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An audit of what it means to be young

This article originally appeared in the December luxury supplement of the Manila Bulletin, dated December 4 2017.

The relentless search for youth has been a consistent theme in humanity’s aspirations. Because youth is fleeting. It is synonymous to time, to better days — “the good old days”, to unbridled passions where mistakes were to be made, and the scars — both physical and emotional were worn with pride. To freedoms, rebelliousness and the small but seemingly timeless window of being invincible.

I thought I was young (in age, at my late 30’s), but I realized that the power of real youth is recognizing old from new. To declare, without hesitation, that “wow that was so long ago” or recognizing a 90’s playlist as oldies or to say that good guy Kanye West is “giving this Paul McCartney guy a chance to be famous” with a duet.

The age of information has made the search for youth more bittersweet:

“People think this 60 year old mother is her son’s girlfriend.”

“Nigella Lawson’s secret to looking great is eating lots of chocolate.”

“Nurses reveal the things patients at their deathbeds wish they had done when they were young.”

It’s also given rise to the 1% of the metabolically gifted — all flaunting on Facebook; that while many search far and wide for the best diet and cleansing routine, these flawless men and women are outliers in that they eat and drink anything.

It is in such times that humanity has labeled youth to be part of the many luxuries we aspire for, and the concerted effort to “looking and feeling younger” is all thanks to the coalescence of social media with the debates on both sides never being resolved. But the one thing that we can all agree on is that the culture of youth — of being young — whether it is a mindset or a literal turning back the clock to look a decade younger is more prevalent today than any other time in human history.

There are those that believe that youth is directly related to the physical aging process. This is the default stance, where the west has been trying to discover that miracle cure of eastern medicine and treatment. A digression: about a year ago, I attended a small “meeting of the minds” with several regional journalists who were all digital practitioners. We were social media and the prevalence of how fake news takes its form per country and the rep from Thailand said that most of the false news isn’t about politics, but about the beauty and wellness industry, with miraculous claims of snake oil permeate the news feed of tens of thousands of Thai women.

There are those that believe that youth can be prolonged through science. The life sciences have become rather exciting in the past decade. With ketogenics (or insert new science-backed diet fad here), intermittent fasting and Functional Medicine leading the pack, society is at its healthiest. In this lifetime, we’ve rid ourselves of polio, malaria and smallpox all because of science. In the Paleolithic era, I would have been dead ten years ago. In the past 50 years, we’ve almost doubled the life expectancy to an average of 71. What does this tell us? This trend of catching our youth is a direct response to a scientific breakthrough, a bi-product of the sign of times because of advances in food and medicine allow us now to live longer than 50 years on average. Imagine, just about 70 years ago, the global average life expectancy was 50 years for human beings. That would mean that your 30’s was your last hurrah before retirement. The longing for youth in our 50’s and 60’s is a luxury in itself, as human beings have never lived this long.

There are those that believe that youth is a state of mind, and this is is perhaps the stance that most people want to accept – that youth is a life style – a life choice, that 40 is the new 20, that your retirement plan is to travel – because this is the most positive manifestation of affordable luxury. Positive thinking, yoga, anger management – these lifestyle pursuits ultimately lead to a clearer mind, spirit and conscience.

On a personal level, I do believe that youth is humbling. It is the reality that punches you in the face, once you realize that you tend to catch your breath at closer intervals when climbing stairs, and that the only solution is even more suffering in terms of diet and exercise. I also do believe though that the pursuit of youth is a tautology: the Romans defined duty and responsibility as being in medias res, or with all things in moderation. It is most apparent in Bk II of The Odes by Horace titled The Golden Mean,

Whoever takes delight in the golden mean,
safelt avoids the squalor of a shabby house,
and, soberly, avoids the regal palace
that incites envy.

This advice is often given to the young, bestowing upon them a sense of responsibility and duty, to be at the center of the turning wheel so that you are never up nor down. But of course, we all know that this sense of sobriety comes as a function of time and wisdom. Isn’t the youth defined as brazen and unbridled?

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Digressions

Men’s Grooming: The search for wet shaving brushes in Manila

There’s a huge disparity in men’s grooming products in the Philippines — this became apparent when I was looking for a shaving brush and shaving soap for use at home. Say what you want, but hipster barber culture has had that effect on me. My facial hair grows rather fast and although I am far from ready to upgrading to a straight-edge shaver for a nice wet shave, I do appreciate good shaving lather on my face. No matter what I do, the ubiquitous shaving cream you find from Gillette still leaves me unsatisfied.

