Entertainment: Comparing Mob Psycho 100's Psychic Abilities with Real Life Blessings - An Essay

"If everyone is not special, Maybe you can be what you want to be" - Mob Choir

I used to watch a lot of anime, but I grew out of it in my teenage years. I just don't find it appealing anymore and admittedly, a lot of it's made for a younger audience. Most of the mainstream stuff are Shonen or Moe and I really don't like those genres. I'm not going to get into why I dislike them. Anime that I really enjoy nowadays are stuff like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, which makes sense because I fall under the Young Male target demographic now.

More importantly for this essay is I also really like Deconstructions. For those of you who don't know, you can check out its long, elaborate definition in the link I inserted. But to put it shortly and simply, a deconstruction is a type of storytelling that picks apart the commonalities of its peers and what makes it work i.e. it's when you "break apart" and analyze a story. Deconstruction isn't a genre of anime -- you can find deconstructions in any medium. They tend to look like parodies but what differentiates deconstructions from parodies is that they're done with the intent of making the viewer think of other similar works, instead of making the viewer laugh through satire which is what parodies normally do. There are two deconstruction animes I currently love: Mob Psycho 100 and Asobi Asobase. I already wrote about Asobi Asobase so we'll just go straight ahead with Mob Psycho 100.

I'd love to get some of the more official art on this blog
but I have to use the license-free images thanks to copyright issues.

Mob Psycho 100 is a Deconstruction anime that's hilarious and epic as much as it's deep. Lady Geek Girl does a great job explaining how Mob Psycho 100 deconstructs the Shonen genre here. If you're in the mood to philosophically contemplate the media you're consuming, you should definitely check it out! That's not what I want to expound on here.

In a nutshell, Mob Psycho 100 is about Shigeo Kageyama, nicknamed "Mob" by everyone around him. Mob is your average middle-school boy. He's a bit timid, frail, and he's also not the brightest. He has a crush on a girl that everyone says is way out of his league, and he works part-time for a conman. It doesn't sound like a lot of fun being Mob but what makes him unique is he's blessed with the strongest psychic abilities in the world. He's the closest thing to God when he lets his powers fly out of control. He can easily throw cars in the air and destroy buildings with his mind alone (I know I said he isn't the brightest but you don't need to be smart to be psychic!) The catch of the anime is that Mob doesn't want to use his powers. Not at all. Other psychics exist in Mob's universe and unlike Shigeo, they abuse their powers whenever they think it would benefit them. Mob's enemies are psychics who see themselves as special. They believe the world should put them on a pedestal to be worshipped for their specialty. They get a dose of reality after their run-in with Mob and they realize they're not so special after all. Mob beats them because his powers are on a wholly different level. Pitting the other psychic's powers to Mob's is like comparing a bunch of ants to the freakin' Sun.

With that said, Psychic Abilities play an important role in the world of Mob Psycho 100. It's become the general identifier of someone's specialty in the anime. The stronger your Psychic Abilities, the more special you are. Mob doesn't see himself as someone special even though he has God-given powers. This drives the other, weaker psychics mad because they've been completely invalidated. Psychic powers don't exist in real life, though. The theme of the anime is to be as down-to-earth as possible, so it'd be nice to have a reference on what exactly does the show pertain to exactly.

Below I've listed some real life attributes we have in real life. I'll try to compare them to Psychic Abilities in the anime to see which makes the best match.

1) Capacity for Violence

What if they're basically just punching each other with their minds?

This is an obvious one because there's so much destruction and fighting in the anime. It's wrong, but the reality is it's easy to get others to do what you want them to do, and get what you want, by using force. This is exactly what the Scar group (Mob's psychic enemies) do with their powers. Although more or less, an individual's capacity for violence isn't necessarily something someone is born with -- it can be trained -- this fits well given that Shonen anime are also basically about fighting, starring protagonists blessed with inexplicably strong powers.

Mob could be a middle-school boy with unholy bloodlust deep within him that freaks out adults like the Scars. They must think they're so tough just because they have a bit of bloodlust in them too. This situation would be somewhat similar to a bunch of fighters (Scar), who underestimate an up-and-coming street fighter with enormous potential (Mob).

I thought of the equivalence of violence to Psychic Abilities during the scene in one of the last episodes of season 2 where Mob scolded a bunch of weak psychics using their powers to break windows and loot abandoned shops. Mob can do the exact same thing, but he doesn't because he's in control of his bloodlust. He'd rather be a productive member of society.

2) Good Looks

Psychics are just a bunch of Narcissists

Psychic Abilities can be a symbolism for good looks because charisma and attractiveness is just something someone is born with. The reality is some people are born more attractive than others. Sometimes this gets into the heads of the charming people, and they start to think that they're more special than everybody else just because of their good looks.

