laundry therapy

Too much social

I should just stop taking photos hoping to post them afterwards and i never do. Like this photo below. Found painted leaves left out to dry probably for use in some tv commercial shoot calling for autumn leaves. Thought id add an interesting filter or two. Then i decide not to post it so this photo sits in my Dropbox, losing its potential to be what it was meant to be.

Normally the need to post is overwhelmed by how much garbage is on social media timelines and my photo would just add to it. And so in the end i post nothing. Because they are really just people’s daily trash left out in the sun. Like dead leaves painted to resemble dead leaves. Somebody’s participation or need for validation of self online. It subtly screams, im here, like me. Here’s my dirty laundry aired for everyone to sniff.

As to why this photo even makes it to my blog and into your timeline, i cant explain that. In fact, this goes against the whole idea of this blog. Damn.

musings

Past is pass

Cleaning out my room i chanced upon an old rotring tracing paper tube and found old plates from my architectural past. As an undergad i considered myself an average arki student, skimming through with no real accomplishment.

For one thing, even my arki professor noticed i preferred to hand-ink my plates and said i should have been in fine arts (and 4 years later i was). I did not find my groove in architecture back then. I felt it was too technical, too stiff. The whole culture was snobbish, too serious, and i struggled being creative within the confines of measurements and building laws.

I was glad i left but thinking about it, i know i could do better now (not then, now). Now, i have more confidence in design and now, if i do decide to pursue architecture, i might actually have a chance in doing well. Wow, confidence. I, thank you. Lol.

musings

design pet peeve

years ago, i studied to get a degree in architecture. while it didnt work out and i eventually shifted to fine arts, there were things i wont forget learning from my professors. apart from the study of aesthetics in building construction, i appreciated learning that architecture was also a study of the human form in relation to spaces around him with a dash of behavorial science.

fast forward to last thursday i went to the loo at a juju eats restaurant on pasong tamo extension in makati. as i stepped in i saw they’ve designed the toilet to have a mirror behind the water closet. for females who pee sitting down, this would be a non-issue. however, for a guy who now has to pee while looking at a reflection of himself and his dong doing number 1 in full glory, i find this odd and awkward. while i dont shy away from looking at my naked self in full body mirrors at home to dry off after taking a bath, i dont particularly feel the need to WATCH myself peeing.

don’t worry, im not posting a photo of me peeing. some people may get off on those kinds of thing but i wont indulge you. here is bathroom number 1 (which i also posted on facebook).

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id like to understand why designers resort to this. thing is, that very same day, i walked across the street and entered the building where i was supposed to have my meeting and eventually had to pee again and here is the cubicle at the men’s toilet. hola!

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when my meetings were done there, i transferred to another building on the other side of pasong tamo to have a meeting with my directors. having had another round of drinks, i again headed for the john. lo and behold.

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this was not the first time id encounter this kind of design for toilets. another restaurant in san juan had mirrors all over so you not only watch yourself frontal but also from the side. is this a thing now? it cant merely be an attempt to multi-task and check your hair while peeing or see if you having something between your teeth while holding your schlong. is this an oversight by female designers or the result of a dont-care attitude by male designers? is someone secretly narcissist and insisted on this design yet it has been replicated many times over hence an acceptable nature of people i never knew about? design, in fact, serves people’s needs so the bathrooms are a reflection of some fetishist necessity in human society. i could be overthinking this but it could also be a bad design trend. thoughts?

food trip, musings

vahay kuvo part 2

ever since we did our marketing at marikina the other week, carlo and i have carefully documented the meals we produced and ate. apparently we still had to hit the neighborhood grocery for more items like cans of milk or some other ingredients not found at the public market. out of the stash of food we got here were the dishes carlo cooked and we both plated for instagraming (@luningninggerzi) :

DAY 1

that evening coming back from the market, this was the first we prepared. mussells with carrots and napa/chinese cabbage. instead of rice, we have sweet potatoes.

