Tokiya's Birthday Photo

I was watching NHK when they featured a segment on how to display and highlight items for a "kawaii" photo. I decided to give it a try myself, although I don't think I was able to highlight any particular item in this shoot. (^^ゞ

I really like how this photo turned out though... it's really purple~ But why does it look grainy on my desktop but okay on instagram?

Anyway, I'm beginning to appreciate Tokiya as a character thanks to playing Shining Live. I hope this doesn't mean I'll be buying even more merchandise from UtaPri though, because Otoya already has my wallet hostage..! ヾ(￣o￣;) Not to mention a certain Quartet Night boy by the name of Kurosaki Ranmaru is slowly overtaking Otoya as my ultimate bias. Hoo boy.

Hello Again, 蝴蝶的夢~

I've been ignoring my blog in lieu of my manga drawings and other, more convenient forms of social media. However, posting photos on instagram is not doing much for my writing, and since I took up an editing job, I can't afford to let my English disappear on me..! (ó﹏ò｡)

So hello again, 蝴蝶的夢 (a butterfly's dream)~ ♥ Let's chat about many different topics once again! Talk to me about anything you might like~ Let's all get along~ (´∀` )

UCC Canned Coffee

A few months ago, when I was trying to beat a deadline (and succeeded), my mom bought me some UCC canned coffee to help me through those difficult times. It made me wish I bought these again a few days ago, maybe I wouldn’t have lost to my deadline if I had them.

I don’t remember which one tasted the best, but I remember the white can on the right wasn’t as rich as the others? I like milk coffee, but I prefer more coffee than milk.

I’m currently letting my body rest from all the caffeine, but this caffeine withdrawal is making me sleepy all the time! I think I should start running again… if only the weather would cooperate!

Seven Days of Gratitude: Day 7

Gotta get the last day off of this meme so we can all finally move on, yeah?

1. Tea. Whoever invented instant tea in a bag, thank you. As much as I hate drinking hot beverages in warm weather, I can’t deny how much tea can help in easing off my mood swings.
2. Piano. Also, whoever invented the piano, or any musical instrument for that matter, thank you as well. It’s a good way to get rid of all this negativity I have to face every single day.
3. Iwata Satoru. Nintendo president who recently passed away, thank you for giving me so much fun times in my childhood, and in the office place. Whoever thought Mario Cart with a bunch of nerdy adults would be so much fun? I hope you continue to bring happiness to those around you, wherever you may be.
4. Monty Oum. You will remain an inspiration to me and to many others. You were gone too soon. I wish you happiness wherever you may be.
5. Fly Swatters. Again, another genius invention. If not for you, I would have lost so much sleep over cockroaches in the house.
6. Stars. Because looking up at them makes me remember how small I am and how small my problems actually are.
7. Computers and the Internet. Without them, I’d probably go crazy by now.

Now then, the photo? Those are giant, different flavored Yakults. They have grape, orange, and apple. Yes, they are delicious, and no, I am not sharing. c:

Seven Days of Gratitude: Day 6

I honestly keep forgetting about this meme… How long has it been since I started, I wonder? But never mind that, let’s just continue!

1. Pangya. Oh my goodness, after such a long time, I finally got my pangya client to work again! It’s still killing my connection first before loading though, so it takes time before I get to actually play, but I get to play again so who cares!
2. Nuri’s Wings. I’m not sure if this is a particularly rare item, but look at the pretty, humongous wings!!! The animation for this is amazing too! I could just keep watching it forever!
3. My job as a manga artist. Good gracious, I am getting ulcers from this line of work, but I love it so much… I just wish I was popular too… “I want to be popular, damn it!!!”
4. Cosplay. These cosplayers continue to inspire me to take care of myself even though it’s so tempting to just eat junk food all the time. I may not be as thin as them, but at least I’m healthy!
5. Showers. Whoever invented showers should be given a Nobel Prize. How else would a manga artist from the tropics survive without air-conditioning??? Seriously…
6. Dreams. Sleep is fun to begin with, but dreams? Even the scary ones that I remember will eventually make its way to my manga pages!
7. Sardines and Tuna. The poor artists’ only source of nutrition in the middle of the night. It is the only thing that keeps me going when I am already at my limit in chasing deadlines.