It's possible that the symbolism here is that all the psychics are much more attractive than the general crowd, so they believe they deserve to be worshipped on a pedestal. Mob can be someone so young and so incredibly handsome who doesn't agree with this worldview, and he prefers to work hard to put some meaning into his life. This upsets the psychics because they know very well that without their charisma they're nothing in life. Mob, who has something going on for him while also being the best looking out of all of them, reminds them of their inferiority.

I'm stretching a bit here, but one of my evidences for thinking this is during Mob's fight with Teru, who proclaimed "I am the main character of the story" because he sees himself as so charismatic.

3) High IQ

Einstein may not have been a psychic,
but at least he contributed to society

High IQ works really well as a match for Psychic Abilities because both of these things are mental in nature. Similar to good looks, this is something that people are simply born with. Some people are gifted with high IQs, while others are not so lucky. IQ doesn't change drastically over the course of a person's life.

I thought of the connection between the two because there are so many pseudo-intellectuals online who like to compare IQs as if they're measuring d*ck lengths. Someone would say their IQ is 117, and another would jump out of nowhere to say their IQ is 121. All they do is spend a lot of time comparing IQs and arguing about esoteric topics on the internet instead of doing anything productive. People with high IQs also lack in the EQ department, so oftentimes they act like buttholes.

That goes exactly against one of the core messages of the anime: Just be a Good Person, okay?

I'm also reminded again of the scene where Mob scolds the weak psychics for breaking stuff and asks them a bunch of questions related to being a productive member of society, like if they know how to craft the glass they broke, manufacture the can they stole, or plant the seeds of the tree that creates the ingredients for the soda they didn't pay for. What's the point of having a high IQ if you're just going to spend all of your time arguing?

4) Money/Social Class

Psychics and the Bourgeoisie have one thing in common:
They're entitled

Out of all the items on this list, I think this is the one where I really stretch out. Regardless, I still see plenty of similarities between what the show's trying to say about Psychic Abilities, and our real life "power" of Money/Social Class.

Status is something we're born with. If we're born middle-class we'll probably die as middle-class. Likewise, if we were born as part of the lower class, we'd probably still be lower-class when we die. Moving up or down a status is actually quite difficult. Obviously, moving up is a lot harder than moving down. Our status carries money, and money is power.

I thought about this when I realized Teru was a popular kid in his own school. Normally it's the rich kids who become popular. The privilege associated with rich individuals give them the upper hand when it comes to sports, getting respect, and talking to the opposite sex. I also see a similarity between Psychic Powers and Money in the last episode of Season 2. Toichiro became so strong because he saved up his powers for over 20 years, kind of like how you can save money up.

5) Mental Illness

This looks nearly identical to that one scene in the opening!

This is the last one on the list because I like to save the best for last.

Mental Illness connects with Psychic Abilities because they're both psychological in nature (duh), and they both play a part when it comes to a person's emotions. Nowadays the term "Mental Illness" is used way too much, to the point that the term has lost both its meaning and value, and maybe that's one thing Mob Psycho 100 is trying to show.

There are many self-proclaimed psychics in the show, but a lot of them are fake. These psychics can be seen as "man-children" who just want to be seen as unique by society to get special treatment. The Scars, although they really do have psychic powers i.e. they really do have mental illnesses, think they deserve special treatment for it. Not Mob. Mob might have a really severe mental illness that he can't control, but he doesn't let that get to his head as him being "entitled". He understands that his mental illness isn't something to be celebrated. In fact, he sees it as a curse, so he tries to live his life as if it doesn't exist.

I thought of this connection between mental illnesses and psychic abilities because of the traumatic experience Mob had with his little brother, when they were bullied. Mob unconsciously used his powers to kill the bullies, but he badly injured his little brother in the process. Ever since that incident, his brother Ritsu's been afraid of him whenever he has episodes. Ritsu doesn't want his brother to be stressed out because he might explode again.

As someone who is mentally ill, I can say with certainty my sisters really don't like it when I have one of my episodes. They try to steer clear from it as much as possible.

Conclusion:

I know just last week I said I made a really long blog post, but apparently this one is longer than my blog post about why video games are a good way to waste your time. What have we learned from all that I've written about Mob and the show's Psychic Abilities?

I think it's safe to say that the author, One, did a good job of choosing Psychic Abilities as the "power type" that makes the special characters in the anime, well... special. Since Psychic Abilities have a lot in common with a bunch of other attributes like the ones I listed above, its very easy to relate to the anime. The show clearly wants us to relate it with our own lives, so it let's us see what we want to see since Psychic Abilities actually don't exist in real life. We're allowed to fill in the gap on what would it really be in real life.

