Some 90's Filipino Edutainment shows I've watched as anime dudes
...because why not
Imagine their theme songs as their 'character songs' haha
PS: These are the only shows that I saw on tv. I didn't have any time to see the later edutainment shows past the year 2000s hehe. I've been busy at school whole day
Sine'skwela ( Cine-school) teaches about science
Hiraya Manawari (Reach your dreams/may your dreams come true) teaches values
Bayani (Hero) teaches about history
Math-Tinik (it's a pun of Math and matinik (sharp)/ Math-sharp) teaches about Math
Am I learning baybayin calligraphy to test a book theory for 1 historically accurate throwaway detail in SAINTS OF STORM AND SORROW? 🫣 Maybe?
And maybe I just spent 3 hours collecting banana leaves from a condemned apartment building, finding Tagalog Tanaga poems that fit thematically with my novel, SAINTS OF STORM AND SORROW translating the tagalog into baybayin symbols then testing writing implements and copying out 4 different sheets to be stored in different environments to test the long term legibility of said poems 🤣 that's also possible!
But in my defense nowhere on the internet was willing to tell me more than the Wikipedia single paragraph of yes South East Asia and the Philippines used banana leaves as a writing surface pre-colonization. So really this was for science. I will likely be writing up a full blog post detailing my recent adventure into historical recreation and banana leaves, once I've finished using all my extra banana leaves to make suman 😋
I’m not much of a fanart person, but I knew I had to make one of Neon depicting her in her hometown Manila. As you probably already know, cultural representation is very important to me, which is why I’m glad that Neon was added into the game (even if I’m not a Duelist player).
This is not only fanart for a video game, but also an expression of Filipino cultural art. How much of Manila’s architecture and other local details can you recognize?
Play it - it’s a looping animation!
(Baybayin fonts designed by Aaron Amar, Lloyd Zapanta, and myself)
Long rainy days of the typhoon season means it’s also time for our local SOUPer heroes. Here are 6 soup suggestions to help fight colds, wet commutes, or to help melt the clouds away in our own minds.
Bisaya halang-halang brings spice, lemongrass, and coconut milk to our lives. Batsoy from Iloilo and Kinalas from Bicol brings us rich, meaty, noodle soups. Tiyula itum from Tausug and Muslim cooks brings us unique flavors from Southern Mindanao, while Luzon’s Tinola and Sinigang make a vegetable-rich soup duo, full of varying shades of green and spice. The names of these soups are illustrated with their names either in Badlit from the Visayas, Basahan from Bicol, or Tagalog Baybayin.
Wherever you are never forget: rain or shine, its sabaw time.
Have you watched Nimona? Whenever she used her wings I couldn’t help but be reminded of Tik-tik from the story “Si Kalipay” by Christina Newhard and Happy Garaje. Tik-tik is Cebuano for a spirit or creature similar to the Tagalog Manananggal, which flies without legs! Hashtag Nimona-nananggal!
Here she is in pre-colonial Visayan attire, inspired by a class I attended held by Karakoa Productions based in Cebu. She’s decked out in gold, with kasikas or arm bands, a kamagi chain worn as a sash, a lambong top, a bakus or belt Batman would be jealous of, and a heavy taklay or gold necklace.
I loved how she transformed into different animals in the film, so I imagined her here shapeshifting into different Philippine wildlife, and used different Philippine scripts to write their names.
Lots of things going on here, which is how I saw Nimona. She is everything, everyone, all at once, and still, Nimona!
Read more about the film, and my art, in my latest blog post:
https://filipeanut.art/pre-colonial-bisaya-nimona-with-shapeshifting-philippine-animals/
Also known as the Palawan Bearcat, it is neither a bear, or a cat! They are more closely related to civets, and can be found in Southeast Asia. In the Philippines they can only be found in Palawan (though one was found in Sulu) (G Veron 2019). They spend most of their lives in the trees (aka they are arboreal), and eat small insects and fruits.
In a study by Myka Allam et al in 2022, Binturong in a certain area in Palawan seemed to love figs. Since Binturongs are also known to speed up germination of fig seeds after pooping them, Palawan Binturong might also be important to fig or ficus seed dispersal!
Follow the groups below to learn more about them!
Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (Facebook)
Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center (Facebook)
ABConservation - Arctictis binturong Conservation (Facebook)
I'm reading the proof pass of SAINTS OF STORM AND SORROW and legit tearing up because the section breaks the typesetter chose looks like baybayin lettering and I'm just so in awe that so many people made so many wonderful thoughtful decisions to turn story of mine into a real book that's about to be in real reader's hands 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺😭🥺🥺🥺🥺
I'm fine I'm just crying about a section break and the hours I spent practicing baybayin writing on banana leaf for a single line and the line surviving all the edits. And how wonderfully real this little dream of mine is becoming
BAYBAYIN CYBER NEON and BAYBAYIN CYBER STENCIL - 2 new free sci-fi / cyberpunk themed Baybayin fonts
New releases from my side project to design futuristic Baybayin fonts, because we don’t have enough of them and I want to encourage more futurism in Philippine art.
New variants of my “Baybayin Cyber” font - one is based on neon lights, and one based on stencil typography.
These fonts are 100% free for personal and commercial use, which means that you already have my permission to use these!
Stay cool with a tall glass or short bowl of haluhalo!
Popularly spelled halo-halo, it is often referred to as our Pambansang Panghimagas or National Dessert (though there are many other candidates). Like many cuisines around the world, halo-halo may also be a “mix-mix” of Filipino and immigrant cuisines.
According to Ambeth R. Ocampo halo-halo has its roots in the introduction of ice, and a dessert called Mongo-ya sold by prewar Japanese immigrants in the Philippines. Mongo-ya was “a plateful of cooked red beans heaped with ground ice, topped with sugar and milk,” according to Kiyoshi Osawa, a Japanese immigrant who lived in the country starting in 1925.
Today halo-halo can contain any number of ingredients, mainly composed of shaved or ground ice, any kind of of sweet beans and sweetened fruits, and milk. The ingredients to your own special bowl or glass of halo-halo can be as unique as you!