Meme aside, aren’t those wings just the most beautiful things you’ve seen today?! Yes, I suppose, I do have a wing fetish of some sort… Oh well…

Seven Days of Gratitude: Day 5

Still entering that Line PH raffle. Hopefully more pretty screenshots mean more chances of winning? Yay? #LINEgamePH!

1. Nephews. I don’t know about you guys, but I have the best nephews in the world. One of them is only 4 years younger than me, so he’s more like a little brother than a nephew. Either way, they might be the best kind of family there is…
2. Cousins. Not far behind are the cool cousins in my life. One turned into a sappy, lovable, husband, and soon father-to-be. It’s weird, but in a good weird! Gives me new insight to an otherwise boring life.
3. Toys. Ok, specifically, anime figures and Nendroids. I gotta take new photos of the ones I bought soon! They make me smile every time I even look at them.
4. Caffeinated Family Gatherings. Dude, we all had Vietnamese coffee during dinner, and we were all laughing like idiots over the smallest things. It was fantastic, and my mom looked at us like we were all from another dimension or something.
5. Travel. I always believed that travelling is good for the soul. I need to get on another plane and go somewhere soon. Keeps the mind sharp and the body young~
6. Books. If not for all those short novels I used to read during summer vacation, my imagination would not be as wild as it is now. Gotta love a warm blanket on a rainy day curled up with warm coffee and a good book.
7. Rain. I love a rainy day, as long as it doesn’t bring flood waters along with it. It makes me calm and lets my mind feel at ease.

A few more days of this and my meme will finally be complete! Sorry it took so long!

Seven Days of Gratitude: Day 4

1. LINE I Love Coffee. Without exaggeration, I’m quite thankful for this game, because I started playing this when my Dad got sick, and I had to stay in the hospital with him at night. It’s very scary to look after someone at night, because everyone else is asleep, even the nurses on duty are very tired… This game kept me calm during those nights, and it still gives me a weird high whenever I manage to get a rare item!
2. Coffee. Coffee is great. Coffee is my friend whenever I’m chasing deadlines. I love coffee. Coffee, coffee, coffee..!
3. Seedlings. I’ve been planting whatever I can find lately. Ever since my avocado seed grew into a plant, I’ve been trying out different seeds to see what other plants I can grow… Like right now, I have little melon seeds sprouting roots in a jar of jelly on my desk.
4. Wacom. I mean seriously, if not for these drawing tablets, I’m not sure if I could even finish a page a day if these were all done traditionally. I can’t imagine an artist’s life without them.
5. Photoshop and Manga Studio. For the same reasons as above.
6. Dogs. We have 2 Chihuahuas and a Pit Bull. Our Pit Bull thinks she’s a cat and is the most loving dog on the planet. One of our Chihuahua is very protective of me, and the other Chihuahua is an idiot, to put it nicely.
7. Nobuhiro Watsuki. The mangaka of Rurouni Kenshin, because during the time when I was being forced to give up on drawing manga for being “demonic”, Rurouni Kenshin aired in the Philippines, and it was loosely based on history. RK was pretty much the series that I used against religious prejudice against anime and manga. In all seriousness, I don’t know if I would be drawing manga now if not for RK.

In other news, LINE Philippines has a contest going on for all PH players of I Love Coffee! Hope I get a chance, because haha, everyone pretty much knows how much of an addict I am. I don’t think I’ve missed a day of playing this since I started playing last year…

So, hi, Line Philippines! Here’s my tag: #LINEgamePH!

Seven Days of Gratitude: Day 3

I had obviously forgotten all about this meme… I’m not exactly sure why, but it probably has something to do with me forgetting to visit this blog for quite a while now? Maybe?

Anyway, let’s get on with a little life update to match, shall we?

And again, that meme instruction is available here if you’d like to join in~

1. Strawberries. It’s weird how this little fruit can bring so much happiness into my life. It’s my mom’s favorite fruit, and she apparently had cravings for strawberries during each and every one of her pregnancies with us. Probably why everyone here loves strawberries so much?
2. Chocolate-covered berries. A few days ago, I was incredibly pissed at everything and was on an unstoppable rampage. My mom decided to feed me these chocolate-covered blueberries and acai berries, and I somehow got my sanity back. Lol?
3. Mangoes. I’ve been drinking mango shakes for that past few months. I never really appreciated this delicious fruit until recently. What is with me and my fruity cravings?
4. Avocados. My best friend can’t stand them, but here I am, trying to get another avocado seedling to grow. My sisters and I love eating it with condensed milk… sometimes, we’d make a thick shake out of it, and it’s like eating delicious ice cream!
5. Good Conversation. This coming from my sisters and nephew. It’s been an insane couple of days, and these conversations keep my feet on the ground.
6. Music. I can’t imagine drawing without music. Even without an mp3 player, I would be humming in my head while I draw something. It’s literally impossible for me to separate the two.
7. Pillows. Or maybe, more specifically, a warm bed, with fluffy pillows. Dreams are one of the best things in life, unless you dream about a-… wait, no, I don’t even want to recall that nightmare.