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DAY 2

lunch was fried big-bellied round scad (galunggong) with a bed of veggies consisting of baked sweet potatoes in basil, muscovado, honey, and blackbean sauce. dipping sauce is iloko vinegar.

dinner was shared with tita tems (who doesnt go home for lunch). we had red snapper (maya-maya) steamed in lemongrass and other aromatics and seasoned with tamarind (sinigang) powder). since we used the small oven toaster, the fish was split in two and curiously, the head part’s drippings tasted differently than the tail part (the former was tasted like the ocean and the latter’s taste was more subdued). on the side we had a salad of boiled leaves of the sweet potato (camote tops) and fresh tomatoes, onions, in a sweet-sour vinegar sauce. there were also eggplants (boiled) paired with bagoong balayan (a kind of fish sauce) with calamondi. no rice tonight.

carlo also proceeded to make his own chili sauce by chopping up sili labuyo, green chilis, and peppercorns. toasted the garlic in oil then cooked the chilis into it. sesame oil was added later on.

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DAY 3

lunch was just omelette and whole wheat bread. no photo. forgot. lol.

dinner was mantis shrimp (alupihang dagat) cooked in garlic and butter. on the side were sauteed veggies in peanut sauce (using local peanut butter. yum). i prefer to call these shrimps aliens because i think shrimps are of alien descent.

here is the photo of how i plated the alupihang dagat. so crazy.

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DAY 4

lunch was blanched cabbage heads and tomatoes dipped in bagoong, calamansi, and sili, and eaten with hands. we also had fried galunggong and fried brown rice. galunggong had a sukang iloko dipping sauce.

dinner was adobong manok, cooked for hours. adobong mother and child, as per carlo, this adobo was served with hard-boiled egg plus boiled squash and sweet potatoes. ripe cantaloupe for dessert.

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DAY 5

last lunch was stir-fried vegetables with an awesome plate of fried squid. dipping sauce is iligan’s pinakurat, the best vinegar in the world!

we had to add a few more items purchased in the neighborhood grocery to supplement what we got from the market. this would amount to maybe another thousand pesos. our initial Php 940 plus about a thousand pesos, divided into more or less 8 dishes would amount to Php 242.50 per meal with 2 or 3 people sharing the whole meal. still awesome!

im sharing this because we do have fun preparing these dishes and eating them! im hoping to inspire others also who cannot escape the clutches of fast food. maybe for others as well, you should realize you dont have to spend so much to eat better. give a little bit of time to cooking and it will reward you. the greatest chef in the world, gusteau, does believe, “anyone can cook.” and while i dont do the cooking, i do the dishes and that’s still a noble chore. lol. cheers and have fun!

musings

vahay kuvo part 1

carlo and i aim to simplify our lifestyle. the excessiveness of our world can be overwhelming and there will never be an end to what one’s lifestyle buries you into. we work in the advertising industry as production designers and it’s easy to get hooked into a superficial lifestyle if one is not conscious about it. averaging p250 meals at restaurants for one, free services to and from the office or the p260 taxi ride to the office and another going back home, that daily p165 grande starbucks coffee sealing your fake status in life. excessive! not to mention the small purchases of other items you may not really need.

it helps that we are not living in makati. we go home to an old, 40 year-old rented apartment in quezon city shared with my aunt who’s lived here longest in the neighborhood. food is a necessity but we are constantly reminded there are options always. i keep track of how much we spend a month and food takes up 60-70% of our expenses, through eating out or by groceries.

i remember as a kid life was so much simpler. mom goes to the market and comes back with loads of stuff. cooks meals and we share family time over a feast. it’s not too late to go back to that. sometimes, it’s not about spending less and going the cheaper route, it’s more about simplifying your life. going back to basics. buying local and reducing carbon footprint. celebrating home cooked meals. save the earth. all that jazz.

