Jamrell Buynay, Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication, Class of COVID-19.

Yep, I graduated class of 2020, at the height of the pandemic. What a year to be officially unemployed.

If that wasn’t bad enough, one of the Philippines’ largest media companies closed down and businesses were laying off people which meant fresh grads like me with no significant work experience absolutely had no chance of landing a job.

Oh, but the fun doesn’t stop there.

I had to live with my relatives because the borders were closed and I couldn’t fly back home to be with my parents. Not that living with my relatives was bad, I just did not feel comfortable living in a house that wasn’t really “home.” I was a degree holder who couldn’t hold a job.

I constantly felt useless and couldn’t be my creative self.

There’s a saying that goes, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting things to change.

I needed a huge change, so I did something insane.

I moved out with only 5,000 pesos (100 USD) in my bank account and lived alone.

It was the best decision of my life. Here are five reasons why:

1. Freedom

Do you ever have that feeling where you’re always on guard? Like no matter what you do, you’re not comfortable? You keep moving around and you can’t really pinpoint what’s wrong, just that something’s wrong.

That’s what happened to me.

My relatives were nice and tried to make things comfortable for me. I had my own room and there was always food on the table. I was never pressured to help with running their family business or doing house chores, but I never really fit in. They were high-energy, extroverted hustlers. I was an introverted creative living in my head. I wanted to read books in silence, write stories, and make Youtube videos.

There was a weird time when I was listening to a podcast with my earphones on and staring at a wall. The segment was good and had great insights from the podcasters. I was so into it until my uncle came up to me and asked if I was okay.

Okay? I was having fun. Although I probably looked like a lunatic just staring at a wall to him. Fun stuff, I know.

When I moved out, I didn’t have to worry about whether I looked awkward or weird anymore. I listened to podcasts and made Youtube videos without worrying that I might be disturbing other people in the house. I could keep the lights on late at night and wash the dishes whenever I wanted to. This probably sounds disgusting, but I didn’t have to worry anymore about not showering that day.

I could walk around naked too.

2. Personal Space

As a creator, there’s one thing that constantly eludes me — Focus.

Getting into the zone or that state of “Flow” is arguably one of the most challenging yet rewarding feelings ever. It’s a state of pure concentration where nothing else matters. You type and the words just pour out, and you wonder if you’re a genius or lunatic for coming up with such witty words of wisdom, or maybe you’re both. But you know for a fact that this state isn’t forever. Your mind will reach its daily limit and you’ll have to rest.

Achieving flow isn’t just a matter of discipline. It’s also affected by your routine and your workspace. Some writers go to great lengths to separate their creative space and resting area, specifically that magnetic mattress inside the bedroom.

By moving out, I was finally able to carve a creative space where I trigger my brain to get into creative mode once I sit on my cheap, squeaky office chair. To be fair, that was the most comfortable chair my minuscule wage could afford.

Nevertheless, moving out gave me the space to be creative and listen to myself, which brings me to the third reason why I moved out.

3. Learn more about yourself

Raise your hand if you’re a recovering people pleaser.

No? Okay, maybe it’s just me. But growing up, I’ve always had this need to please my parents. Whether it was having excellent grades or doing well in my extracurricular activities, I always needed to get my parents’ approval. Heck, my mom even picked out which club I should join in college.

It got to a point where whenever I wanted to try something new, my first instinct was to ask for my parents’ permission. Want to go to the beach with friends? Ask mom if you can go. Want to go hiking? Mom probably won’t let you.

I was 21 years old, officially liable for my actions, and old enough to go to jail. Yet here I was worried about getting permission.

It was then that I thought to myself: Is this how it’s going to be even when I turn 50? Will my choices depend on someone else’s go signal forever?

Who am I, really?

Who am I when I’m alone, when I don’t have to please anyone or put on an act? How do I act when I don’t have to put on an act?

It took me years of living alone, being comfortable in the silence, and listening to myself to discover and accept who I am — an introvert who lives in her head and loves to make content that makes the world an easier place to live.

4. Be more responsible (physically and emotionally)

I have a confession to make. I am not as responsible as I make myself seem online. I am the youngest in the family which means I get privileges that my older sister doesn’t. For example, when my sister and I are together, I can make mistakes and she takes the blame.