After much research on the types of brushes that are locally available, I was able to buy a PRORASO boar hair shaving brush from The Barberian Barber Shop in Westgate, Alabang. I chose this because many online review sites recommend brushes made by Omega because of its quality + affordability and in this case, it seems like Omega acts like an OEM for Proraso brushes. I also checked online, and you can get the same brand from Slickville, a local online store for men’s grooming. Lazada also carries a number, but these brushes are from Parker — not hating on these — they’re actually pretty good, but I really wanted something from Omega. Between pricing, Slickville is by far the cheapest, at P780.00 for the brush plus you can also pick up shaving cream and patchwork for your skin. The Barberian however does sell Proraso shaving soap, which is what you need to form a thick lather before you shave.

For other brands, Slickville Barbers at the second floor of Uptown Mall sells a lot of pomade, shaving soap and grooming kits. You can find boar, badger and even synthetic bristle shaving brushes (if you are vegan or allergic to animal hair).

Many people have asked me why I’ve decided to hipster-ize my grooming regimen and to be honest my answer would be “because it feels good.” I think the art of shaving shouldn’t be treated with shortcuts because hurrying it can literally cut you. Building lather takes time — about 30 seconds to a minute of dry rubbing your brush. I think it is also enamoring to experience how your brush grows with you. Boar brushes are the cheapest of the lot — but once you break them in, they’re really soft.

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Digressions

From Walwalan to Chillnuman: How to class up your drinking game

Notes: This post originally appears in Manila Bulletin’s MBLIFE.

So in the 90’s we had this thing called “house party,” which basically meant staying at home because we had no money. Our meager school allowance was left to the spoils of small change by the end of the week so between the half-dozen friends we could only really afford a bottle of rum and a liter (or two) of Coke. Yup, rum coke. Vodka sprite. These were the Gen X cheap cocktails of choice in a time before Andy Player and Tanduay Ice. And it’s probably the same for young millennials.

Spoiler alert: as you grow into your respective careers and earn a little bit more money, tastes change. Your affinity to sugary drinks and pre-mixed cocktails will start to wane, with preference to more sophisticated libations. Congratulations, you’re in the process of becoming a tito (or tita). But fret not! It simply means that you’re becoming more discerning with age: saying goodbye to cheap cocktails and saying hello to the world of whiskeys, single malts and gin & tonics.

Because whiskey is the most approachable in terms of availability and price, let’s start with that. For this piece, I went for a Johnnie Walker’s Blenders’ Batch, a curious dram which you can procure in S&R. I chose this for two reasons: Pinoys are already familiar with JW as a whiskey so it is held in high esteem because for some reason, JW Black’s vanilla notes appeal to the Pinoy taste. Second, this particular blend is an experimental one, in limited run and not so easy to find. So it’s basically hipster. And at P1,699 SRP, it’s still very affordable.

Here are three suggestions on how to consume this whiskey:

1. Neat (with a little water)

Taking your alcohol neat is the best way to appreciate the efforts put into creating the specific blend. For the JW Blenders’ Batch, you’re really getting something thematic – a “show off” of traditional American flavors – bourbon (which is made from corn) and rye (which is made from rye grain). The liquid is matured in bourbon casks and then transferred into former rye casks for as long as 6 months.

You will want to bring down the alcohol content from 40% to about 35% with a little dash of water – it really depends on how much you want but I’d recommend somewhere between a teaspoon to a tablespoon. Adding water opens up the flavors of the whiskey when you smell and taste it. It’s like smelling the grass after it rains – the rainfall opens up the flavors of the earth. Same goes for whiskey.

Instructions

Fill a whiskey glass or a Glencairn sipping glass with about 30ml of whiskey. You can add a little water, too.

2. Old Fashioned

It’s called an ‘Old Fashioned’ because it’s one of the oldest cocktails to date that’s stupidly simple to make. The resurgence of this cocktail in recent times is due to the rise of modern day speakeasy bars that mimic the prohibition era, as well as that episode in Mad Men where Don Draper fixes himself one behind the bar.

This cocktail is best made with an American whiskey – either bourbon or rye, so it’s rather thematic that we have the Blenders’ Batch on hand which is bourbon finished in rye casks. An old fashioned is really just a whiskey base with a sweetener such as sugar or sugar syrup and a dash of bitters. I prefer to use Angostura bitters (you can find this in online liquor stores, the liquor section of Landmark and South Supermarket in Alabang) but you can really just substitute this with a squeezed orange or lemon.