last month, carlo and i went off to the nearby marikina public market and spent P1200 ($27.21) on fresh produce. it took us 1.5 weeks to consume everything and that’s a good track record for us. this week we went back for more. there was a break with the cooking at home because we got busy with shoot projects but we’re currently back to cooking and eating at home this week.

before we left for marikina this afternoon, carlo and i planned to spend only P800 or $18 (plus P200 for taxi) at the market because we have to get a new lpg tank this month at roughly p550 (11kls per tank) as our old tank was all used up after 4 months of cooking (not bad). limiting expenses into a budget is crucial to simplifying lifestyles. money does not grow on trees, as everyone knows. here’s what we got this afternoon:

veggies

protein

here’s an accounting of what we purchased today. im a sucker for squid and mussels. and galunggong. we’re hoping this produce and stock will see us through a week’s worth of awesome meals. carlo will cook and i will do the dishes.

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P974 ($22.09) total. we sorta overspent but our commute transportation was reduced to p48 ($1.09) so we’re still within budget. you may have noticed we didnt buy pork today. that’s no coincidence. also, no rice. normally we’d get brown rice at SM save more for P55/kilo but im trying to cut down on the carbs so no rice, not even brown rice. P974 divided into 7 days into 2 meals per day would be P69 shared meals for 2-3 pax (carlo, titatems, and myself). p69 per meal with 2 to 3 people eating! that’s roughly an unhealthy burger meal at some fastfood chain for one! crazy, right?

simplify your life. in this excessive lifestyle we have in manila, we’ve stopped appreciating the beauty of a home cooked meal and spending on more important stuff like good quality healthy food that will keep your sugar levels and cholesterol down. im blogging about this so i can share and maybe inspire others to see for themselves how beautiful our produce is in the philippines and stop buying fast food and eat healthier and eating fresh food everyday.

will post photos of meals as the days progress. cheers and have a simplified life!

musings

magpa-practice tayo araw araw!

the sprite tv commercial airing locally in the philippines last december may be confusing to some, knowing there was an indian version of it (click here to watch it). sometimes when a company’s tvc from some other region becomes successful, clients either allow that tvc to air in other territories or produce a similar ad with local talents and reflecting local culture. this sprite commercial is a mixture of both.

the gorgeous teacher, chalo apni chaal, from the original is clearly indian, with her sari costume, and the scene set in some church with vaulted doorways and stone walls. the reverse shot of the guys can pass off for the pinoy tv audience, though they are not necessarily filipino looking. we only needed to replace the shots of the teacher then.

somewhere in the series of meetings with creative heads, it was decided we avoid situating our version in a church. i tried to find a non-sectarian location that would tie up to the high-ceiling space and big doorways of the boys’ reverse shots (and maybe nobody will notice the left side of the shot that showed the painted glass windows). i thought a backroom of some auditorium or the side of a stage could nicely pair it up without getting too left field. cinematic license if you must. some groups do use backstage areas for music rehearsals or hold workshops where music equipment are kept.

my initial inspiration for the set design was the westminster abbey in the da vinci code, which actually used the interiors of the lincoln cathedral in the movie. so i was putting the church feel and merging it with the backgstage look. sketched out the set design on my ipad for presentation.

eventually the set design was revised to look like this (with photos of instruments scattered all over the set because i was trying to build less flats (panels) and install stage curtains on the right for illusion of depth. id have the rolling scaff as foreground as well. agency wanted me to add some filipino string instruments in the background so i added hegulungs (or kudyapi, depends on who you ask).

refining my paper app drawing of the set design with real-world measurements by going the google sketchup route by the time we started construction. this became the color guide as well for my painters. further reduced the number of flats in this version, thereby cutting my construction costs further down. i also utilized the actual look of the studio if ever anything would be “peeking” beyond my built set.

here’s the finished set, dressed up and lit. head carpenter (setman) is the famous abrio. on the guitars behind the drum set is cinematographer odie flores.

