Very Large Things

I mentioned earlier that I loved the great out doors. Actually, its wild animals that I like. And what could be more fascinating than some of the biggest of a certain given species! Things that CAN eat you (cue diabolical laughter).

There are a great many species on the Planet Earth. Over 4 million. And that's not counting the extinct species. Today, new species are being discovered (just as many are becoming extinct). But, many of the larger variety that are truly monstrous and veeeery fascinating have been discovered many many years ago! People just didn't know about them -or wild life programming has only now began to cash in on the benefits of filming gigantic versions of what we take for granted as 'regular' species.

Sure size is no big thing for us homo sapiens. The elephant is pretty big. The Girraffe too. The Blue Whale..! The great White Shark. The whale Shark. We all know these things to be big. Our minds are programmed to accept these subjects at their size. But what if you run across, say a rodent the size of a goat? Rats are rodents. That sort of changes things now, doesn't it? There IS such a rodent. It is the Capybarra of South America. They grow quite big. They are the principal prey of what is considered to tbe the largest snake in the world: the Green Anaconda (which we know to be big).

But what about the largest fresh water fish? The world's largest dog (if you want a more domestic approach), or the largest fresh water Stingray? I have here some images of what Mother Nature can come up to when she's feeling a bit of inspiration and playful mischief and decides that people need to be surprised or freaked out every once in a while. The fascination for most humans stems from this fact.

Well, we've got the Arrapaima (largest freshwater fish -did I spell that right?), some dog, a big alligator snapping turtle, a stingray, giant catfish, and a few other things that you may not have realized existed. I also threw in some illustrations and figures of some extinct species as well.

If you have to ask: Why? Mothe Nature would probably simply say: Why the bloody hell not?! (Followed by cackling laughter)

What this probably says about me though, is that fact that I'm extremely fascinated with wild life (the more exotic, the better) and the fact that I could still be ten years old. Sometimes.

Growl.

I've been out of the blogging scene for quite sometime. The reason is simple. I simply forgot about my blog. And the times that I do remember that I have one, I'd always forget how to get back into my account.

If not for my friend, I'd never have been able to find this little treasure trove (or garbage dump) of thoughts and ideas!

So.

A new blog then.

The thing I wrote about Boracay Sands Hotel was a short recollection of the experiences I've had during the development stage of the resort hotel. Someone even actually checked my blog because of it?! Her name was Tanya. I couldn't quite respond to her because my system wasn't working properly (or it was secretly making fun of me) but she asked if the hotel had great facilities.

Hmmm. I'd say that, if I'm honest the hotel has pretty good facilities for a three-star hotel: restaurant (serves breakfast buffets too and occassional outdoor dinining on selected evenings), swimming pool, etc.. Its all in the previous blog.

The thing is, its not the facilities that bring a smile to the weary traveller's face -its the ambience and the way the hotel is made. The feel inside and outside is just classic and light. There is also a sense of granduer, though not to the point of being snooty or oppressive. It is definitely sophisticated though and reflects an inlcination for fine tastes.

It is great value for people looking for a refined atmosphere at a relativel affordable cost.

Its in front of the beach.

There is a boat and shuttles -transfers by land or by sea are through special arrangement with the front desk -or contact your friendly travel agent for details on your transfers.

Watersports are accessible by special arrangement at the FO. Diving too.

There's so much to do really, guests will hardly have time to breathe! But when they do want a slow day, there's the beach front for lounging and -if the sun gets too hot- the in door pool for a nice cool dip. Day OR night. And while you're swimming, drinks by the pool?

Like the previous blog said, the tag line is simple: Perfect.

For my part, I like being at the hotel because it allows me a change of scenery, all the internet I want (I don't get to go online in Manila a lot because I'm just too busy moving around) because I do all my work in one place (the hotel!) and there's something about getting a massage by he beach that reeeeeeeally relaxes most human beings. Must be genetic. Or most most people are intrinsically hedonistic (in a good way of course). The great thig about it is, its good for you.

Its not a laid back sort of destination for me though. I acually have to help run the hotel: everything needs constant checking, the staff have to be motivated often (its good for the internal culture), amenities and facilities need to be repaired and replenished every so often.. then there're the meetings, discussions, concerns.. Its really like running a ship -or a hospital! You're on call 24 hours! Its exciting though.

I do occassionally have to leave the hotel for meetings -there are other business interests on the island that I have to look after. But maybe I'll talk about those some other time. The thing is, running the hotel takes most of the day already so meetings have to be either schedued at the hotel or at night when arrivals are few and guests require less attention (i.e. they don't order so much, or are sleeping or just want to go out for the night life). By this time, the accounting office is closed, the rounds are done and the kitchen is making final preparations for the breakfast buffet the next day. Stuff like that.

Then, I can go on to my other appointments -usually at our local office (away from the hotel) or at a friend's hotel.

Before I forget. My favorite part about going to the island is when the plane lands (I love the final approach) and the boat ride. Its just really invigorating for me.

