Day3/30 - 30 Days of Dogs

Another drawing before bedtime. Skater dog!! I did this for about 15 minutes. I'll try to draw in the morning so I could have more time with the drawing challenge.

Build a habit of drawing by joining Mr. Tom Froese's "Drawing is Important" class on Skillshare. 

Day 2/30 - 30 Days of Dogs

Better late than never! Took a time to draw this before bedtime. Drew this around 20 mins. or so. 

I tried to apply the scratchboars illustration style (inspired by @tri.shiba on Instagram). My hands were to shaky to make cleaner lines 🤣

30 Days of Dogs - Planning and Day 1/30

I started this 30-day challenge after watching Mr. Tom Froese's "Drawing is Important" class on Skillshare. 

These are my tools that I'll be usinv:

And here's my first drawing:

I will be focusing more on drawing in black and white for 30 days. After that, I'll start planning my next 30-day exercises of studying colors using Procreate.

Check out my Dog drawings for the next 29 days! See ya!

A Collection of Haikus

I have written five Haikus in just one day. It was the most productive thing I've done in months. And I'm super proud of myself.

I've experimented by asking five strangers to swap postcards with me. I've written each card a haiku. I gave myself a deadline and here are the results.

Haiku #1

Pleasant break of dawn

The sunlight touches my face

Greets me good morning

Haiku #2

I hate the spotlight

But I want you to see me

It's complicated

Haiku #3

Tulips are in bloom

A bouquet will make her smile

I'm glad we've met

Haiku #4

It would be a dream

To be accidentally

Locked in a bookstore

Haiku #5

Do you like lemons?

I made a sweet juice out of them

Life gave them to me

How to Write a Haiku

Haiku involves writing three lines with certain number of syllables each line. Usually, writers follow the 5-7-5 syllable pattern. As for the topic, you can't just throw in random words. It doesn't have to rhyme either. The most common topics are about nature, seasons, holidays and feelings. You can venture out of topics if you want. 

I have written an example below. 

5 - Hello Summertime

7 - Love the sweet mangoes you give

5 - Let's make a smoothie

The story behind this haiku? Currently, it's summertime here in the Philippines. During this time every year, my family travels north to Bacnotan, La Union. It's my dad's hometown during his youth. What I love about this place is the beach and my grandparents' farm. There's a lot of mango trees there. We get to harvest mangoes and bring two to three sacks of it to our home in the city. Unfortunately, we weren't able to visit since the start of the pandemic.

Anyway, here's a simple step-by-step process in writing a haiku:

1. Pick a topic. I chose a season.

2. Think of words that are related to each other. For me, it's "summer", "mangoes", and "smoothies"

3. Tell a story about it. Make sure to follow the 5-7-5 syllable pattern!

And there you have it!

Advice for the Young People

I originally found this at Reddit. It's very nice :)


People who are 40+ and happy with their life, what is your advice to people in their 20s?

1. Everyone is focused on themselves to care too much about their opinion of you. So fuck what they think.
2. Social media si only an illusion.
3. Zero debt is an amazing feeling. Think twice before dropping that down payment on that fully loaded 2020 dream mobile that offers nothing but looks and depreciates value quickly.
4. Falling out of love is perhaps more powerful than falling in love.
5. Use up ALL of your vacation time / sick at work.
6. Don't lose sight of the hobbies you enjoyed as a child. They will help you live as you grow older.
7. Family is not necessarily blood, but instead who you would bleed for.
8. There are just as much benefits to being a night owl as there are being an early bird.
9. Forgive yourself first before forgiving others.
10. Do not be a doormat in submission, but hold the door open in kindness.

PhilPost Rates and Postage Stamps for Penpalling

Here are the official rates by PHLPost. 

Postcards (written and stamped) can be sent:

• anywhere in the Philippines for a flat rate of 12 Pesos
• anywhere in the world for a flat rate of 15 Pesos

PhilPost says that once they stamped Ordinary Mail, they just shoot them all in the mail bin and it's ready for shipment in the next day. Your recipient will receive them in a few days.

Registered Mail comes with a tracking number that you can track online. It may take a few weeks or a month for it to be delivered because they it takes time to enter it in their system. Some people complain that it's no longer trackable once it leaves the country. The solution to that is.go to the postal website of the receiving country and track it there! 

If you have any other questions, I can try answering them in the comments below. 

Postage Stamps

Automatically, PhilPost will stamp your letters/postcards with metered stamps. See picture below.



If you want traditional postage stamps, say it ahead when you hand over your mail for weighing. The most common designs are the flowers. There are wider selections in select Post Offices. One is the Central Post Office in Manila.

You can also buy stamps from online shops like:
- Stampville (Facebook)
- Sellyo (Instagram and Facebook).