Sir O the explorer

Sir Christian R. Orozco commonly known as "Sir O" is our instructor in CE 132 class.

Daig niya pa si Dora the explorer sa pagtravel kung saan saan! Hahaha. Though kahit maraming times na out of the country siya, he never fails to remind us of our deliverables, deadlines, etc. Siya yung teacher na "hands-on" sa students niya. Laging nagreremind, nangangamusta sa progress sa project at madaling lapitan for consultation. And this is what I really like about him, he is very considerate. Naiintindihan niya yung mga students niya. I don't know why, siguro dahil ilang years lang gap namin sa kanya or ganon lang talaga siyang tao but whatever the reason is, stay the same sir O!

Because of his personality it makes it hard for me not to study or to ignore this subject. Parang ang sama kong tao if I disappoint him. Hahaha. Seriously, dahil ang bait ni sir nakakaguilty na hindi magaral or magpass ng requirements. So whatever you're doing sir, keep it up. It's an effective way of teaching. :))

He has been my teacher in 2 subjects before (this is the third subject) and I can say that his way of teaching is good and consistent. It makes students comfortable (though masama if too much comfort) thus mas nakakapagaral sila, mas natututo, mas ginaganahan and mas nakakapagshare ng thoughts nila, which I think are good in general. And since I'm on my 4th year and I've been through many subjects and teachers, I can say he's one of the best teachers I had and I wouldn't mind (I would actually love) enrolling in one of his subjects again, but not those I've taken already.

I'm really thankful that he's been my teacher. I believe the institute is lucky to have him in the faculty.

Thank you for everything Sir O! Ingat sa next trips mo! :))

May pulis may pulis SA ILALIM NG TULAY??

One of the activities that I'll never forget in my CE 132 class is the qualitative assessment of a river. We chose to assess the part of San Juan River near Araneta avenue along Quezon avenue.

We went down the bridge!! It was my first time. Since I was a kid, I've always wondered if it was really possible to live under the bridge (since I've heard that there are people living under the bridge and that "may pulis sa ilalim ng tulay"). I thought maybe they were just referring to those people living beside the river, but no! There were really people living under the bridge!!

Look at the spaces in the structural design of the bridge, they maximized these spaces to the fullest! Pinoy nga naman talaga. They looked like Spiderman whenever they go to their "home".

But hey, there's more! We were surprised when we saw people went farther down the bridge.

I'm not referring to Darryl (the guy with glasses who is too serious in evaluating the river haha). 

There were people having their lunch that time (yes we went there na sobrang tirik yung araw huhu) with all these piles of garbage around them. It amazed me because they were able to live life (the hard way) under the bridge. They were strong. Despite what life has given them, they were fighting, surviving yet smiling (they're still able to joke around). Bilib talaga ako sa pinoy. This has inspired me to keep on surviving and made me thankful for what I have in life. 

However, at the same time, it made me sad. Why are we letting these people live life this way? Why is the government allowing this to happen? Aren't they supposed to take care of their people? Oh well, I guess may idea ako at kayo kung bakit.

Okay enough of my tibak feels. :))
Basta sobrang saya ng experience na to. Nagtatagalog na ko kasi mas ramdam ko eh hahaha. Bukod sa bonding and tawanan with groupmates, nakita ko ang lagay ng San Juan River, pati ng mga taong nakatira sa ilalim ng tulay. At napatunayan kong pwede talagang tumira sa ilalim ng tulay! Though hindi ko parin sure kung may pulis talaga sa ilalim ng tulay. (OKKKKKKKKK maconnect lang eh hahahaha)

Special thanks to Sir O! Syempre hindi ito mangyayari kung hindi niya nirequire tong activity na 'to. Hahaha

ISANG PAMAMAALAM

Para sa aking mga magagaling, magaganda, matatalino, at mga gwapong nakasama sa mga grupong gawain ngayong semstreng ito, SALAMAT at isang masagabong palakpak sa atin.(hahahaha) Hindi natin matatapos ito kung wala ang subabay ni sir O, at ang tulungan ng bawat isa. Marami akong natutunan sa mula sa inyo at sana may napulot din kayo, kahit papaano, sa akin hehehehe. Hanggang sa muli mga katoto! 

