Christmas Fireworks

Despite not having a good camera, I do my best to capture fireworks displays with my Nokia 2760. Mind you, the camera’s only a VGA, but I’m quite impressed with the results.

It seems odd that SM North’s Christmas Fireworks paled in comparison to Trinoma’s though.

I think I was lucky to be at Trinoma on the 25th, and that my nephew went through the trouble of getting the show times for both. He took videos of the whole thing, but I’m not sure if he uploaded them anywhere.

Even the trees that were in the way gave a nice “framed” effect for Trinoma’s shots.

I suppose I should post this in facebook too, seeing this is the only thing that made my Christmas awesome this year. ^^;

How Do I Plan to Plan My 2011 with a Planner?

I dare you to say my blog title 5 times really, really fast! xD

A question asked in Bong's contest competing for a rare Starbucks Planner from Malaysia.

The more I think about this inquiry, however, the more it begs the question: Can you really plan anything for the coming new year?

Certain circumstances usually come to “rain on your parade” whenever you least expect it. For instance, I had planned on migrating to Canada earlier this year, picturing my first experience of the autumn weather and finally getting to watch the snow fall on my perfect white Christmas. I had also planned to learn how to drive, take up my Master’s Degree for Fine Arts, study Mandarin, and the like.

None of these plans came true; mostly because they relied on the one thing that fell apart: my immigration. And my mistake was failing to make a backup plan in case I was asked to stay here for just a little while longer.

Even though the immigration will still occur some time next year, it made me realize a hard fact that the world is really full of uncertainty. You don’t, and can’t, know what the future brings no matter how sure you are that something is going to happen or even how many fortune tellers you go to.

But isn’t that also what makes life more interesting?

Even though I didn’t plan on it, I was able to go to Taipei, Taiwan and not only have the time of my life, but also fulfilled one of my many wish lists I never thought I could. I also started doing commissions on Deviant Art that led me to realize that I’m actually a good enough artist that people will be willing to pay for my work.

Most importantly, I’ve learned to appreciate life a little more, accepting that depression only means you’ve been strong for far too long.

So how will I plan the new year?

By leaving the pages blank… roll with the punches and be thankful for each new day that comes. And if I have to plan something, then I will always have a backup plan. That, and of course, sketch something on the planner almost everyday or as often as possible… like I always do~ ♥

Oh, and in case you don't dare click the links on this post, don't worry guys. All the URLs were shortened by a new URL crammer, xaverian. ^^;

Grace Christian College: A Christmas Carol

Last 18th of December, I had the privilege to watch a student play from my alma matter, Grace Christian College (which was previously known as Grace Christian High School). My nephew needed to watch the play for a report, and I decided to tag along.

I didn’t think much about it at first, but I had to admit, I was stunned with the production. All of the students were very talented and among those who stood out were Honeyfer Amancio as Ebenezer Scrooge, Eugene Francis Tan as Bob Cratchit, and Stephanie Ann Yap as the Ghost of Christmas Present. I also like the Town Crier, Hans Christian Golong, as I believe he was the one who bought the turkey that was “as big as I was”.

Overall, the adaptation was brilliant. Perhaps the sound system could have been adjusted better, since some of the dialogue couldn’t be comprehended, but it was a nice, heart-warming play nonetheless. I do hope all the students get credits for their hard-work. ;3

Christmas at the Malls

The Drummers of SM the Block

A Giant Christmas Tree outside Gateway Mall

How will Christmas be for you this year?

If you asked me that back in November, I’d be excited and tell you about our annual Noche Buena… the kind where I’d be waking everyone up around 11pm of the 24th, just so they can watch me burn the barbeque… and then there would be endless chatter, exchanging gifts, and fighting over who gets to dance the next DDR song.

But this year, it’s different.

My parents have gone to Canada to celebrate the holidays there. My sister on the other hand, will be leaving for Taiwan in a few hours. My brother and his family are visiting their in-laws, although he did mention they’ll be back in time for Noche Buena. My other brother… will probably be with his girlfriend.

