A Theory on the Crabs of the Orient

I've lived in Manila for 17 years and while I do adore the people and the country there are just some kinks in it that really bother me. One of it is the extreme crab mentality people have there.
It's a miracle to find someone who isn't family that would be genuinely happy for your success.

And in family, they tend to be genuinely happy just because it gives them another reason to brag about themselves. Tough for the nation known to be one of the most family-oriented.

I've been in Singapore for 8 months now so I've gotten some distance from the homeland and as I mulled over my Black Pepper Chicken set I wondered.. what if there was a root to this mentality?

You see I've seen it in so many places. In school, in people's workplaces, in my online games, the local television and stuff..Filipinos just have this innate thing that they HAVE to stick together. They HAVE to be uniform and God save you if you start acting "different" around their pack. (Ever tried speaking straight english around a pack of local Filipinos? It tends to get awkward.)

And then this little theory hit me. The Philippines was under Spanish rule for 300 years. They've been treated like lower beings. Looked down on. Until the revolution came, a famous man was shot and the people came together to put an end to what was going on. It was the first actual sign of national unity. It was camaraderie and love of country. It was patriotic. It was the good of the era. They realized they had to stick together or else nothing would change.

These feelings and values get passed on to the children. To never let another foreigner enslave us again. Of course, the Americans came and well, that changed a lot of things. Filipinos are generally a very giving and laid back people. But some things just don't change. To be different from one's own kind was considered shameful. As if you were betraying your nation.

Yesterday's patriotism morphed into today's ignorance and close-mindedness. It got completely screwed out of context. You don't see this happening to Filipinos who were raised in other countries. Just mostly the ones who consider themselves native Filipinos. Of course, it also doesn't help that a lot of the ones running the country are Chinese or have Chinese blood in them. This only pushes the gaps further.

What I'm trying to say is that we used to clamor for unity and the people have taken it in a way that meant we will all sink together on the same level for that is patriotism. But if the people do not allow others to rise then who will help raise up the others?

To The Past Flare

She was born into the stubbornness of the earth but was destined to fly.

Inside, she raged with the storms of her inner sea and blazed into fiery passions. This meant she was bound to be burned often. And burn she did.

She mulled in the ashes of her failure or rejection. It was not easy to wish to fly amongst the ones born of earth. They do not understand the sky. It's too unrestricted. Too vast and unexplored.

No.

Her feet must remain on solid soil. And so, she tucked away her wings and stood there. But sometimes, she still dreamed. Fluttering them when no one watched.

Everyone wanted those wings. It was different and special. Somehow this act of being needed temporarily filled that void to fly. Not that they wanted her to.

We met one day and what occurred was almost strange and magical. For they thrived on the joys of what wasn't there. But she was taught to stand on soil and I lived my life with the currents. We were both a mess of our elements. Our fires clashed and burned fiercely. Out of the ashes would come rebirth however one can only take too much of the sickening metamorphosis of it all. It would be a cycle that would eventually break her wings and break my spirit.

She lingered on but almost vaguely into existence. Nothing really wanted her. The waters drowned her, the earth gave way under, the fires would always sear through. The air? As I've said, they have all told her it is ridiculous to fly despite her wings. All sorts of fears would creep into her.

Some would still gaze in awe upon her wings. She would be happy for a brief period. Oh how desperate she was. But they would leave her to fall into more bitterness. No one understood. No one.

Sometimes she could faintly grasp it. The blue of the sky, the soft clouds beckoning and the sun... The sun was just so bright and full of promise. It terrified her.

Time has passed and her broken wings had healed slowly but were still shaky. A chance encounter and there he was again. She was afraid of him. For what he represented and how much he had meant. But here he was and he had only wanted to give her one message. Some way to make up for breaking those wings somehow. A very short message to just help her get started.

"Flap."

She looked at him almost bewildered. Did he think her stupid? Did he...and yet.. it was so obvious but she just never thought of it. She does as he says. And again. And again..

Soon her feet almost leave the ground. She looks at him terrified and yet exhilarated. Another message from him, his last.

"Now, soar."

She understood. It was between them. She raised up from the soil, the very soil that was meant to grab hold of her forever. The sea in her calm, she blazed upward higher with fiery passion and embraced the sky at last.

Muse (the intro)

Rush hour.

Crowds melt into each other on the streets as the sun creeps down slowly. Everyone’s just in an impatient hurry to get home, see their families, watch some TV, slack on the internet. Actually, with today’s technology, they just tap away on their phones eagerly trying to catch up for some news for the last 5 minutes or so.

 On the side there’s a man sitting on a bench looking quite pleased with himself. He’s young, well-dressed and he looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Well, things will change for him unfortunately.

I approach him like you would an acquaintance and sit on the bench next to him.

“It is quite a nice day isn’t it?” I look up at the skies. The young man seems confused like maybe I’ve mistaken him for someone else. But I make no mistakes.

