Nov 21st, 2019: Filipino Thanksgiving

Hello All,

  This week I wanted to talk about Thanksgiving since it’s next week. This time I wanted to cover my experience in America and then I’ll write about Thanksgiving in the Philippines. My family celebrates Thanksgiving and Christmas together mainly because we’re spread out and we all have our different schedules so we’ve made Thanksgiving our ‘all holiday meet up day’. That way, even if you can’t make the celebration in San Angelo or Dallas or wherever we plan to go, everyone tries to make it to the Thanksgiving meet up (which as I’ve mentioned, I have yet to attend).Hello All!

  When my family celebrates in general, we have food and we usually drink. In the mornings of the celebration usually the women are cooking unless we’re using the grill, then my brother-in-law, dad, uncle(s), or aunt are the ones cooking on that. We have a variety of dishes but my family always includes at least one or two pizzas for my one uncle who doesn’t eat the food we make unless it’s steak.

  At first, when I started to bring my boyfriend around the family, my parents and my aunt freaked out and would make him a separate dish so that he wouldn’t have to eat the food that was made for ‘us’. My boyfriend, however, likes to eat crab and is willing to try the dishes as long as they’re not very intense smelling or have onions in them. I tell my family to skip the ‘what’s in it’ description and I also warn him about it because I want him to try it without thinking about it. I’ve learned that many people don’t eat certain foods because they think about it and they don’t try it. Basically, they’re judging it before they give it a chance and I told my boyfriend that he can’t be like that if we’re going to be together.

  I don’t mind if he doesn’t like the food after he tries it. Generally, I tell him to try it three times at separate occasions and if he doesn’t like it, then fine! However, he can’t simply look at it and say that he’s not going to eat it because of what’s in the food or what it looks like or how it smells so I’m glad that I got him to adjust to at least trying the foods.

  If we’re not using the grill or killing a goat or chicken or pig (whatever it may be) then my brother-in-law and my job is to run the errands. If my sister(s) or mom are missing an ingredient or we need ice or sodas one of us goes and gets those items. Other than that, in the morning, while the food is being made, me and my brother-in-law are usually watching T.V to pass the time.

  Now, if we’re using the grill then the situation is different! This also applies to when we have a goat, chicken, or pig to kill. Now that I don’t live with my parents I’m not usually around early enough for this process but when there is an animal to kill my dad, brother-in-law, and uncle(s) are the ones to kill it (Not butcher it. What we do is make the process quick. We respect the animal, we’re not heathens).

  Up to a week prior of the celebration we go and buy a goat, pig, or chicken off of a farmer and take care of it until it’s time for us to eat it. Next time we kill an animal I’ll take notes and post it for you all but at the moment I can’t quite remember the whole process besides that we take care of it and kill it quick. When we have a chicken we usually use the blood and let it drip into a pot of uncooked rice and let it set in there to flavor the rice. Not everyone eats it but I think it’s good once it’s cooked. This dish is called dinadaraan

  Normally, we buy a baby up to a young goat. We don’t usually go for the older goats and we don’t always get adults because it depends on the amount of people that are showing up. The dishes we tend to make are

Goat: sinigang* (IL), kaldareta(IL), pinapaitan(IL), and kilawin (IL)(lightly cooked)  

*Sinigang means sour soup and can be made with any meat including shrimp

Goat: Kaldereta

Goat: Pinapaitan

Pork: Kilawin

Chicken: tinola (Tag/IL), pinakbekan (Igorat), and dinadaraan/dinuguan(IL/Tag)

Chicken: Dinardaraan

Chicken: Pinikpikan

Pig: Lechon

Chicken: Tinola

Pig: sinigang ng baboy and lechon

The Image for Lechon messed with the coding of my post so I'll show you all a picture through my video instead.

Pork Dish Sinigang na baboy

We also have cassava cake or bibingka and lumpia.

Lumpia

Cassava Cake

Bibingka

Alcohol wise we tend to drink whiskey, rum, scotch, rye, gin, and beer.

The Beer selection usually consist of Corona and Dos Equis. Sometimes, there’s a craft beer of some sort.

  Now that you all have read/seen what my family does for Thanksgiving, the next post will consist of what my boyfriend’s family makes as well as their traditions. I also asked my brother-in-law for some help because he is also white and he added a few bits of information to what they do. I’ll make sure to take pictures of the food they make this year and share the recipes (as well as share the same info from my thanksgiving party).

