Wedding Posts: A month later.

31 days ago since our wedding...(click the image above -- that's the front cover of our wedding website).

As the cliché goes, “Time flies so fast” (in fact, the whole statement itself is the mother of all clichés), yeah sue me now! But undeniably and ironically, time is the most selfish (and generous) thing in this world and even in galaxies far far away. *wink*

Months and months ago, I and my then fiancé were keeping our weekends busy, besides the normal routine, laundry, cleaning and grocery shopping sat-sun. For a year, we have squeezed-in new tasks on our to do list: clipping inspirations from stacks and stacks of bridal magazines we bought everywhere. Browsing useful wedding websites, making choppy long distance calls back home and deciding if which vendor isn't ink-worthy hence it remains on the shortlist, until we have decided and contacted a few great and talented people for their great wedding stuff! (eeeheem!! you guys know who you are, it was such a privilege!). It was like a "whirlwindy" rollercoaster ride, one minute you have a lot of things in mind then next thing you know it is all over!

(As in worry-free over! Proud to say that when we woke up the day after our wedding, our only worry is what to do with our 3 week vacation as our supposedly post wedding sabbatical for a week in Beijing was cancelled. No loans and no over-budget to worry about! Most of all, none of our parents spent a single cent for the wedding!)

...and so It Happened on September 18, 2010.

Indeed! Our wedding was -- I'd say memorably heartfelt and intimate. Not to mention, the creative minds who worked with us was just overflowing with outstanding skills -- what can we say. Nothing! Hence, not only was the fun double but everyone had a blast and they couldn't get over the event – as this new song by Diana Vickers goes: our wedding was “♫♪stuck like glue♫♪” on everyone’s hearts.

The best part of it all, was when our families and friends were all gathered inside one church, putting aside their individual beliefs. They all prayed, laughed and shared the same faith as Christians with us on that day. This is by far the most touching and overwhelming part of our wedding day. The support, love and most all the blessings of those who spent their entire Saturday with us. It was just a day to be cherished...sooo meaningful.

...we are now husband and wife.

Marriage isn't going to be a 100% smooth ride but it felt great and reassuring to know that someone will constantly hold your hand, wipe your tears or cry with you and will whisper things like “Don’t worry”, ”I’m here”, “I forgive you”, “I’m sorry” when the road gets all bumpy, dusty and hazy.

...and as I have vowed to my husband 31 days ago, I will hold on to my vows and will keep on reminding myself whenever a rough road is up ahead.

(“I may not be a princess on a fairy tale book but I am in our story – our love story and I thank God for the prince charming who is standing in front of me right now.)

"....From this day forth, I will be your missing piece of the puzzle. I Will be the first one to be there for you whether you are happy of you are upset, I will be the warmth you seek for at the end of the day when everyone seems cold, I will be the #1 critic (and fan!) of your matte paintings, beginning now, (counting the imperfections) things will be perfect, just as God had planned our lives, Forever and Always. Palangga-on ta gid ka!”

Happy Monthsary Husband! Palanggaon ta gid ka!

Wedding Posts: The Preperation. A little over a year ago.

I would always compare wedding planning to a graduating student's Thesis or a Board Exam review. I was totally wrong! My two (as my ex-boss would say) amateurish comparisons were definitely the understatements of all time. (geeky quote zooms-in my face “with great power comes great responsibilities”...in 3D text!). Okay! I got it spidey, now shooo!

READY. Sums up the Ghandi-like virtues one can think of and practice in order to pull through those two major achievements on one’s younger (ouch! But true!) days. Am I? Is he? Without a doubt! YES, has been the only answer for both of us.

Yey! we are getting married! ...wedding preps commencing...

I have concluded some unnecessary (for some) but necessary (for me) pointers while planning our BIG day! which might be helpful to some brides-to-be as well. Though my primary purpose is to keep every bit of memory fresh out of the 12-long-months of wedding preps.

It was exhausting(ly fun!) -- specially a week before the wedding, goodness, had it not for the photos and vids and more photos and vids we wouldn't have recalled what happened!

It was frustrating(ly fun) too, we could have gotten ourselves a trip to Italy or Greece or Maldives or USA heck! We could go anywhere we want, with the budget we put aside for the wedding but nope! We would not trade THAT one day for any trips in the world, not even to the moon besides that, there isn't anything to see in the moon anyway (hardy-har-har tickle me)!

But seriously, it was just fun preparing for that one special day! Shopping for rings, shopping for shoes, flipping through magazine pages, doodles and sketches that you later realized it looked horrible so you have to do it again, conceptualizing the theme, decor ideas, cake designs, dress designs, spying (hehe!) on online wedding vids -- some are cheezy, some are cute, some are heartwarming (ours, we have decided to let experts do their thing!), surfing for other people's wedding photos (we sooo loathe too much HDRI's and lomo-like shots! I mean come on! Use a lomo cam then! Instead of your D90 or EOS7D or 5D, that's just ridiculous!).