Let’s hope I don’t forget this tomorrow, yes? Oh, and the photo is a bunch of strawberry desserts I had in Baguio. I’ll talk about some of the food from the trip another time.

Fire in Quezon City

I woke up to sirens around 5am and saw this inferno outside my window… It’s about 7am now and the only thing I can see is smoke, so I’m hoping the fire’s finally out. I guess the rain helped too.

We heard a bunch of explosions, so it may have been a chemical or paint factory? I’m not brave enough to go outside to find out.

I hope everyone is ok!

Seven Days of Gratitude: Day 2

Meme instructions here.

In my defense, I was completely knocked out yesterday… and I will be again in a few minutes after that very long day of much needed happiness.

But I digress, let’s head on to the list, shall we?

1. Kristine. I have always been cautious with people, and I’ve never really opened up to anyone as much as I have her. She’s one of the rare people in my life that pushes me to excel without expecting something in return. She’s inspiring, and wonderful, and one of the few people I can call “my bestest friend in the whole wide world”!
2. Enjelia. I am very grateful to this person. She’s younger than me, but I’m not ashamed to admit that I look up to her. She’s given me a lot of opportunities over the years, and I’m deeply humbled and amazed.
3. Jayron, Ray, and Jeff. The original kikay barkada- I mean, manga buddies! We’ve had our ups, we had our downs. We argued, we fought, we made up, we smiled, we laughed, we cried. Some moved on, others continued, but even still, each of you played important roles in my life, and I will be forever grateful for all of it.
4. Melvin and Elmer. Some of the most inspiring, humble artists I have ever met! They helped me with my thesis in college, and continue to inspire me in my chosen career as a manga artist! I really wish Culture Crash would make a come back, and I hope that I will be able to stand as their equals some day.
5. Tracy. We’re not very close, but she’s the first cosplayer to portray one of my characters. I’m embarrassed to admit that after she had left the stage and posed for the cameras, I broke into tears (which were very manly tears, I tell you!). She really brought Angel Rei to life, and it felt like, I had unlocked an achievement somehow!
6. Eleniel and Novo. They too, brought my characters to life, and they both taught me a lot when it comes to role-playing a character! I’m not that close to them either, but after that day we did our photo shoot in Fisher Mall, I also cried many (manly) tears going through the photos.
7. Lei. She is my very first fan who cheered for me when I was nothing more than a beginner. I owe her so many things, and I have no idea how to repay her for any of it.

Seven is too short a list to thank people (I cheated a little and listed more than one person in some points), but hey, thank you, thank you, and thank you! I hope you know how important you are, and how much I appreciate you all.

…this is getting sappy. I’m going to bed.

Seven Days of Gratitude: Day 1

I got tagged by Honey Den on Facebook, so I thought I might as well post this here since it’s a good way to remind myself that there’s always something to be thankful for.

If you have the free time, please do this. It can be a pretty therapeutic activity. Reminds you how lucky you are and how beautiful life is.

The challenge is to post 7 things you are thankful for in 7 days. Tagging 7 people each day, a total of 49 people in the process. Hope you have a great time remembering things you are grateful of.

1. Very Little Floods. Although there was a lot of heavy rain and flooding today, our house managed to stay fairly dry. There was a bit of flood water in the kitchen and some parts of the house, but we weren’t flooded in for very long.
2. Electricity and Water. We lost power for a few hours earlier today, but it’s great that everything seems to be back to normal now. Before, we didn’t have power for nearly 2 days, and that meant no showers or flush water!
3. Galette’s Strawberry and Pistachio Cream Cake(?) (in photo). This delicious piece of dessert has become somewhat of a tradition for us. During Holy Week, we usually head to Sofitel for some afternoon snacks. This is my mo’s and sister’s favorite dessert.
4. Drawing. No matter how much I struggle with deadlines, drawing relaxes me and makes me very happy (even though it makes me really sleepy too!).
5. The Morning After (radio show). I work late. A lot. This radio program keeps me company during those times. I like getting greeted by Alven on air, even if there’s hardly anyone else awake to hear it.
6. The Morning Rush (radio show). This comes right after TMA, but I’m usually too tired to listen to it, so I usually grab the podcast. But this one morning in September, I got greeted, and Chico even said that being a Pinoy Manga Artist was cool.
7. Cold Weather. Air-conditioning and me don’t mix very well, so I sleep with a fan under any weather. So, right after a storm, when there’s no more rain, the cold air gives me a restful sleep and many sweet dreams.