  I also want to point out that most of the dishes are Ilocano dishes as well as an Igorat dish that Ilocano speaking people know as that word. 

  Generally, my family celebrates this way for every holiday. Our main focus is to meet up, have a good time, have good food, and drink, then deal with the hangover the next morning. If you’re Filipino and want to share what foods you eat on Thanksgiving please do! Also, if you can, please share the recipe with me as well so I can post the picture and the info!

Thank you for tuning in with me this week, tune in a few days to read about the generic Thanksgiving my boyfriend’s family and my brother-in-law’s family have. See you soon!

DJ/Cho/Nar

   

October 10, 2019

October 10, 2019

  Magandang Umaga sa inyo! (Good day, everyone)

  Today I talked about a common misconception that Filipinos have when it comes to understanding what ‘American’ means. In the Philippines, everyone’s race, nationality, and language are the same. Their race is Filipino, their nationality is Filipino, and in general all languages are ‘Filipino’. While in America, people’s nationality can differ depending on their situation. There are Americans, Canadians, and even Mexicans. Some, are duel citizens where they can be, say, American-Filipino.

  In America, people categorize themselves by their race and the state they’re from rather than the nationality or the language they speak. No one says that they’re ‘Spanish’ because they speak Spanish. Most say that they’re Mexican or Latino or Hispanic but many don’t declare that they are Spanish. More commonly, people who speak Spanish say that they can speak the language.\

  How exactly does one describe themselves then as an American? My personal description is that I’m a Filipino who’s from West Texas. Unless a person goes out of state, there’s no reason to mention that you’re from the state that you’re currently in. If anything, people say ‘I’m from here’ which usually indicates that they hometown is the location that the two people are currently having the conversation in. I would say that I’m from West Texas because there are five sections of Texas since it is big enough. The parts of Texas are: North, South, East, West, and Central. Each of these sections are separated because they have different biomes or different trees, plants, animals, and such.

  An outside example would be if someone was from New York and they moved to Texas. They would then say, “I’m from New York.” Most of them won’t mention which city specifically because they don’t expect people from another state to know which city they’re from unless it’s one of the popular locations like New York City or Boston. They’re say their race, we’re going to go with Black for this example. I wanted to say Black because not everyone who is that race will describe themselves as ‘Black’. It all depends on the context. The safest way to describe someone who is ‘black’ is to listen to who they describe themselves and go with that description for that person. Some may say that they’re African-American which is also not a wrong description. (I could probably do a whole article over this but I’m going to leave those two examples for now. If anyone has any questions, leave them in the comment section of either the vlog or the blog post.

  Whereas, in the Philippines people will describe themselves by province or go even father and add a specific location to help indicate where they are from.  I’ll use myself as an example again. I’m Igorat/Ilocano. My family descends from the Kankanae tribe. My mother’s side is from Paltoc, San Emilio, Ilocos Sur and  my father’s side is from Labayug, Sison, Pangasinan. Some people from the city area (like say Vigan City or Candon City) don’t like the word ‘Igorat’ or use it as a vulgar term to describe people who are illiterate or snobby because people who are indigenous tend to have more land.

  The fact is, people who are indigenous have lineage to land that was claimed before the Spanish arrived and because of that, the family was able to keep the land over time. It only means that their ancestors protected what was important to them, not that they’re snobby or rich. A misconception that I’ve run into is that people who are Igorat or Indigenous are considered snobby because of the amount of land they have (this converts to how much money they would have to buy the land). But, if the land was bought or claimed for cheap or nothing at all in the past and was well protected over the years then the land would not have been bought for an expensive price to begin with. It could be sold for a higher price if it lasted generations but most Filipinos are protective of their birthright and would not sell off their land that they’ve had in the family for generations.

  As an example of someone who isn’t Indigenous, let’s say that someone is from Candon City. Their mother is from Candon and their father is from Bantay. Both families have Spanish last names (Let’s go with Garcia). They wouldn’t say that they come from a Spanish background. Instead, they would indicate which language they speak the best. Whereas, my cousins would say Itneg (the language of the municipality), someone from Candon or Bantay may say Tagalog/Filipino or Ilocano.

