You cannot even call this book a classic. This is a MONUMENT in the worlds of philosophy and literature. The Fountainhead was published in the 1940s by Ayn Rand, a pioneer in the Objectivist Movement. It was later adapter into a film, the screenplay written by Rand herself.

This is a novel about the IDEAL MAN, the creator, who never compromises himself , no matter how hard things get, no matter what kind of opposition he encounters. The man who sticks to his principles and doesn't live off others, who thinks and breathes only for himself, who is indifferent to the opinions and criticisms of others.

I was a freshman in college when I first read this book. The second time I read it was in my third year at college, and the third time I read THE FOUNTAINHEAD was last week. It took me a couple of weeks this time around to finish it, and i had to read it through e-book, since i lost my dog-eared copy in Manila. Thank you, Toni, for finding me an e-copy and downloading it.

The novel never fails to stun me each time I read it. I do not quite remember my reactions the previous times I read this, but just recently, I went through every single emotion imagineable. There were parts when my heart thudded painfully against my chest with revulsion at the twisted preachings of Toohey. My fingertips tingled with excitement when Roark and Dominique finally met at the granite quarry. Tears gathered in my eyes and spilled over when the Enright House and Monadnock Valley were completed, in all their efficiently logical beauty. There were sad tears, too, for Roark's and Wynand's doomed friendship. And there was anger and disgust with Keating for being a spineless parasite.

I highly recommend this novel, for readers and non-readers alike. Read it slowly, and read between the lines. Go beneath the words and feel the emotions.

Toni, read the novel.



for the full plot and other information about the novel, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead

for the e-book, go to: http://www.truly-free.org/

Last night I told my wife that I cried over a film I recently watched and she teased me about how much of a sissy I was. I reacted with a cliche saying that boys don't cry but real men do. My crying wasn't about any crap love story or any sad endings, it was about dogs and their relationship with humans...oh dawg! c'mon, cute dogs and a touching story sure can bring tears to anyone's eyes...

Eight below (2006) is a story of eight sled dogs (Syberian huskies) and their struggle for survival as they have been left alone in the unforgiving environs of the Antarctic. Paul Walker, who works as a guide on the Antarctica research and has been the handler of the dogs, works a good counterpoint on his efforts to do anything he could to get back and save the dogs. Inspired by a true story, the film is exciting and inspiring. Breathtaking scenery; and the dogs are so adorable. Although acting might not be that superb, its undeniable that there are moments that are genuinely moving and heartwarming.

Seeing the film flashes back memories of my dog kyle. He was a lab retriever and was with me for about three years until I dropped him off in an isolated part on the island of Mactan. Kyle had a skin disease (a.k.a kagid) that was beyond curable. So that's why we did what we thought was the only, for the lack of a different term - "merciful" way. Leaving him was a very hard decision, he ran so fast following our car and finally decided to stop when he knew he wasn't able to catch up. That last glimpse of him made me cry.

I was able to have different pet dogs after that, I had a great dane named tiny and had another lab retriever named prue. But kyle was different, he was my first "high breed" dog and we had a good chemistry going. I told my wife how I treated kyle inhumanly as opposed to how Paul Walker valued the dogs so much in the movie.

The film teaches us how to value relationships, it brings to life the selflessness and loyalty of animals to humanity. This movie is worth watching just to bring to light the selfishness and immorality of humanity in general. A human life is worth sacrificing for but animals are just that, animals.

I am studying architecture, and pretty soon i'll be reviewing for my board exam. In the meantime, I am working at Sykes.

SYKES is a global leader in providing customer management solutions and services to external and internal customers of companies primarily within the technology/consumer, communications and financial services markets. In layman's terms, Sykes is a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company, a call center. It is the officially recognized pioneer in the Philippine call center industry.

February 2007 saw another first for Sykes - the inauguration of its own facility, a structure that houses the company’s data, telephony and security technology facilities.

The building is called Synergis IT (Information Technology) Center. Since December, employees have been very excited about transferring to the new building. The transfer paved way for a new beginning, a new environment, a new location...

In every change there is always an equal share of advantages and disadvantages.

Synergis IT center is located along F.cabahug St. Panagdait, Mabolo, Cebu City; just beside the Offroads coffee shop. Although it is not the most accessible location, at least Sykes has its own site now. I'm not sure if the building is company-owned or not, but I'm pretty certain the specifications conform to Sykes' nature of work.