I’ll tag a few people, but probably not all 49… Please try this exercise! It feels amazing~ and I want to go on and on and on~~

A Visit from a Great Blue

Work has been insane as of late, and I barely get to go outside… The only time I step out of the house is when I need to give dinner to the doggies and some crackers for our parrots.

One evening in late July, I got shocked when a insect flew over the light above our doorway. Since I only saw the shadow, I panicked because I thought it was a flying cockroach and hurried to head inside.

A few shaky moments later, I took a peek through our screen door and saw this little guy:

It’s rare to see a dragonfly flying outside when it’s already evening. Then again, it’s rare to see a dragonfly outside our house at all! It was a nice shade of blue, with blue tipped wings, so I thought I’d take a quick photo before it left.

One site says that the Chinese associate dragonflies with prosperity, harmony, and good luck. Another site says that it’s a symbol of instability and feebleness.

Maybe different parts of China have different takes to it. To me, this dragonfly reminded me of my elementary school days when my friends caught dragonflies and asked me to make paper boxes for them… It gave me a much needed smile on my face when I needed it most.

Same Mascot?

I thought this was kinda strange, so I took a photo of it…

The one on the right is your typical, Royal Tru-Orange litro that you can buy practically anywhere in the Philippines. The one on the left is a bottle of Fanta orange a friend of mine gave me as a gift from his trip to Japan (this was long before I stopped drinking soda last January, so I use the Fanta bottle as a water bottle nowadays).

Is she supposed to be some kind of game mascot? The two girls look very similar, except for the skirt. I’m pretty sure Fanta and Royal are two different companies, aren’t they?

Just a little curious, that’s all…

Toy Hunting – Fai D. Flowright

My brother and my nephew occasionally go to Greenhills on Sunday mornings for the most random reasons. I like tagging along, since my nephew loves to hunt for toys, especially around the shops where collectors can rent a space and sell whatever it is that they want to be rid of… Sometimes, you can get lucky and find that one item that completes your collection. Other times, you find something you didn’t know you wanted in the first place.

This time around, I’d say this was a lucky find.

I managed to find Fai D. Flowright from Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE for only PHP100 (approximately 2.29 USD). I’m not sure if that’s a good value or not, but I really love this figure! For a gashapon, it’s quite detailed, and his staff and eyes are glossy~ He stands very well on his own too! I had no trouble balancing him on my bed for this photo.

To be honest though, I haven’t even seen any of the episodes from Tsubasa… but I am an avid fan of xxxHolic, so I read a few chapters of Tsubasa on the side. Fai seems like a lovely character, and I adore how he teases the serious Kurogane without fear! But I’m detecting a sad story behind his cheerful appearance.

It’s these kinds of finds that make me want to go back to Greenhills whenever I can, but I need a new display cabinet if I want to keep hunting for new toys… Maybe one with tinted glass so that I won’t have to worry about them in my very sunny room. Hm…

Zhu Kitchen’s Taho

Most of you probably know how much I love taho~! I’ve blogged about this delicious snack in the past, but I may have found one of the best versions I’ve ever come across~

Zhu Kitchen opened at Z Mall which is quite close to us, so my family and I have been their frequent visitor~ Sometimes we would have dinner there, but usually, we’d stop by for this tasty treat. Their taho is one of the smoothest ones out there and the arnibal is not that sweet, so it’s easy to get addicted and ask for second servings!

I should remember to take Misaki-taichou there the next time she’s in Manila… We might finish the whole order by ourselves, haha!

Maleficent = Manananggal?

Maleficent movie was great and all but…

Am I the only one who thought this floor sticker looked like a manananggal?