  More people in the Philippines tend to describe themselves with their language (since it is regional) rather than saying that they’re ‘Filipino’. If someone were from Pangasinan they wouldn’t say they’re Pangasinan, they’d say that they’re Pangalatot (or a language that is spoken over in that province) where as someone from Ilocos Sur or Norte would say ‘I’m Ilocano’. There have been fights over whether the term ‘Iloco or Ilocano’ is correct and I’m not going to fight people over something they feel so strongly about. It doesn’t matter to me whether someone is Iloco or Ilocano as long as they’re not a bad person. In my personal description I’m not considered Ilocano, I’m considered ‘Itneg’ since it’s the language of my family. However, is more than one type of Ilocano language as well as more than one Itneg language so even if I were to say that I’m ‘Itneg’ it wouldn’t meant that I can understand someone who speaks a variation of the language.

  I hope this helps clear up some confusion in either of my audiences. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions that you want me to cover! Thank you for tuning in this week and I’ll see you all next week! Also, I made a chart to help compare last week’s conversation. I hope it helps both my audiences understand each other better.

  Click here to read the original post about what I missed while I was in the Philippines!

  Click here to view the chart that compares the toilets of the two countries!

See you next week!

DJ/Cho/Nar

Keep up with me at the following:

Youtube

I began to vlog on October 2nd 2019! Whether you prefer to listen to my vlog, read my blog, or enjoying looking into both, I appreciate it!

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

 Facebook

      This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

 Instagram

       I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

 Wattpad

       Writing has always been a passion of mine. Interested in reading what's on my mind? Read up on a more emotional perspective of my life here!

How To Relieve The Self: A Comparison between a Western Toilet and a Filipino Toilet

Western

What to say when going to relieve the self:  "I'm going to the bathroom."  "I'm going to the restroom."  "I need to pee."  "I need to take a piss."  "I'm going to use the John."  (There are more ways to ask but basically this is it.)

Parts of the toilet: Toilet Tank (The Back) Toilet Seat (What you sit on) Toilet Paper (Yes this counts) Toilet Bowl (When you flush, it goes down this)

How to Pee: Female: Sit Male: Stand. Lift toilet seat up and aim.

How to Relieve the Anus: Both: Sit, Don’t hurt yourself. Use Toilet Paper.

In Public, the same rules apply because the toilets are the same.

Sinks: Are required to work and have soap so you can wash your hands!

Trash cans: Will be provided, use them.

Filipino

What to say when going to relieve the self:  "I'm going to use the C.R" (Comfort Room)

Parts of the toilet: Toilet Bowl Water Bucket Pail

How to Pee: Female: Crouch (You’ll build those thigh muscles) Lean forward if you have to. Male: Stand. Aim. Don’t Miss.

How to Relieve the Anus: Both: Stand on toilet edges (it’s wider so it’s designed for this) and crouch. Relieve the self. Those baby wipes I mentioned? Hope you brought some. If without baby wipes… Traditionally… Use water and hand to clean the self. Then use soap bar to clean the hands.

In Public, some places that have the finances will provide a toilet that is more ‘western’. Use the instructions on the left side for those details. However, the toilet paper may or may not be provided despite the bathrooms being public.

Sinks: Most likely don’t have water IF there is a sink. Bring hand sanitizer and or as most Filipinos call it, rubbing alcohol.

Trash Cans: May or may not be provided. Do not flush your toilet paper down the toilet, if you bring your own baby wipes or toilet paper, have an extra plastic bag with you to throw these away in. Or, hold onto it until you find a trash can.

Vlog Week One: What Did I Miss About the U.S? Read the post here!

Learning something? Keep up with me so that you don't miss a post, video, or pictures!

Keep up with me at the following:

Youtube

I began to vlog on October 2nd 2019! Whether you prefer to listen to my vlog, read my blog, or enjoying looking into both, I appreciate it!

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

 Facebook

      This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

 Instagram

       I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

 Wattpad

       Writing has always been a passion of mine. Interested in reading what's on my mind? Read up on a more emotional perspective of my life here!

October 2nd, 2019

This week's vlog

  Hello everyone!

  This week in my vlog I focused on my American audience. This post will take the details that I mentioned in the vlog and expand on it! In this week’s video I talked about the three things that I missed the most while I was in the Philippines.

  Of course, I missed my friends, family, and my puppy while I was gone but there were certain items and concepts that stuck out. Those items were toilet seats and air conditioning while the concept was the time it took to get anywhere. Being in the Philippines opened up a new perspective in life that I didn’t think I would see. Since being home, there are little concepts that stand out to me about either the states or the Philippines.