What do you think the Psychic Abilities represent in Mob Psycho 100? Is it different from the ones I mentioned in the list? Let me know in the comments below :)

Entertainment: Why Video Games are a Good Way to Waste your Time

We've all heard it before: Video Games are a waste of time. A few decades ago the narrative against video games was that they instill violent behavior into the players. Recent studies have effectively debunked this. Nowadays in this hyper-paced society, the stigma against the medium has shifted to calling it out as an incredibly distracting way to past the time. Supposedly it's so distracting that it can put any and all productivity in your life to a halt. Gamers are seen as lethargic wastes of time and space with no redeeming qualities.

Clearly from the title of this blog post, you can see that I disagree with this stance. I don't rebuke it wholeheartedly -- I do think that under certain circumstances, playing video games is a waste of somebody's time -- but video games are a good way to waste your time.

Creating sculptures in Minecraft boosts creativity :)

First, a little bit of background about me: right now I don't play video games as much as I used to, and I'm definitely not young enough anymore to see the appeal in the hottest trending video games like Fortnite and Minecraft, but gaming has been a huge part of my life. I've been playing video games since I was in kindergarten. My dad was a gamer himself in his younger years and he encouraged me to play video games a lot since he wasn't interested in sports at all. So in a nutshell playing video games was something I've learned to do almost since birth.

Nowadays I've grown out of video games a bit. I was able to graduate college and get a job. I go to the gym and practice sports more often than I play video games. And I even participate in volunteer activities for the betterment of my local community.

Other people would be pissed at their younger selves for playing too much video games. Yes, I'm pissed at my younger self for not learning about the outside world sooner, but instead of getting mad at video games for sucking me into an unproductive hellhole for the majority of my childhood, I actually want to thank it for shaping into the person that I am. I don't know who I'd be if you took video games out of my system!

I've thought about this a lot, so below I've listed down some very beneficial things you can get out of playing video games. I wanted to make this list as concrete as possible with original items. As of the writing of this paragraph I haven't taken a look at what others have to say about the benefits of playing video games but I'm 90% sure that "Stress reliever" and "improves hand-eye coordination" are some of those items.

1. You get to appreciate Good Software Design

I want to start off with this benefit because it's something just about everyone takes for granted that I don't see often in these kinds of lists. That's understandable; Good Design is something you don't even notice. When you play video games, the main menu, the controller in your hands, the way the game mechanics are mapped to the said controller, and the layout of the levels are all made by people who graduated with a bachelor's degree in some form of design or another.


Game Maker's Took Kit is a deep dive sort of Youtube channel that delves into the systems that game developers have created for their games. Here's a video of them talking about God of War's fighting system that's nearly 20mins long. It goes to show that there's a lot to be said about the design of the game's combat system. Check out their channel for other videos if you want to learn more nitty gritty technical aspects of your favorite games!

There are constants and variables to the designs of different video games, and the developers in the industry continue to innovate on what's already been built. All of the work is done to provide us gamers with the most seamless and intuitive experience as possible; aren't video games just discs and softwares full of great experiences? I dream of a world where technology's advanced enough that real-life experiences like using our phones and navigating our world is as smooth as playing a video game.

2. Playing a lot of Video Games makes you experience-rich

My first point transitions nicely into my second. Video games aren't materialistic objects. People buy games for the experiences contained in the software design. To the outsider, playing video games look like you're just rotting away on a couch, pushing buttons on a glowing toy. Arguably that really is what's happening but inside the mind of a gamer she's an adventurer, or a fighter, a hunter maybe, or maybe even a hero. It may sound cliche and ironic, but the meme still stands...

"I'm a gamer not because I don't have a life, but because I choose to have many."

Video games let us do what we can't normally do in our lives, risk-free, at an affordable price. Some of us would love to pack their bags and go hiking or exploring, but there are tons of responsibilities and obligations we're tethered to that we simply can't afford to sever for our ultimately short-lived pleasure. Some of us would like to start bar fights without the fear of actually losing any teeth. There are video games that let you skydive, obviously. Video games let us live some of these fantasies of ours.

3. Video Games are immersive, educational toys

I like to call video games "educational toys". These experiences that games gives us, especially the really grand "Triple A" games with millions of dollars in budget, are interwoven together in a way to be as immersive and mind-blowing as possible. Game producers often do this by including an element of learning into the mix.

Everyone knows a little bit of something about Norse Mythology, although I think it's safe to say that only very few of us can discuss it on a deep level. Most people based almost all of their knowledge on that mythos from Marvel's Thor and Loki. That's all well and good but some gamers are able to truly expound their knowledge on this topic if they play God of War for the PS4. The game is gruesome and violent, but at the same time it immerses you into the myths and creatures that Norse mythology has to offer. Personally, I think God of War did such a great job on immersing the player into the mythology that I finished the game with a drive to learn more about the gods and goddesses the characters of the game are based on.

