Fluffy Friends

Dogs are a big part of my life. I spend every single day cuddling against five dearly beloved fluffy pets. They bring happiness and smiles to our home. Here are our the beloved fluffy friends:


Red is our baby boy. He's a 5 month old mixed Shih Tzu puppy that sometimes acts as a living, breathing ball of pure fluffy energy. He's the youngest and littlest dog in the house right now.

This little baby has his own unique personality that often leads him to acting out a lot of quirky antics. From regularly diving into a water puddle every single day, jump wrestling other dogs who are bigger than him, to even sneaking inside the refrigerator without anyone knowing about it just to make himself feel cooler against the summer heat.

Chickie is the mother of Red. Unlike her unruly son, this little dog is a lady who knows how to act daintily. She never roughs around the same way cute Red does and tends to live in a world of her own. But she is extremely loyal to her 'parents', my brother and his wife. Chickie also loves to bark at cats and pretends to act like a guard dog at times.

Fluffy is our home's ambassador of goodwill. She is a Shih Tzu in the truest sense. When a visitor comes to our home she is often the first one to extend her welcome, licking strangers while wagging her tail and even allowing them to hug her.

Fluffy is also the friendliest dog and also the most loving. She snuggles and licks cats instead of barking at or attacking them. She jumps up on my bed every morning and wakes me up with puppy kisses without fail. There are times when she just snuggles up against me when I'm sitting on the floor. She's like a shadow too, following me her master, wherever I go. Very loyal and very loving, that is what describes her best.

Slobbers is our doe eyed Hush Puppy. She's a really sweet dog who often greets everyone with love. She has this unique ability to make her eyes look instantly sad when she's asking for treats then instantly happy when she's contented.

Slobbers is motherly and patient. She treats her other dog mates with loving care. Even if the younger pups like Fluffy and Red often wrestle her or bite her long ears, she never reacts against them. She never bites back. A really caring pet.

Khaki, on the other hand, is the guard dog of the house. He's the only one who can protect the house and its inhabitants and can get away with it because someone needs to fill in the job. You see, the other dogs really aren't fit for the job. Chickie wants to guard but is too cute and might get stolen instead. Red is too playful and would rather play than bite. Fluffy is too friendly and might even let a robber in! Slobbers is too timid. She might bark but she wouldn't bite.

Khaki is also a warrior dog who has taken it upon himself to wage war on all Cat Kind. He likes to bark at all felines and even attacks them without second thoughts. The perfect warrior.

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So here are our beloved dogs. They are a really big part of our lives. They give joy, love and affection. They can brighten a sad dreary day. And the best part is that they respond most to love. Just like people, they also need love and attention and when they give back their love you know it is pure and loyal.

DURARARA! : A Toast to a Great Anime Series

It's been a long time since I was able to follow an anime series quite religiously. Going through the weekly wait of waiting for a new episode, spazzing with friends over the new story developments and such. I often just read manga since it's easier to load for my internet cable connection sucks big time. Talk about waiting for a series to load like forever.

DURARARA! is the series that sucked me back into watching anime.

I found about the series through a friend's plurk post. I was curious as to what she was spazzing about, curious as to who the characters were in the pictures that she often posts in her plurks. Then I took my time to download the first three episodes and fell in absolutely in love.

DURARARA! Isn't the type of series that I am often interested. It's complicated how to describe the series seeing that it's anything but. It's not your normal run of the mill cliche ridden animation story. It's also started at a normal unassuming pace that first made me think that this series would be okay but not epic.

Boy was I wrong. Oh so wrong.

What I love about Durarara! is how the characters evolve. From the unassuming seemingly weak willed Mikado Ryuugamine, the enthusiastic Kida Masaomi, to the cute tsundere-ish antics of Celty Sturlson. Everyone has a depth that can only be revealed as the each episode is seen. Each character is not what they seem.

The beauty of it all is the way each characters' lives interlace with each other, how each action has a relative consequence.I began to love each and every character. Unlike other anime series where I usually dislike even one character, Durarara! was able to develop all the characters in a way that you can understand why they acted as such and how it affects their lives and the lives of others. Sometimes my perspective about a certain character that I initially dislike gets turned around 180 degrees. Like Namie Yagiri for example and Saki.

Oh speaking of Saki... She's the best example of a character whom I used to not to care for then suddenly love.

Those who haven't finished the episode please just skip this.