  In the past three months of me being home I’ve seen the lifestyle that I live in the states is adjusted to my needs in the states. Here, I go to work and I plan for my bills. I pick a friend or two to go see on my off days and I schedule what else I need to do on those off days. Before work I’m usually sleeping if not I’m cleaning or fixing the house up and after work I either go to sleep right away or go on a few errands with my boyfriend.

  Here, I schedule myself because I have to and I need in order to meet a certain time constraint that I mentally prepare for myself. I know how long it takes to get to work, I know how long it takes for me to get ready to go to work. My hours at work are set. I know my off days. I know that I need a certain amount of sleep and that I need to eat at a certain time of day or at least around a certain time of day.

  While I was in the Philippines time wasn’t constricted. To my surprise, for people who have to wait around for vehicle for hours, the people were very impatient. It amused people that when I had to wait for hours at a time that I would have a book in my hand or I would be writing. When I was in school I would plan to do my school work first then I would figure out what I would do after that.

  This concept of scheduling wasn’t a part of the culture in that country which angered a few Americans that I ran into. There was a white American that would go to the bus stop every weekend that I would go and if the bus wasn’t there within ten to fifteen minutes, he would be angry. Which, in an American mind set, I do understand that. However, when a person lives in a country for a certain amount of years (which is what I gathered from his rants) than that person shouldn’t expect the country to adjust to him. Rather, the person should adjust to the country.

  Only a few students that I went to school with scheduled a study time for themselves. I had an issue with setting a study schedule because I couldn’t study the same way as the students were taught. In their culture, it is custom to sit in front of a paper and memorize notes for an hour. Which can work for some but I know that I needed to find another way to remember what was being taught during class.

  When I was over there and not studying or doing school work, I was on my Wattpad and writing. It reminded me of my senior year in high school when I spent more time in my creative mind set than anything else. Today, I still have at least two journals that I need to type of from the time that I was writing almost every day.

  Being in the states has brought my attention to how the speed of time seems faster than it does in the Philippines. There, no one is in a hurry to get anywhere, and if they are, there’s still a limitation to their version of a ‘rush’. Filipinos don’t skip meals if they’re late. They think, well, they’re already late so might as well eat since they’re late. They don’t think ‘I should eat before I go to where I need to go’. This is where the concept ‘Filipino Time’ comes from.

  To the people who have met a Filipino, they know that Filipinos don’t show to up to a party or to an event until at least, a half an hour late. Which, is why the tactic around that is to tell the Filipinos to show up two hours early so that by the time they decide to show up, they’re on time instead of late. I’ve also notice that the culture of Filipinos is different in the states than it is in the country itself.

  There, families are close and sit around the table and talk to each other about their day. They push the essence of a family and responsibilities. While in the U.S many Asian families (not only Filipinos) tend to abuse the concept of family and focus on academics and/or work. It’s more important to make money so that the family in the Asian country is in a better living condition rather than focus on having a healthy family at home and across the sea.

  For a future video, I’ll touch up on this concept of culture but I also want to provide pictures of a Filipino building and the toilet that I mentioned. Down below is a picture of a traditional American toilet verses a Filipino toilet. I suppose I could do a separate continuation of this post since I’m sure how the toilet seat works.

                         Source

     Source

  I’ll be sure to add the link below if I do decide to write them out for you. For those of you who have kept up with me since 2018, thank you! And to those of you who are newer, I’m still thankful. Tune in next week to watch my next vlog and to read more about it through the blog!

Click here to look at the chart comparing the two toilet seats and customs

  Thank you, and see y’all soon!

Nar/Cho/Dj

Keep up with me at the following:

Youtube

I began to vlog on October 2nd 2019! Whether you prefer to listen to my vlog, read my blog, or enjoying looking into both, I appreciate it!

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

 Facebook

      This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

 Instagram

       I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

 Wattpad

 

About Tuan Thailand

This band will always have a place in my heart. All the above photos were taken from their Instagram

Line One (Left) (Right)

Line Two (Center)

Line Three (Left) (Right)

Line Four (Center)

Line Five (Left) (Right)

Line Six (Center)

-

  To start this post off I want to share Tuan Thailand’s music with you. Here are the two songs that want to share.

1,000 Miles.

The band played this song at the concert. The one I call K-Pop is the main singer but Win sings the secondary part.

Blue Moon

-

  Their music reminds me of a Metal/EDM version of Linkin Park’s newer style. They also sing in Thai so there’s that too! I already showed some of my friends this band which is why I know that they’d acquire a fan base from San Angelo if they’d be able to show up in my hometown. When I get home, I hope I can find a way to help them get there so I can see them again and show my friends.