Assassin's Creed II recreates the architecture that perpetuated Renaissance Italy

The entire Assassin's Creed series teaches players a lot about history. The whole game basically has you running around doing parkour and stabbing people in the back, but what makes it educational is the whole setting of where the parkour and stabbing takes place. Unbeknownst  to players who are focused on their primary objective of assassinating the target the game tells them to kill, they learn a little bit more about history, architecture, and culture along the way thanks to the game's backdrop. A specific example of this is Assassin's Creed II which takes place in Italy during the Renaissance. Players are able to appreciate Renaissance architecture around Tuscany, Venice, and the Vatican as they traverse the rooftops. They assassinate real-life political figures like the incestuous Borgia family and the Pope. The player's character, Ezio, is friends with Leonardo Da Vinci, so we even learn a little bit about the personal life of the genius outside of painting, like his desire to learn anatomy, or his sexual preference in a small comment during one of his conversations with Ezio.

There have been education professionals who've dabbled in software design to find interactive ways to teach others. These kind of works always get hit by criticism that the lessons and knowledge the game wants to share are too forced. These professionals can only wish to do it as well as real video games (with million dollars in budget) can.

4. Video Games can make you more outspoken, decisive, and socially competent

Eloquence in a topic is directly proportional to the amount of knowledge the speaker has in that field. Since video games are enthralling experiences filled with precious nuggets of trivia and facts that stick to the players long after they've finished playing the game, they grow as a person who can handle conversations that might include topics that they've seen before. God of War and Assassin's Creed II can definitely help college students with their recitations in their mythology and history classes.

Recently released video games nowadays tend to include an element of decision-making in social settings. These simulated social situations pit players against all sorts of different archetypes of people as either friend or foe. For introverted people who are too afraid to go outside and talk to people, these make-believe interactions at the very least trains the minds of the players on what they could possibly say to steer real conversation in the way that they want it to go.

A really great example of this is the video game Persona 5. The player's power is directly proportional to the strength of the bonds he has with the people he meets in the game, (he is literally running on the power of friendship if you think about it). The only way to get the true ending of the game is to be consistent with your values, and to uphold the friendship your character has made along the way. You get the bad ending if you decide to backstab your friends. This kind of gameplay design reinforces the player's moral integrity so that they decide to uphold their own values in real life instead of betraying their real friends.

Some people have lots of fun in this kind of environment. Not most gamers.

Although gamers will hardly ever be the life of the party, video games have Multiplayer, which allows players to interact with real humans. Overwatch is my prime example for this, because it's a game that focuses entirely on multiplayer to engage players (I also want to add that Overwatch is the perfect example of a game with intuitive design that gives players the smoothest experience possible). Playing Overwatch teaches the player teamwork and communication. Overwatch lets you select from a huge cast of "Heroes" with different strengths and weaknesses. It's up to the player's team to talk it over regarding what role they should play to ensure victory against the other team. It's not very different from playing a team sport like basketball.

5. Playing video games has more takeaways and less costs than going to nightclubs, or browsing social media.

This is my final point that I want to bring home since the whole topic of this blog post is about whether or not video games are a waste of time. It's important to compare video games with other ways to spend your time to see the relative advantages and disadvantages games have over them.

This meme sums up the kind of discussion I want to spur from this blog post

Going to nightclubs occasionally with friends is super fun, I admit, but making it a weekly thing isn't productive at all when you think about it. Nas Daily sums up the problems with partying in one of his videos. First of all, nightclubs are crazy overpriced, so it sucks to be you if  you're always being peer pressured to join these things. Second, the booze is not only expensive, but it's obviously detrimental to your health. You're going to end up with a beer belly from clubbing unless you dance really really hard on the dance floor. Third, you go home in the morning and wake up in the afternoon with a crappy hangover, so you spend the whole day after clubbing doing absolutely nothing. It's even worse when drugs become involved.

So clubbing is expensive and not good for your financial or physical well-being. On the opposite end of the spectrum is browsing social media, which is something almost everybody does in their spare time nowadays. It's become ubiquitous because everyone's already wired into the internet and the algorithms know each individual inside-and-out to constantly give everyone something that they want to see. On the bright side, this is a very low-cost way to spend your time, but on the downside, browsing social media doesn't improve you as well as video games could. From my perspective, Video games can be seen as an investment while browsing social media can be seen as not making an investment at all. Although you can interact on social media, it's not as interactive as video games.

Unlike clubbing or browsing social media, there's a whole lot of self improvement that can be found in video games. The other items on this list are literally the benefits that I mean so I don't have to repeat any of that here.

Conclusion:
This might be the longest blog post I've written ever, so hopefully we've learned something from all of this.

I do agree that video games are a waste of time. This is definitely true if you're playing video games when you have other things you should be doing. It's also most especially true if you play a game for 4 hours or more when it isn't even your day job. But still, video games are a good way to waste your time because they help you grow as a person, whether you know about it or not. video games imprint something on you and in the long-run, games will become a big part of your character that shaped you up as a person thanks to the experiences you get from them.