Here’s a scenario:

My sister and I are late for an event. It’s not her fault. It’s mine for taking forever in the shower. She gets blamed anyway as she’s “older” and should’ve known better to discipline me, the younger sister, better.

Pretty screwed up, I know. A lot of the pressure is on the eldest Filipino sibling and they usually have to deal with a lot of responsibilities and trauma. I, on the other hand, was the spoiled baby of the family.

And what happens when that spoiled baby has to live without its mom?

Well, she learns about privilege and starts cursing the world for being unfair.

At least, that’s what I did at the start.

I still hate how the world can be so unfair, but now I guess I’ve come to accept that that’s just the way it is. It can be changed, but slowly, and probably not in my lifetime. I’ve now learned to take care of myself and the people around me — to notice their struggles and to make sure that I am not a burden to them. I now also look at things from a different perspective.

Mom nagging? She just wants the best for you but is portraying it in a toxic manner. How do I solve this? Talk to her in a safe space and apply non-violent communication.

Older sister unable to defend herself and starts retreating to a numb, emotionless state? Be her listening ear and validate her feelings. Remind her that she has the right to say no, even to our own parents.

I could go on about how living alone taught me how to make my meals, clean my place without being told, and be an overall responsible adult, but I feel like that’s too generic. We all know what a responsible person should do. But what about the traditional, toxic mindset that has been passed on from generation to generation including our parents?

Well, I’ve decided to cut off that toxic mentality and start healing. First, heal myself, and then hopefully pass on what I’ve learned to my family — to the people who put their needs aside (both physically and mentally) so I could be where I am.

It’s time to give back.

5. Learn how to handle finances

If they taught financial literacy at your school, you’re one lucky motherf*cker.

I had to learn that the hard way by losing my savings (a measly 280 USD) to a pyramid scheme.

Now 14,000 Pesos (280 USD) may not seem like a lot, but for 19-year-old me who was a broke college student, that was everything I had. Being the *wink wink* smart person that I was, I decided to invest it in a scammy organization that promised to 10x my money in three months.

After losing my savings, I dove deep into financial literacy and illegally downloaded all of Robert Kiyosaki’s books. I treated his books like the Holy Bible and read them all religiously. But just like any other skill, there was no value in just knowing it. I had to apply them in real life.

And apply them I did.

Now the thing about being in your 20s without the extra money and being too prideful to ask your parents for some is that you kind of live in this state of constant… what do you call that?

Oh, anxiety.

Hehe.

I guess it was a good thing for me then because I learned to be more frugal and not buy things I didn’t need with money I didn’t have. To this day, I make sure to live below my means.

Hustle, save, invest, repeat.

Robert Kiyosaki’s books also taught me to invest and build other sources of income. I dabble in a lot of side hustles now and am working to build a system where I can earn money even in my sleep. I have Tim Ferris’ The 4-Hour Workweek to thank for that.

My life isn’t perfect and I do mess up a lot. I still visit my parents on the weekends and borrow money when I have to, but now I’ve learned to be more independent and stand by my decisions.

I live a simple life as an office worker. I also create Youtube videos and articles like this in my free time in a small, cheap 26 sqm condo with a low ceiling and a view of Bangkok’s busy streets.

And I f*cking love it.

The rise of Thai BL films in the Philippines has intrigued a lot of Filipinos (including my friends) to visit and study in Thailand. While I encourage people to pursue their passion and explore different places, some struggles come with living and studying in a foreign land.

To give a little background, my family and I moved to Thailand when I was ten years old. We moved because of my parents’ jobs. To be honest, I had mixed feelings about living there. Adjusting was tough. I felt like I was forcefully uprooted from my school, friends, and the culture I was used to. When I had the opportunity to skip the last year of high school and study in the Philippines, I took it without second thoughts.

Being in the Philippines gave me some distance and allowed me to mingle with people who were like me- people I could call my kababayan (countrymen). The distance also allowed me to analyze my difficulties in Thailand from a logical perspective.

Here are five struggles of studying in Thailand as a Filipino and how to overcome them. Disclaimer: These tips are based on my personal experience.

1. Not understanding the language.

One of my biggest struggles in Thailand was the language barrier. There are 44 characters and heck a lot more vowels. They also had these “tones” like the Chinese language. One wrong tone and my sentence structure would be wrong. I suffered a lot from miscommunication.