  San Angelo is getting better at expanding in a cultural and artistic way. Although, I wouldn’t want to only perform in Angelo because it’s a small city. It would be cool to get them to do a small tour of Texas where they could play in all five regions (North, South, East, West, and Central). Of course, this isn’t something that I know how to process but the idea is still cool.

To my surprise they played Black Diary which can be found on Youtube but they are still trying to get all their songs recorded I suppose. Black Diary is one of their original songs. The original band members (from what I could see) are the short one and K-Pop there. The rest of the members are newer. I don’t know when they joined but I do know that the band went to UK in 2017 with the members they have now.

It makes me sad how the technology has limited what I can find about them. Well, I suppose it’s more about the lack of technology that limits what I can find of them. 1,000 years was uploaded onto Youtube a year ago and Blue Moon was uploaded four months ago.

The band has a website but the link doesn’t work. If they do have anything online it’s probably in Thai and I can’t understand Thai (although, I wish I did only for the purpose of getting to know the band). I found an interview of the band but it’s in Thai (with no subtitles I might add).

Being from the United States has spoiled me. We are so diverse in the different cultures that are there along with the different languages that are recognized to exist. Our national language is a global language.

Back home I can be around different races and not feel that I’m in a different part of the world when I talk to them. In the U.S we all have our different backgrounds and lifestyles. There’s so much diversity. Here, there’s diversity but it’s different… I feel that I’d have a similar experience if I went to another country of Asia (outside of the airport anyways).

 Instagram: It blows my mind how social media can connect the world on a global scale. I enjoy using Instagram although my main source of social media is Facebook. Instagram is a good way to summarize what you’re doing with your life through pictures and small caption.

Or, if you’re like me you have a picture of set of pictures and you link the post to what you’re trying to share with the world of Instagram. As a blogger, I have to try and use as many social media tactics as possible which becomes hard to keep up with especially if you try to make each post unique. I get lazy and I make the post through Instagram and then I send it off to Facebook.

The band has toured in Bangkok (Thailand) and in the U.K. They’ve visited the Philippines, and their record label (I’m not sure if that’s the right word) is based in Japan. So, I think they’re a perfect example of how people can thrive from globalization.

Facebook

  With each post this week I tried to get y'all to check them out on your own but this post is to bring them to you in a way! At the beginning I linked their instagram, then I presented two YouTube videos of their music. Now, here's a link to their Facebook. Oh, hey they have their names on their Facebook. Well, for those of you who were wondering who these people's names were here they are! (Their English names I supposed)

Key: Their name (What I've been calling them): What they do

Tuan (K-Pop): Vocals and Producer *Original Member*
Boy BBTJ (The Short One): Guitar  *Original Member*
Bom Suwatin (Humble): Drums
Win Ginkz (Win): Bass
Oof Bongtong: (EDM/Beard): Sampler & Keyboard

They claim to be Alternative Metal.
-

  I hope those of my readers who like the same music as me will enjoy this band in the same way that I enjoyed sharing their information all week. This will be my last post about them for now! Their fans declare that they are part of the Tuan Army if they're true fans so I supposed I'm part of the Tuan Army and I hope my friends can at least appreciate their music.

  If not, I hope reading about them was entertaining at least! For those of you who are recently visiting this page I will leave the links to this week's post down below. Read what you want when you can.!

Order of post:

Meeting Tuan Thailand:
  You can either read this per 1k words so that you can come back easily to where you stopped. If you want to do this, click Part One. If you'd rather read the full entry (3-4K words) click Full Post.

April 1st, 2019:
  This is a more emotion and thoughtful post about my experience with how interview Win affected me. Click the date to read this part. You can read it without reading Meeting Tuan Thailand but I do make references from the 'Meeting Tuan Thailand' post.

Aftermath:
  When I wrote this it ended up becoming 2k words. You will need to read Part One before Part Two but click on the part to read them!

Spotify: I'd like to also mention that they are on Spotify. There are only two songs but I believe the two songs are the ones that I've pasted into here from YouTube. So, if you have a Spotify you can listen to them through that as well.

Win's

Instagram

The Ginkz

Youtube

  The only link I have left to share is Win's Instagram. If I had the Instagram of the other members I'd share them but Win commented on my Instagram post and the Instagram of Tuan Thailand also commented on my post so the official overall Insta is what I have as well as his.