we cast patricia tumulak, a pageant beauty currently groomed for binibining pilipinas, as the teacher. i hope she makes it to the top. more stills from the shoot

production house: filmex
director: ianne co
cinematographer: odie flores
production design: benjamin padero
wardrobe stylist: carlo tabije
assistant director: kristi gallaga

musings

pogi stamp by robert alejandro

saw an ad posted on facebook advertising custom made stamps of illustrations done by robert alejandro. i met tito robert eons ago but got to spend more time with him when he came to have dinner at our pop-up restaurant, blumentritt cafe, 4 years ago. i teasingly call him tito (uncle) robert not because of his tv persona in the defunct show, art is kool, but just because. he used to be part of cheche lazaro’s probe team and is the RO in papemelroti.

i emailed him end of december inquiring if he’d consider doing a non-human and i attached a photo of pogi, our late chinese shar-pei who/which passed away february 2014. i received an email telling me how to send payment details and i told myself, ill do this probably when i get back to manila by jan 5. to my surprise, a few days after i got back here i received a courier package and it contained the now-finished stamp! i was thrilled it was soo cute.

the package contained the original signed sketch by robert alejandro, the stamp in a cardboard box, a stamp pad, and some postcards of tito robert’s fashion illustrations used in an ad for a real estate development. underneath the sketch is the quick sketch (displayed underneath the glass top of our dining table) he did when he was in blumentritt cafe in 2011.

it however took me almost the whole month to make a deposit for the stamp’s payment. eventually i did and that is why im only posting about this now. thank you, tito robert, this is soo gorgeous. i believe the custom-made stamps are a limited deal so check out tito robert via email at mto.rubberstamps@gmail.com if you want your stamps made. stamps are php 1499, including shipping. cheers!

movies, musings

inter-stella

watched INTERSTELLAR (2014, christopher nolan) last november 13 and never got to blog about it. for the most part, i got lazy. but maybe also because it took me a long time to recover haha so did i like it?

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i did not like it. i loved it! i just posted a list of my favorite sci-fi movies here weeks before watching and i need to revise it now. first of all, i wont start comparing it to 2001: a space odyssey because i dont think anything else can compare to that 1968 masterpiece. my cousin asked me if INTERSTELLAR reminded me of contact too. surprisingly it did not, knowing that jodi foster movie is in my list of favorites. in parts, i was more reminded of sunshine, sphere, and moon. i was mostly excited that the young murphy grew up to be jessica chastain. how awesome is that, right? i avoided reading about the movie prior to watching because im now easily dissuaded to love it esp if a lot more people are saying the movie is pretty good because i tend to be disappointed instead. the end went a bit off for me but i enjoyed the movie already too much to be bothered about it too much.

mcconaughey and chastain were great casting choices, hathaway was kinda meh. damon was a surprise. the rest of the cast were wonderful. hans zimmer’s musical score was great, as usual. on closer look, the redesigned space suits and their textures were gorgeous, courtesy of costume designer mary zophres. kudos to the design team with nathan crowley (also having worked with nolan in the batman series) as production designer, set decorator gary fettis, and art director superviser dean wolcott.

i wont bother explaining the film, in general it was pretty straightforward although carlo and i had to discuss lengthily afterwards on some things, which after doing research we were right on our presumptions. read here if you indeed wanna understand the film. the graph can get crazy but like the film, you might need to be in a certain mood to absorb the information. click on the photo below.

musings

mmff 2014

looked forward to watching some movies in last year’s mmff mainly because i was involved in one of them. then because some of my friends were involved in other films too. our views can get biased but i could also be rather honest. here’s my two cents’ worth. dont worry, di ako mataas magscore talaga. lol.

movie 1: SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL XV

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EPISODE 1: AHAS

casting wise, erich gonzales made a pretty ahas. in parts i liked her acting but i didnt like her swaying motions. the ahas design was good and i especially liked when dad ariel was holding the baby ahas in his arms. i didnt catch if alice dixon died or left the family, generally i just thought she was underused. i wished they could have shot in a better looking mall. i liked the cg statue. the set design of the ahas lair was pretty well made. this was one movie this year that referenced gollum’s schizofreakazoid conversations with himself. the other was kubot. writing for this could have been better actually. least favorite of the three. score 2/5

