[Originally posted on Schema Magazine]

I was born in Las Pinas, in Metro Manila, Philippines, in 1982. My family moved to Surrey, BC, Canada in 1989, when I was still in the middle of first grade. Even though it’s been 21 years since then, I still remember when my family first arrived. I have vivid memories of how fresh and cool the air smelled compared to the muggy, polluted air of Manila. I remember looking out and seeing mountains and trees, instead of rows upon rows of traffic congestion.

But somehow, somewhere between that day 21 years ago and right now, I lost track of those feelings. I still remember coming here with my family, obviously, but what I mean is that I lost track of the feeling of being a Filipino in Canada. Sure, when I go to my parents’ home for lunch or dinner on weekends, we eat the usual sinagang, adobo, and lumpia – but other than that, I can’t really claim to have many ties to my Filipino roots in my every day life. I’ve embraced Canadian culture to the fullest, even taking in bits and pieces of the Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Korean cultures that also help make up Vancouver – but in doing so, did I involuntarily let go of my Filipino roots? And if so, how do I reconnect?

Filmmaker Stephen Dypiangco, being born in California from Filipino American immigrants, knows this feeling well and attempts to find answers in his personal documentary, Home Unknown. The documentary follows Stephen and his parents on a trip to the Philippines, where he hopes to learn more about his cultural heritage and family history. During the course of Home Unknown, we get to see Dypiangco travelling to his parents’ hometowns, talking with long-forgotten relatives, and in the process, learning a lot more about his mother and father.

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Design With Intent Toolkit: 101 Patterns for Influencing Behaviour Through Design. The title of the link is pretty self-explanatory, but let me just say this has changed my life to hopefully change other people’s. Or not.

The Huffington Post named Toronto the “new capital of cool”. Now, being a Vancouverite, I’ve never really had the desire to go to Toronto, but now I’m intrigued. I always just assumed Toronto was a ghetto Vancouver?

New study finds comic books help improve literacy among boys. I grew up reading comic books and it was always a mystery to me how any parent would find fault in their child reading a comic book. I mean, clearly none of the comic book critics had read any of Chris Claremont’s gazillion issues of X-Men. Who knew people in spandex would be using fancy four syllable words so regularly?!

Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel coming soon – and no, I don’t mean the disaster that was the live-action movie. Nickelodeon has released details on the follow-up to its Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series and it looks pretty sweet. Elemental bending and steampunk in one show can only mean good things.

Thinner and lighter Kindle priced at $139 is coming soon, direct to my grubby little hands. I’ve always wanted a Kindle but couldn’t justify paying $260 for a black and white reader. Well, Amazon’s just remedied that by making its latest iteration of the Kindle not only lighter but also cheaper. At this price point, there’s no longer an excuse not to buy one.

The New York Times recently wrote a travel article on the Philippines’ once best kept secret, Boracay, which is apparently on its way (or already there) to becoming the next Phuket.

I’m happy for the Philippines if this turns out to be true. For years now, I’ve been wondering what it is about Thailand that has made it become such a world-renowned tourism spot , while the Philippines – close enough to Thailand geographically and culturally – is all but forgotten in the hearts and minds of tourists. Granted, having been to Thailand just a couple of years ago, Bangkok appeared to be a lot cleaner and more developed than Manila — but still. Philippines has just as many gorgeous beaches and islands as Thailand, if not more. It puzzled me why people weren’t flocking to Boracay, Palawan, and Cebu like they were to Thailand’s famous beach spots?

Well, apparently, now tourists are going to Boracay and I kind of wish they weren’t. The first time I visited Boracay was ten years ago, around this time of year. It was pretty empty, White Beach seemed huge and never-ending, and there was something to do at all times of the day, thanks to the bars that could be found right on White Beach itself. Since then, I’ve gone back to Boracay twice, and with each subsequent visit, the ugly head of commercial development becoming more and more visible. White Beach got smaller and smaller, with hotels and resorts creeping ever so quickly upon the shoreline; roads have been built, with scooters and cars passing by where just a few years prior, very few could be seen. White Beach, which once appeared to me like an expansive paradise, started to look more and more like Manila – except on a beach.

I’m torn about how to feel about Boracay’s increasing popularity amongst tourists and its development. I’m glad tourism is picking up, and I’m glad the locals in Boracay now have more jobs available to them. But at the same time, Boracay seems like it has lost its care-free, untouched image. It makes me sad to think of how small White Beach has gotten because of all the hotels that have sprung up in a matter of years. I can’t even begin to imagine what environmental impact all this rapid development has had in this little island. Feels a little like paradise lost.

I suppose that’s the price to pay for development, right? And as long as Filipinos can at least keep Palawan a secret, we’ll still have a relatively untouched and unknown beach paradise to go to. Better enjoy it while it lasts!

Tshirts are a tricky business. It’s such a ubiquitous article of clothing. We all wear them every day — some are loud, some are plain, some are oversized, and some are fitted. Because the tshirt is an every day item worn and accepted universally, comfort and individually are a must for any good tshirt.

Enter Graniph. The Japanese tshirt retailer (dubbed Design Tshirts Store graniph) started with just a tiny store in Tokyo’s Shimo-Kitazawa district, popular with college students and artsy people. Their goal was to make and sell nice-looking tshirts that they could actually afford. With this goal in mind, Graniph was successful — it now has stores all across Japan, and in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Australia. This just goes to show that good taste knows no boundaries.

What I like most about Graniph is that despite the fact that they constantly have different artist collaborations working on their tshirts – and always encouraging all artists to submit new tshirt designs – aesthetically, they always stay true to the brand Graniph. When I see a Graniph tshirt, I can recognize that it’s a Graniph tshirt, no matter which designer actually came out with the print. Graniph tshirts can be loud, subdued, quirky, colourful, or plain — but the love for art and design is always apparent in every shirt sold by Graniph.

It’s a shame Vancouver lacks a store like this. I guess, as with all things, Vancouver’s always a little slow to pick up on a good thing. It’s really too bad because I think this city needs a cool, affordable tshirt retailer. Sure, there are some great stores that sell some pretty awesome t’s these days (I’m thinking Sharks + Hammers in Gastown and El Kartel on Robson — any others?), but I do wish there was a store that would mix the affordability of H&M, the creativity of Threadless and Graniph, and the ties to local street culture of El Kartel and Livestock.

Read more about Graniph in this interview with Graniph’s David Smyth. Let’s all learn from him and be super awesome.