I am, slowly but surely, moving towards having my own site. I have spent the past weeks populating it with content (mostly to prepare my portfolio and resume - Blogger handles its pages differently, adding a /p/ before my pages' aliases).


Some of the pages might not be working well yet (improve the responsiveness of the site to mobile devices), but it's viewable and functional. I also registered a free domain so I can design the site first before I buy a domain and update everything. Check it out!

travischiong.esy.es

..actually putting in a title for the blog post. Haha!

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Anyway, while I was reading through Seth Godin's blog I read that you should blog consistently to develop your sense of opinion. To have a sense of knowing what to say and knowing something about a lot of stuff - and being able to express it in creative writing.

So I will try to write more about things - mundane and intellectual - and not hide them in text files with obscure file names.

I should write more often. Even short but sweet blog posts will make me a better opinionated person - one small blog post at a time.

So, what do you think? If you have thoughts about my blog (or about anything, really), let's talk. I love talking about ideas.

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I made this artwork for my girlfriend but I haven't had the chance to show her yet. It's an edit of a photo I took of her when we were in Palawan, I think.

Hello everyone!

So, recently I bought my own pc. A decent rig, I just added a not-so-pricey GPU to play games with it.

I've always wanted to have a pc that I can play games in better-than-average graphic settings in it, and the very first game I wanted to try after getting the pc is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

I've played it with my old laptop and all my settings were at the lowest. Mentioning that the textures were plastic is a very big understatement, and the game is laggy at best.

Now, I'd like to show you the screenshots I took while playing Skyrim (I modded the game to look and perform better).

The awesome view outside the Blue Palace.

Inside my house.

Shop signages look so ... real.

Chillin' guard is chill in Whiterun

"Some may call these junk, me, I call them treasures"

Just another fine day in Whiterun

ohshit.jpg

The all too familiar Whiterun vista

Meeting Sheogorath

The City of Stone - Markarth

I added more mods to improve the towns in Skyrim

One night in Riverwood

Entering Sky Haven Temple

You'd better believe I'm running the game in just High settings.

I love how the mods improved everything

Just outside the Jorrvaskr

A worthy offering for the mighty Talos

The mountains outside Riverwood

Thanks everyone! I just loved taking screenshots of the game, everything just looks so good.

I probably should mention the mods I used in my game, just so in case anyone wanders in here and gets interested:

SkyUI: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/3863
Enhanced Lights and FX: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/27043
Unofficial Skyrim (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19) and Dawnguard (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23491) patches
Skyrim HD: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/607
Static Mesh Improvement Mod - SMIM: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/8655
Immersive Armors: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19733
Immersive Weapons: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/27644
ApachiiSkyHair: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/10168
Better and Younger Lydia: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/8467
Deacons Dark Brotherhood Pack: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/12450
Dark Brotherhood Shrouded Armor CBBEv3 Echo: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/39964
Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Edition - CBBE: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/2666
Bethesda Performance Textures - Animals and Creatures: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/43921
Bethesda Performance Textures - Armor, Clothes and Weapons: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/42360
Climates of Tamriel: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/17802 and Patch (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/39799)
Water and Terrain Enhancement Redux: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/13268
Enhanced Distant Terrain: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/1598
Realistic Lighting Overhaul: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/30450
Elysium Estate: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/33939
HDT Physics Extensions: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/53996
Realistic Ragdolls and Force: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/601
Skyrim Radioactive: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/59871
JK's Whiterun: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/56639
JK's Solitude: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/58055
JK's Windhelm: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/57591
JK's Markarth: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/58283
JK's Riften: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/58489

Hello everyone!

Looks like a fucking painting, doesn't it? DOESN'T IT?

You must've thought that I've abandoned this blog already. Well, I have not, and I don't think I ever will. It's got my fucking name on it so why should I?

I should blog about when me and Beth went to Bohol. It was a dream. The whole stretch of soft white sand and pristine waters is such a wonderful sight to behold. The islands are just as majestic and unspoiled (yet). The Chocolate Hills are nostalgic, reminiscent of the old postcards I used to look at when I was a kid. The 2-centuries-old Baclayon Church, sadly, is half-destroyed by the earthquake last year that hit Bohol. Do you believe that there's not one SM mall in Bohol? They've effectively passed laws that promote local commerce instead of bringing in industry giants. I think it's a must-visit should anyone want to explore the different sights and sites in the country.

We also went to Corregidor, and were moved by the stories of World War II in that historic place. It's a remnant of a violent past, and a reminder of how ravaged the Philippines has been during the war. It's also a shrine to the heroes that fought and died to defend the country against its oppressors.

This is my favorite place in Corregidor. Not the ruins. Not the blasted buildings. But this.

Anyway, a few months back I was already thinking about what to write about as another grand entrance to the realm of blogging. I've done some traveling since the last time I blogged, but my travels aren't enough to cover a "going-back-to-blogging" blogpost.

Well, fast forward a few weeks back, something happened that changed my life. Possibly for as long as I live.

I was diagnosed with an illness that makes me dizzy with strenuous or sudden movement. Vertigo. Caused by displaced calcium crystals inside the ear canals, causing the feeling of imbalance. But never to worry, doc said as long as I take my pills I'll be fine.

Let me tell you about my first attack. It was one morning as I was just waking up and about to rise from the bed when suddenly everything around me is moving to the right. When I try to look at my left it would be so just for a few seconds then it would spin back to the opposite direction, It's like the feeling you get after you spin around; except for me at that time I felt it the whole fucking day.

