choir master from the UP Conservatory of Music. I am reluctant because we're already tied up in three morning services (that's a whole lot of commitment) during Sundays so I am just quite wandering if we could ever handle another service during Saturday afternoons. On the other hand,  I am ecstatic AND nervous because of my anticipation of a strict discipline I have never undergone before - which, I am so ironically craving for. Ooooh, what to do?

Update 05.15.11

Undergrad interns from JACMI and MCC - Grass Residences Project :)

with my beloved mentor Engr. J and internmates!

Tomorrow's the official conclusion of my super summer internship experience. I realized that our required 200 hours of diversified site works seemed both so short (there's so much more to learn!) and long (agh! thesis) for this summer. I feel both nostalgic and relieved already.

Blog activity for the next days: Posting of unpublished writings I have accumulated throughout the summer. I'll be doing a walk down the memory lane both for this cyber niche and my architectural internship presentation on May 21 :) Good luck on me!

Creative Juice: The Citadel

Status: On process of looking for a usable working topic for my upcoming thesis :) Here's one  favorite I've seen so far with regards to disaster resilience. Soon I'll be posting more of topics that inspire and ignite my creative neurons within. *hee-hee*

Not content to simply talk about the dangers of rising sea levels (like much of the rest of the world), the Dutch have begun taking matters into their own hands with architecture that can withstand dramatic changes in the canals that are such an integral part of the Netherlands. As part of a new development called “New Water”, Koen Oltuls of Waterstudio designed ‘The Citadel’, Europe’s first floating apartment complex. 60 luxury apartments, a car park, a floating road and boat docks will work with the changing water levels rather than against them.

Five Mommies on Mother's Day

After our regular 7.30A service presided by Father Reynolds, I had breakfast with Nanay and her mommy kumares at Tropical Hut beside Crossings Mall somewhere along Quezon Avenue. It's been quite a while since I spent my Sunday breakfast with them. And I somewhat feel privileged because now I get to spend some quality time not with only just one mommy but with five mommies on Mother's Day! 

Afterwards, we went straight to CentrisWalk Sunday Market to shop for tinapa, sinaing na bangus, and other goods that has become a part now of their regular Sunday routine. I've been gracious enough of course to help out in carrying their shopping bags of fruits and vegetables and other yummy goods :)

Photos of SIDCOR Sunday Market borrowed here

I just love it because every time I tag along I always get to listen to their chikahan (conversations) filled with elderly and motherly wisdom. Aside from singing tenor on three Eucharistic celebrations, being with them truly is something I look forward to every Sunday.

26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. John 19: 26-27

Internship 2: Week 5 Daily Logs

{Day 19 - 05.02.11}

My mentor is not around today but I have been privileged to do a site walkthrough with two JACMI project engineers while doing their regular rounds and punch listing of structural and plumbing inspections. There’s nothing quite like the seeing how the professionals do it. Years of expertise and experience have definitely forged their keen eye and attitude with regards to their chosen field of work. Our mentor won’t let us interns at the top floor where all the ‘action’ is happening but Sir R and Sir F allowed us to accompany them. I documented photographs for the update of the monthly construction progress report and lavished that uncommon moment I’ll ever get to literally be on top.

{Day 20 - 05.03.11}

I’m a little bit down today. I wrote in my daily internship journal: “There is little joy and satisfaction in the world of construction. Dealing with concerns and issues, aggravated by stress, sleep deprivation and demanding superiors on a daily basis leaves one quite wandering if there is ever a sense of purpose in everything he does. No amount of temporary high acquired from cigarette, coffee, or even money can quench the emptiness that has become a result of one’s droning bout in the field.” I silently read for a couple of times the above statement and realized how harsh and dismal things are when I put it that way.

{Day 21 - 05.04.11}

I am privileged again to be with my mentor while doing his assessment rounds in response to the inspection request at the top floor. I was surprised to see how much work have been accomplished as compared to what I’ve seen from last Monday. While looking at my mentor as I ponder upon the words I wrote in my internship journal yesterday, I kind of feel bad for making such a hasty stereotype of how life is for the people in the industry. Perhaps my generalizations of everyone may have been premature to some degree. Today, I realized that what truly makes the difference is when you deal with menial things religiously. 

{Day 22 - 05.05.11}

Everyone in the office have been talking about their upcoming basketball game against the contractors and other design consultancy firms working under Grass Residences Project. It was obvious from the tone of their voices how excited and even jumpy they feel with these. It was a very big deal for most of them I realized as it may be the only form of team-building recreation they’ll ever get from burying their heads on the loads of work day and night. It such a shame I’m not a big fan of the game but I wish them all luck.

{Day 23 - 05.09.11}

A rather stormy weather and the heavy pounding of the rain left everyone moving and working in silence inside the site office. A 15-minute power outage came at around 9.30 in the morning that halted everyone’s routine. I was deliberately looking for anything to do that gloomy day. Site inspection request came at only around afternoon. The steel fabrication area was completely deserted and only a few handfuls of manpower can be seen working ironically for such a big construction project. It was all too surreal. I realized how the ever-changing weather’s stirrings can affect the schedule and production of everyone. We truly are bounded by the nature’s highs and lows.

MadMusic #025: Empty and Beautiful - Matt Maher

Soundtrippin' at home with my favorite catholic music artist while doing daily and weekly logs for my internship report :) What a breath of fresh air from all that drama in the workplace. *phew*

Shutterbug - Wannabe #017: Grass Residences

---

• A 2-day excursion in the beautiful Nasugbu, Batangas with the council and the 'community.'
• Pulp Summer Slam: Reincarnation gig with my officemates (what do you know. I was able to procure free tickets for this event after all);
• a small agape attended by faithful parishioners from the different ministries, religious sisters, and 30 priests from last night's Thanksgiving Mass for Father R's 25th Sacerdotal Anniversary (priestly ordination)

I swear this is the last time I'm going over that list to lurch over my being a total social repellent, ditching opportunities and gigs to connect with social circles I'm in and marginalizing myself from the bigger community. I do not know what has gotten into my system but certainly this has got to stop. Plainly because it sucks. And I suck. And perhaps all I needed is a breath of fresh air, and a few good look from outside the box.