no right to complain

It has been flooding in Metro Manila. Some houses have been completely submerged. This time it's not just in the poorer areas. Even the fancier houses in the chi-chi parts are mostly knee-deep in floodwater - Valle Verde, high-end condominiums in Makati and The Fort, etc. Katipunan and the Xavierville areas, which rarely get flooded, are soaked. Watch video here.

Kakatakot. Disaster doesn't discriminate.

Greenhills



Ayala Ave., Makati




Katipunan (Rustan's area)



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MSP is here. His garage is also flooded. His family is safe, as they have three floors plus an attic. Still.

His decision to stay over was spot on; had he gone home, his car would be swimming right now.

Thank God it's nice and dry here in the bunker.* No flood outside - not even an inch.

*Us having a "hell or high water" pied-a-terre in this area was never "plan A." But this half-hearted investment is now proving to be a good decision. This area somehow seems less prone to the inconveniences - it never floods, there's rarely heavy traffic, it's far enough from coup de etats and rallies, etc. It's a good bunker indeed :)

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Before watching the depressing news, I entertained myself and watched Vogue's THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE.



(Anna Wintour was fabulous, but I liked Grace Coddington more. Such genius.)

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The rain has subsided, thank God. MSP is watching HBO. Dinner was nice.

But there's more depressing news. People are dying. Hundreds need to be evacuated.

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I can't believe our luck - that we are here, safe and dry and enjoying the conveniences.

Maybe it's foreplanning, or maybe it's good fortune.

Either way, I've never been so grateful to be here.

I'm just so thankful. SO THANKFUL. But at the same time, I feel a bit guilty. Here we are - OBLIVIOUS - enjoying cable TV, internet access, a chocolate cake, and a nice warm bed while most of Metro Manila is submerged in flood waters. I feel like we should be more proactive, but how?

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EDITS

I just found out that it's very easy to help our through the RED CROSS.

There are several options:

1. VIA SMS text REDAMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4483 (Smart)
2. VIA BANK DEPOSIT - details here

design porn

In my opinion, only a few architects and designers are worth following, and they are usually less-known, silent forces that truly change the way we live. These people are not "brands" stamped on developments (like Philippe Starck usually is), but they are popular in their own niches and are preferred by clients with confidence in their own sense of practical aesthetics.

One of them is Page Goolrick - an award-winning arhictect, interior, and product designer.

Ms. Goolrick and I will be very good friends if we ever met. I love her taste. In fact, her "urban vessel" looks like a fancier version of "our bunker." The white walls, the glass partitions, the practical parquetry (although mine are ceramic tiles as I live in the tropics), the stainless mini kitchen, even the the sofa -- the resemblance is uncanny. I have been a fan of her previous works but NEVER daw her own place until now.




Goolrick's pied-à-terre functions much like the interior of a small yacht: efficient, adaptable, highly functional, and glossily good-looking. With a place for every little thing, and lacking fatuous details, she has created a decadent minimalism on a budget of only $70,000.

"You want to use every inch in this city," Goolrick says. "Every half-inch amounts to something, but it's not necessary to have a lot of square footage to live well."



Similar sofa, bed, sliding glass walls.




Similar layout -- bedroom separated from kitchen with moving glass walls.


Sources:

The article is here.

The slide show is here.

Her apartment is here.


* * * *

Surfing for home porn (and blogging about it!) is such a waste of time. But my friend Barry advised me to WRITE ideas (nonsensical, like this) just so the brain could process it and move on. So here. Now, back to work.

gratitude

There's nothing like a quiet Sunday with leftover truffle carbonara and chilled, grocery-bought wine. This STAY-CATION is so cheap, it's chic.

In the last few weeks, my weekends have been hectic. (1) People came over. (2) I had to go to parties or run errands. (3) Work needed to get done.

But today, I have nothing much to do except ENJOY the environment I've created. My old friends from high school call it a hotel (with no room service). To me, it's just a very cushy bunker - a pied-a-terre that holds my things until I go away to my next trip :)

social studies

A few months ago, I noticed that my social circle needed diversification. I seem to be friends only with people of my level of intelligence, which is above-average. I mean:

a. My closest barkadas are people I went to UP with;
b. My best friend is a cum laude of Ateneo;
c. My former colleagues from the government - who I still see regularly - are all from the best schools, too; and
d. The high school friends I bother to still hangout with are all successful professionals making good money.

Obviously, I needed to expand my horizons and meet people I would never even talk to during my snobbier days. You know the type – people who are not really jologs, but are not quite...shall we say, “at par.” These are people who have good jobs and pay their mortgage and do things similar to things “we” do, except without the delicate balance of panache and Marxism. Perhaps they studied in diploma mills, still have non-management jobs at 30, and seem to relish in their average-ness. Those people.

Of course, these things never work out.

We have nothing in common. Conversations are dull. I just nod politely and try to SIMPLIFY my ideas for their digestion. I find myself PRETENDING TO BE AVERAGE just to level with them. They can't relate to the concepts of “world travel” or “Philippe Starck.” And when they ask me about my interests and I say I like the “coffee in Hanoi” and “the original 1920's Barcelona chair I saw in Spain,” they look at me as though I am making it up – as though no one can really have THAT kind of taste.

Exhausting!

The (sad) thing is, despite our VERY obvious differences, they still want to be my friend. Some of these people are actually incorporated BY DEFAULT into my life (no thanks to the six degrees of separation). Some are my cousins. Some are MSP's relatives. Some are friends of friends.

How do I say this without hurting their feelings?

You don't travel and have bad taste, so I can't be your friend.

That's my new rule now. I am getting too old too fast to waste time talking to people without any sophistication. So please, go away.