That leaves me to the house all by myself.

I held a Christmas Event in deviant art to try and cheer myself up, but that just sunk me deeper into depression. For some odd reason, I can’t draw anything decent at the moment.

I guess I’m not used to spending Christmas alone. ^^;

Oh well… I shall spam you all with some Christmas photos for the mean time. Hope everyone gets a happier Christmas than me~ ♥

A "Real" Multi-Lit Train at Mall of Asia

Optimus Prime and Other Railcars from Mall of Asia

Personal DNA: My True Self Revealed

The Concerned Artist

Traits	x/100
Confidence	8
Openess	42
Extroversion	16
Empathy	98
Trust in Others	16
Agency	10
Masculinity	12
Femininity	64
Spontaneity	36
Attention to Style	40
Authoritarianism	78
Imaginative (0)/Earthy (100)	20
Functional (0)/Aesthetic (100)	80

Who would have thought a lengthy meme like this one would turn out to be so accurate? Evidently, I am not suited for an authoritative position… and yet because I don’t trust people thanks to the fact I have near perfect empathy, it makes me a good leader.

This is going to be in my head for a while.

Charice Pempengco: Reset

When I first encountered Charice in Oprah, I was stunned. She was still a teenager, but her voice was absolutely stunning! I was even more surprised to see her on Glee, but I didn’t know if she also had the talent in singing her own songs too.

After I heard this on the radio though, I’m pretty convinced that she does have a rare talent.

	Charice - Reset .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Hey hey! Pakinggan mo naman ako
Hey hey! I think this is the way na dapat gawin
Reset! Sana naman ika'y sang-ayon din
To all the things that I'm gonna say
I wish ika'y pumayag din
Mag-aagree ka ba?
If I tell you that "Magsimula tayo para tayo'y sobrang happy na"
We should reset all this
Ibalik ang nakaraan

Start it up, Start it up, Oh baby

I like this single very much, even better than her well-known, international song, “Pyramid”. Although the rap does have Tagalog and English in it, it doesn’t sound as annoying as most Tang-glish songs.

Good luck, Charice! Hope we get more awesome songs from you! ♥

Dream Selfy

www.dreamself.me

Now who wouldn't want a rabbit to perch happily on their shoulder anyway?

Sushi Katsu’s Chawan Mushi

If you were to ask Tiffy, she’d tell you I’m not very fond of Chawan Mushi. It’s a Japanese dish consisting of egg custard with bits of seafood, and when I first tried it at Teriyaki Boy… let’s just say I wouldn’t order it for myself. ^^;;;

However, something changed my mind…

My sister, brother-in-law, and I went to Sushi Katsu; a small but very authentic, Japanese Restaurant in Tomas Morato. I love the food there, even if it is a little pricey. My sister told me that her father-in-law loved chawan mushi and Sushi Katsu served one of the best in the country.

He was not kidding. I’m completely in love with the dish now.

It’s not on the menu, so you’ll have to order it in advance… preparation takes 45 minutes after all, but I’m telling you, it’s well worth the wait.

Oh, and I can’t tell you what types of seafood they put in there. The chef kinda does this with whatever’s available, so you’ll get a bit of surprise every time. ^_^

Priest 2011

It appears my gothic fangirl-ism has been tendered.

Priest is possibly one of the more epic movies to be released on 2011. It’s based on the Korean graphic novel of the same name, although I find it strange that they want to go with another “vampire” film instead of the zombie saga.

Regardless of the vampires, the presence of the Catholic Church going about its usual ways of covering up something protecting the general public has always been a source of fascination for me. I’m definately watching out for this one when it comes out… Let’s hope it does not disappoint.

Rei's Kitchen: Sunny Omelet

I should remember to update Rei’s Kitchen… not that any of my recipes are anything superbly fantastic, but they are tasty and easy~

When I woke up this morning, I wanted to eat something with potatoes in them. A friend of mine mentioned having difficulty in making potato omelet, so I decided to give it a try. Surprisingly, it turned out pretty delicious – that, or I was just that hungry.