  My classmates are tired of me fangirling over these people, I'm sure. The Ginkz is another band that Win is in. His actual name is Warut Onoonjit. (Which I can't say properly probably). In The Ginkz, Win is one of the main singers I wanted to check out the background of this band he's in more. It's also metal but it's different from Tuan Thailand. I still like both bands.

 Let me know what you guys think about Tuan Thailand as well as this whole interaction that I've posted about this week! I'd like to hear some comments from y'all. You can either clock the 'Ask Questions Here' button on my blog, you can message me on Facebook, you can comment below even if you don't have a blogger (I allow anonymous questions).

  I'd like to do a Q&A eventually over the content I'm sharing!

  Tune in every week to hear about my experience in the Philippines. I have a lot of content written. All I have to do is schedule it for you. Please tune in next week! I will be introducing a new feature for Sundays starting this April 7th! It will be called 'Sunday Watts'. So, tune in every week to keep up with me.

Thank you for listening! Please let me know what goes through your head as you read my post!

DJ/Cho/Nar

Keep up with Dj!

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

 Facebook

      This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my Facebook lol.

 Instagram

       I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

 Wattpad

Meeting Tuan Thailand: Aftermath Part Two

Aftermath 

This is me and the one I nicknamed EDM/Beard. He uses a soundboard. Win has a beard but this guy has a fill on beard lol at least for an Asian XD. In the middle is the one picture I took of Win without me in it. I didn't take too many pictures because I was engrossed with the concert! I truly do hope I can see this band again. 

This is Aftermath Part Two. I recommend Part One before this one. 

Part Two:

  At this point, I was already internally screaming with excitement. Then, the bass player was singing a song I knew by heart so I began to sing and the lead singer went over to pay attention to the crowd and get them to wave their phones. I watched the lights dance as I sang along with Win and got lost in the music.

  Then, my ears began to pick up on the lack of an existence. I was singing but I couldn’t hear my voice. I could hear Win’s but not mine. What I didn’t know was that I had this recorded. While this was happening, I turned my mic on and back on then tapped it and blew on it but didn’t hear anything. I shrugged then continued to sing because being up there in general was already surreal. The fact that I could be singing with the band member I wanted to get to know made me bubble up and I sang to my heart’s content.

  When I found the recording later I was surprised but I was able to show others that the lead singer’s mic was messed up which is why I didn’t like his voice at the time of the concert. There’s a part where Win stops singing and you can hear me singing barely but I remember the lead singer looking over at Win who then continued to sing but he backs off so that the crowd can hear me sing. It was considerate of him and I hadn’t noticed it until the third time that I listened to the recording. (Yes, I’ve listened to it a lot.)

  The experience had me forget that I was feeling sick at the beginning of the concert. When the lead singer took back his mic, I looked over at Win and I wanted to get a picture with him but I knew they were about to sing another song so I got off stage because I wanted to be courteous. My friend from CAS got onto me because I didn’t get Win’s autograph at the time.

  They played seven to eight songs in total. I loved how the lead singer was so interactive! After the song that I sung with them he went down to the crowd and took pictures while the band played a steady background filler. It was a nice short intermission to give their voices a break. I went up to the bass player from the ground and he looked at me in with an anxious look in his eyes as if he were to say, “Nope. You look nice down there. Yeaaah. I know you’re wanting me to join you buuuut Ima stay up here while you look nice in the distance. Yeeep.”

  I touched my heart and mouthed please and he shook his head and continued to give me the most ‘nope’ like expression. I knew the expression because I’ve made the expression too many times myself. Then, he backed up and tossed something. Well, I’m blind you know, so this girl screamed and picked it up and he looked at me silently like, “…That was like… supposed to be for you… but… you know…”

  Internally, I had to face palm myself. They sung the rest of their songs and the school gave them their rewards. After that, the lead singer announced that he wanted people to come up on stage and get autographs or talk to the band members. I was able to interview Win before this but I didn’t think that I needed to go into detail about it. If you want to read about it you can refer to the original post and press ‘CTR + F’ then type in ‘interview’ and it will bring you to the interview.

  The first person I went up to was Win. He smiled at me and my friend from CAS asked me to take a picture of her and him. After that, she showed me the extra tickets she had and we proceed to have the band members sign them. When I got to Win I handed him my ticket but then I got excited and asked him to sign my phone case since I had layered it in white nail polish and didn’t know what design I wanted to place on it.

