We have good days and bad days. That’s how life is, never perfect! This unpredictability makes it all exciting and makes us truly appreciate every day of our lives. It’s knowing that after the rain always comes the sunshine. What for you is your ideal day?
Jason Tan, director
For me, an ideal day can be a lot of things. It can be from anything or with anyone (medyo mababaw din kasi ako!). I guess it’s a day when everything is just going your way, you’re on a roll with not a bit of bad vibes. It is finding a new volume of Blade of the Immortal, having 10 or more killstreaks in Modern Warfare 3, reading and finishing a great book, suddenly meeting an old friend you haven’t seen for a long time, getting to work on a set with a legendary actor/ cinematographer/ designer/ artist, discovering a great film and watching it with my wife at home as the cats go crazy in the kitchen. An ideal day is a surprise, I guess. You’ll never know when it will happen. You can try to make it happen but it won’t be the same. It just happens. I’ve had some share of ideal days, you can never get enough of them. And so I look forward to those little surprises. You can sense it happening when it’s there, then it’s all up to you at a certain point. It will either turn out a great day or a dud. One rule I’ve held on to for a long time now is to never let a good idea go to waste; know how to roll with it.
Every week I have three days off work. These three days are necessary and quite important to me. When I am free, first of all I like to sleep as much as I can, then bike and run when I’m up, read my script with my favorite music, when everything is okay, tinker with my favorite car or get out with my family, like go shopping, watch a movie, etc.
Bacoor Mayor Strike Revilla
My ideal day would be to wake up next to my wife Chaye and say a prayer of thanks and glory to God for another day. Then I would be off to work to be with my constituents in Bacoor and cap the day by going home to my family — have dinner with my wife or catch a late-night movie with her.
My mornings are usually spent training horses and students. I check on the state of affairs in my office and have a good lunch followed by a power nap. When I arise, I visit my stores and do some retail therapy in between. In the evening, I meet up with friends for dinner or a movie. Then I end the day chez moi, back to my loving husband for a good back rub and down time.
As I open my eyes in the morning, my ideal day would start off by reading my Bible and having some Quiet Time to thank God for each day that I am alive. Then I would mix it with work and play balancing architecture, traveling and sneaking in a trip to the beach to nap under the shade on a hammock with a book or my iPod. I would probably also spend my ideal day taking trips to interesting places (in the Philippines and around the world) and taking in all the modern and interesting architecture I can find. It would entail discovering new buildings, new sights, experiencing the details and learning from it. It would also have some quality family time and “me” time, of course, as I would like other to learn from my experiences. Of course, my day would not be complete without trying sumptuous food paired with chilled wine capped off with a relaxing two-hour hot stone massage and a good sleep to recharge for the next day. What a treat!
It would be a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off kind of day, definitely! It’s a day you don’t plan, you simply wake up, decide to hit that pause button on life and just go where you haven’t gone and do what you haven’t done before. I did that a few times already. Once, on my way to the office when I was based in Hong Kong, I just got off the bus, hopped on a ferry, wound up hiking on Lamma Island and sat on a cliff listening to music with no one but a stray dog keeping me company. Another time, I went with a friend to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the morning before I went to the office to work. It was a crazy, irrational, what-was-I-thinking kind of day. But it was perfect. Because on such a day you just shut out all worries. And in the few times that you get to do that, you allow yourself to experience the pure joy of simply being alive.
Jason Buensalido, architect
Though architecture and design are always on my mind, I would try to balance the day by touching on different aspects of my life. My day will always start with a cup of coffee. Then I would spend the morning wakeboarding, alternating sketching and imagining new concepts on how to contemporize Filipino architecture that I can consequently apply to my projects. I would then go on a road trip and try to discover new places. I would want to enjoy quality food accompanied by a glass of Chilean wine during every meal at every stop I would make. My last destination would be my new home as I am most comfortable when I am surrounded with something familiar. Before bed and after a warm stone massage, I would read an excerpt or two from the Bible and try to absorb what His message to me is for that day. Then I’d end the night with a few DVD episodes, which will eventually lead me to slumber. The whole day, I would have to be with my wife Nikki, as none of the events I mentioned would be ideal without her.
Mine would be waking up on a Sunday morning next to my wife Rhoda. Sun shining (T-shirt weather) we jump into the car, driving through the countryside and stopping off at a little restaurant I know. Having a glass or two, ordering our favorite meal and sitting out on a veranda setting enjoying the view. Then going home to spend the remainder of the day with my wife.
Annette Gozon Abrogar, president, GMA Films
I would spend my ideal day going out of town with my family, having a picnic with them. I would cook and prepare the food we would bring. We would play games with each other and just enjoy everyone’s company. When we get home at night, if there’s time, the family would watch a DVD together to relax and unwind and bond some more.