Although there are schools that offered all English subjects, I studied in a bilingual school. Thai subjects were mandatory. I couldn’t understand the Thai textbooks. I would just pretend to listen in class. I’d even smile and laugh whenever the Thai teacher cracked a joke I didn’t understand. Luckily, Filipinos look like Thais, which meant I could blend in during school tours. Smile and nod, smile and nod.

The solution to this is to learn the language itself. You can start with basic phrases. In the Philippines, we adjust and speak English so foreigners can understand. In Thailand, we must adapt and learn their language. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Thais will appreciate your efforts to speak their language.

2. Culture shock

This feeling comes after the euphoria of exploring another land. After a few weeks of living in a country where I was an “alien,” the subtle differences made me squeamish. In the Philippines, chairs are usually provided for school activities. In Thailand, students sat on the floor, A LOT.

I also started noticing how I couldn’t just walk up and ask someone for directions- some would even walk away because they couldn’t understand me.

The disorientation made me frustrated. I couldn’t change them. I was not in my own country.

I don’t mean to scare you. Once I got through the shock and came to terms with my situation, I learned to appreciate the beauty of Thailand and its people. Thais are among the nicest people I’ve met. My teachers smiled a lot and said, “Mai pen rai” (it’s okay) whenever I did something wrong.

To overcome culture shock, research Thailand’s customs before departing so that you’ll have an idea of what to expect. The more you understand why they do specific actions, the easier it will be to adapt. When you’re already there, it’s good to have friends with whom you can share your feelings with. Don’t bottle it all up.

3. Spicy food and chopsticks

Thai food is hugely different from Filipino taste. They love adding chili sauce to their meals, and most of their food is spicy. This was extremely difficult for 10-year-old me, who didn’t have much tolerance for anything spicy. I often brought my own baon. This saved me time from going through the long lines only to pick a spicy viand.

But why not ask which ones were not spicy? As much as I’d love to do ask, my Thai was very limited before, and I could only point, make gestures, and nod or shake my head. Extremely frustrating, I know.

Thais also eat noodles with chopsticks. Yes, chopsticks. Learn to use chopsticks to avoid embarrassing yourself in Thai restaurants. Luckily, as an Asian country, Thailand has an abundance of rice. Thai households usually have rice cookers. However, they don’t eat all their meals with rice.

Yes, you read that right. Whatever style the noodles may be, soup or pancit, they DON’T eat it with rice.

Meh, I still eat noodles with rice at home.

4. Finding the right friends

Choosing the right people in your inner circle is crucial, especially when you live in a foreign country. When you’re in Thailand, you’re most likely to stick with other foreigners (I know I would have!). Unfortunately for me, less than one percent of the students in my school were foreigners.

While I would’ve appreciated more foreigners at school, the lack of diversity forced me to make friends with Thai students and understand their culture at a deeper level. Little by little, I began to adapt to their mannerisms and language. To this day, I still get in contact with my Thai classmates. They’re a few of the priceless people who patiently tried to understand me despite the language barrier and cultural differences.

My advice: Get out of your comfort zone. Make friends with the locals, however, be selective with who you want to spend most of your time with. You don’t want to be associated with students who could get you suspended!

5. Homesickness

This is probably one of the worst feelings of being in another country. Although my family was in Thailand, there was always that lingering feeling of “this is not home.” I missed the taste of pancit canton. I missed hearing the church bells every Sunday. I missed having a barkada who could speak in my local dialect.

On the bright side, my parents joined a Filipino community called the Missionary Families of Christ (MFC). It is a religious community with Filipinos who are also living/working in Thailand. Being part of MFC helped ease the loneliness. It was a “little Philippines” for me. For our family, MFC was not just a community. It was also a support group.

I really did not have a “why” for studying in Thailand. My parents were working there. Period. But if you ever feel homesick, remember your “why.” It could be a long-term goal or experience that would greatly benefit you in the future. You should also find a support group or even just a person whom you could talk to whenever you feel lonely. It’s okay. It’s normal to feel sad. We’re humans, after all.

I hope this helps you on your journey, especially in studying abroad. If you have any questions or if you’d like to read more about living in Thailand, please suggest them in the comment section below.

God bless!

Hey NFTG Fam! The wait is finally over. Yes, your first FREE NFTs are here.

For those who held on to their memberships since launch, read our previous article on the NFT Drop Sneak Peek to learn about this month’s artist drop.