EPISODE 2: ULAM

this was the episode we were involved in. jerrold tarog directed his script written with zig marasigan. mackie galvez shot the movie with me as production designer, carlo working on costumes, and carmen on makeup and prosthetics. technically very well made and well-fleshed out script. editing was well paced and color grading was pretty and spot on. im impressed how tight dennis and carla’s performances were in the film. chanda was lovely to work with and extraordinary onscreen. i asked her to not put makeup on, i felt it would help her character. carlo built the aling lina look out of her dusters and aprons. i always hated lengthy climactic expositions. for someone who have read the script before, despite how well made it came out, i take off 1 brownie point. i love you, guys 😉 an epilogue was shot but was taken out of the final cut. also, if this was lined up as the 3rd episode, SRRXV would have been a better movie. score 3.5/5

EPISODE 3: FLIGHT 666

i loved this episode, especially because they were able to shoot in a plane. there wouldnt really be a point shooting this material if they werent able to get that location! from the get-go, from the minute joy viado stepped into frame i got it this was a cray cray episode and i enjoyed it. silly and no logic whatsoever. you just had to enjoy it. the epilogue was totally unnecessary (SPOILER: -may isospoil pa ba ang formula films?- when rocky salumbides as a halimaw appears at the end) hence the score 3.5/5

overall, SRRXV was a surprise because i enjoyed it. and writing this “review” article is already getting me bored. moving on.

MOVIE 2: ENGLISH ONLY PLEASE

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this was a real crowd pleaser. there were also a lot of people behind this film that are friends. i know tonette jadaone from college because she submitted a short film to our film festival competition thing at UP. i used to call her, “jada-one,” (referenced to padawans from star wars, whatever). this is a romcom but it broke all sorts of romcom formulas and although you know how it would probably end, you just smile through the movie and marvel at derek’s broad shoulders. ok, also jennylyn’s porselana skin. the writing is particularly smart and maybe it can still do a little more tweaking but it’s almost perfect. im not sure if derek should have won best actor but he was better than robin in bonifacio. sorry, robin. on hindsight, i applaud derek ramsay’s subtle acting as a fil-am business guy taking a 30 day off vacay to forget his girlfriend by flying to the philippines and hoped to blow her off with tagalog. and not sweating at all in humid weather. tonette, ano to? lol. but his accent was just right and his abs rounded it off for a rather convincing performance. whut? jennylyn was awesome in this movie. she was disarmingly cute and still smart despite being tanga in love. the design was very colorful but on another note, it looked too much like a star cinema movie and im not sure if they were aiming to be that or not. nevertheless, the design could have helped define characters more than just putting pretty colors everywhere. i am in awe that this production got to shoot in an actual SM mall. im so jealous haha generally, all the awards this film got was well deserved. score: 4/5

MOVIE 3: KUBOT: THE ASWANG CHRONICLES

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this i looked forward to. worked on the first movie (tiktik aswang chronicles) as designer alongside peter colias (scenic designer for moulin rouge, the matrix and whatnot). this sequel went much more crazy than the first one and it was awesome. maybe the movie could have been edited a tad bit shorter and that factory sequence a bit tighter but overall it was all fun. the concept on the design was awesome. it doesnt make sense that the roof of a hut on a building’s rooftop would be made with window blinds but it worked. that gorgeous opening scene was something out of ridley scott’s prometheus! but as wonderful as the design on the kubot clan were, i was kinda perplexed on the too subtle differences the character design were for the remaining aswang clans. nevertheless, isabel looked awesome and id love to have her home’s curtains! lotlot was outstanding in this movie. congrats direk erik! kudos to ericson navarro and his art department for wining best pd and makeup, and the naked dave yu (naked in that factory scene; some things you can never unsee hahaha) for best visual effects. deserving win as well. score: 3.5/5