The last episode really changed my view of her so drastically. I was blown away at how much she loved Masaomi Kida. If before she was a person who was just manipulated by Izaya, she learned to grow a back bone and stand up for herself and for her love. There's such happiness that welled inside of me when I saw the scene where Saki hugged Masaomi. It made me smile. It made me regret that I didn't like her character at first. It made me respect what all that she had done for the person whom she had loved.

In a way, Durarara! was also life changing for me. It changed the way at each and every person in my life. It made me realize that every person has a story, a secret, or a problem . Nothing is black and white. It made me learn not to judge. This world as we know it doesn't revolve around us alone. It made me realize just how each and everyone in it is connected.

Now that the series had ended I feel a little bit teary-eyed. I followed it for twenty-one weeks, waiting every saturday to download a new episode by torrent and such. I will miss it a lot but at least there is a lot to look forward to. The novels aren't finished yet and there's still a lot of material out there that.

Here's to hoping for a Season 2. BRING IT BABY!

Tea. Ah, beloved tea. I used to dislike drinking tea, thinking that it tastes bland. Coffee used to be my favorite companion during my college days that I used as a nightly pick-me-up to help me finish projects that were often due the next day. For some reason my stomach now churns uncomfortably at the mere thought of me drinking that caffein filled drink. It turns my belly sour and sometimes makes it even painful.

I started to drink tea when I discovered the wonders of Earl Grey Milk Tea. It's really a wonderful drink that is quite addictive at times. Then I explored different variations from strawberry, peppermint, chamomile, lavender, rose, lemon, and my new favorite chai vanilla tea.

Tea not reliefs stress and is really good for the body. I like drinking it a lot when I'm sick with colds and sore throat. The hot simmering tea soothing and helpful. I heard green tea is also good for the skin and helps flush out impurities.

All in all, I love tea and I hope to be able to find new variants when I go visit Australia this coming July.

Crochet Spree!

Ever since I posted about exploring new hobbies, I felt an indescribable urge to crochet again. Lo and behold, with a little bit of google-fu and the use of the skills that my late grandmother taught me, I was able to teach myself to make Amigurumi.

Amigurumi is the Japanese art of crocheting or knitting small stuffed animals. The word is derived from the combination of the Japanese word Ami which means 'crochet' or 'knitted' and Nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll.

I became interested in creating these cute collectible toys when I downloaded a Japanese craft magazine about the Amigurumi. To tell the truth, I thought that crocheting was just about making scarves and hats. I never knew that I could create cute teddy bears out of crocheted yarn.

My first Amigurumi creation was this cute brown bear that I had made using the pattern I got from the Jmagazine that I downloaded. At first, I was confused at reading Japanese patterns. With a little bit use of Google and common sense I was able crack the code. It's really quite easy to understand once I understood what the symbols meant. I can even read Japanese patterns better than English ones. (^3^)/

I even made a little pink scarf and a flower clip to make the bear even cuter than it already is. I love how it turned out. I substituted felt with plain white cloth to create the mouth though since I didn't have any white felt available at the moment. It still looks good even if the edges are a little bit frayed. I embroidered the nose and used little black beads that I extracted from one of my bracelets for the eyes.

My second Amigurumi creation was a Black Vampire Lolita Teddy Bear. Since the only yarn color I had left was black I wanted to make something creative out of it. Thus the concept was born. I used the same pattern as the brown bear. It's amazing how a bit of lace and ribbon can turn a boring black bear into something cute and presentable. I used some left over lace for the skirt and the head piece, a black ribbon for the bow and white pearl beads for the eyes. I used white cloth once again and embroidered the nose, mouth and fangs by hand.

So here are my first two Amigurumi babies. It's surprisingly easy to make as long as you have patience and if you really follow the pattern. I made these two bears in one and a half days. Talk about spending my idle time well. I'm planning to make more soon. I want to create a Domo-kun amigurumi and a Pink Bear for my sister in law.

Since I'm going to visit Australia this July, I also crocheted a bonnet for the cold winter season. This bonnet was harder to make. It took me three spools of yarn and two days to finish it. I even made a cute flower as an accent.

It's quite warm when worn and multi-colored blue yarn was perfect for the bonnet. I'll be wearing this when I go out to explore the streets of Melbourne. I'm excited already!

So that's it for now! I'm going to finish my portfolio first before I make any new Amigurumi creations.

Girls of the Forest, Gyaru and finding my own style

Mori Girls literally means 'girl from the forest' is such a beautiful fashion subculture that was coined in Japan. It's a total opposite of the extravagant fashion of the gyaru subculture. In gyaru, girls wear sexy clothes. They have over the top make-up with eyeliner and fake lashes. Their hair are often bleached into a weird shade of blond.

