ALTHOUGH he is a certified ?island adventurer,? Kiko Rustia feels right at home on the 27th floor of a high-rise in the middle of a busy business district.

The Rustia family has been living in a condominium building for the past six years, although in 2004, Kiko turned his back on city life and lived on Boracay island for three years.

?I found peace ? I found myself in Bora,? he recalls.

In 2007, he returned to Manila to help in the family?s burgeoning trading business, but a year later, he was back nature-tripping on the Thai island of Koh Tarutao via the GMA 7 reality show ?Survivor Philippines? Season 1.

?I have an affinity for islands. I love the ocean,? Kiko admits.

Even in the city, he manages to bask in the great outdoors.

?I spend a lot of time watching Discovery Channel and National Geographic docus,? he explains.

(When Living Stars visited Kiko at home, he was in the living room watching the Discovery Channel documentary series ?The Blue Planet.? He told us, ?The show is narrated by David Attenborough. The ocean?s very mysterious.?)

The living room is his fave nook in the house.

?I feel comfortable and relaxed here,? he says. ?We don?t allow shoes in this room because I often lie down on the carpeted floor.?

The Rustias enjoy playing board games on the living room floor, too.

?Our favorite is ?The Game of Life,?? Kiko says. ?It?s fun. Computer games are solitary, while the entire family can participate in board games.?

But when he wants a little alone time, he holes up in another unit, on a lower floor?his bachelor?s pad.

Both units were designed by his mom Marie and sport a distinctly Asian look.

Before becoming a flight attendant for a Russian airline, mom Marie took up interior design in Slim?s.

She filled the home with myriad souvenirs from numerous travels?including vintage Bulova watches from Europe.

Another source of pride is a collection of shisha pipes, along with a coffee miller and a silver letter container from the Middle East.

Mom and son both adore the papyrus prints from Egypt. ?I?m also drawn to ancient civilizations,? Kiko owns up.

He has contributed his own unique trinkets to the collection?including an oar from his ?Survivor? stint and a boomerang from Australia.

Mom likewise designed the cabinets in the family unit.

She?s particularly proud of the all-purpose kitchen counter, which also serves as dining table.

?It?s very practical, a space saver,? Kiko says. ?We take our meals at this counter and my sisters also do their baking here.?

Kiko, who took up culinary arts as well, says he inherited his knack for ?home improvement? from his mom.

When he was young, he explored the bodega (storeroom) of the ancestral house in Bulacan?embarking on mini-treasure hunts from among the antique items.

From those bodega adventures, he recounts, he developed a fascination for old stuff. ?I found the first coins and stamps in my collections there.?

He learned how to build shelves and cabinets as a kid. ?In the bodega, I found out a lot about how things worked,? he relates.

He has been putting to good use his independent and adventurous spirit in his new job as co-host on GMA 7?s nature show ?Born to be Wild.?

After his constant travels for the show, he looks forward to recharging in his sanctuary on the 27th floor.

?The view of the mountains is breathtaking,? says the UP Mountaineer.

Although it makes one feel that nature is within reach, it?s still right smack in the middle of the urban jungle, he says.

?It?s accessible and near my siblings? schools and my work in the network,? he says.

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com