Sandcastles in the city
For as long as any of us can remember, building sandcastles has always been a favorite pastime for vacations at the beach. When we were younger we always brought our pails, shovels and any other building materials whenever we knew the holiday was going to be at the beach. We would have sandcastle-building competitions, and the winner would get bragging rights for the whole day. Next would come the best part: we’d stomp all over our creations. I don’t know why but that, for me, was always so much fun. Up to this day, I’m always tempted to jump on a sandcastle when I see one.
Nothing can get beach-goers to interact with the shore more than getting down on all fours, digging up some sand, and transforming nothing into something. It may seem like a simple and carefree activity, but sandcastle building incorporates a lot of good principles in it. There’s hard work, creativity, resourcefulness, patience, teamwork (if you are building one with a group,) aesthetic sense, and the need to finish what one has started, just to name a few.
These values were put into action when the beach actually found its way to the big city. Courtesy of Sanuk, one of the hippest footwear companies in the world, white beach sand was flown into Metro Manila for the Sanuk Sand Castle Competition. Held at R.O.X. Bonifacio High Street, miles away from any beach, the competition brought quintessential summer fun to the heart of the metropolis.
“Our company has, from the very start, been about summer fun on the beach,” says Vangie Chua, Sanuk’s Brand Manager. “This has been a great season for all of us, and we thought that to bring the thrills of the beach to the city would be a real fun way to end the summer and welcome in the new school year,” she continues.
Five very different teams joined the competition: All Star Malayan, who are a group of students from Mapua; Team Magbayo, former P.U.P. classmates; the Bikini Bottom Dwellers, a family; the USC Ultimate Sunday Club, who are ultimate Frisbee teammates; and team Derek 6, composed of students and faculty from Mapua. More than just a chance at earning glory and bragging rights, the Sanuk Sand Castle Competition offered a top prize of P30,000 and gift certificates to the team with the best sandcastle. Building these sandcastles was indeed serious business.
The rules were simple: each team, composed of four to six members, was provided with a four-square-meter work area for their castle. They were provided with approximately eight cubic meters of sand — no more, no less. Teams started when each work area was filled with sand. The teams started building at 3 p.m. and were given a 6 p.m. deadline to complete their castles. Aside from this, the teams were also given formworks, buckets, shovels, props, and decorative materials for building their sandcastle. No other tools or materials were allowed apart from those provided.
The sandcastles were judged by a panel of reputed artists, including Robert Alejandro and Arch Leah Bautista. They were judged based on best architecture, creativity, Sanuk logo execution, and overall impact. Given a time limit and the same resources, the competition was quite fierce, with teammates fiercely talking among themselves while working on their original pieces of art.
As a bit of trivia, Sanuk derives its name from the Thai word meaning “happiness.” This state is truly attainable when one is out with friends building a sandcastle. Although only temporary, building a sandcastle is one of the activities that can truly bring people together with one goal. The sense of working together and accomplishing something at the end of all the sweat and effort is something friends can truly be happy about.
And in this case, I think P30,000 and additional gift certificates are more than enough reason for anyone to be happy about building a sandcastle.
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Check out www.sanuk.com for a closer look at their products.
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E-mail me at enricomiguelsubido@yahoo.com.