Ingredients:

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small potato, diced
• 1 hotdog, chopped
• 2 eggs

Eggs cook fairly quickly, so boil the potatoes in a small amount water, just enough to cook the potatoes thoroughly. Chop the garlic and onions and add these to your pan, seasoning with salt and pepper. Slice up the hotdog to pieces that are almost the same size as the potatoes and cook them until the water dries out. Add a dash of olive oil and pan fry the ingredients slightly before pouring two scrambled eggs.

This serves two people when served with rice or toast. It’s a really good pick-me-up, and I think it will be just as good when cooked with ham instead of hotdogs.

Oh, and just in case you attempt making this, I demand to see photos please. :3 Have fun in the kitchen! ♥

A Tale of Angelfishes

When I decided to take care of a silver angelfish that no one wanted, I never realized I was up for a sibling drama that would rival the longest of telenovelas.

Clow Reed the silver angelfish used to have a white angelfish as a companion but sadly died of unknown causes. Clow became depressed and was almost koi food when I decided to take him out of that tank and into a 2.5 gallon one. Smaller than his usual 75 gallon, but big enough for him to swim about while he recovered from his wounds.

While I tried to figure out a way to buy him a new tank, filter, air pumps, and maybe a few more angelfishes, he was introduced to a gray and white feeder named Suicidal. Suicidal was the last of his batch of feeders who were all killed by the White Spot disease. I named him Suicidal because while I was cleaning their tank, Suicidal jumped out of the pail that was on a chair and landed on the cemented floor. He’s thankfully still alive until now, with no signs of ever giving up on eating every food pellet he could lay his eyes on.

Although Suicidal and Clow seemed to get along, I had to separate them when I bought two new angelfishes. A pure black one I named Yuuko, and a small white one named Sakura. The three were moved into a 20 gallon tank against my wishes as my sister favored the 15 gallon one I wanted. The ordeal upset me a lot, because having a 20 gallon tank in my room is 5 gallon harder to maintain than a 15 gallon one. Heck, my brother-in-law’s uncle takes care of 7 fully grown angels in a 10 gallon tank. Why I couldn’t buy my own 10 or 15 gallon, I do not know.

I was too bitter to really tell my older siblings off, but decided not to bring the tank home as I originally planned. A bad decision for my part, because my tank was moved to the lowest shelf of the aquarium stand. My sister has a bad back and had trouble seeing her fish if they were on the top shelf as my brother-in-law suggested. Why she didn’t consider my own difficulty in seeing my fishes if they were closer to the ground like my brother-in-law, I do not know.

I was mostly angry at this point because I had to give way to my older siblings wishes; first for the home I wanted for my fish, then the placement of the tanks… the last straw was when my sister decided to take the toys I had bought for my fish and returned the ones I had given her because she wanted the colors I picked. It wasn’t even my decision to buy the colors she had, because she and her husband chose them. I had no intentions of buying orange or yellow plants, but now I’m stuck with them.

What kind of a person returns gifts to their senders anyway?

Unfortunately, Yuuko and Sakura probably felt my anger and went on a hunger strike. Yuuko died only 2 days after I brought her home and Sakura died a few days later. I didn’t want anything to do with fishes any more, but I remembered I still had Clow Reed, who was also beginning to show signs of a hunger strike.

He reminded me of myself. Someone no one wanted and desperately wanted to care for someone, but ended up being alone all over again. My mother told me that grandfather also took care of angels before, and that made me want to try one more time.

With a last act of determination, I went to another fish store to look for angelfishes. A store called “Heavenly Fish” carried a small selection of angels, but they were having a sale at P100 (US$2.25) for ever large angelfish. That was where I saw Doumeki (the black angel with a golden head) and Watanuki (another pure black angel). Doumeki was larger than Clow and Watanuki reminded me of Yuuko a lot, so I had to bring them home.