*sigh* I already miss those days (and nights). This is the real once in a lifetime experience that sadly, not everyone had the privilege to share and talk about. So! here goes my few documented pointers during the wedding preparations.

1. Are you both READY? Are you sure? -- you know what the answer should be.

2. (This is reeally necessary) "THE" Plan B, as sometimes this can be way better and exciting than plan A.

3. Bridal Magazine - Lots and lots of it! You can never have enough. One mag more often than not just have one inspiration that is clip-worthy. Trust me!

4. IDEAS! And I mean original ideas. No one can stop you from admiring someone’s wedding but take note, there is a HUGE difference between admiration and imitation. You don’t want someone describing your day as “very much like so-and-so’s wedding” or you don’t want to hear someone saying “wow! This is all so familiar, remember our friend’s wedding?”. That would be awkward and – what’s the word? “Yucky?”

5. Great and Talented Vendors. Ahhhh...I’ve been dying to blog about this.

I was given a heads up by a friend who got married in Bacolod last September 2008 that SOME local vendors in Bacolod are quite non-responsive over emails. Lo-and-behold, I had my own taste of a snail's pace work ethics of some vendors. After 3-4 weeks ( even longer than that) of waiting -- I got replies that usually begin with “SORRY...”

“I was busy with my other client...”. Talking about business ethics, I have never, not even once said this to my clients and would never say this, ever!

“...Our computer was down” – OMG! I actually don’t know what say except, Soooo? No back-up plan? Some experienced vendor huh???

“ the staff-in-charge went AWOL” -- I shall quote Miranda Priestly “details of your incompetence does not interest me”

And many (I’d say) other LAME excuses...

It’s as if you, as a client would have to beg them to be your vendor. Yes! You got that right – YOU(client)-BEG-THEM(vendors). Well in our case, nope! That’s not how it works. Too bad they were not able to work with the easiest client on earth!

No offense but I'm just stating my own opinion based on my first hand experience.

Though there were two vendors I really admired! They were the perfect examples of working like pros!

Ysabelles' Bridal, Tita Lynette Villanueva was very accommodating and keeps you posted for any changes or better suggestions she might have! hence many loved my gown and the ento dresses! In fact the ento dresses were not according to my original design due to some constraints on the , cut, hems and other tailor whatchamacallits but turned out more prettier and more original besides that the ladies who wore the dresses were already pretty!

Honey Grace Cakes! (Thanks Ivz!) Honey Grace herself attended to me and patiently answered all my innocent queries! As I have zero know-how about cakes! The moment I stepped into her store, I haven't left till way beyond closing hours till all queries and doubts were settled! She even took time to do the mock-up of the cake layer set-up as my idea was kinda experimental but we later on pulled it off! By the way I later found out she is one of the local TV personalities in Bacolod. How cool is that?!

So bride’s-to-be out there, better have someone whom you can really ask to do things for you if you can’t be physically around on the early stages the wedding planning. Had it not for my dearest sis Vannie (she is indeed the real maid-of-honor!) and bestfwend Ivy (my own personal Bride’s maid), I could not imagine what the output would be. You guys can actually start a wedding coordination partnership!

Albeit some internal mishaps during the wedding day, we pulled it off! There is no such thing as the perfect wedding anyway. Everyone loved and enjoyed the whole event and that’s what matters. Looking back, it seemed like it was all dream, so surreal that we even ask ourselves

“How on earth did we do it?!” -- here goes the answer...

...and the most important tip of all time...

6. Leave it to the experts! They know better best! Quit being the all-knowing-yet-knows-nothing "expert"!

September 11, 2009: Life Changing Day

I have finally drifted onto “my space” and I mean me and my mind working together in silence, travelling back through time and picking up bits and pieces of breadcrumbs (not for solving crimes, this ain’t CSI!) that can feed my mind.

12 months and 27 days ago in Amari Coral Beach Resort wharf in Phuket, Thailand. I was asked a life changing question which I suppose there should be 2 choices for an answer, a YES and a NO where the former awaits a happy ever-after while the latter will devastate not only me and Eric but the people who knew us as well.

Anyway, back to The Question -- there has been only one answer for me.

Just Y-E-S...

It was not like in the movies where everything was all perfect -- zoom-in-slow-mo shot-like moment where the guy have John Cusack’s perfect soft spoken voice as he is uttering his proposal speech that melted the girl’s heart and got her all choked up while cupping her nose and mouth, then she finally says yes in tears as the guy slips the ring on her finger and then another staring-onto-each-other’s-eye-moment where the world stopped revolving while slow melancholic music starts playing. Nope! Not even close.