MOVIE 4: BONIFACIO: ANG UNANG PANGULO

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technically this was the movie i saw first but posting last because of the picture above. lol. this movie had a lot of potential to be truly awesome. gorgeous sweeping shots, soaring orchestrations, the works. yet, sometimes, nothing can mask a rather weak script. one thing i thought of after the movie ended was that, that was it? yun lang ba dinaanan ni bonifacio sa buhay niya? it felt rather thin. and those present day sequences were unnecessary. early on in the movie, i loved the musical score. however, towards the end i started sensing a familiar motiff and then it hit me. the da vinci code! even the katipunan museum “steadicam” shot was reminiscent of that camera swoop through the louvre. nevertheless, i know von de guzman along with wildsound deserved their best music and sound design wins. special mention to carlo mendoza winning for cinematography, enhancing roy lachica’s wonderful sets. vina morales could have easily won best actress for this, i have to admit. her scenes were heartbreaking. robin, however well-intentioned, remained robin padilla, not andres bonifacio. i have to say, the controversy raised by this production was rather awkward and embarrassing. huwag na pagpilitan ang mga bagay na di naman para sa inyo. i feel tama ang pagbigay ng lahat ng mga awards this year. besides, bonifacio already reaped most of the awards. be content. honestly, because of this sourgraping, i was turned off a lot by this movie. hayy. back to regular programming. ay tapos na pala. score 2.5/5

so durr. carlo has a lot more to add but he might as well write another blog about it. i might just catch the amazing praybeyt benjamin on tv soon enough. feng shui 2 as well. i enjoyed the first one. just a sad reality (though nothing serious) for the mmff to be more of a sequel festival than showcasing original material. if the new template would be ENGLISH ONLY PLEASE, then im hoping next year wala nang sequels/prequels or rehashed formula films. dapat original material lahat. but dont hold your breath. asa ka pa. 😉 ok, quiet na ako. cheers and have a happy new year.

ps. at centrio mall in cagayan de oro, movie tickets cost only P151. that’s watching in an ayala mall cinema with awesome sound and seats! gateway cubao tickets cost us P231 per head. cinemas 6 and 7 (where srr and kubot were shown) was a much more smaller theater but had a great projector (a bit cropped though), crystal clear and bright image projection, and awesome sound system. cinema 1 (where EOP) was rather bad: dull colors, sound not as good as the other cinemas.

musings

addictions

sure im off facebook. i do have a new game app addiction though. i went through farmville and pvz years back. it’s been a while since i got hooked on a game (my last one was pocket planes). my new addiction would be x-men’s battle of the atom game app on iOS and android. ive been playing for a month+ now and it’s enough to drive carlo insane about my playing hours 😉

it’s like the card games in the 90s except everything is virtual. you evolve cards to make it stronger but unlike real cards that wont change color or power levels, your virtual cards change looks as well. you play with teams composed of strangers from different parts of the globe and battle with still other strangers every 4 hours of the day for 30 minutes. i havent played any of the card strategy games for real so this is all new to me and im loving it!

ive a long way to go compared to teammates who have hit above level 200s and have card decks with attack levels in 6 digits. i just got invited to join a team that’s ranked top 12 in the game so im stoked. they go as far as having a chat group to discuss strategies and all that jazz and be a real team. it’s kinda what i was hoping for in my previous team. there was promise but the leaders never delivered hence i jumped ship. i actually learned more chatting with a member from the new team in one sitting than the whole time i stayed with my old team. let’s see how far i can take my cards now. to battle!

benjamin padero

yes. me.

Category Archives: musings

Too much social

Past is pass

design pet peeve

vahay kuvo part 2

vahay kuvo part 1

magpa-practice tayo araw araw!

pogi stamp by robert alejandro

inter-stella

mmff 2014

addictions

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