So far, the three of them are getting along… Clow Reed started eating again, but tends to chase after Watanuki at random. I’m hoping he and Doumeki don’t die like Yuuko and Sakura did, but it’s only been 3 days so it’s hard to tell. I’m trying to keep myself positive and let go of my frustrations so that they won’t feel my hostility.

Needless to say, I’m happy that I have 3 angels now. If I can afford it, I will buy a few more and have 5 or seven large angels in that tank. I mean hey, if my grandfather could take care of angels, so can I.

…on a last note, why do angelfishes like biting and chasing after one another anyway? I noticed that with my own tank and the tanks in fish stores. They should have called them “Vampire Fishes” instead of angels. =_=;;;

Devious Journal Entry

I’ve been much more active in Deviant Art lately… mainly because the haphazard life of a free-lance artist needs much more care and attention than I thought.

I found out that merely posting that you are opened for commissions does not mean people will start falling in line right outside your doorstep. For someone like me who has only 20,000 pageviews in 4 years, the forums turned out to be a huge help. You can offer your services there and find people who are looking for artists to commission.

My persistence with the forums paid off, as I’ve had 2 commissions so far. A third one is on the works, which is taking more time than I thought.

That’s another thing I learned about these commissions: people are willing to wait for their artworks. It’s a good and bad thing as you get to work on your own time, but tend to slack off whenever something grabs your attention.

Needless to say, this artist needs more discipline. But it’s admittedly a huge relief from commercial works with deadly deadlines.

In other news, I won second place in the Thou Shalt Honor Fella Contest! This gives me a 6 months premium subscription on Deviant Art and an official Fella Plushie! x3 I’m not sure when I’ll be getting my plush, but like my commissioners, I’m willing to wait. :D

In case you’d like to commission me too, I’m having a Commissions Sale for the month of September. It’s called the Faux ScreenShot Project, in which fake screenshots will be made for only US$7 a piece. The catch? They’re in smaller resolution; 700 x 525 pixels to be exact.

More information can be found on my Deviant Art. For now though, here is a sample of what I can do on such a small canvas:

Faux SS 02: Rima by *kurohiko on deviantART

*cough* Just in case you know someone who'd like to see their work turned into an anime screenshot, please do point them my way. You don’t need a Deviant Art account to commission me, but you do need a paypal account. ^_^

Emergency NTC 117: NOT For General Public Use

Yesterday evening, on our way home, there was an accident between a “security” car and a motorcycle. The accident was on the corner of our street, and at first glance, it appeared as if the security car had run over the motorcyclist. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the car stopped on an incline, and it looked like it didn’t have the hand brake on, threatening to crush the driver a second time.

My sister and I were the only ones in the car, so my first instinct was to call Emergency NTC 117. I had my Sun Cellular mobile phone with me, and immediately tried to call for help.

That was by far the most idiotic choice one could ever make.

The phone kept ringing until I received a message saying there was no answer on the other end of the line. I called again, and this time, after a few rings, I received a busy tone. 4-5 calls later with the same results, my load ran out, and I never did got to call for help.

Just what kind of an emergency number is 117?! No answers, busy tones, and it eats up your load just for hearing a ringing/busy sound? I had at least P70-50 left on my credit, and I know this because I had just reloaded my Sun Cellular with a P150 regular load on August 25th, 2010; a load that would usually last me 45 days with a lot of credit left over.

Aren’t emergency numbers supposed to be answered quickly and efficiently? And most importantly, there is an emergency. Why should we have to pay for calling for public service help?!

Sadly, we didn’t see what happened to the motorcyclist and the crying child, who was presumably with the motorcyclist. He seemed unharmed, but was scared and crying all the same. We saw the security car on another road a few minutes later. Same car, but the motorcyclist was not there. The driver seemed to have fled the scene and kept his headlights off so that we couldn’t see his plate number.

I hope this blog post somehow gets on the news. I’m certainly posting this on twitter, plurk, and facebook. For shame, Emergency NTC 117! Charging for calls without even answering them is a disgrace.