Without further ado, here is the step-by-step process on how to mint your Shark PFP NFT:

1. Mint your NFTG Membership at https://nftg.live/andre.html (Skip if already a member).
2. Go to https://clubhouse.nftg.live/
3. Click “Connect Wallet” at the bottom of the page.

4. Connect the wallet that contains your NFTG membership(s)

5. Click “Claim Sharks.”

This will lead you to a site that shows how many NFTG memberships and Shark NFTs you own. Fun fact: MIRIPOLSKY, the artist behind this drop (also an NFTG OG member) hand drew the art on this loading site.

6. Click “Check Status.”

7. Confirm the requests (if prompted)

After confirming the request, the site will show how many NFTs you can claim.

8. Press “Submit Claim.”

9. Confirm the request (if prompted)

10. Wait for the claim to finish processing.

You have now claimed your SharkTales Art Club NFT! At the beginning of February, we will be holding a Reveal Party, where each of the placeholder sharks will be populated with their final form (for now at least, we are plotting the future for these sharks, and you all!) To see what number Shark you got, head to Opensea.io, connect your wallet. You can view the number in the Description.

Feel free to reach out on discord with any questions, NFTG fam! Looking forward to the Reveal Party :)

Have a Sharktastic day!

Follow our socials and join the discord server for more updates:

Discord: https://discord.gg/MgGBhpA8

Twitter: @NFTGlive

Instagram: @nftglive

Website: https://nftg.live/

How to mint your NFTG Shark NFT was originally published in NFTG on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hello creators, artists and NFTG members! At 8pm PT today 1/31 we are opening minting for the first FREE NFT collection available only to our NFTG membership holders (1/31 at 8:00pm PT). To mint your shark, click HERE and follow the prompts to connect your wallet and claim your shark.

While today’s release is a preview (your personal shark will not be revealed until the official Reveal, in appx 7–10 days), here’s a sneak peek of what they will look like:

The artist behind these vibrant sharks is the world-renowned artist Andre Miripolsky. He is an OG NFTG member who designed Elton John’s iconic piano jacket in 1980. Andre is also known for his “Fear No Art” button, album covers, and Absolut Vodka illustrations. Andre has been making shark artwork for over 20 years. Andre’s vibrant color palette is influenced by his experience growing up in Asia, specifically Thailand and Malaysia, where colors are so beautifully present in art and structures all over the cities.

NFTG is honored and excited to provide the tech to allow this first (of hopefully many) MIRIPOLSKY NFT collections. We had the opportunity to interview him to learn about his career, life, inspiration, and dream projects (Lady Gaga, Andre is coming for you.) For additional other collaborations between NFTG and MIRIPOLSKY, visit Catch the Wave with Shark Tales and Ocean Conservation: NFTG’s First NFT Drop.

Watch the artist spotlight:

“Whenever I seem to get involved with something for the first time, they always seem to connect. I’m extremely excited to be involved and to see the progression of the PFP collection,” Andre remarked.

One thing that makes the SharkTales collection unique is that in the creation process, Andre hand drew all the different designs that are present in the PFPs before converting them into their digital form. This hand-drawn component is unlike many other NFT PFP projects, which are purely digital. Andre shared his approach to all of his creations “Whatever it is, it’s gotta have a good feeling. It’s got to have some kind of soul… All of my work has a certain energy, and there’s nothing I can do about it. All of those collaborations I’ve done with certain people or entities– they also have high energy. They have real positive energy. I’ve been able to be cast well, and when the casting is done well, there’s magic. And that’s what I’m predicting with these shark PFPs.” Andre, you predicted right. After personally going through and hand-selecting the 10,000 sharks, we can confirm they certainly are a magical splash in the NFT space.

In addition to being a unique collection, this PFP drop nicely ties into NFTG’s roadmap item to make a $50,000 donation to the non-profit Beneath the Waves when NFTG membership sales hit 80%. This donation will help to support the fantastic work that Beneath the Waves has done for ocean conservation.

NFTG is a community of artists, creators, and global citizens, that welcomes everyone, whether you’re new or an expert in the NFT/blockchain/defi/crypto space. To join this creative community, claim your free SharkTales shark, mint a membership at NFTG.live. Your membership offers access to free NFT projects, members-only events, educational materials, artist opportunities, and a community full of like-minded artists and creators.