Ours was just purely spontaneous and fun topped with (cute) blooper moments BUT despite of those “moments”, I would not (ever!) trade it for anything expensive in the universe. Those few precious minutes were just priceless and could never be equal to the diamond ring being slipped onto my finger.

That windy sunset with its golden rays peeking through the clouds and waves drifting beneath the wharf shall be kept fresh on a vacuum tight compartment in our now united hearts and shall be later re-lived in time we re-tell this funny story to our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

***

Lets take the LEED!

Dear Fellow Architects,

As the lead professionals in the construction industry, let us take advantage of our post on this progressive era of steel, concrete and electriciy to support the fight against climate change. There are over hundreds of advertisements and campaigns from all over the world, showing us of where this fast-paced planet is leading us – disaster! Which we ourselves caused.

However, these foreseen disasters coming our way can still be prevented. As architects, we play a vital role in this critical issue .The decisions we make,can either build or destroy nature. This may be an imposition to us, but if we look more closer and dig deeper, we are not being consulted and we do not sign things off for nothing. Our approval is not being sought after just for formality, rather it is needed as it is the right thing to do.

I am encouraging everyone to adapt the LEED’s (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) principles which for certain we are all familiar with.

Let’s take this chance to not only work closely with our clients but let’s make them fully aware of what they can do in their own simple ways to rejuvenate the Earth. Our country is abundant in land, that’s our one advantage!

With such a small land area – which the Negros Island is ever bigger, Singapore is able to implement to their people to maintain a certain square meter for greens (both vertical and horizontal) on all buildings, and then that should not be a problem for us.

Lets ask ourselves this question, What Can We Do?

Let's take the LEED,

Arch. Fran Marie I. Flores, UAP

Wild Things in Life

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ap/20100407/tap-as-philippines-giant-lizard-2nd-ld-w-fe2a5de.html

Having read the link above, we are clearly one of the world's best paradise (supposedly). Our natural resources are (supposedly) as rich as the oil deposits in the Middle East.

Why I am I being a cynic?
That's because we are too passive to care for our country. Cutting down trees is just like harvesting rice and sugarcane. Inappropriate dumping of garbage is like broadcasting seeds in the farm. Moreover our unique wildlife has become endangered because we kill and slaughter as if the we are starving and could not find food anymore.


I still keep my hopes up though.
For as long as we are seeing greens, hearing sounds within its thick foliage and for as long as sky remains blue and clouds are white. Our chances are still overflowing. We could still propagate the lushness of those greens. Make those sounds louder and Keep the skies clear and the clouds whiter.

Serendipity...

Part of me always wanted to become a writer.

Which I eventually gave in to writing, as I thought, that it might work for me. Sadly, it didn't...never did. Though, if you ask me if it was a waste of time, I'll will straight away give you an N-O for an answer. I was once a writer for my school paper and I somehow managed to sneak my name into the lifestyle pages of my hometown's local daily.

The first time I saw my name on the by-line that one particular sunday was probably like how Loius Sullivan felt when the Wainright building was considered as one the first skyscrappers in the world. I read my article over and over and over and over again that night. It felt great!

Little did I know, it was just the beginning of a fortunate accident. That's why I always love to look back at those little imperfect moments as it reminds me, how I got here.

...to moments! cheers!

Recollection :: Off the top of my head::

The pressure is on! It has always been on.

If I may say, I consider pressure as human being's greatest stalker. From the simplest decision making as to what coffee and donuts to order while on a long queue, up to opening that piece of envelope with your billing statement on it. While you are on a plane, you are definitely under a huge pressure -- literally! and so many other negligible things that is unknowingly contributing pressure.

Where I am now (geographically), pressure has been a part of its culture. Everyone is not an exemption. Locals, expats like me, and even one who is as young as a pre-school kid, goes through it, in school and most sadly at home.

This reminds me of what I witnessed one Friday ago while I was lounging at the pool, I overheard and saw one of our neighbors whose unit was nearby the pool. He was tutoring (or should I say torturing) his kid like Hitler. He was yelling and screaming because his son couldn't give him an answer on some Arithmetic questions. Poor kid, he was in total tears while guessing the answers. Of course, how could the poor thing focus and give his "tutor" the right answer when, he is being yelled and screamed at and being embarrassed by his dad.

They where at the living room and their glass door was wide open where anyone who is nearby could hear the tormenting treatment he is getting from his dad -- HIS DAD. Most of all it was a Friday!

On one of my conversations with my boss, he mentioned, quite a few times, "the system is not very forgiving so there is no room for errors". Wow! does the system say that kids must study and must not be given some slack on a Friday night? I guess it does...I just don't get it though.

Everything here is almost perfect but ironically their imperfections are just way too obvious. No rooms for questions and clarifications otherwise you'll be reciprocated with sarcasm or worse, you'll be screamed at. No room for explaining, otherwise, you'll be cut-off mid-sentence.

No room for forgiveness as they do not know how to.