Alas, only in the Philippines…

Mega Man Online Trailer

This... this trailer is so epic that I can't even- I am so playing this when it’s released! And I shall just… watch and re-watch this trailer until then.

It looks like the entire Mega Man universe carefully sewn together. I see Bass, Proto Man, Roll, Doctor Light, Doctor Wily and the villains from the Mega Man series, then there’s Alia, Iris, and Colonel from Mega Man X. But where, oh where, is my Zero?!

It does beg the question: how are they going to make an MMO out of this classic? Beggars can’t be choosers, but still… I can’t wait for this to be released! And let it be free-to-play, please, please, please. ;_;

Grief…

A hostage situation that started peacefully ended in a blood bath, killing 8 Hong Kong tourists.

Hong Kong Interpol will be making their own investigations on what went wrong.

Two nations who both wish to seek the truth silently can not cooperate with one another.

And I can’t help but watch from the sidelines, thinking the situation could have been handled better, but could not do anything except to helplessly watch as the events unfolded.

I love Hong Kong. I love it so much that when I had the opportunity to work there, I enjoyed every single minute. The food, the freedom, the people… even those who looked down upon me changed their minds when they realized I was Chinese.

I don’t know the people who were taken hostage… neither do I know the ones who were killed. But watching the entire thing unfold left a pain in my hear that refuses to heal.

I can easily point fingers as to who did what wrong. In fact, I have been doing so in my twitter and plurk accounts. But then I realized, my bitterness cannot help those who are really suffering: the families left behind by the departed.

And so I will light incenses and keep them in my prayers.

May God bless the departed souls and the families who were left behind.

Influence Map

I suppose it doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone that I’ve jumped on the meme bandwagon, even on deviant art.

When I think about the people who have inspired and influenced me, I could probably list about a hundred names, more or less. They’re not all visual artists; some are musicians, teachers, family, and just people who were there to encourage me in times of self-doubt. The one that particularly stands out, is my teacher and uncle, who is always so relaxed when it comes to drawing and teaching. He made it seem as if drawing was not hard at all.

I could go on and on, but that’s enough rambling… on to the meme!

Kurohiko's Influence Map by ~kurohiko on deviantART

It makes me wonder, looking at this, do any of the artists featured on the meme have obvious influence on my work? Will I ever become par, or even surpass their expertise?

Maybe one day, I can meet them all personally… Just so that I can say “thank you”.

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My Very First Commission

Even though I’ve worked for Mango Jam as Twilight Calling’s continuing artist, I never really felt my artwork was something worth paying for. Maybe it’s because they hired me as a continuing artist and not as the original artist, but that’s beside the point…

I’ve opened commissions some time ago, and didn’t really think anyone was going to commission me… until recently.

Commission: A Reunion by ~kurohiko on deviantART

Adiv and Altair (Alaistair) are characters created by ~Stine22 aka =Kilo112205. I have to say, I never thought working on commissions would be so enjoyable. I’m a little worried that this may not be what she had in mind, but I did my best! And I sent a thumbnail sketch before I started working on the actual artwork.

I think I like the blood stained moon on this piece the most. The wings were painful to detail, and drawing embers is pretty much a first for me.

My sister mentioned that “one is crying, and the other is salivating” in her usual innocent way. >.>;;; She also kept pestering me why the wings are brown when angels have white wings. THIS WORRIES ME EVEN MORE! *headslap*

I just hope my client doesn’t see this piece the same way she does. ;x; I might… cry in the corner or hide under a rock… forever.

Cinnamoroll’s Instant Curry

I love curry. I don’t know what spices make up the sauce, but I love it nonetheless. May it be Japanese, Indian, Classic curry, it’s probably one dish that can’t go wrong in my menu.

But add a cute character into the packaging of instant curry?

You can be sure I’ll buy at least one.