Only Twitch Streamers, E-sports gamers, and Let's Players have the right to play video games the whole day without it being a "waste of time" because that's their livelihood. It's literally productive for them to keep playing video games.

What are some video games that you think are really beneficial for a gamer to play? Name me your top 5 list in the comments below. Bonus points if each game has a short explanation :)

Fitness: Watching the Ultimate Knockout Challenge (UKC) and what I've learned

Back in May 2018, me and my dad went to Paranaque to watch young fighters from all over the nation compete in amateur matches. I didn't know anyone competing at the event personally. I just wanted to spectate to see what the fighters have to offer. After all has been done, I can finally compose my thoughts on the event I just witnessed. In summary, it was kind of epic.

This annual event, known as the Ultimate Knockout Challenge (UKC), is organized by Elorde Gym. It's at a level that's applicable to students and regulars of combat sports a bit below what would be internationally considered amateur boxing. The skill levels that I saw were those of novice practitioners. They aren't brawling away so blindly, but they also aren't throwing lightning-fast jabs.

If you're a young aspiring combatant, you might want to spectate one of these first to have a feel of what exactly it is you're getting into while you work your way up the ranks.

The fighting is as real as it can get; I saw a fighter get knocked down, and I saw another one got his nose bleeding after the fight. So anyone that joins the UKC deserves respect, imo. The rules of the bouts follow standard Amateur boxing rules: 3 rounds that are 2mins long each, with 30 seconds rests in between. You can find more of the rules here.

It was definitely an eye-opening experience for me. The fee to spectate the event is just around 200Php. I'd recommend fight fans to watch it if they don't have the means to attend any other fighting events. I think "watching a fight in person" should be in everyone's bucket list of life.

What do you think of the UKC, are you content to just watching from the sidelines or you've thought about competing in it one day? Let me know so I can buy a ticket and watch your big debut :)

Entertainment: Dan the Man Mobile Game Review: Good Retro Fun!

I recently stumbled into this video game called Dan the Man by HalfBrick Studios on the App Store. I'm not much of a mobile gamer but I loved this game so much I got inspired to write something good about it. I did some extra snooping around and found their official website here. Go check it out!

Bright and action-packed!

Let me just get right into it. Dan the Man exudes the essence of a bunch of things, but one of the first things that it reminded me of is Scott Pilgrim Vs the World: The Video Game. For those of you who don't know, that's a game released in 2010 that's based on the movie with the same name. If you haven't played it nor seen the movie, you should check it out. I'm not writing this blog post to talk about Scott Pilgrim though, so I'm not going to link to any of that (I also think it's a movie that you should jump into completely blind 'cause it's more fun that way. The trailer gives out way too much information).

From here on out it's nothing but Dan the Man. From the story, to the, presentation, and then to the gameplay. Lmao just kidding. I'm the kind of guy who looks for similarities between things of the same medium, so I can't help it if my blog post detours into other video games for a few sentences. I'll be going over the story, presentation, and gameplay in that order, but expect me to gush about a different game while I go through them.

Story
I was surprised to know there was a short web series for Dan the Man. I'm glad the game pointed that out. I highly recommend you check it before you play the game because the game picks off where the web series ends. Even though the story isn't very integral to the game, you can still be confused as to why you're doing things or why does it look like you're working with the bad guys.

In a nutshell, the story revolves around Dan, a belligerent fighter who prefers to solve everything with violence. Dan sees his world as if it were a video game, so when he messes up and dies he loses a life and he's thrown back into the past with memories of his previous life. He can then take a different course of action if he wanted to. He meets a bunch of different friends, and girls, and unearths conspiracies as the plot ensues.

I have to say it gets pretty wild though. The content of the web series isn't really for kids *ahem* Stage 4 *ahem*. The game however, tones down on the mature content. Dan the Man isn't the pinnacle of storytelling like Game of Thrones per se, but the web series is ballsy enough to make a few unexpected plot twists here and there.

The first episode of the web series -- aptly titled Stage 1 -- doesn't really show much of the "mature content" I mentioned, but I think it's something both kids and adults can like. Colorful animation for the youngsters and all-too-relatable dilemmas for those 20 years old and up.

Presentation
I honestly fell in love with the presentation of the game. It put a smile on my face when I saw the sprites and the cutscenes of the prologue because it's so unique from the minimalist design of most trending mobile games like Balls Bricks Breaker. Dan the Man's going for a charmingly retro feel and I'd say they nailed that down rather nicely. The pixelated environment is vibrant and crafted with care. You'll traverse all sorts of different places in Dan the Man, and each area sports its own different motif like a castle, the woods, or the sewers. If I had to draw a comparison of the presentation of the game with something that's more or less the same, I'd bring up the classic 2D shooter Metal Slug. I think the creators took inspiration from it; because Stage 1 has Marco, one of the main characters of Metal Slug, making a cameo on the TV.