“..Sorry?” he finally says after a while but I ignore it.

I lean over and look him in the eye this time. “That’s a great idea you have there. A stroke of inspiration, really.” I look behind him. “It’s a shame that we’re going to have to undo that.”

At this point, the kid is completely freaked out. He gets up to leave. I chuckle and give a small wave of my hand.

A shadow passes by.

The young man stops dead in his tracks. Almost like he forgot something. Left something. Lost something. He’s changed. From a carefree spirit to a soul wrapped in despair as he clasps his head with his hands. He remembers the strange man who had just spoken to him. Looks at the bench but I’m not there anymore.

I join the flurry of commuters and walk casually into the next bus. I slip my phone out from my pocket and dial a number.

“It’s me. Yeah, it’s done. We aren’t expecting anymore from that one. You have another job for me?”

PLOT:

I first thought of the idea for “Muse” with the question “what inspires us really?”. This would be a problem for a lot of people especially in the art industry. Inspiration and ideas are everything to us. Ideas actually shape the world. I thought, what if ideas were like our superpower? I came up with the idea that “Muses” are the embodiment of our special talents. Kinda like a guardian angel. They’re invisible and they help us create the best things.

Although, some people would be out to destroy the Muses for their own benefit. Like say, if some new kid was starting to get popular and threatened some rich guy’s business. If he knew about the Muses, he would order these high class assassins to kill the Muses with their own..uh, Muse. Yes, we have killer Muses. It’s like invisible Pokemon. Some people are born with warrior Muses that are basically built to fight. You can use em for good or bad or just be totally unaware that they’re there.

Now, the main characters I have are actually some sort of secret society out to protect people from these assassins. I think I called them SHIELD or something. We can come up with better names later on.

So yeah! Ever seen someone in a permanent slump? Their Muse had probably been killed. Ever see someone like…Leonardo da Vinci? That would be a very high leveled Muse.

I’m still working out the details in this. Let me know what you guys think! 

Oh and by the way, if i'm going to do this it's going to be like an illustrated story book. So yeah! Words with pictures. yay.

To: Life

What's up life?
I think it's about time I re-evaluate where I stand with you today. 

Today,
I'm where I never thought I could be. You've made it really difficult getting here but now I am. The kid with the strict parents out in the wild. Well, if you could consider Singapore as wild? It's wild enough.

Let's see, the cards you've dealt me. 

I'm still figuring out where to go from here, Life. But don't we all ponder upon our unknown destination? There will always be crossroads but this one's particularly big. I'll have to keep fighting for the current path I'm on. 

Fight hard.

I see you've given me another one to love and as usual, it's complicated. But I've learned a lot from this. 

Love has no rules. And we can only learn so much about it from other people. I found that actually taking advice could hurt me more. Only we know the state of our heart. In love, we make up the rules.

By denying what I truly feel, I kill myself inside because the truth will always be buried beneath the lies. So I've decided to be what I truly am. Water.

I'll flow into what I feel and that's just how I do things. I was meant to feel. And I want to love like tomorrow love will not exist. We're put in the world and suddenly, we're out. I want to be remembered for love. 

And, God, do I love her. I love her like I love the stars on a day where the rain just melts away into clarity. Like a sunset on a difficult day. Like..it's impossible.

Just because she's who she is. Well, that's me.

Oh, and Life, I've realized what I want to do for the world.

I wish that everyone may witness beauty. We're designers. We're supposed to make things pretty. But beauty is so much more. Beauty brings a whole different layer of depth into our lives. It just makes everything more precious. Or just for the sake of bringing joy no matter how fleeting it may be.

So, here you are at my side so far. The other guy will have to wait for a while longer. I'll meet him soon enough but not yet. There are still things to do. So, life, let's do this romantically. Take me on an adventure.

Nick

The Hi Note

Some comic I suddenly came up with on Thursday. The story came first of course. I thought it'd be a cool present for my dad. I'm not gonna be there for his 60th birthday after all. So, obviously, I had some struggles in there. I have a lot of drawing issues so I had to make this as simple as possible. There may be a bunch of "style changes" in there but I kept it the way it is just to have some kind of reminder for me?

I'm pleased I actually finished it. I never finish these things. But it was too good of a story to pass up on. 

I based the relationship of the dad and his daughter on several stories I've heard from other people. (Including my own relationship, of course.) I had an emo time with this. I mean, I wanted it to come out a lot better. I think a lot of artists feel this way but..hmm.. oh well. 

Lots of learning to do...

But I'm really pleased I finished this. I have something decent to show now. Yay.

Puppy Comics

These are a bunch of my favorite Puppy comics so far...and the more well drawn ones. Hmm, I really ought to draw more of him, shouldn't I? He's quite popular with my friends.

A Homage

This blog will be my homage to the things I hold dearest to me... Food, Travel and Art!