  It wasn’t sure about signing my cellphone case. He was like, “Are you sure?” and I told him, “Yes!”

  So, he signed it and I’ll have the phone case photo in this post as well as the pictures that I took at the concert. It was night time so I didn’t bother to take too many. But the original post has pictures from their Instagram.

  Each member of the band has a nickname except for Win since I know his name. I nicknamed the lead singer ‘K-pop’ because he looked like a K-pop singer. The shortest member and guitarist was nicknamed ‘the short one’, the soundboard player was nicknamed ‘EDM’ at first but later I had asked one of the members where the one with the beard was and he pointed at the EDM player and so I switch between these two nicknames for him. Win has a beard but it’s not like the EDM player’s beard. Like Beard has a full on beard while Win has a regularly trimmed beard. When I spoke to the drummer he seemed so proud of the performance but he showed so much courtesy. Like the way he stood and answered everyone made me think of how humble he was so I nicknamed him Humble.

  I really do hope that I can see this band again. I asked K-pop who I was supposed to talk to see about getting them to perform somewhere. He said a name from the university but I don’t know who they are. Luckily, I stalked them too but I plan to hunt down this person he mentioned and talk to them to see who the actual connection is so I can ensure that they can play in San Angelo.

  There are so many friends that I want to meet this band and I want to hear them play again. After the concert I went and listened to one of their songs on YouTube so I could hear the lead singer’s voice and when I did look them up I realized that K-pop has a beautiful voice. AND his voice is deeper. That caught me by surprise.

  Attached to both parts of this will be a link to all of their websites as well as a two YouTube video links. I want you guys to listen to them. If you like metal or Link Park you’ll like these people. Yes, they sing in Thai in both songs but who cares! Music is music and that’s the beauty of it. I’m so happy I got to meet this band and I hope I get to hear them play again! And hopefully, the mic will be in better condition than this first interaction.
-

 If you want to read the whole Meeting you can either click on (Part One) or (Full Post). 

Also, if you haven't read my weekly entry you can read that as well! It's about what Win and what he got me to think about after our meeting. This week I've officially made it a thing. You will get three one more post about these people. My weekly entry is on a more personal level of emotion. 

Weekly Post

Hope to see you tomorrow!

DJ/Nar/Cho

Discover Tuan Thailand!

YouTube

 They don't really use this but there are a few videos of their music on there.  

Facebook 

Band

Instagram

Win's

Instagram

Spotify

 Two of their songs are available on Spotify. One is 1,000 miles and the other is written in Thai so I don’t know what the name is but it’s good!

Keep up with Dj!

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

 Facebook

      This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

 Instagram

       I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

 Wattpad

Meeting Tuan Thailand: Aftermath Part One

Aftermath

I dont know his real name or English name but I call him K-Pop! This is the lead singer everyone 😂❤

-

I’ve been talking about Tuan Thailand all week. Like whoa. I supposed I can give them this whole week of attention. If you’re into Metal/EDM you’ll like them. I want to talk about the whole band now that I’ve given Win so much attention. I want to ensure that everyone knows that I like the whole band and not only Win. Win is my favorite member though.

  The more times I tell someone about my experience with Tuan Thailand the more surreal it gets! Like whoa. If you have read my Tuan Thailand post of through parts I really appreciate you being interesting in what I have to say. This will be different since I will narrate it from the beginning (since I can now do that without overly dramatically fangirling).

  Originally, I didn’t want to go to the concert because I wasn’t feeling well. However, I was told that I was required to go due to attendance. So, I went since I’m the secretary of my section. When I got there and sat down with one of my friends the emcee started to walk around. I wasn’t paying any mind to him but I nudged her and muttered, “I really don’t want to be the center of attention at this concert.”

  Literally, in the next second the spotlight beamed over me and the emcee declared, “OH I FOUND MY FRIEND. HELLO FRIEND!”

  At that moment I lost my composure and looked at him with the most ‘are you serious?’! kind of look. He brought the mic to my lips after he sat down with me and said, “I’m so glad to see you friend!”

  Next to me, my best friend was laughing and my body language was screaming but I didn’t exclaim my exasperation with words because the mic was near my face. I mouthed the words, “Are you kidding me?”! 

  He then got excited and said, “Buenos noches, my friend?” (Which means good evening in Spanish) but at the time my mind was racing because I had expressed that I didn’t want to bring any attention to myself and yet the universe was like yea, about that.