The music of the game is also super catchy.  Much like Scott Pilgrim Vs the World: The Video Game, Dan the Man plays upbeat, 8-bit tunes as you smack and whack bad guys in the face. The "Stage Complete" audio queue starts to become endearing after a while.

Gameplay
The core mechanics of the game is 60% a beat-em-up and 40% a platformer. Both of which it does really well. The game is really easy on the first levels but later on the casual gamer will have a hard time because the jumping gets trickier and the baddies get tougher. It's nothing a seasoned gamer can't beat, but if you find yourself lacking the skills and the time to acquire the said skills, you can always grind in Survival mode to make enough Gold to buy all the great upgrades.

There's a lot of variety in the thugs that you fight, and you have a huge arsenal of moves and weapons to choose from to wreck havoc on anyone standing in your way. The combat is accessible because it's possible to button mash your way through the entire game on the lowest difficulty setting, yet the game will also reward you for putting in some variety into your combinations.

The level design is also pretty clever. There are challenging platformer sections but they won't be too frustrating. There are also secret areas and items hidden in every level (A whole lot like Super Mario Bros.) so it's fun to explore the different places.


So there you have my short review of the game. What are your thoughts, do you think the game deserves a sequel? Let's talk about it after you've finished the story :)

Entertainment: Starbucks Arts and Crafts

I originally intended for the Entertainment category of my blog to be about stuff like movies and video games (prime example is this post of mine), but just recently I had a really entertaining experience with my girlfriend at a Starbucks. Below is the product of our creativity.

Cute and wholesome, right?

Actually, she did most of the work while I just took pictures. My hands aren't as crafty as hers. She has a habit of crafting origami cranes whenever she gets her hands on anything soft and foldable, like a piece of tissue. She seems to do this with her brain on automatic-mode, and I'm kind of envious of that. I need to apply myself more to create an origami sculpture that doesn't look like a ball of crumpled paper.

Here's a video of the above scarecrow being made.

She created several other things besides the Scarecrow too, like a bunch of paper people from the receipt.

Six paper people

We made them worshippers.

I'd worship someone ten times bigger than me too.

Obviously you don't have to be at Starbucks just to do this. I remember I used to make smiley faces on a plate using ketchup from McDonald's when I was a kid. I wonder if the employees cleaning up tables find any of this impressive.

What kind of creations were you able to produce in your spare time at a place to eat? Let me know in the comments below :)

Other: Trying out Dip (aka Chewing Tobacco) in the Philippines

This is what a tin of Grizzly dip looks like.

I love trying new things. Whether it be food or some exciting activity or just something to spice up the day like taking a different route in my commute,I'm up for it. I believe life ought to be full of many awesome experiences.

It's inevitable I'd end up trying dip one day. Why would I pass up the chance to try something that's not easily accessible here? I managed to get a hold of the stuff thanks to my cousin, who works as a bartender. A cowboy soldier stopped by his bar and asked if we have any dip in this part of the world while he was drinking. We said that kind of stuff isn't popular around here, so he was happy to give us some (for $5.00...) so we can savor a new experience.

Thanks Cousin!

Before I get to it, here's a bit of an introduction on my nicotine intake habits. I'm not a smoker. I've tried smoking numerous times whenever my friends hand me a stick from their packs, but I've never really been addicted to it.

I drink lite beer more than I smoke, at least once every two weeks, but that's a different story.

So with all that said, I was feeling ballsy enough to try dip, and I don't think I'll get addicted to it. As one of my friends said back then, I have a will of steel when it comes to these addictive things.

One more thing I'd like to add before I get to my experiences is that Filipinos like to smoke and drink, but we can't handle too much. Hard drinks like whiskey and vodka are taken sparingly. Filipinos prefer the minty and light Marlboro cigarettes (the ones you "pop" first) over the ones with the red butts and stronger tobacco levels.

As of the writing of this post I've already tried dip twice. The first time I tried it, I diapered it in tissue for extra precaution, the second time I did it I was in the office at work, and I dipped it the way it was meant to be done; with no tissue at all.

Warning
Dipping is dangerous to your health. Much more dangerous than smoking. I talk about it in detail here but I implore you to understand the risks before you think about trying it.

Below are some things I found interesting about dipping.

This is what dip looks like when you open the tin.

1. It's called chewing tobacco in some parts of the US but you don't chew it at all.

Doesn't matter what part of the US midwest you're in. Nobody chews dip. The stuff is moist and juicy so if you do chew it you're squeezing out all of the juice it already has. Not even the toughest cowboys can take all the juice of a pinch of dip all at once with a straight face. You take a pinch from the tin and put the stuff in between your lower lip and gum.

