Year: 2016

Kånken & Philpost Experience

Reading Time: 9 minutes

I have heard a ton of good things about the Fjällräven Kånken and ultimately decided to order one; just in time for colors that I’ve always wanted to be stocked up again. Residing in the Philippines, online ordering isn’t exactly the easiest process due to the nature of customs and the national post office – which most if not all packages have to pass through.

In all honesty; when I ordered my package I was extremely afraid due to all the horror stories regarding Philpost that have come to my attention. Researching on it more online doesn’t exactly calm one’s anxieties either – it pretty much made me fear for the worst even further. Surprisingly, my package arrived fine and intact — although it did require further research on my part and wasn’t the most flawless or smooth process.

So in case anyone else is interested in ordering a Kånken bag online or have a package for them – here’s my experience and what I had to go through, bundled up with a short and simple review of the product in question.

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May 14, 2016

A Child’s Cry

Reading Time: 35 minutes

On May 9th, the Philippines continued its march towards democracy. Fingers were stained with lasting ink, the ground was littered with name-plastered paper and shredded coercion; I rested in the throes of my home, travelling and watching the empty highways fading against the skies like they never had before. A bystander to the events that mold the experience of my generation. In two years, I join their ranks and get to have my fingers stained with the blood of freedom — but for now, all I can do is discuss, learn, and speak.

Never have I been so maddened, never have I sworn upon my inability to make a name for myself. Never have I scorned this nation for the lack of education, the ignorance and blasphemy that cycles over and over – the disgust that I feel at all the death threats thrown at me. This is a child’s cry; this is the beginning of a wish, this is the start of the fear she holds in her own country.

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May 13, 2016

Bête noire

Reading Time: 12 minutes

Borrowing from French: bête noire ‎(literally “black beast”).

When I tread on the age-old cement running down the mountains; my mind brings up stern warnings left on the trembles of my mother’s lips. “Do not trust strangers,” looking for the affirmation in my gaze, nods done over and over — I understood, I understand, etcetera. “Do not follow anyone you don’t know,” like reading off an old book, proverbs told time after time from her mother, and then the mothers before her, “only trust your family.” Yet in those brokenly repeated words, I felt the fear clinging onto the teeth marks left on the edges of her lips. So was a mother’s bible, written to protect and nurture, from the very own birthplace she raised you in.

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May 4, 2016