  The emcee them placed the mic in front of me and I was so dumbfounded because he had spoken to me in Spanish. I replied, “Buenos noches.” But not in a way that meant to be a reply. It was more my way of thinking: what does that even mean…?

  I was brought back to the New Tandem office as the conversation in Spanish I had with one of the members played in my head. I realized he was that person and he had this grin on his face because we had exchanged a gesture in Spanish. He was so proud of himself but my mind was trying to figure out what language to think and speak in when he asked me the next question, “Are you excited to see this band from Thailand?”

  “Wen.” I said, which means ‘yes’ in Ilocano. I sighed as my self-conscious was like speak English! He’s speaking English!

  He laughed at me and continued to ask me questions. “So, friend. What’s your name?”

  This time I was prepared and replied, “My name is DJ.”

  The emcee got excited and replied. “Oh! DJ! I’m so glad you’re here! So, what are you expecting from this Tuan Thailand band?”

  My initial thought was, “I came here because I was required to but whatever.” Instead, “I shrugged. “Uh, I guess I’m expecting them to be unique and play something new that I’ve never heard before.”

  At that time, I was angry with the emcee because he had put me on spot but now that the concert has been the theme of my conversations this whole week I have to thank him for forcing me out of my comfort zone. So, thank you! I’ll be tagging him in this post on my Facebook. It’s because of him that I was able to do everything that I was able to do at this concert.

  Now, my answer was that I was expecting something unique and Tuan Thailand was unique! They remind me of a more Metal version of the newer style of Linkin Park. Of course, they’re Thai too so in that way they’re different but I fell in love with this band.

The second idea I expressed was that I was expecting something new and the style of music to me wasn’t new which was what triggered my inner concert fangirl. However, when it comes to the Philippines Metal is not a genre that most people like because of the bias stereotype that is connected with it. Metal is usually considered devil worshiping music or thought to summon demons (which is doesn’t but bias is bias).

  As a country that is very religious. This genre is not exactly praised by the public and the moment they began to play their first song my inner love for metal was ignited but I also got to watch the reactions of the crowd. The Filipino population around me was looking at this band with horror, with disregard, with confusion, with amusement, and with outright disgust. My classmates left me and I was tempted to go hand out with the emcee but thankfully one of my friend from the arts and sciences college (CAS) was there and she grabbed me the moment she saw me.

  After the first song and after I saw Win’s passion for music I saw the emcee and told him that I wanted to meet the bass player. He told me that there would be interviews later so I could talk to him then. Before that happened, however, the band had asked someone to go up on stage to dance for while they sung. My friend from CAS told me to go but I told her that I can sing but I can’t dance. Once someone went up on the stage the lead singer said that she could sing if she wanted and she went with singing because all Filipinos can sing.

  In this song, I don’t remember which song it was, she was able to use Win, the bass player’s mic. So, you could hear here well. At the time, I thought the singer was mumbling so I thought he wasn’t very good. I heard more of Win when they were singing which is why I liked him more. After she sung and got off stage the band player two more songs. One in English and one in Thai.

  Since they didn’t have any CDs I recorded the concert on my phone so I could listen to it again later. What I didn’t know was that it was still recording when the lead singer asked for the crowd to turn on their flashlights. I did this, then the emcee ran up to me and asked, “Hey, DJ. Do you want to sing?”

  Before I was able to answer, he grabbed my wrist and I found floating towards the stage and somehow, I was on the stage. The emcee pushed me to the center and the lead singer asked what my name was. I told him that it was DJ. Then, he handed me the mic and Win started to sing Photograph by Ed Sheeran.

-

(This is where I'll end Part One! Tune in tomorrow for Part Two!) If you want to read the whole Meeting you can either click on (Part One) or (Full Post). 

Also, if you haven't read my weekly entry you can read that as well! It's also about what Win made me think about.😅 This week I've officially made it a thing. You will get three two more post about these people. My weekly entry is on a more personal level of emotion. 

Weekly Post

Hope to see you tomorrow!

DJ/Nar/Cho

Discover Tuan Thailand!

YouTube

 They don't really use this but there are a few videos of their music on there.  

Facebook 

Band

Instagram

Win's

Instagram

Spotify

 Two of their songs are available on Spotify. One is 1,000 miles and the other is written in Thai so I don’t know what the name is but it’s good!

Keep up with Dj!

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

 Facebook

      This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

 Instagram

       I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

 Wattpad