Bonding over internship

Included in the best things you get out of a required college internship stint are new friendships.. better ones with those you already know but never really “knew”.

Kaleidoscope love

I’ve always liked kaleidoscopes. Once I even tried bartering for a plastic, easy-breakable kind with a six-year-old: a paper doll set for a 4 inch kaleidoscope she got from the palengke.

This picture came from a mirror triangular tube I got from a trip to Baguio. The Session-Road-artist who sold it to me said that I could use my camera phone to produce “natural” photo effects with it.. and here it is.

If you’re getting someone who gets easily bored a toy, get a kaleidoscope. Create endless revolving patterns no coded-design software could ever compare with!

Yes I’d love to work as an artist

…and this is the closest one I could to for now. 

I’m a freelance features writer-photographer of two magazine titles. I’m in college yet I get to do fun, elementary/highschool art projects. I mean, if you’re in college there’s tinier motivation to shop in National Bookstore for fun and mess your room just to go crafty, unless you’re a Fine Arts major (which unfortunately I’m not :P) or you’re just plain “artsy”.

Heh. As a freelancer, I get to practice three things I absolutely love doing–photography, DIY/crafting, and writing–get to share it to kids, AND get paid for it.

Sure you lose even more sleep. But hearing readers being moved to crafty action by these articles make doing it all worth it!

In my case, I get to directly share my work with my elementary-school-aged cousins, who I sometimes use as models of the finished product. Freelancing doesn’t end up feeling like a “job”, because it’s just what you do and love doing.

I’m interested in doing more similar stints, especially if involves art-making, and kids. :) Contact me if you have a project I can help you out with!

Uy, duckies!

That’s one heck of a lucky family there in Pangasinan who get to keep these pluffy yellow ducklings as pets!

I love trees!

Hugging a tree with a funky soft RAINBOW-COLORED TRUNK feels wonderful.

I hope those vandals would stop carving their current fling’s initials on them. I want my kids to see clean smooth funky-colored tree trunks too, someday.

Daisies! In the Pinas!

They’re everywhere in Baguio. I think they even grow as weeds there. You can hardly see flowers as pretty as those growing in the asphalts of Quezon City.

Oooh they’re so perky, I want to eat them and get energized by their cuteness…^^ haha kidding.

 

Sneak Peek into the UP CMC Department of Communication Research!

I’m finishing an undergraduate degree in this department. I intern with them this summer to assemble the 8th ASEAN Inter-University Conference for Social Development. Intellectual-sounding title, huh?

It’s an ok internship, nothing exciting happening yet. By the end of May, I am to deal with the best social science professors from all over South East Asian countries, and I better be good at it so I can do the Philippines-host proud.

Internship perks: I have flexible hours. I only go to school when I’m asked to; most responsibilities I can do at home. There’s a lot of excitement with having flexible working hours in one’s career, don’t you think? =D

By working from home, I can save allowance money, and contribute less to air pollution by not commuting!

Yay for tele-commuting!

“Work” I love

Involves cutting up clothes, messing up whichever room I’m in, and being able to photograph what I’m doing for an audience. Tedious, but absolutely worth it! I hope I find a job doing something like this someday.

Starstrucked by someone we know

While walking out of SM Megamall, a very popular hangout mall by almost everyone I know, I happen to glance up at this huge grinning face right above me and… “*gasp* @#$%! I know this person from high school in Sunny Hill!”

Just whoa. And I know that that guy study in that school. I love ads featuring real people. It feels authentic, coming from a media that’s supposed to “manipulate” you into action.

Workplace

Live cat included.

All I Need

All the gadgets I need to work efficiently in almost anything I set my mind on doing :D

We heart Apple!

Makati Lights

Makati to me resembles a highly-urbanized, sophisticated, and fast-paced city. 

I ran an errand today in Makati, and I loved where I was standing when I took this photo: on the top level of a multiple-floor parking area. It’s dazzling to see people scurrying away to the next business meeting or acquaintance party down below.

But I only like the view from the top. I don’t know if I’d still feel the same if I were down there.

Philippine Design and Crafts

I always attend the Manila F.A.M.E., organized by the Center of International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM). This April, they held it in the new SMX center beside the SM Mall of Asia–a gorgeous, high-ceiling, and beautifully white convention center.

The F.A.M.E. is an internationally-known Philippine Design convention. Most export product, fashion, graphic, furniture designers, and perishable-good producers exhibit their products, to meet possible buyers, be it Filipino or foreigners. Some probably also exhibit for the sake of visibility in the local design fields.

Take note of keywords: Filipino exporters, and foreign buyers.

To me, the Manila F.A.M.E. is one of the highlights of any year because inspiration for artwork is EVERYWHERE: every corner, one could see both traditional and modern crafts, as well as designer pieces made by Filipinos, and in the Philippines. Texture and colors unique to our country are all over products that could make you “Wow! Gawa pala sa Pilipinas yan!” or “Kaya pala natin gumawa ng ganyan!”. Oh yeah.

Supposedly, it’s a venue for the designer to sell themselves and their works to buyers. Me? I treat the entire convention as if it was museum or a stroll in the park, either of which could inspire me with a priceless concept!

Luckily we have exhibitors from our design-loving family so we have guaranteed passes to these events.

Besides having bragging rights for Philippine artistry, these exporter-designers are also business-owners who provide Filipinos with jobs, and let dollars enter the country. Matching artistic talent and taste withmoney-savviness is just admirable. The entrepreneurial sacrifices are evident and priceless! You lose a social life, but what the heck–this is what happens when you do “work” becomes fun.

It’s tough business though: there’s production and marketing stress, the inevitable competition of cheaper China costs, the fluctuating US dollar (exporters base their prices on the dollar. They lose money if the peso has high market value). 

Yet, working in a similar industry seems exciting and fun. That’s why I go and help out relatives when they do business-related tasks. I learn a great deal through assimilation, plus it’s a chance to check out how we can keep it, say five years from now when everything evolves to digital. 

All of these are Philippine culture. I don’t want the industry to be beaten by foreign countries in business-terms; it would mean that we might lose a portion more of our already disappearing culture. No no no!

I try to support designers in any way I can, even if its doing menial tasks like documentary photography.

Help us keep the money and the culture! Support the local industry by buying and patronizing Philippine-mades! Help designers and artists make their mark in the global industry by blogging or talking about them. 

There’s another Manila F.A.M.E. this October 2008. It’s invitational, but the last day permits free-for-all entry. Visit the FAME next time, and experience Philippine design in its current finest :)

In Love for a moment

When my cousin is infatuated with somebody, he does these cute, crazy things like taking photographs of himself spelling out her name. It’s very saccharine y’know.

With access of easy communication like cellphones and online messengers, it’s surprisingly touching to realize someone that would still go the hard way to win you over.