» 2010 January-February • Welcoming 2010•
Malipayong Bag-ong Tu-ig! After the fireworks and the festivities, after the fitful sleep that follows an evening of wonderful food in wonderful company sharing sublime wine, after kissing (or slapping) 2009 as it leaves on cloven feet, there is the inevitable morning after. 2010 stretches on on clawed feet and yawns, opening sleepy feline eyes to the new year.
Greetings to a new year from friends visiting town and family from far away always warms the engine for another 365 days on the go. The first day of work is always the hardest! Nobody can quite pull themselves out of the Christmas languor to hack away at the dredges of last year's assignments. I prefer to accuse the wonderful food that comes with end-of-year celebrations instead.
I'm on my way to perfecting the Palao Family lemon meringue pie. On my way!(via FoodNetwork)
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On the calendar of Very Important Events, up this March is the Cebu Next [»] furniture show. We have been participating in the Cebu show for as long as we have been active in the industry, in whatever name and incarnation it was christened in. I remember how it used to be PIFS Cebu; a younger sister, fledgling exhibition that took off from the older PIFS (Philippine International Furniture Show) Manila. To give it a distinct name of its own, at some point in the 90's we all came together and decided that "Cebu-X" would be more fitting––an exhibition place, a factor to consider in the macroscopic outlook of furniture design, a playful enigma, a dynamic, chemical reaction.
It has been so far the most important show for us, which is why apart from the Salone show in Milano, we always hustle and bustle for the March deadline. The crisis has not been kind to anyone in any industry, and it's not surprising to find even major fairs missing some prime exhibitors in the area. Exhibitors, and visitors too; technology has allowed negotiations between buyer and manufacturer to commence online, saving the latter time and money in flying back and forth.
A far cry from how I remember we did it, when Gus and I began this business in the really early 90's. In fact, there was a lot of rifling to do to produce a product shot, and a lot of fuss for a photoshoot! These days it's as simple as getting the perfect light, pointing, and clicking. That's not to say that shooting days pass by in a humdrum thrum of inactivity! Where the negatives and developing have gone, Photoshop has taken over. While old-school photographers and film affectionados have something to say about this, I am quite happy with how it has allowed a greater majority access to techniques, and a taste of artistry that has been, until then, unreachable.
Well, with everything hurtling into the final days before the show, there is hardly any breathing space left in the office! Not just for myself, but for everybody. We will be releasing the first wave of our 2010 campaign shortly, so watch out for that!
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»»All photos (except Meringue Pie lifted from Foodnetwork) taken by K. Batiquin.
Labels: 2010, cebu-x, events-new year
