sacha chua living an awesome life

I joined other recent hires for an evening out that ended up at a bubble tea shop. I ordered taro bubble tea with tapioca. Someone asked me what taro was, and I paused as I tried to describe it to people who had never had taro before.

For me, taro bubble tea is wrapped up in all sorts of memories: standing in long lines to bubble tea shops as the craze swept through Manila, finding out that one of my university teachers was in a car accident because he jaywalked to buy a cup of bubble tea, going to Quickly with my sister and poking the thick straw through the taut plastic that was just added by their special cup-sealing machines, rolling my tongue around the spongy tapioca that took me back even further to innumerable glasses of sago’t gulaman quenching childhood thirsts.

I remember copying my sister after she ordered taro with large tapioca pearls. Years later, it’s still the flavour I return to.

“Taro?” I said. “They’re roots.”

My dad is a darn good advertising photographer, but you know what I think his key expertise is? It’s not lighting cars to show off their curves or shooting food to make it pop off the page…

… it’s making people’s eyes light up with wonder.

He’s really good at finding ways to make people’s eyes *shine*. He’s been doing it for as long as I can remember. Everything he enjoys leads back to this.

For example, helping autistic children discover the joys of photography, while at the same time helping photographers discover the joy of photographing something great.

(You can find him easily. He’s the guy taking care of the elephant, leading the crowd, moving the world… =) )

When he makes people’s eyes shine with wonder, that’s when he himself lights up. That’s when he’s most alive.

Someday, when I grow up, I want to be like him.

My dad and my mom know how to make things happen.

My dad often comes up with wild ideas, such as creating a cultural tradition (he’s been immortalized in one of the tribal epic poems), flying an ultralight across the Philippine archipelago, or organizing large photography trips up to the rice terraces of Banaue. Sometimes these ideas start with “Wouldn’t it be fun if…”. Other times, my dad sees a need and responds to it. My mom helps my dad make those ideas reality by connecting with different groups, helping my dad inspire them with his vision, and organizing the logistics.

Growing up watching them move mountains, I learned the power of having a vision and bringing people together. I saw how my parents’ initiatives weren’t just about doing what they wanted to do, but also making it possible for other people to do what they wanted but never dared to do before. People appreciated the opportunity to make a difference, to join in making things happen.

If you like what I’m learning about and talking about, you’d probably really like learning from my mom (http://daysstories.blogspot.com, http://adphoto.com.ph/business/) and my dad (http://www.pinoyphotography.org/forum/index.php?topic=2922.0 – my dad is MagicEye, check the thread for lots of stories). They rock! =)

Okay, I did find another social network I wanted to join online.  Geni is a family-oriented application, and you can use it to collaboratively build your family tree. I don’t know if it can handle the complexities of the Chua clan (my grandmother led a complicated life! ;) ), but it isn’t a bad way to start. The good thing about it is that it doesn’t rely on everyone opting in, because you can fill in other people’s details. And once you’ve gotten your family tree in place, you can share photos, look up birthdays, send messages, announce events, that sort of thing.

Check it out!

Read her blog for the story of what happened during my convocation. =)

On Technorati: family, mama

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Kathy helped my dad set up Skype and video, so I got to chat with him
today too. Happy happy happy! He’s really doing well at the office,
having taken on more management responsibilities while my mom’s on
vacation. I’m proud of him. =)

On Technorati: family, =)

My dad sounded *so* disappointed earlier! He trudged up the stairs and
said, “Sacha, I’m so sad…”

I looked up from my computer and asked him what was going on.

The second World PyroOlympics is coming up soon, and he had really
wanted to go and shoot it. He was so excited! He had shot it last year
(a story in its own right), and he wanted to talk his way into press
access for the event. But my dad didn’t want just any kind of press
access. He wanted to find out if he could get away with, say,
representing a horse breeders’ magazine… ;) Why? Just for the sheer
heck of it!

So he… obtained… a press pass (don’t ask how) and was about to hit
them up for access when one of the organizers recognized him, shouted
his name and called him over. It turned out that the organizers had
lost my dad’s business card, so they couldn’t get in touch with him,
but they wanted to invite him to the VIP area for the fireworks
festival. With dinner and everything!

He went home with an envelope containing an invitation for “John Chua
and Family”. Just for showing up. He didn’t even need to talk about a
fictional horse-breeder magazine. But he was *so* disappointed!
Imagine that! Preparing an outrageous setup, getting all excited about
seeing just how far he could push the universe, and the universe just
handed him the prize on a silver (or at least nice porcelain) plate!

Ay, my dad… You think I’m crazy? ;) You should meet *him!*

On Technorati: family

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