Yep. People get their high in different ways (I'm sure most of them are much cooler-sounding than mine) when they go to the island but the end result is the same: they all get satisfied one way or the other.

I think I'll stop there before I start talking about my love life or something.

Oh, and my one regret? Since I love cars, its that I don't get to drive there.

The picture in the blog? That's me (I'm the one on the right in the white striped shirt) with the architect. Talented fellow that one. I secretly believe he's an alien from another world but he always denies it.

Ciao.

Out Of This World Hotel Accomodations: Boracay Sands Hotel

The Boracay Sands Hotel.

The tag line is simple really:

Perfect.

That's the whole idea. However, getting things to be as 'perfect' as can be has been quite a life-altering occupation. The fact that its located in no-less than the world-famous Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan (somewhere in the southern part of the Philippine archipelago) and the simpe fact that the place itself is obviously a tropical paradise, makes the whole enterprise something of a paradox.

Its really really hard getting things built along the white sandy beaches of 'Bora' because all your building materials, equipment, furniture (98.743333333% customized) comes from outside of the island. Fortunately we hired a great design team that really did a fantastic job. Even then, we had a bit of a hard time finding these guys from an ocean of architectural firms that would've been eager to take on the er, challenge of working in a tropical paradise.

That the design team probably came from outer space and had multiple brains and digestive systems didn't deter us from our mission of building the best hotel in Boat Station Three (there are three boat stations on the island). Eventually, Sands became the yardstick upon which future hotels would be measured in that particular part of the beach.

Its design is basically Mediterranean (did I spell tht right) with a consulate flavor -so we could put flags at the front. I like flags. And no matter what anybody says, THE FLAGS WERE MY IDEA. True, the chief designer may have had the same idea but he never told me and I said it first. End of story.

Oh yes. The design.. Well, lets see.. The lines of Sands Hotel are deceptively traditional -classical even. But modern in execution. You may not notice it but it has a clean look to it, coupled by the sense that the place is larger than it actually is. The perspective seems to genuinely recede as you look at the interior and exterior. This is due to some architectural techniques that the (alien) designers have employed to create a fantastically grand effect.

Arriving at the front beach of Sands is a very memorable affair -especially if you arrive just before sunset. Its absatively pretty. The setting sun amplifies the architectural impact of the hotel; all the colors are aflame and there is lots of visual drama. Since the color of the hotel was chosen from a very unique variety of er, office supplies the ensuing 'white' that was finally chosen seems to glow under the very dramatic lighting conditions created at sunset. Why office supplies? Well, the color that was chosen is called, quite simply, 'folder-white'. Apparently the paint swatches were all over the office. Or the aliens probably thought they were paint swatches.

Once you step inside you are immediately transported into another world. The pretty lobby (which looks harmles enough) leads into a courtyard that runs most of the length of the building; it is surrounded by the common hallways which rise from the ground floor all the way to the very top. The courtyard has no roof. You can see the sky during the day and the stars at night. At the center of the courtyard, there is a pool. A very pretty pool. In-house manufactured and alien-designed.

There're even lights emanating from bottom of the pool (actually, they turned out to be fiber optics inlaid during construction, not some advanced alien energy designed to make whoever swims in the pool young again).

Wifi is free.

There are shuttle services from the airport and on the island (these are available by arrangement with the hotel) and a very pretty boat called Sands 1: it is what is called a 'motorbanca'. Basically a large outrigger, the hotel sea-shuttle (which can also be used for island-hopping tours upon arrangement at the front desk) is fast and looks sleek. Probably the nicest-looking motorbanca in Boracay. Oh, and its the only one with metallic-silver and white paint scheme. If International Rescue (as in Thunderbirds) were to make a motorbanca for Sands, they'd probably paint it just like that.

Okay. Now what else.

Oh, there's a new restaurant (we're still setting up) and a dive shop at the hotel. Also, there's an ice cream cafe at the front too. Yes.

In the evening, there's outdoor dining (provided it doesn't rain, other wise it would be pointless now wouldnt it?) and at certain times of the year, there'll be beach parties out on the well, beach.

Its loads of fun working at the hotel. Its like a starship (alien architects and all) with an intrepid crew to man it. Its hard work and the challenges never seem to abate. It is however extremely rewarding, like being able to drive a Maclren F1 supercar to the limit in dense fog and driving rain and still walk away from the car afterwards without the help of rescue personnel. The effect is the same: you're wired but also elated. And glad to still have your sanity intact.

So far.

My Concourse Special

I obviously love cars. Its a passion. No matter what kind of car it is, if its mine I'll take care of it as if it were a concourse classic special (a concourse is a kind of car exhibit/event where cars are kept in their most pristine and original form either through restoration or simply being kept in very original shape through sheer (meticulous) storage alone. Not an easy thing when you count the time in decades).

