A day at The Palace

Last February 22 was the Makha Bucha day, an important Buddhist festival celebrated on the full moon day of Māgha in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, and on the full moon day of Tabodwe in Myanmar-  okay...basically, it is a public holiday in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand and is an occasion when Buddhists tend to go to the temple to perform merit-making activities.

So I took this day as an opportunity to go to Grand Palace and took some photos for my assignment. I did heard that the entrance was free every holiday so I went in to check it and what do you know? It's free!! 

*coughbutfullofpeoplecough* 

I also wanted to go and check Wat Pho (Temple of The reclining Buddha) since the structure itself was good but there was an entrance free around 100 baht. I don't want to spend money....

When visiting Grand Palace, I suggest you come by around 9 or anywhere that's before noon because I tell you right now... It. Is. Hot.

Buddhist Pilgrims came here to pray and worship. They did various things in here such as chanting while doing wai, did some burning of their sticks (I'm sorry, I don't know what's it called o_o), merit-making and others.

But of course, as a Christian, I did not participate any of the activities... I just observed them...

There's only one God for me! ;)

But I did notice one thing when they chant: they're facing one particular temple. 

By the way, both Pilgrims and tourists have to wear a proper dress code when entering/visiting Grand Place, it's how you pay respect. After all, this is the heart of Thailand.

 Lotus o3o

And since the entrance was free for the day, tourist are flooding everywhere in the Grand Palace. I saw mostly Chinese, then S. Koreans and Japanese, and then some western foreigners. It was really difficult to capture composition photos since people are passing by and are not aware of it. I don't blame them though.

I did also spotted some Royal Guards in the palace. They seemed to be preparing something, and sure enough, they did!

I was lucky blessed that I was able to see the parade/march by the Royal Guards minutes before I decided to leave. It was a good thing I made it! 

laissez-moi

I don't know what happened today. I feel isolated for some reason. 

Happy Valentine's Day 2k16

Valentine's day is here yet all i could see in the net is that singles complain for not having someone to love or cuddle with. Hey, it's okay to be single! We just need to wait for the right one in the right time rather than to go overboard and end up with the wrong one, right? 

For now, celebrate this event with your friends and family :) 

By the way, this is Okita Sojirou from Cybird's new game: Destined to Love.
Quite a cheeky git like Nico Meier.

soonnn

Happy New Year!

I'm no longer able to draw on the PC through the graphic tab but something gave me an alternative way to draw digitally. 

AutoDesk Express is an app both for iOS and Android, it's kind of like a mini Photoshop or Paint Tool Sai except that it only allows 3 layers for free... (unless you could pay money and get more extra layers and tools... tsk) 

I tried a couple of drawings, it was hard at first since you're using your fingers or pen but you'll get used to it later :)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The end results :)

Although, I am not certain that I can use this app for the web comic... =___=*

The cloud fascinates me!

I remembered that I used to take pictures of the sky and clouds during my 7 and 8 grade. I haven't done it for years and it feels nostalgic and relaxing to do it again. 

I went home a bit late and noticed the clouds' direction seems to be fixed in one area. It's was amazing! 

 The following day, I was fascinated by the color of the sunset. It somehow inspired me and made me thought of how to color clouds like this on the computer. The cloud looked better in real life than the picture, trust me!

A week later, I went home earlier than expected. I was wondering the surroundings around me as usual and noticed that the sun and the cloud was about to interact. 

 I took the opportunity to get the camera and took a photo of it. Seeing the ray of light around the cloud was awesome!

But what I like most is when it gets a bit darker and the sun has already set. the sky is filled with all shades of blue from the darkest to the lightest. I haven't pictured it yet though :P

A play on the cam

What's your name?

  It has been 70 years since the end of WW2. I know, it's not something pleasant to celebrate nor to remind people of due to traumatic events that have happened for the generations before us but it did changed the world; however, WW2 would have never happened if it wasn't for WW1. The great icons of WW2 like Hitler, Stalin, Roosevelt, Mussolini, and Churchill were  students of war somewhere in the 1914 to 1918. WW1 changed them, so they changed the world in WW2.  

 (Entschuldigen Sie = Excuse me)

One thing that I also learnt was that Hitler had a very hard and tough life before he became the Führer. He was an orphan, a drop out and an outcast. 

He was also heavily rejected by some art school,

so heavy that he didn't even get to go inside the school! 

He was also rejected as a volunteer soldier in Ausrtia so he went to Germany 

(because they needed all the help they could get) and was able to enter.

But even in the battle field, he was still treated as an outcast and suffered the gas bomb that 

cause him temporarily blind, had a respiratory problem, and some other illnesses.

There, the way he saw the world became different.......

I'm not idolizing Hitler or anything, but I'm just saying that you wouldn't understand why he did all
the inhuman acts without understanding what he had been through..

think about it. If his parents were still alive and had a happy stable life, he wouldn't end up being  what he was in WW2

It's Filipino, not Tagalog

  Back in the Philippines, we were taught that our official languages are Filipino and English. But some people tend to say "Tagalog" and English. A lot of foreigners and locals (Filipinos) tend to do that way. You would say that it's a common "mistake" . But here's the thing: Filipino is actually a Tagalog-based language as given to us as a national language in order to communicate with other fellow Filipino citizens. And here's how it goes...

   The Philippines has about 182 languages: 19 are well recognizable and 4 are extinct (no exaggeration right there, I Googled it). The constitution decided to have Tagalog as its foundation but it is later changed or developed by adding few words from other dialects and became Pilipino. 

Pilipino is the strictest form of the language here and there are many technical reasons why but primarily if one were to use Pilipino you are not supposed to use borrowed words from foreign languages like c, x, f, and q, it only speaks in the purest Pilipino words you can find which none of us can't do that anymore (they are sarcastically call it "deep" words) .Later, few more letters were added after the Spanish cultural influences and the American occupation.

To make it clear as an example: the letter/sound of "F" was originally non-existent, that's why Filipino (non-strict form) is spelled with an F.  It has also been more politically appropriate that the Philippine national language is referred to as Filipino and not Tagalog.

"So why make it a big deal?"

   For starters, I'm not a native Tagalog speaker, I am Visayan yet I have no hatred or sense of despise towards my fellow countrymen......a little......BUT! It is extremely important to learn this distinctions because doing otherwise would be a disservice to the rest of the other languages, along with Tagalog, that are the native tongues of the vast majority (almost 90%) of Pilipinos such as Cebuano or Bisaya, Ilokano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Waray, Chavacano, Kapampangan, Bicolano, Pangasinan an etc. 

This is also to avoid any offence to non native Tagalog speakers because it may be an insult or create an unfairness towards non native Tagalog speakers. (we're a little bit sensitive on it)

I mean- for goodness' sake we're a group of islands and the diversity and regionalism is ridiculously high, we all came from different tribes, beliefs and cultures but the bloody constitution is the only one that keeps us as one nation. If you say that our language is Tagalog and not Filipino, then you are referring only the Tagalog region and not the whole country itself. 

In other words, be cautions when you are talking to a Filipino. Not all of us are from the same region   :)

References:

https://www.smartling.com/blog/tagalog-filipino/

http://www.bakitwhy.com/articles/difference-between-languages-tagalog-and-filipino

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-right-way-to-refer-to-the-national-language-of-the-Philippines-Filipino-or-Tagalog-Is-there-any-difference-in-using-these-two-names