Mori Girls, on the other hand, tend to have more laid back subdued themes. From the natural hair colors ranging from light brown to black, minimal make-up and layering of baggy clothes. They love DIY crafts, laces, and clothes that definitely look 'earthly'.
What made me love Mori Girls fashion is the lack of materialism that I had noticed in Gyaru fashion. The girls who follow this subculture tend to make their own clothes or haunt second hand clothes shops. Something that I can relate to since I love crafts and vintage clothing. The fashion movement represents a simplicity at its best.

Although I love it, I really can't be a 'Mori Girl'. The clothes layering is not practical specially with the weather here in my country. It's beautiful though and I would just continue to love this fashion by looking at the pretty pictures from the magazines that promote the 'Mori Girl' love.
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I'm currently exploring new fashion styles. Right now I'm incorporating different styles from different subcultures. I'm just taking out the things that I love and making them my own.

Gyaru, for example, is a little bit over the top for my taste. Too blond dyed hair and extravagant nail art is not really my cup of tea. I do love the make up, with the eyeliner that focuses on the eyes and subdues color on the lips. I love some of the clothes too, specially the summer themed ones that look bohemian and a little bit ethnic.

I guess in the end it's not about following a style. It's creating a style that suits me and my personality. For now I shall mix and match what I love from these different fashion subcultures to come up with something that I can call as my own.

On letting go and moving on

I often trap myself with unnecessary negative feelings. Hate, annoyance and dislike really aren't emotions that can help me go through life. And sometimes these emotions take over me to the point that I would strongly go against something that I disapprove of.

And I'm tired of that kind of life.

I'm tired of going through the cycle of getting caught up in the middle of hate. At first it feels good to hate on something, to put down what I deem immoral or just plain annoying. I joined anti-clubs of all kinds, entered forums where similar people hate on the same subject and even posted long rants about said target of annoyance. It felt good to be able to connect to other people even if it was through a negative emotion.

Then I realized just how silly I am for hating a person, thing or something that I really have no personal connection with. These feelings of hatred chained me down rather than set me free. This feelings choking me rather than helping me to be a person who can be herself. I whine and complain about things that I cannot change, things that I 'hate' but can do nothing about.

But is it helping me to become a better person?

No.

So I'm making a decision right now to ignore those that I instinctively 'hate', those that annoy me and all. I want to free myself from these burdens and work on making myself turn into a better person. For in the end, it doesn't matter if those things that I don't approve of continue on as long as I focus on myself and what good I can do as a person.

Itching to do some crafts

I love crafts. I do, I do, I do! There's something really satisfying about creating something out of nothing. It gives me a sense of accomplishments and creativity. When I was a kid I used to sit beside my grandma and watch her sew or crochet. Grandma Nene used to teach me how to stitch things by hand. She was also the one who taught me how to crochet. My fond memories of my grandma include her giving me jackets that she had stitched so lovingly.

Now I'm planning to explore new crafts and make new hobbies since I'm retiring from Cosplay. Here are the things that I am interested in:

1) CUTE SCULPY SCULTURES

This is like playdough but even more fun! These crafts are usually made out of polymer clay which is really soft and pliable but hard when baked. I've seen people in cons selling their polymer clay creations and I really want to try my hand at it and who wouldn't specially with such super cute designs. I love those that look like sweets. So cute!

They even have designs that look like little fruits. gjlksfdjglksjfglkf SO CUTE!

I'm planning to buy lots of materials during my Australia trip this July. FIMO and SCULPY are really popular brands of polymer clay. I want to buy clay strips that already have designs. They can be used for nail art too!


2) FELT PLUSHIES AND SWEETS
I've been wanting to make these babies ever since SAIZEN opened up in Robinsons Galleria. That store is felt heaven since it sells so many variety of colors and are affordable at only 85php per roll. But since my focus was on cosplay and other things *cough*clothes*cough*shoes* I never got round to starting my own felt creations.

It's amazing how this cake is made out of felt. It actually looks so yummy.

3)AMIGURUMI

Amigurumi or the Japanese art of making cute animals through crochet made me nostalgic about my grandma. I really want to try it out just to test myself if I can still remember the skills that she taught me when I was still a little girl.