Anyway, I count myself lucky that -although my car may not be a priceless classic- its still a special machine: I drive a mark1 Mazda MX-5. A Miata (that's what they're called in the US) if you will. My dear little brat of a roadster is named Tifosi Blanca -rather androgynous sounding I must admit but I do believe my car's a he.

Tifosi and I got started on the long journey to raodster bliss when I aqcuired him as a second hand purchase from a very agreeable Frenchman named Pierre Banex. The car was immaculately stock (no modifications) and had almost no mileage.

Years later (and a host of modifications along the way) you would hardly recognize old little Tif from the moment he first parked in my garage. I love this little sports car. The MX-5 is one of the few sporting cars that are designed and built to traditional sportscar standards: small, light and accessible in both price and performance. Anyone can drive it and feel like a hero.

Speaking of concourse events, it seems my efforts in treating Tif like a real concourse machine has paid off: the Miata Club of the Philipines (MCP) of which I am a proud member, held a concourse event in Splendido Country Club one Christmas. It was exlusively for Miatas. The (then) president even used a photo he snapped of Tif in Subic during one of the race weekends for the invitation.

Guess who won first place.

Cheers.

My Latest Car Article

I had just sent in a car article about a 1969 Camaro to C! Magazine. The car is a 'restomod'. That means that its been restored and modified. The story was originally a very long rticle for C! Magazine. Unfortunately, it had to be edited down due to constraints in the number of pages available. Nonetheless, the story and the layout turned out superlatively and I couldn't have asked for more. People may read the story in the February issue of C! Magazine (available in stands as of the time of this writing). The Ed-in-chief (no less than the famous James Deakin) said that the article was one of the best he'd seen in a long time and (despite the shortening of the story) gave my article a whole lot of room to breathe. His gamble paid off (I think). The owner of the car, Walter Poick, was thrilled when he saw the printed story and said that it was completely spot on. For my part, I'm just extremely pleased to have been given another opportunity to express myself again (although they DID have to er 'censor' my work quite a bit, he, he) and very happy that that the end result was extremely gratifying.

I will continue to write more articles now and I do hope I can find some more interesting (classic) machines to review for C! So, don't forget to grab a copy of this Feb's issue of C! Magazine, available at better magazine stands everywhere.

Cheers!

Bloody Hell. I made a blog.

I just made a blog. Bloody Hell. Absatively amazing. (Yeah, I shamelessly ripped that word off from Neil Gaiman. Or Terry Prachett -or was that one T? Or both of them (I mean the authors not the T's). Who knows?)

I'm not the teckie type so this is quite a big leap for me. L-E-A-P. Leap.

My partner (in an IT company that bizarrely, I partly own) said that I should write a blog. So. There it is. Actually (considering my relatively tender age) I'm a bit 'traditional' in my usage of technology. I believe that all that teckie stuff should be left to all those boffins wearing white lab coats. Ha, ha indeed. I've gotten used to people doing all that teckie stuff for me since I'm ususally very busy. Yeah I'm sure that's it. I'm a very busy man. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Well, that's my excuse.

Oh right, I was saying why my partner suggested the blog.

He says that I can write (apparently). Actually, I do write. For a magazine. A car magazine. Its about cars. Yep. My style (as you may have surmised despite the subtlety of my technique) is based upon a (rather) absurd and cynical, well, style. I think that people put too much emphasis on doing things that'll look good to other people. Safe if you will. Everybody will say 'hey that's pretty good' all round. I like to write with more of an edge. I'm not saying its for everybody, but if you're smart enough, you'll find it quite liberating to see things my way (cue diabolical laughter).

That's the reason why I can't do the news. (Well maybe if I really tried..)

Okay, that's just my intro. More like an apology really.

Now. Something smart to say.

Lets talk about global warming. People say its why there's a lot of rain lately. While it all seems very weird and strange that a concept called 'global warming' is responsible for-

No, you're right. It IS boring. Lets just all buy hybrid cars and be done with it.

How about nature? I love the great outdoors (even if I don't really like being outdoors). But there's something about nature -the wildness of it- that really attracts me. Its all so simple. Draw a parallelism with our own seemingly complicated lives and you may see similarities. Frightening similarities. Predator and prey. Survival of the fittest. All those Darwinist concepts that govern the flora and fauna of the natural world have an uncanny resemblance with the microcosm (I like that word) that we 'homo sapien primates' have created -no invented- to govern our 'civilized' lives. (I'm guessing that if you're reading this you're sitting in front of a computer. Other wise, I'm pretty sure it'll be hard to access this blog from a cave or a burrow with only a vast network of plant roots to double as wiring. That means you're part of what we call 'civilized'.)

Just think about it. Are you a predator? Or prey? (If you're not Arnold, I suppose being the 'predator' is loads cooler. And you get great gear in the process. And you can get proper plastic surgery if you can't stand looking in the mirror. Or you can simply break the mirror. Either way, you'll probably get the same lie from your mother everytime you ask her how good you look.)

Cheers. And bloody hell. (cue remaining diabolical laughter)