A Visit to the San Juan River 

As one of our main group activities in class, we were asked to visit and assess one polluted river in Metro Manila. After our brief search for possible places to go to, we finally decided on evaluating the San Juan River. In selecting this body of water, we made sure that it would be at a fair distance from the homes of every member of our group. This river actually stretches out into different cities encompassing the landscape of a larger area than we had initially imagined. Through our several consultation with sir O, we decided to limit our assessment to a particular stretch of the river that was easily accessible to us. The area now being investigated was the part of San Juan River very close to that of the Tullahan River.

Going to the site that we have decided to visit, I thought that it was going to be a short ride. I was lucky enough to have group mates who had their navigation skills in check because if I came there on my own, I definitely would have ended up at the wrong river. As we went down the jeepney, I was actually expecting the stench that should have emanated from what I assumed to be a polluted river below the highway from which we stopped. To my surprise, there was no whiff of a foul origin. From the bridge connecting the highway, we found a passageway at the side where many informal settlers lived. As we entered the area, the number of families living under the bridge shocked me. We asked permission for passage and it was as if they were at awe that we were actually asking for such consent. After that we found a way to be more close to the periphery of the river that, as I could see from afar, had an abundance of black tar-like residue.

It was an adventure going down to the sides of the river. We descended from the concrete wall from which the makeshift houses of the informal dwellers sat. When we finally reached the river itself, my foot practically settled a few millimeters into the soft ground. We filled out our survey forms then and there and casually talked to the children who were playing at the side.

After our small trip, we have learned invaluable lessons that could not have been taught nor realized inside the bounds of the university. We came to understand that there are people, our people, who are living in such conditions. Numerous assumptions can be made as to why some of our countrymen remain to exist in such circumstances, but it is a reality that we cannot fully judge. We may not entirely comprehend the whole story of why they came to live in the area or as to why they are still there, but the fact that these situations exist is something that should give us enough encouragement to pursue our careers and later on help in the uplifting the state of our brethren. 

5 MINUTE GUIDE TO: THE STATE OF OUR CRUCIAL RIVERS

An Infographic on Malaysia's Melaka River and the Philippines' Sapang Baho River

In the middle of the semester, we were tasked to create a poster that gives information  and effectively compares the two bodies of water of our choice. Both of these can be found in the South East Asian region. An infographic is basically a visual representation of information, data, and knowledge. This is usually a one page poster-like document that conveys a lot of complex information in a quick and understandable way. 

The Adventures of Darryl Lemos and CE 132 (ft. Thales and his Famous Line "Water is life")

One academic year has passed before I encountered another major subject in sanitary engineering. At the start of the semester, it was this "Agh-wala-na-akong-naaalala-sa-CE-131" feeling that initially stumbled upon me, knowing that CE 131 involves a lot of equations and concepts that must be fully understood to understand the subject as well. But when I learned that Sir O (Prof. Christian Orozco) would be our instructor for this subject, I know that we were in good hands (*wink wink*). He is also our instructor in CE 21 and I really believe that he is one of the best lecturers that I've encountered so far in the Institute of Civil Engineering. He makes learning easier by filling the classroom with humor, excitement, and relating the lessons with real-world applications. And the rest was history.

CE 132 involves two general concepts: the design of water treatment system and the design of wastewater treatment system. What I really like the most about these topics is its application to the actual daily living. Imagine: you wake up everyday, you brush your teeth and you consume WATER. You spit out on a sink and it's already WASTEWATER. You defecate and your poop becomes WASTEWATER, together with the WATER that you use to flush it. You take a bath and you consume WATER again. Dirty water from your bath becomes WASTEWATER. And so on and so forth of the daily activities that involve the use of the materials and equipment that are designed in CE 132.