The nice thing is that I can also do sweets! Yes, I am addicted to cute cakes<3

Ah, so many hobbies to try out and so little time before I go to Australia. I need to focus on finishing my portfolio first before I venture out to do these sweet little projects. My fingers are already itching to get my hands on felt, polymer clay and yarn. One step at a time then. One step at a time.

FOCUS

I'm really frustrated with the fact that I am easily distracted. Focusing on one thing is one of my absolute struggles right now. I used to have this ability to focus when I was a child, being able to memorize a lot without problem. Now, I am too distracted that I can't even focus on the matter at hand.

Perhaps this is the effect of multi-tasking too much. My mind wanders to and fro whenever I open the computer and I end up surfing 10 websites all at the same time. Most of the time I tend to do time wasters (Y HALO THAR FACEBOOK GAMES!) rather than do what I need to do. It's not nice feeling, really.

Hmm... Maybe I should try my hand at meditating before working. Perhaps that should work. I really should clear my mind of all the fears and worries that I have. Yes, it's not that pronounced but its underneath, waiting and festering until I can't take it anymore.

Ah, such an experiment but it will be useful. I really should try it... like RIGHT NOW.

New Layout + Retiring from Cosplay + Writing

Finally! I am able to create a new layout for my blog. It's rather simple but I love it this way. Not too cluttered and it really shows my personality. It's really a fun experience since I am able to understand HTML and CSS now. Before, when I first tried to change the blog's layout I was frustrated out of my wits since I couldn't understand CSS. Lo and behold it was quite easy... as long as you know the codes.

Pink is my favorite color, thus the the color combination. Pink + apple green + Magenta is absolute love. The apple green brings life to a rather boring color combination. I tried only Pink and Magenta at first, wanting to do a purely pink theme but it looked lacking. The green added the right touch.

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I have decided to retire from cosplay after this year. Honestly, I'm getting tired of all the drama, the popularity contests and... the whole cosplay community itself. It used to be for fun and just for fun. After some idiot ratted out on my Shizuo cosplay (even if a lot of people thought it was fine) I just realized that it's not worth the effort anymore. Why should I waste my time and money on a hobby that's starting to make me feel miserable?

I used to enjoy cosplay because of the camaraderie and the fun times I had spent with friends. It used to be a channel for me to put out my creativity. Now it's hindering it instead. And it comes to the point that I ask myself: "What is the point of it?". Sure it feels good when people appreciate your costume and takes your pics at cons... but that kind of pleasure is fleeting. At the end of the day, I had just wasted money on something that I would hide in my closet in the end since costumes aren't wearable outside of cons and photoshoots.

I'm thinking of entering new hobbies anyway like sculpy cute sculptures and sewing. I miss drawing too and playing music. I guess I would just have to drop this hobby and focus on the things that I had sorely missed the most. I will miss a lot of friends though. I will miss the fun times of hanging out... but sometimes I just have to move on. Like that time when I was involved in a band. I loved it but in the end it wasn't for me and I had to move on.

It's a bit bittersweet, saying goodbye to something that I had enjoyed for how many years. But things change. Life is like that. I will never regret that I had dabbled in cosplay.

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I really should write again. As I have said in my previous post, I have stumbled into another writer's block. Or maybe it's because I am scared of disappointing my readers. I really need to bash this fears of mine. It's not really doing me any good as a whole. I should start on chapter 10 soon. Not to appease my reviewers but to appease me. I promised myself that I will finish this first multi-chapter fic of mine.

As long as I persevere I know I can get through this hurdle. As long as I believe that I can.

Prince of Persia : Sands of Time

Mom, dad and I visited the mall earlier this day and watched Prince of Persia:Sands of Time. To be honest, I never really wanted to watch this movie because of...

1)Jake Gyllenhaal - He's a good actor but I just couldn't imagine him acting in such a role.

2)The trailer was cheesy.

But lo and behold I actually enjoyed the film. Yes, it is light cotton candy fun but that is what good movies are about. I watch movies to enjoy and have fun but most of all I love watching movies that have a wonderful story.

The story might come off as cliche to some but to me it was a feel good movie that had a lot of twists and turns. It was a kind of movie that made me realize why I loved movies in the first place. It's the fantasy, the action and the entertainment that takes me away from the reality of life that made me love films.

And I know that it was a good film for it held my attention for two and a half hours without me realizing that a lot of time had already passed by. I'll give it a 4 out of 5 stars since it still lacks the quality to be included in my list of 'My Favorite Movies of All Time' but it does fit itself in my list of 'Movies that I can Never Tire With'.

I'm going to download and watch it again. Toodles!