Follow our socials and join the discord server for more updates:

Discord: https://discord.gg/nftg

Twitter: @NFTGlive

Instagram: @nftglive

Website: https://nftg.live/

Sunglasses and Sharks: A sneak peek at NFTG’s first drop was originally published in NFTG on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The NFTG community is diving into 2022 in a sharktastic way — with SharkTales — the first NFTG profile picture (PFP) NFT drop on January 31st, 2022.

This NFTG SharkTales drop is a 10,000 piece hand-drawn NFT collection by MIRIPOLSKY. Andre Miripolsky is a world-renowned artist and NFTG OG Member who has made sharks a prominent focus for his art for the last 30 years. This collection was created in partnership with NFTG, Real Items, and the ocean conservation organization, Beneath The Waves.

The shark symbolizes power, fearlessness, ultimate survival and is always moving forward. Sharks never stop moving or swim backward and these sharks are no exception. More than just an NFT or rare piece of art, SharkTales PFPs are a badge of membership that embodies community and supports conservation.

This drop is FREE for NFTG members. Purchase an NFTG membership before January 31st to claim your FREE NFT. Minting a membership also gets us closer to our community milestone of a $50,000 donation to Beneath the Waves ocean conservation initiatives.

The Water Sharks Collection includes the digital NFT of a hand-painted watercolor understudy series of 13 in editions of 25 available on OpenSea. Collecting each in the series unlocks an NFTG community membership, a founding collector airdrop, and an invitation to the 2022 Gala.

The second collection, Eco-Phygitals, includes a physical art, digital twin NFT, adopted shark with naming rights, and a cloud-based memory system to store photos, videos, and data. Buying an eco-phygital also gives you an NFTG community membership and an invitation to the 2022 Gala.

NFTG, MIRIPOLSKY, and Beneath the Waves are also collaborating on other Shark NFT collections, which can be viewed here.

This Sharktales NFT PFP drop is just the first of many NFTG drops that bring awareness to relevant causes worldwide. Stay tuned for our next article for a sneak peek at the hand-drawn PFP NFTs.

Whether you are new to NFTs, DeFi, crypto, and blockchain, or a seasoned veteran, we welcome you to join the NFTG community of artists, creators, and those passionate about making a difference by minting an NFTG membership, following NFTG on socials, and joining the Discord server to get in touch with the amazing community.

Discord: https://discord.gg/MgGBhpA8

Instagram: @nftglive

Twitter: @NFTG live

Website: https://nftg.live/

WAGMI.

NFTG’s First NFT Drop: Andre Miripolsky Shark Tales was originally published in NFTG on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

If you’re a gamer in the Philippines, you’ve probably heard about Axie Infinity, Cryptoblades, and other blockchain games which you can play to earn money. Buzzwords such as “Scholarship,” “Play-to-earn (P2E),” and even “Cryptocurrency” are being thrown around in the online realm. A 22-year-old Filipino named Aaron Ramos was even able to buy two houses from the money he earned playing a crypto game called Axie Infinity.

If that isn’t shocking enough, some Filipino players are even earning as much as 70,000 PHP a month just from playing Axie Infinity. This begs the question: What exactly are crypto games, and how come players earn so much from them?

To start off, crypto games are just like any typical game, except players get to take complete ownership of their in-game items and drops. Regular games such as FPS, MOBA, and RPG games are owned by one company with total control over the game. Do you trash-talk a lot in game? Say hello to getting permanently banned and having the company take away the account you spent a year grinding to reach the max level. Don’t even get me started on losing the items and character skins that cost hundreds of dollars.

I experienced this when I moved from one country to another — not the trash-talking + permaban stuff, but the losing hundreds of dollars in a game.

In 2013, I started playing a game called League of Legends (LoL). Since I was studying in Thailand, I used the North American (NA) server to connect and play with my international friends. I spent hundreds of dollars buying rare and legacy champion skins in LoL. Three years later, I decided to move to the Philippines. I thought I could continue using my account here only to realize that the NA server was blocked. I could still access it using VPN, but the Philippine internet speed made me want to throw my pc out the window. And just like that, I had to create a LoL Philippine server account from scratch. There was no way to sell my character skins and items in game. At the end of the day, the company that created LoL, Riot Games, still owns my account.

If you play Dota 2, Valve still owns your account. Play Fortnight? Welp, Epic Games can still take away your account anytime they want.

