April 2012

what gets you out of bed in the morning?

Uncategorized

What is the mountain of my life? It’s not money.

Is this why I’m not rich?

No amount of brainwashing will make me endure slaving over money. I wish I could’ve been wired otherwise. I see ambition on friends’ faces and hearts and used to wonder if I felt envious, but my truth is not in that space. I know with certainty that I don’t belong there, and that I will have to start really believing that when we do what we love, we are most successful and consequently, most rewarded (i.e. the money will come).

From an essay I read today:

…when a person is working in the area of his of her expertise, worries and cares fall away, replaced by a sense of bliss.

In Spanish, instead of asking someone you just met “What’s your work?” or “What do you do?”, the question is “A que te dedicas?” — To what are you dedicated?

The romantic in me would gladly volunteer “LOVE” as the answer, or maybe it would make more sense to answer with specific people to love …

But beyond this abstract motivation, what does get us out of bed in the morning? Is it to pay bills, to work to provide for our family, to put food on the table? Is it to count the hours until we get to go home and rest again, ready for the next day? Is it so we can meet up with friends after work, to unwind and watch a movie with our loved one, or to go on facebook and chismis the day away? Is it to pray and be accountable for our time and talents?

What’s your honest answer? Why did you get out of bed this morning?

It might not be the same reason tomorrow.

Climb your mountain, he will climb his, you meet at the top.

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Rilke said this about love and lovers:

When I turned 26 I started asking for specific gifts for my birthday — romantic wishes, if you will — and for two years I was on a winning streak. I became a firm believer of “Ask and you shall receive,” just as much as “Be careful what you ask for.”

Time came when my birthday wish took on a more serious tone. I felt I was finally ready to plant seeds (some people call it “settle down”)– and immediately the reply was “He will find you by something you put out there.”

* * *

Rilke’s full quote / context here:

A must watch for every homebuilder…

Green Design and Architecture

…and anyone who’s ever imagined a dream home (that means you, me, and everybody)!

Groundbreaking episode of HOME BASE tomorrow, Saturday, April 28, 2012. This is a labor of love that my friends and I have been working hard on, hope you can watch and support!

From the team behind National Geographic Channel\’s Inside: Malacanang, we bring you a realty show that will help you build not houses but HOMES. Please watch the premiere telecast of HOME BASE, tomorrow, 9:00-9:30am back-to-back with the Season 3 pilot episode of TURBO ZONE, feeding drives of the motoring public, 9:30-10:00am on GMA News TV.

It’s a double date tomorrow morning! 🙂

Free shuttle around Nuvali

Life in Nuvali Philippines,

\"Nuvali

Spotted in Nuvali: the \”free ride\” shuttle!

According to the driver, there are three shuttles like this that go around Nuvali. They do the rounds of the different villages (pick up point is by the gate), even all the way to Montecito, and back to the Solenad area three times everyday:

  • 6:30 am
  • 11:00 am
  • 7:00 pm

He said pick up schedule from Solenad is the same– can anyone help confirm this, as well as exact pick up points there?

🙂

Getting the wood grain look

My Nuvali Home

When it comes to finishing my doors and cabinets, am very thankful for Mang Romy, who is skilled in giving any piece of wood that beautiful hardwood look just by painting lines to resemble wood grain or haspe:

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The door primed in yellow before the wood grain finish:
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Stained (first coat):
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Here\’s Mang Romy working his magic on shelving in the bedroom:

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He\’s also transformed these ordinary wooden cabinet doors into textured ones with a softer and more natural look:

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As an aside, I came across this gem of a document on scribd while searching for the correct spelling of haspe — uploaded by Zy-rah de Chavez (thank you!):

english-tagalog construction terms

Very handy, thank you again to Zy-rah de Chavez for sharing.

Shell Nuvali is now open

Life in Nuvali Philippines

Was happy to see this on the way back from Tagaytay last Monday– the Nuvali gas station finally open!

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I took a quick shot and the Shell Nuvali gas boys were happy to oblige, complete with welcome waves and big, warm smiles!

Just a tip: We went back there today and were told they\’re still operating on a cash basis (i.e. no credit cards accepted for now).

The Zombie outbreak aftermath

Life in Nuvali Philippines

\"Zombies

Was very excited for the first ever Zombie fun run in the Philippines, held in Nuvali last April 14, 2012, and although I couldn\’t join the race itself,  really made it a point to just drive by last Saturday and see how things were!

\"Zombies

We saw runners casually walking the last few meters, some even posing for pictures, so we initially thought the fear factor was a sham and that the zombies were actually friendly.

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\"Zombies

\"Zomibes

But on our drive back we saw what the race was really about: Zombie patintero!
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Our QC vegetable garden project

Farming and Gardening Sustainable Living

Inspired by my friend Asha\’s thriving vegetable garden in her small townhouse in Quezon City, mom and I set out to transform the planters in our lanai– planted with flowering Birds of Paradise for years now –to our own \”vegetable backyard garden\” in the city.

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My brothers did their own herb garden project on one of our concrete planters/boxes a few years ago, shown below complete with the white picket fence, but mom and I thought to add actual vegetables and leafy greens to the garden.

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We visited the Manila Seedling Bank on Quezon Ave. cor EDSA last week to check out what\’s there.

On day 1, we went through the columns of shops by the entrance/exit road and made this big greenhouse at the end our last stop:

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Herb and vegetable seedlings here went for 3 for P100, which we thought was a good deal already.

The next day, we went back and really looked for the Manila Seedling Bank office, and saw seedlings for sale at P10!

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