This subject also allowed me to experience new adventures. First of them all is the visual assessment of the UP Lagoon wherein our life (no, not really; it's actually the shoes and clothes) was on the line when we tested the quantitative parameters of the area using Horiba. Second is when we looked for a water body outside UP to perform the same activity, which turned out to be San Juan River (near Araneta). It was actually my first time to get into that area which is a home for some informal settling families. I almost lost my life (chos) when we would go down to observe the river more closely by using an improvised ladder made of wood. I doubted if the ladder could carry me so I was hesitant at first. But when I saw my groupmates (who are actually girls except Eugene and I), I packed all the courage in my heart and confronted the adversity (hahaha), and with this, we learned that except from the nearby residents, habitat of some not-so-pleasing organisms also exist in the water body (pasintabi po sa mga kumakain).

If there are three lessons in CE 132 that, I must say, are applicable to life:

(1) NEVER RELY ON NUMBERS. USE COMMON SENSE. Like life (and love *wink wink*), numbers just provide the analytics. In the design of water or wastewater treatment facility, use rationality and never try to use formulas or equations if unnecessary. This is actually applicable to all of my subjects but then, it was my first in CE 132 project that we designed a system that is not that dependent on equations and is more inclined to the explanations and the effectivity and compatibility of the design with the site requirements (oxidation pond for CS Complex by the way).

(2) WAG UMASA. MASAKIT. Like life (and love again *wink wink*), hoping is not always the best option. This is what we learned when we seek for data for the population and water consumption of CS Complex and the person/s in-charge of the *censored* with whom we would ask the data for were not around.

(3) HELP REDUCE NOISE POLLUTION. Or the fun of learning will be gone if tension is in the atmosphere between the teacher and the students. (Apologies, Sir O.) :(((

As a final message, I would like to thank my groupmates for making this subject enjoyable. Sana maulit yung ganitong mga adventures natin in the future, at sana makasakay ulit ako sa kotse ni Lodette nang hindi na tanghaling tapat dahil nakakatunaw ng taba ang init sa may upuan (chos lang). More importantly, I would like to thank Sir O for this fun subject, and I do hope that this will not be the last time that I will be your student in a class. But preferably not on CE 132 again. :)))

This is Darryl Lemos. and this is #myCE132.

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                   Isa sa mga hinding-hindi ko malilimutang experience sa CE 132 ay nung kinailangan naming bumaba ng tulay. Ang way lamang pababa ay hagdanan  na gawa sa kahoy na ipinatong sa pader. Mukhang pang hindi matibay ang pagkakagawa. Pero mabilis namang nakababa yung mga groupmates ko maliban sa akin. Takot talaga ako sa matataas na lugar. HAHA. Maraming times ako nagattempt na bumaba pero inuunahan ako ng takot. Pinagtatawan na lamang ako ng mga groupmates ko. Ang nakakahiya pa dun, puro babae yung mga groupmates ko. Haha! Nagpatuloy na sila sa visual assessment habang ako ay nasa taas nagbabantaybantay at kumukuha ng pictures. Sa huli, parang naiinggit ako sa kanila at gusto ko na talaga bumaba . tinibayan ko nalang  loob ko at nagpasalangaalng na lang sa Diyos at sa wakas nagawa ko ring bumaba!. Nagulat na lang mga groupmates ko at nasa likod na nila ako. HAHAHA.

            

            Para sa akin, ito yung naging turning point kung saan nagkakaclose kaming mga magkaka-groupmates at nagawa ko pang harapin yung kinatatakutan ko.hehe Sana makagroupmates ko pa uli sila pero sa ibang subject naman sana. HAHA. Bawat class activity at lesson ay puno ng exclamation point. Sobrang naenjoy ko talaga ang CE 132. Marami akong natutunan at higit sa lahat, ang cool ng mga classmates ko, ang cool ng mga groupmates ko at ang cool pa  ng prof ko. HIHIHI J

THANK YOU SA LAHAT! THANK YOU SIR O!

-Eugene Dimayacyac :))