When constructing a building, architects always consider a lot of aspects; two of these aspects are FORM and FUNCTION. The basic principle for any design is: form follows function.

Knowing this, I want to share my views about the new Sykes building.

Form:
the building is basically rectangular in shape, about 55mts x 60 mts(rough estimate of the dimensions)
and has a total of six storeys plus a basement parking area and a rooftop. To the right of its facade is:
= the elevator lobby made up of a glass curtain wall with protruding beams that define each level.
=the elevator shaft which is a *prefab concrete wall covered in *aluminum composite panels, and which extends a little over the building's rooftop in a tapered design. On top is the Sykes logo. This in itself is the most distinctive part of the whole building.


Function:
1.)the basement, which is used primarily for parking, accommodates 62 car slots and at least 30 motorcycles. (surface parking is at the front of the building)
2.)the ground floor is for commercial establishments. C24, a convenience store, is the first to open.
3.)typical 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 6th floors. These typical floors house the workstations for technical support and customer service representatives. Each floor includes training rooms, pantry, conference rooms, restrooms and lockers.
4.)the 4th floor houses the administrative offices (facilities, accounting & others), the sykes lobby and front desk, company clinic, training department, quality assurance department and other offices.
5.)Rooftop.. assumably this will be a multi-functional area.(I have not been to the rooftop yet, as the building isn't complete)
6.)a centralized airconditioning system for all floors..

Materials:*
The building boasts all steel structural framework, (columns, beams, girders, floor frames), prefab concrete walls (no more chb/hollow blocks, i don't know if the building has an evg wall system or the fastem type), fibre-cement boards for interior wall panels, acoustic ceiling boards, fire-resistant floor carpeting and modular office cubicles to name a few...

The exterior finish is made of glass walls, painted prefab concrete walls and the aluminum composite panels in yellow and gray/silver colors.

In my perspective:
- The building's form may not be so spectacular but it is well enough oriented with its topography and location, in the sense that the facade orients to the north and the traffic flow has been defined.

- Aesthetic-wise, the tapered design on the right side of the facade with the sykes logo gives the building that distinctive look. Although it seems a little boring to use the aluminum composite panels (this material is commonly used in new buildings nowadays, even the CICC. I personally hate it as buildings tend to look more or less the same). The airconditioning condensers on the right side of the building are eyesores, but considering the building is not yet totally completed, I expect louvers to serve as cover-up.

- It is strange though that the administrative offices, the main lobby and the front desk are located on the fourth floor. The company might have reasons behind this, but personally I find it very odd, considering that Sykes is the only occupant.

- If you happen to go to the fourth floor, you might lose your way in the maze of corridors. The layout of rooms could have been studied further according to room relations, hierarchy and even office paper trail. There are even huddle rooms that tend to be idle, rooms for specific departments could either be too small or too large.

- Training rooms are situated along the front of the building, down the hallway leading from the elevator lobby, with windows facing out into the street giving a good view for whoever uses the rooms. I don't have anything against the location of the training rooms, but what I think is a waste = is the opportunity for other employees (aside from the trainees & the trainers) to take full advantage of these rooms and the view. Training rooms become idle during weekends or on periods wherein there aren't any trainees. If the pantry would have been placed along this area on each floor, employees could enjoy the view while on their lunch or breaks. It would be even better if tables will extend to an open area on the elevator lobby where one can sit and enjoy a cup of coffee.

- Chapter 1 section 8.01.07 of the Building Code of the Philippines states that occupant load of 500 to 999 shall have no less than three exits. The building does have three fire exits per floor, no questions about it. The location of each fire exit is what makes me wonder. One fire exit is located at the front left end of the building. Two fire exits are situated in the same area, a distance of about 20mts. One of these fire exits could have been strategically positioned in another area for equal accessibility.

- The elevator lobby, for its area, is large enough and not much activity happens here (again this could have been taken advantage of with the layout of specific rooms). There are two elevators, both go from the basement to the sixth floor catering to the 1,800++ employees of Sykes. Employees do not have an alternative access to other floors, as there is no stairwell beside the elevator. Imagine this: on a regular night, between the hours of 9pm to 8am, an approximate 500 employees will either be starting their shifts or ending them. On a worst case scenario there could be 20 people who could be waiting at the ground floor, wanting to go to their respective floors. IF (and I emphasize on this) there was the stairs option, then employees don't need to wait for the elevators. There will be a free flow of human traffic. The stairs could also be used as service way for miscellaneous purposes.
*I don't see this happening in most buildings, hotels and other multi-levelled structures.