Crypto games are different. You OWN the items, pets, and characters you purchased in game. This is because crypto games use blockchain technology, which is a decentralized type of online ledger.

Don’t let that last line scare you. Blockchain is simpler than it sounds.

Technology behind crypto games

A distributed ledger is a consensus of replicated, shared, and synchronized digital data geographically spread across multiple sites, countries, or institutions. Unlike with a centralized database, there is no central administrator.

Blockchain technology uses a system of recording information that is difficult to change. It is decentralized, meaning there is no one central authority that controls it. Everyone can use it, but NO ONE can take full control of the entire technology.

Crypto games use the same technology. Because it is decentralized, you own your game characters and items. The government may legally take away your house, banks that go bankrupt may never return the money you deposited, but your digital game characters will forever be yours. Unless, of course, you sell it or the apocalypse happens, and the internet dies, in which case, you will not be able to access the digital world.

The reason why these crypto game characters and items are worth so much is because of scarcity. Each crypto game currency has a market cap, meaning there is a limited number of money or tokens that these games offer. The more players there are, the higher the value of the crypto game’s currency.

Let me give you an example:

Axie Infinity is a Pokemon-inspired crypto game where you can earn “tokens.” Tokens are similar to in-game drops or quest rewards which can be earned by playing the game.

As of writing, Axie Infinity’s token, AXS, costs about $76 or 3,814 Php per token. In last year’s chart, the AXS token cost less than a dollar. Crypto tokens are like stocks that you buy when the prices are low and sell when worth a lot more. In P2E games, however, you can earn more tokens by playing the game. Imagine getting more shares of your favorite company by playing a fun online game. Now that’s a dream come true.

Of course, there is a learning curve to understanding the market, when your online money is worth more, and when you should sell your tokens. But like everything else in life, good things take time, and blockchain is a special kind of technology that can be applied to different industries, whether in finance, retail, real estate, or more. In the case of gamers, it is a way for us to earn money and pay the bills while doing what we love.

The world is constantly changing. The digital space is opening more and more opportunities for people worldwide. Play-to-earn and other crypto games show that there are various ways to earn and sustain the lifestyle that we want. It’s okay to take risks, and if we really want to change our lives, then it’s time to try something new. We’ve played by life’s financial rules for too long. It’s time to break them.

In Purok Amguo, tucked behind one the largest pineapple plantations in the country is a national living treasure who continues to weave Tabih, a sacred cloth handwoven by the B’laan tribe’s indigenous women from Southern Mindanao.

Bai Yabing Dulo Masalon, who prefers to be called Fu meaning “grandmother,” is one of the oldest dream weavers in Polomolok, South Cotabato. Her fingers, although wrinkled from time, is strong as she weaves the patterns from her dreams into reality.

Clad in her intricately designed B’laan costume, Fu Yabing embodies the tradition of women in their tribe.

For Fu Yabing, weaving is a process that requires memory and patience. The process goes on for over two months, and in that span of time, she remembers the patterns that she dreamed of. Surprisingly, she does not draw her patterns on pen and paper but rather, relies on memory.

Meticulously skilled, Fu Yabing’s daughter says she can tell that a pattern will be uneven just by looking at the fibers during its first stages of weaving.

Even from afar, she can tell if what you’re doing is wrong.

Besides being a skilled weaver, Fu Yabing passes this tradition down by teaching at the School of Living Tradition. Before that, she taught students in a nearby village of upland B’laan in Lamlifew, Malungon, Sarangani. It was because of this that she traveled to Manila in 2009 to be part of an ASEAN Textile Symposium at the National Museum of the Philippines.

From then on, her contributions to the rich culture in Mindanao have awarded her the Gawad ng Manlilikha ng Bayan 2016.

Tabih, the type of cloth woven by Fu Yabing, is used during special occasions, religious festivals, and rituals.

These cloths come in various patterns with an original dye that do not fade for a long time. To make the strings, two metal blades are used to quickly remove the Abaca pulp and reveal the filament, which is worked by hand into fibers.

The traditional process of natural dying uses dyes extracted from the Lageh tree (Morinda Citrifolia), turmeric (Curcuma Longa), and Knalum tree (Diospyros Kaki).

With 80 years of weaving experience under her belt, Fu Yabing shared that not being able to touch Abaca for even a day makes her weak. For her, weaving gives her strength. It is more than just a hobby, it is her life.