Even though I haven't been advised to not do the usual things that I do (except for rigorous activities), I stay away from the things that I worry that will make me dizzy. It's like a normal feeling now. I've bid Muay Thai good bye, I certainly can no longer ride the insane rides in amusement and theme parks, I can't even run anymore without feeling a slight discomfort.

Have I learned something from it? Yeah. A lot. One of them is taking care of oneself. Honestly, I used to think that I'll never be sick (except for occasional fevers and cases of runny nose). I think I've pushed my physical shell to its limits. Now I'm taking care of myself. I've also realized that my life isn't only mine to live for, but for those whom I love and those that I want to look out for.


I hope this post makes up for the long time I haven't been here.

What is success?

It might mean a lot of things for different people, but I think we can agree that success is surviving stormy Valero street at 6am

Is it the attainment of material things and enjoying experiences that exemplify the very meaning of being successful? Is it the freedom from financial woes and the stability and security of one's lifestyle that define it? Is it having a handful of people you let inside your walls and keep constant contact with?

Is the idea of being successful (whatever it means for each one of us) what drives us further? It drives us to greater heights, to greener pastures and better lifestyles, but is it the real meaning of success?

Perhaps we see success differently. We can only argue what we think constitutes being successful.

I've read a blog from five years ago. I've never read something that has that many swear words making so much sense, but the meaning goes way beyond the language. It was the expression. The intent of writing. The meaning beyond words is what mattered and what hit me is the awful truth that life, well, it isn't easy. You gotta know what you want in life, work hard for it, and accept the shit life gives you in the pursuit of what you want.

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Why I think working harder than everyone else is necessary to succeed.

Working hard is, what I think, the main ingredient of even surviving in life. Cultivating great ideas allow you to succeed. But working hard is necessary. Especially in a workplace that grinds the faint-hearted and rewards the exceptional.

There will always be people who know better than you. Who know a lot more than what you know. Who can always kick your butt if they were ever so willing to do so. That's why you have to put in more hours than them to learn what they know and master their craft, build your own set of expert-level skills, and trump them in the arena called the workplace.

I can't say my work is always pixel-perfect (on the contrary I commit mistakes often), but persistent learning and hard work will push me to a level that I commit less mistakes (in life and in work). What I can say for sure is, I push myself further and farther to achieve my set goals.

**

I've been training Muay Thai for quite some time now. I've gotten stronger, I think, and endured cuts and bruises in the process.

Let's connect through Instagram. I post there more often

I was asked by one of the trainors what my reasons are for training. I told him I wanted to learn the martial art. I will probably move on to another once I'm confident of my skills - probably Pencak Silat, Kempo or if I have the money to buy a katana (which I really, really want) Kenjutsu. It's only recent that I've acquired the love of seriously learning martial arts, for they are indeed art forms.

I'm sorry, old self.

I'm sorry I don't share your vigor for passionate things anymore. I'm sorry that, unlike you, explored the depths of your maximum capacity to feel certain things. I'm sorry that my body has grown weak and my heart and my mind has become weary.

I'm sorry that I am stuck in this loop of hopelessness. This jaded reprieve from life's brighter days disturbs the demons inside that now run amok and deprive me of peace.

I'm sorry, old self. I keep on going back to when life was better. When sleeping at night was never a challenge as it is these days. I keep looking back and think of what I could have done. It's pointless. No amends can be done to fix what was broken. What I caused to break. What I did nothing to save.

I'm sorry if I smell of cigarettes all the time, and more often recently, of gin. I have found no point of achieving attraction from other people. I'm sorry that my once-unblemished appearance has now grown old. You, my old self, seem so far away even when I look past my reflection.

We used to have lots of fun with other people, dear old self. We used to enjoy drinking sprees or coffee nights with friends. We used to do things without regard or inhibitions. I'm sorry we don't experience life as it was before. Oh when did it become so complex? So complicated?

I have come to miss you, dear old self. I am sorry for not being able to find it within myself to swing by your side and share a peaceful cup of tea or two.

I don't know how to end this letter to you, and I am sorry, old self, for unbridled thoughts when time does not allow me - nor you - to harbor such feelings. But really, when is the right time? Is there a right time?

I yearn for peace, old self. I yearn to quell the demons that took dwelling inside my soul (if there is such a thing) and disturb the peace I once had. With you. You have gone so far away, old self. I yearn for your comfort.

No, I have gone away from your side. I sought for something else when all I ever needed was the peace inside you, old self, ever so lovingly provided for me.

I'm sorry, old self. I am no longer you. The memories of you are now feelings of nostalgia. Bittersweet, and never to be had ever again.

Jigoku

Hello earthlings!

I'm so thrilled to be back online. Not that I am not always online, it's just that it's been so busy these past few weeks and I want to remind people reading this blog (if they exist) that this blog is still alive. This may yet, in fact, outlive me. Haha!

Recently, we filmed some footages for a tv commercial we're doing for our marketing efforts. It kind of reminded me of how we did stuff during college, and in some ways, how having a decent budget is better and where can a lot of money for production take you.



I haven't been able to continue with my illustrations but I have been doodling a lot. I want a new tattoo so bad but I can't decide on a design. I'm still working on a rework of a past design - with the hannya mask and flame-y stuff.

**

It gets depressing sometimes.