2. You'll feel a slightly acidic burn between your lip and your gum

This slight pain that dippers feel might turn off Filipinos from trying the stuff. Your lip and gums feel this way because the nicotine from the dip is entering your blood stream through the tissue in your mouth. It only hurts at the start, but after a few minutes, the pain will start to subside.

The video below was taken while I was at a province in the Philippines called Pampanga. So basically I was taking dip in the countryside and I never felt more like a cowboy than I did at that moment.


3. Suck, spit, and... soothe yourself.

I let the wad of tobacco sit in between my lower lip and gum. I occasionally suck at it to get some juices out for some flavor. The juice isn't meant to be swallowed so once it builds up I spit it out in a cup. Do this enough times and you'll -- as the cowboy put it -- enter a state of euphoria.

I got high and the tension in my muscles disappeared. It's a lot stronger than any sort of chemical effect I got from smoking regular cigarettes. I got so high it made me nauseous I had to take a time out from work.

4. Once you're done, spit out the tobacco.

On average, dippers keep the wad of tobacco in their mouths for about 45mins. Smokers can keep a stick alive for a mere 5mins. 10mins at most. Once the wad of tobacco has already been exhausted, I had to spit it out otherwise I'd vomit (the same with the spit that built up in my mouth; if I swallowed it then I'd be puking). I did spit out my wad, but it broke apart in my mouth so I accidentally swallowed some bits and I puked anyway.

So there you have it. My experience with dipping. It was one helluva experience. I got loose, high, and nauseous. I also puked. Will I do it again? Absolutely. I have a feeling I'll be dipping again some time soon. Does it mean I'm already addicted to it? I hope not. Even if I was, I only have one tin with me. Once it's fully consumed I either have to track down the American cowboy who gave us a tin in the first place, or travel halfway across the world to get my fix. Neither of which are going to happen soon.

I don't see this getting popular in the Philippines anytime soon. I tried introducing my officemates who smoke to it, and they just found it weird. Not everyone is ready yet to try out new experiences like me.

How about you? If you had the chance to dip, are you willing to try it despite the possibility of puking and feeling sick? Let me know in the comments below :)

Travel: Stereotyping the 4 Classes of Filipinos and what Malls they frequent

I was inspired to create this blog post after hearing about this reddit thread from my sister. If you haven't seen it yet, you should go check it out. I was both aghast and entertained by the audacity of the posts. It's a... peculiar way to look at the society in the Philippines. The first one is still my favorite and it's what motivated me to do some research.

During my research on the different classes of people in the Philippines, I found this very interesting e-zine post that does the job expressing what I wanted to do by writing my own blog post. It's entertaining and on point but the more I read it the more I notice how outdated it is. The author wrote about CD players, cheesy slang, and cable TVs, all of which have been rendered obsolete by the year 2010. Where's the mention of Netflix, first world problems in a third world country, and social media?

The articles listed a bunch of Jologs words. Who talks like this in this day and age?

This will not stand. We are long overdue for a post that mocks the widening gap between the classes in an era powered by smartphones and memes. I would happily create this blog post solely for the sake of fun.

Warning:
Sincere apologies for those who are easily offended. I'm sure what I write down is going to sound judgmental to some people, but keep in mind this is just a joke based on my observances and I don't actually mean any of it seriously. Take the list below with a grain of salt, but at the same time, take heed of it because Stereotypes are based on some level of truth.

I've included the malls the different classes frequent so you can see what they look for yourself.

1. Class A (Upper Class)

The 1%. These are the kind of people that most definitely studied in Ateneo or De La Salle University. They're most likely born rich. These include the most powerful family names like Villar, Sy, Ayala, Tan, and then some other clans in the Philippines that own family businesses. Although Class A enjoys the benefits of having so much money, some of them live tumultuous lives prone to scandals that the public eye loves to see.

We're talking about billionaires who have money to last a dozen lifetimes. They live in gigantic mansions, and they probably own a pet albino tiger. I've met a Filipino billionaire at his own home before and I'm not exaggerating when I say their wealth seems immeasurable.

Class A people are too rich to casually talk about investing in stocks; they're more interested in Real Estate. Most of their focus goes into running the empire that they own.

Gamers in this class play with state-of-the-art toys, e.g. VR Headsets like the Oculus Rift, and the hottest new video game consoles like the Xbox One, PS4, and high-end PCs. They play pricey AAA games (For non-gamers, "Triple A Games" are the kind of games made by big corporations with millions of dollars in budget) like God of War, Grand Theft Auto V, and Overwatch.

They normally have Chinese or Western features, i.e. their skin complexion is on the light side, and either their eyes are squinted or their nose is pointed. Rich people in the Philippines tend to talk in hushed tones, instead of being really loud in public places. They wear clean and simple clothing that tells little about their actual net worth.