My family went to Cartimar the other day because brother needed to buy supplies for his Japanese restaurant. In a little shop called “Asuka”, I found this Cinnamoroll edition of instant curry, begging to be bought. It only cost P72 for one box, which is good for one meal. There’s also 1 of 20 illustrations of Cinnamoroll and/or his friends along with a sticker set~

Cuteness aside, it’s unfortunately not the best of instant curries out there. There wasn’t a lot of potatoes and carrots in the pack, and the sauce was a little sweet to taste… probably because this is aimed for kids. I like my curry a little bit spicier, but Japanese kids sure are lucky to have all these cute things.

…oh, and this doesn’t mean I’m not buying any more of these. The stickers were just too cute, so sue me. ;_; I don’t mind cooking extra meat and potatoes. And besides, there’s always the ever faithful stove to adjust the spiciness of the sauce!

Thou Shalt Honor Fella

I can’t believe Deviant Art has been around for 10 years… and that I’ve been a member for more than 4 years already.

The good (and shameful) thing about Deviant Art is that you can go back too far… Stuff that I used to consider to be my best work prove to be a stepping stone to what I wish to become. I’ve learned a lot from experience, and from the members of this community, and I’m thankful for that.

Putting that aside, Deviant Art came up with its 10 Commandments in order to celebrate its anniversary. They’ve put up a lot of contests this August, and I was able to join one contest… twice.

On the 7th Commandment, it is written: Thou Shalt Honor Fella. As such, you shall depict your ideal Fella.

At first, I only wanted to give Fella a make-over. I mean, we have fancy llamas for goodness sake, why don’t we have a Fancy Fella?

Then it dawned on me… Deviant Art is 10-years-old. That makes for a devious shota Fella, doesn’t it?

…so my ideal Fella comes in two forms. I’ll keep my fingers crossed on this one.

I really love how they turned out, but I’m wondering if my ideas are brilliant enough to win the contest. They seem… very typical and simple ideas to me, but then again, looking at the entries, no one really came up with the same ideas as anyone else. I think that goes to show that what we deem as simple may turn out to be very complicated for others.

In other Deviant Art news, I won second place in =Kilo112205’s "contest"! I’m very excited to see her character, Alaistair, with Rei Kuassary as her father figure~! Rei needs a father figure, obviously, and my character in another artist’s rendition is always so exciting and awesome~

It does make me wonder though… I’ve always seem to come up just a little short when it comes to these contests. I’m not complaining, of course, in fact, I’m very grateful! But I always tend to think “maybe if I tried just a little harder…”

Self-doubt be gone. =_=;;; I need to finish my first batch of commissions and collect more money soon… Being a free-lancer is hard work!

DJ Max Clazziquai PSP Wallpaper Collection IV

DJ Max Portable: Clazziquai Edition Image – Fate

After several grueling hours, days, months just to get the 2 images from Fate, it begs the question: was it worth it?

I’m not really sure. When I got the images today, playing more than 70 times the entire day, finally succeeding in Melody Hard Style to unlock the the track, proceeding (and getting stuck) to Area 5’s “Rockfest” on Club Tour, I would say it was slightly underwhelming, but well worth the effort. I’ll probably never be any good in 5 Buttons and 4 Buttons FX, and you can forget ever succeeding in 6 Buttons mode, but I became a lot better in this game. And for that I am thankful.

I did think that the illustration I would get would be the same as the Fate Card from DJ Max Technika. I actually wanted that, but I’m still happy with what I got.

Did I mention I liked Fate’s illustrations the most because they remind me of Renka-chan?

Enjoy your new wallpapers, guys! Remember: Credit Please and No Hotlinking!

Supersonic	Supersonic 2
Honeymoon	Honeymoon 2
Lover	Lover 2
Lover 3	Lover 4
Y	Y 2
Blythe	Oblivion
Oblivion 2	Sin
Sin 2	Every Morning
Memory of Beach	Memory of Beach 2
Memory of Beach 3	Sunny Side
Sunny Side 2	Elastic Star ~UK Garage Mix~
Syriana	Fate 2