- For most employees who smoke, a 15 minute break may seem so little a time, especially if you're from the sixth floor and you'll get stuck on the elevator traffic. At least an open balcony on each floor can answer this need. The back of the building looks out on Kartzone, and this might be the ideal location for those open balconies.

- Restrooms are located at the rear area of the building, computation for the number of cubicles and urinals is undoubtedly correct, although other employees seem to complain about the location of the restrooms.


- The basement parking may not have complied with the city ordinance of 1 parking slot per 120 sq.m of office space, (computation for occupancy I/office building) but it has ample space though and traffic flow is okay.

- "Back of the house" equipment like generator set, day tank, ahu/accu are well located in strategic areas though.

Architects study the human behaviour of the occupants for his structures. Each need should be carefully looked into. Once he accomplishes these, he creates a plan to have the needs be in harmony with the function of the building. When I heard Sykes will have its own building, I was hoping that I could get a copy of the floor plan, I was wishing that I could somehow give some insights. I feel that working with the company and having my background in architecture has given me a balanced view of the "need" as an occupant and the "function" as an architect.

These are only my observations, and I have painstakingly tried to put them down in the shortest possible way. If you have read this far, thank you. I am sure you have more observations or complaints or recommendations on how the building ought to be. Please leave a comment below, so that I'll know that this review has indeed been read, and my writing this will not have been in vain.

Synergis is about 80% complete. I don't believe in miracles, so I am realistic enough to think that my words here will be wasted... as to improving the current structure.

BUT I heard that there will be another building.

They say music is the universal language...it is an art... entertainment that involves organized sound.

Each one has their own music preference and I don't intend to name all the music genres here...
My wife and I have the same choice of music and this is one factor why we get along well...

We both love the music of JACK JOHNSON. We love it so much that there was a time when we followed every gig of a certain band in Cebu that played Jack Johnson songs..the band's name was the Convicts...their lead singer (Bowie) always informed us of their scheduled gigs and upcoming events...We have all Jack Johnson's Cds, got a bunch of mp3s and even our little boy is starting to hum some tunes from Jack Johnson's Curious George album. The lyrics from the song better together , which goes: "It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving, I'll tell you one thing its always better when we're together" ...depicts the way my wife and I want our relationship to be.

Jack Johnson is a hawaii-born singer-songwriter and he was a professional surfer until he got into a freak accident that lead him to discover his musical talents as he was recovering. His music may not be that popular to many, and there is also an argument on which genre his music can be classified. Personally, I describe Jack Johnson's music as contemporary chill-out-laid-back beach tunes. He's in the same category as his friends - Ben Harper and G.Love. Other people compare him with John Mayer, Adam Duritz of Counting Crows or even with Jason Mraz. To discover more of Jack Johnson check out his website = www.jackjohnsonmusic.com.

My choice of music are those that are not so commercialized and mainstream. My dad influenced me a lot in my music taste. When I was young he bought me a stereo and introduced me to the music of: Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Dave Matthews... to name a few. He told me stories about Led Zeppellin, Robert Plant, Mick Jagger and even showed me concert videos of the Rolling Stones. My dad collects articles on artists he likes, he has a collection of memorabilia. He is such a hippie dad, that when Pearl Jam had a concert in Manila (1995, I was still in 2nd yr. high school) he went to watch it. My dad admires the style of Pearl Jam's lead singer, Eddie Vedder, that he incorporates Vedder's lyrics in his paintings (my dad is a fine arts graduate). To know more of the band, check Pearl Jam's official website = www.pearljam.com

Now imagine this: Jack Johnson and Eddie Vedder playing together???

Imagine no more, this will be reality baby!!!
Jack Johnson invited Eddie Vedder to join him this April 21-22 2007, for the fourth KOKUA FESTIVAL.
The festival is an annual event in Hawaii, celebrated during Earth Day. It's a gathering of artists in a concert for a cause. All proceeds of the event go to the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Jack Johnson, to support environmental education programs in Hawaii. To know more about the Kokua Festival, check out this website = www.kokuafestival.com.