The youth of Class A loves to party. They prefer nightclubs and hotel bars. They aren't afraid to do a bit of dirty dancing.

A couple of pictures of Okada. This was the last mall I visited that I took some pics of so here you go.

Malls they frequent: Casinos like Okada, City of Dreams, and Solaire. Greenbelt. Shangri-La.

2. Class B (Upper-Middle Class)

Class B people aren't very different from Class A people in terms of clothing or mannerisms. Both classes are comprised of people who have a sense of subtle, elegant fashion, and they talk in Conyo. Their sentences tend to lean more on English than Filipino, and their English grammar is always impeccable. Even though they're Filipinos, they will struggle with Filipino words e.g. if you ask them what day it is, they'll tell you it's Friday, instead of Biyernes.

Although Class A people are born rich, Class B people are the kind of people who rose up from the lower class. These are the people who worked rigorously up from Class C through financial discipline and responsible work ethic. Thanks to their hard work, they live comfortable lives with just enough money to not worry too much about financial stress, and they aren't interesting enough to the public to be swarmed by the media.

Kids under this class are capable of entering expensive schools like Ateneo and La Salle, but out of interest of saving money, not every parent in Class B will find it necessary.

Class B people will invest in stocks and real estate, because they have the funds and they normally think in the long-term.

This class is up to date and savvy enough to download Netflix and Spotify on their phones. They are willing to actually pay for their entertainment as opposed to the more cost-efficient lower class.

Millennials in both Class A and Class B experience First World Problems in a Third World Country. They are troubled when the cafe they chose to spend the afternoon in doesn't have Wi-Fi. They also have problems with taking a bath when the water hasn't been heated.

When it comes to gaming, both Class A and Class B people have the privilege of owning the latest video game consoles. They also play pricey AAA games. In the end, Class B people tend to play more games than Class A people because the 1% has other things to do than play video games.

Malls they frequent: Robinsons Galleria, Megamall's Mega-Fashion Hall, Podium

3. Class C (Lower-Middle Class)

Most Filipinos fall into this class. A large portion of these people are living paycheck-to-paycheck thanks to the rent and bills they have to pay. They're also probably under an ever-growing mountain of debt, or they have kids, which are either way insanely expensive in the long-run. The numerous, giant billboards advertising products with cheeky puns and local celebrities are targeted at these kind of people.

Their skin complexion tends to cover every shade of brown. They generally aren't as tall as the classes above them, but it's no surprise if someone from this class manages to be of the same height as class A or class B people.

The Class C speak in Taglish, which differs from Conyo because it leans more on Tagalog than English. People in this class and below also count in Spanish. Moreover, when these people talk, they have a distinct palangkera or palangkero voice, which is fairly loud and diverse with intonations.

Class C people wish they could put some money in stocks, but they never actually get around to doing it. Some Class C people manage to get an account with an online broker started, but they end up trading -- not investing -- in our volatile markets so they're essentially gambling, and it incurs more losses than gains.

The people in this class love to post their selfies on Instagram and Facebook. Instead of using Spotify and Netflix, they'll pirate their movies and songs.

Gamers in this class typically play mobile games like Mobile Legends, or they play timeless classics like Dota II or PUBG in poorly furnished PC shops. If they do happen to play AAA games, they'll go out of their way to pirate the game and get it for free, instead of paying for an expensive disc.

When it comes to drinking, this class likes to spend their hard-earned money at resto-bars, ordering buckets of beer filled with San Mig and Red Horse. Afterwards they hit the karaoke place and sing to their heart's content.

Malls they frequent: SM Fairview, Fairview Terraces, Lower levels of Megamall

4. Class D (Lower Class/Below Poverty Line)

This is where we can categorize the squatters that live under bridges. Beggars, Jeepney drivers, and shabby fishball stand owners make up the bulk of the occupations of the people under this class.

They speak absolutely no English whatsoever. They have the darkest complexion of all the classes. They probably don't mean any harm (emphasis on probably; petty crimes are rampant in the Philippines), but their mere presence on the streets make the place feel unsafe.

They partner rice with condiments like ketchup and mayo because meat is too expensive.

Unfortunately, people that can be found below the Poverty Line are beyond hope. Although there are fairy tale stories like that of Manny Pacquiao where he rose from rags to riches, those kind of stories are literally one in a million.

Basically you get the point of this class.

Malls they frequent: StarMall or Ever Gotesco. They can't afford to go malling elsewhere, but Pedro Gil in Manila is a good example of a street infested with them.


So there you have it, a lengthy overview of the different classes of the Philippines in the year of our lord 2019. For the lower classes, you should strive to be a part of the class above us :) Are you already Class A at the top? Then congratulations because you literally have it better than most of the people in this country. If you're one of the people from the upper class, then you ought to show some humility for those that aren't as fortunate as you.

What do you think of my list? Let me know if you have any comments or violent reactions :)