Instructions

Crush some sugar into a whiskey glass. I found that a tea spoon of brown sugar or muscovado works well. Add your bitters to wet the sugar and then pour 30-60ml of whiskey and stir to dilute. Add a huge ice cube. You may opt for small ice cubes but this may dilute the drink. You may substitute sugar with honey or simple syrup (simply heat a pan with 1:1 ratio of sugar and water) to make mixing easier.

3. Highball

If you’re trying to ease into the world of whiskey but find the taste too overpowering, you can dilute it with a can of soda water (not Coke!). You can easily find Canada Dry or Schweppes club soda in most supermarkets so fill a tall glass with ice, a shot of whiskey and top the glass with soda. Throw in a lemon or orange peel for class.

Instructions

Pour whiskey into a tall glass with ice. Pour soda water to the rim. Top with an orange peel or an umbrella or a slice of bacon. Whatever, really.

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Digressions Geek

I can’t believe this piece is 11 years old. Oh how the world has changed.

Me: “Mobile Internet.” USD 140 laptops. HSDPA. Oh how the world has changed. 2006 was the wild west of mobile — the iPhone was new and Internet on your phone was a novelty. Oh the places we will go…

Publication: Mobile Philippines August 2006
Section: Columns
Column title: The prodigal screen protector and other bedtime stories

Mobile Internet? Yes, literally!

Well, the “Internet bus” will make waves, in my humble opinion, if it is used as a social development tool rather than for pure profit.

There is an ongoing project in Australia called StreetNet. This involves a huge bus, a dozen or so laptops hooked up inside, and wireless access eminating from a point of origin. The bus roams the streets of Sydney from 4 P.M. to midnight, helping the homeless keep in touch with the ever-changing rudiments of technology. How, you say? Because of their life circumstance, the less fortunate have it bad (yes, even in a place like Australia) when it comes to enjoying the basic leisure even modest households can enjoy, such as access to the Internet. I was looking over the project description: the cost of a huge van and infrastructure amounts to USD$100,000.00. Factors to consider are rising prices of gas, maintenance costs, and the availability of a wireless infrastructure in the area, among others.

Back here in the Philippines, there have been efforts to duplicate the “Internet bus” model. Remember back in the 80s when the Love Bus made waves because of its air conditioning? Well, the “Internet bus” will make waves, in my humble opinion, if it is used as a social development tool rather than for pure profit.

For one thing, driving around a huge bus with Net access in the city will do nothing more than contribute to the traffic and pollution. For something like this to unleash its full potential, the following things could be taken into consideration:

First. The target market should be the rural areas that cannot afford to have Internet access due to the lack of infrastructure. And speaking of infrastructure, a lot of households in the rural farms of Batangas can actually afford to buy computers but cannot afford to maintain them due to leaks and other weather intrusions. Having a one-stop shop “iBus” kills two birds with one stone.

Second. The Philippines is actually the first Asian country to successfully launch HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) commercially. Known as 3.5G, HSDPA was implemented by Globe last month on its networks, providing very fast data access wirelessly. This makes the mobile Internet café concept much more feasible.

Third. What about cost? Well, I’m no business junkie, but I believe projects like these should fall under a corporation’s CSR division or Foundation where overhead costs are shouldered by sponsorships and donations that should at least break even in the long run. The objective: the goal isn’t profit, but uplifting the technology literacy level of those who cannot afford due to circumstance.

The mobile Internet café is probably the most ideal solution for developing countries. I believe there are several organizations and corporations working together to bring the cheapest laptop or PC to the market. You have IBM, Intel, Microsoft and AMD, among others, plus Negroponte’s foundation that aims to bring the US$140.00 laptop to the masses. But once you bring these to them, what next? Will they actually use them? Will they just sell them or rent these out? I trust the entrepreneurial drive of most people below the hamburger index, and they will do almost anything to make money. The last thing they need is a computer. With the contained environment of the “iBus,” they can be taught, on a purely voluntary basis, about taking the next step in upgrading their lives.

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Digressions

The Mt. Pinatubo Explosion: One of TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Photos of the Century

This is a gem from our video team.

Caption:

It was a one in a million chance for Mang Albert to capture the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, and that moment sure did make him realize that his passion for photography was worth living for.

Watch Alberto Garcia tell his story about the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991. We do what it takes for you to #BeFullyInformed.