Both Johnson and Vedder are unpretentious artists who have passion for their craft, and having them play together in one event is my ultimate dream concert!!!!

I'll bring along my wife and my dad = two important people in my life (Zai Angelo will surely be joining us also)....
One superb location, Hawaii = the sun, the sea and the fun...
One good Cause = Earth Day environmental awareness....
This will be a summer to remember...

But not until I can save all the money needed for this to materialize, the Kokua Festival's incredible music line-up of Johnson and Vedder will just be a dream concert for me.....

I'm now accepting donations for those who wish to help.... ahehehehe

as a couple, we know good food when we taste it....

They say cebuanos have a distinct food taste, and that we are a choosy market... nah, what kind of people term cebuanos that way ? but uhmm.... well, maybe there is truth in that..as cebu has witnessed the closure of some restaturants that don't meet the "standards of our tastebuds" (what a weird term, is there such a standard?? or am I just making this up)....

anyway....

Lately I have been craving for steak, the ones that really satisfy your palate (this actually was triggered when I was reading this article about steaks from reader's digest)
I have come to discover that there seem to be a lot of steakhouses already in cebu.. steaks ranging form the affordable, to the reasonably priced and to the ones that can empty your pocket (if you ain't that filthy rich)

steak as defined is = a slice from a larger piece of meat, typically beef. Red meat and fish are often cut into steaks. Most steaks are cut perpendicular to the muscle fibres, improving the perceived tenderness of the meat.

Steak can be cook in different ways, depending on how tender you want it to be..

Raw - uncooked. Except in special dishes, like steak tartare, steak is not eaten or ordered at this stage.
Blue rare or very rare - Cooked very quickly; the outside is seared, but the inside is usually cool and not warm and definitely not cooked. The steak will be red on the inside.
Rare - The outside is grey-brown, and the middle of the steak is mostly red and warm, with the edge of the inside pink.
Rare plus - The outside is grey-brown, and the middle of the steak is mostly red and warm, with some pink. Often ordered by those that prefer medium rare and don't mind rare but worry about overcooking towards medium.
Medium rare - The outside is grey-brown, the very middle of the steak may still be red, fading through pink to a grey-brown near the surface of the meat. Unless specified otherwise, upscale steakhouses will generally cook to this level.
Medium - The very inside is pink, fading to grey-brown throughout the rest of the meat. The outside is grey-brown.
Medium well - The meat is mostly grey-brown with a hint of pink. The juiciness of the steak is reduced when cooked to this level.
Well done - The meat is grey-brown throughout; the juiciness and tenderness is reduced, and the meat may seem dry and chewy.

I want mine medium rare, with mushroom sauce and sauteed vegetables.

Although I may not have tried all the restaurants here in cebu that offer steak, I can humbly say that at least I have tried a few...(and I wish to discover more as my craving grows insistently ..ahehehe )

>Want the fast food type of steaks? try going to any food court at the mall and you can discover that there is a handful of choices..
*You can expect to pay around P150-P200 for a steak, which already include s a drink.

>If you really want to go to steakhouses and enjoy good steak that is reasonably priced...
*try CARLITO's WAY along A.S Fortuna or BLACK ANGUS at country mall or at rivergate mall. Both steakhouses have more or less the same price range. An 8.5 oz. rib eye steak costs around P300-P400. Carlito's gets it's meat mostly from Cagayan De Oro.

>Wish to satisy your craving for a really great steak ?
*If you have a day to spare, go to CHATEAU DE BUSAY.. good view, nice ambiance..
*DAVID's steak & seafood restaurant along F.Cabahug st., they live up to their reputation as serving the best steak in cebu.. you have to shell out P1,200++ for an 11 oz. rib eye though.

a piece of advice:
If you wish to be more romantic, but do not want to spend that much.. you can buy meat for steak at any meat shop, I would suggest MONTEREY as they have those ready-to-cook marinated prime cut meats. Create your own mushroom gravy or buy the prepared ones at grocery stores, add sauteed vegetables... and voila! impress your partner and both of you will enjoy good food and quality time... just like we did during valentines day ...

“The only time to eat diet food is while you are waiting for the steak to cook.”