This is a virtual interview with Architect Edwin D. Uy of EUDO on his thoughts about architecture in a post-Covid world. What kind of world do you see after Covid, and how will architecture support that kind of world? Ideas about the future of architecture before the pandemic were mostly utopian…
With paws tucked underneath her body, my white puspin cat is soaking up sunlight on the windowsill. Cate (named after the Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett) loves to follow the sun when napping. I can tell from the sound of her faint purrs that she’s relaxed, unlike her anxious owner. …
Looking at the positive aspects of staying at home during this quarantine—aside from the obvious ones of keeping ourselves safe and flattening the curve—another is being able to enjoy the healthy benefits of home cooking while homebound. Unless of course the one in charge of the kitchen is an awful…
It’s been almost a month since we’re on lockdown and some of us, who have the choice to stay indoors, are running out of things to do at home that do not include eating, sleeping, or panicking. We’re still not allowed to go outside unless it’s for grocery runs. But…
Home means different things to each of us. For most, it is a place of comfort and safety. Such is the pull of home that two weeks ago, 18 men—with just a week’s pay in their pockets and an uncertain future—started walking towards home because mass transportation was suspended. They…
Fortune cookies have an interesting origin. One history claims that David Jung, a Chinese immigrant living in Los Angeles, invented the cookie to give it away for free to poor people wandering near his shop. Each cookie carries a strip of paper with an inspirational message on it. What a…
One of the things psychotherapists say about how to handle this crisis is to limit your time in social media while in quarantine. But I have not been successful. There are times when I get really emotional about what I read online, so I force myself to take a step…
We, the extroverts and people whose love language is physical touch, are not thriving in the face of social-distancing measures, but that’s the least of our concern now. Every day, we’re reminded of the fragility of our lives. Everyone needs a break from the heaviness of the long quarantine days.…
In the first post about Working from Home, I requested readers for photos of their home offices or workplaces. I got some pictures. What amazes me is how clean all of them look (glancing at my own messy table). It’s either all of them are very tidy people, or they…
The moments leading to this lockdown felt like a blur. It all happened so fast. One minute I was in front of my laptop, proofreading. The next thing I knew I was breaking down. At the nearest grocery store, it was chaos. Everyone was hoarding. Well, at least those who…
I don’t know about you but I normally have some germophobic tendencies. With this virus flying around, coupled with my fertile imagination, this has bloomed to a healthy mysophobia. The fear of contamination is real. I am happy though that compulsive washing or cleaning is now considered normal. We now…
I got the condo unit in 2014 as my first adulting investment and also ‘cos my Dad asked me, “When are you moving out?”. Welllllll! That certainly was a wake up call. I needed to grow up. Background story: I was 29 and just came from a two-month long backpacking…
Bluprint came out with several articles on designs of architects for COVID-19 quarantine spaces. Under DOH Memorandum 2020-0108, “persons under investigation (PUIs) and positive COVID-19 patients who exhibit mild symptoms with no co-morbidities and non-elderly are advised to be sent home for strict self-isolation and close monitoring by local health…
A week into the Extreme Enhanced Community Quarantine, I have managed to lessen my anxiety. Or maybe, I’m just in denial. I don’t know yet, the next few days will reveal what’s up. I’ve been reading Jessica Zafra’s Journal of a Lockdown to keep my sanity. After all this, I…
This post is a temporary escape mechanism for me as a relief to the dread that this coronavirus crisis brings. What gets me are not so much the statistics but the stories of people who are in the frontline fighting this “war” for us. Our health care workers and other…
I went out to buy groceries yesterday, the air smelled of disinfectant and collective anxiety. I haven’t been this anxious in my life. I worry a lot on a regular day but now even more so. That’s why I’m writing this to keep my sanity. Humans are social beings. When…
A dictionary defines homebound as: 1 (adj.) moving or traveling homeward, 2 (adj) restricted or confined to home. For me, homebound can also have a positive connotation—being blessed by having a home where we have the luxury of being able to stay in its safe embrace while riding out this crisis.…
Electric bills are skyrocketing. The kids start to have itchy skin rashes. Your body overheats and drips in sweat. This is the typical uncomfortable scenario every summer, and it is why we all wish we could make our homes cooler without having the air conditioners working overtime, or us having…
For those of us who have shoebox condos so tiny that we’re bound to stub our toes when we walk from bed to bathroom, any space-saving hack is certainly welcome. Read on to find how Kriz made a hanging corner shelf, to maximize that vertical space that usually is considered…