For those not familiar with Philippine mythology:

The manananggal is a mythical creature of the Philippines, an evil, man-eating and blood-sucking monster or witch. It is described as hideous, scary, often depicted as female, and capable of severing its upper torso and sprouting huge bat-like wings to fly into the night in search of its victims.

It is said that they mostly prey on sleeping, pregnant women, using an elongated proboscis-like tongue to suck the hearts of fetuses, or the blood of someone who is sleeping. The severed lower torso is left standing, and it is said to be the more vulnerable of the two halves. Sprinkling salt or smearing crushed garlic or ash on top of the standing torso is fatal to the creature. The upper torso then would not be able to rejoin itself and will die by sunrise.

- Wikipedia

I think I read too much Trese.

My “Amnesia” Boys

Last Sunday, my brother invited me to go to Greenhills with him and his family. I had an agenda to try my luck in finding a complete set of the gashapon series of Amnesia from any of the specialty stores there, but was disappointed to find that no one had carried them.

Misaki-taichou mentioned that there was still one gashapon machine of Amnesia somewhere. When I saw the machine, it only had less than a dozen toys left. I debated whether or not I should take the chance, but felt I would regret it if I didn’t try.

6 attempts later, I somehow managed to get the last 4 characters that I was missing. I don’t know why I felt the urge to collect this since I’ve never even seen the anime nor have I played the game, but heck, here they are! The entire gashapon set of Amnesia!

I’ve already had Ikki before my trip to Greenhills and I got Shin at my very last attempt. I thought I wouldn’t be able to get him since he was at the top of the pile (the gashapon balls they used for this machine was colored so you can predict who you might get when there’s hardly any toys left), but I somehow got lucky at the very end!

I’m also lucky I already had Ikki since there were no white balls left in the machine! Thank you, my other brother who pestered me to go to the toy store with him last January!

Green-haired Ukyo was the one that I wanted most. Maybe because of his long hair or split personality, but I got a double of him somewhere in my third or fourth attempt. I don’t really mind, but I might decide to sell him.

Kent was the second to the last which made me nervous because I didn’t really see any blue balls in the machine. I don’t like this particular figure that I got because there’s some damage to his right eye, but it’s better than not having him at all! Given the chance, I might buy him again if I get to go to Greenhills another time.

I got double of Toma too, which I will definitely sell. Maybe in Indieket or Komikon? Haven’t really decided yet, but I’ll leave him and Ukyo’s double unopened for now.

Overall I’m quite pleased that I didn’t need to try more than seven times to complete this. But, I can’t ignore the fact that this left me completely broke.

Time to work more on my manga pages so I can have some money!

I Love (Way Too Much) Coffee

I was only going to play this for the free coins in Line, but it looks like I’m hooked.

I’ve always been curious about this game, but I never could download it on my android phone properly until recently. I’m a sucker for cute things too, and the avatars are adorable!

It’s a casual game where you basically own a coffee shop. You can buy little furniture and decors to make your shop look more personalized. Then you try and win the hearts of special guests so that they’ll visit more often and bring you gifts for making them the best coffee in town!

I said I was going to stop playing this soon since Misaki-taichou and Leilei have already stopped playing but…

I somehow managed to snag a rare item during the lucky box event. JUST LOOKIT HOW CUTE THOSE LITTLE BUNNIES ARE!!! Now I must level up and decorate my cafe to suit them best!

…this can’t end well. It just. Can’t.

Cute Disney Things~

I found these while cleaning up last month. I’d forgotten that I’d bought them at a toy store.

These are four different sets of toys that I put together on a whim. The dinning set was supposed to be used as staging for my nendroids, the same way I added the musical instruments set to my UtaPri Petit figures, but seeing as how these Disney food items look great on the table, I might just leave them there.

I think Donald Duck might be slightly off scale, but he’ll be a great model for Cal Duck.

Precious Moments’ Disney Figures

I think I remember why I don’t post these photos anymore… Most of them are pretty blurry! But it would be a shame not to post them here. I’ll try to adjust them to the best of my abilities! Huff huff!

I saw these adorable Precious Moments figures while walking around Disneyland in California. Belle from Beauty and the Beast costs $65, while Ariel from The Little Mermaid is $60. It made me pout to know Ariel is cheaper than Belle, but at the same time, it would be much easier to save for, I suppose?

Dichie (my second older sister) is the one who actually collects Precious Moments stuff, but I might make an exception for this. I think Dichie did buy an Ariel already… I’ll have to remember to ask her about it.