#(you kind of need to know Malay pop culture)

[tariqk]

Black Panther headcanons, so spoiler alert for anyone who intends to not be spoiled before watching the movie.

Wakandan counter-intelligence, traditionally known as War Dogs, have a library of intelligence methods and procedures that make the archives competing intelligence agencies look, well, positively amateurish. It doesn't help that the procedures and these methods are the result of literally over a thousand years of observation, analysis, oral and written history, and sly in-jokes and cautionary tales, with an almost-unbroken line from the first Wakandan encounters with colonial forces (and their decision to seclude themselves from the world).

Despite Wakanda's isolationalism, or perhaps because of it, Wakandans have never eschewed learning from the outside world, especially the histories of the many failed struggles and revolutions of colonized people over. These revolutionaries are often remembered and honored in many ways, but often in the archives of the War Dogs, and often woven into the narrative.

A notable example of this is named after the leader of the fabled wars of the Sultan of Mysore, and his name appears scattered all over the Wakandan Black Dog archives. Aptly, it turns out that gambit N'Jadaka, son of N'Jobu uses to gain access to Wakanda is recorded almost verbatim in the War Dogs archives as a Ballad of Tipoo, in which a stock character (slyly named Tipoo in homage to the by-then long-deceased Sultan) pretends to gain the confidence of the gullible Warlord Lateef, and is then betrayed and summarily killed, before the dead warlord's body was used as a bargaining chip to further gain power to those who wanted the warlord dead.

Based on the oral commentaries, this particular ballad was composed to commemorate and document the betrayal and death of a particularly influential enemy of Wakanda, who was, notably, a woman. Therefore, by tradition, when running this gambit, it is customary for Wakandan operatives to refer to the marks with the feminine form of the trusting warlord, if the mark was a man (on the occasions when the mark themselves was a woman, of course, the masculine form is used).

Therefore, it is to no surprise that, for Ulysses Klaw…

😎

…Tipah T'Tipoo Lagi.

[holly-mckenzie]

1, 2 and 6 for skammaker? <3

Oh my gosh! I started answering this question than accidentally closed my tab...😭  this is why you don’t have a billion tabs open friends and foes ... Okay, to start, I want to say. That I haven’t really thought about the SKAM remakes beyond this post, and I honestly wasn’t expecting an ask. So, yes, I will be making up stuff as I go along, and yes, I will be taking criticism!

1. What country + Language is your SKAM set in?

The countries that I would love to see SKAM remakes in are, but not subjected to. Brasil, Russia, somewhere in the UK (not England, they had Skins), India, the Philippines, Malaysia, and New Zealand. The language would be the national language of the country except for the Malaysian, Indian, and Kiwi remake because than the language would reflect the ethnicity or state the main of the season is from.

2. What is it called? (is it SKAM (insert place), a different word (wtfock, druck) or something else?)

I actually don’t know enough about the cultures/slang of the countries to be able to create a cool/unique name, so most of them would probably just be Skam + The Country. The exception being Brazil and Malaysia. SKAM Brasil = Mó Bafão SKAM Malaysia = Geram Skam NZ = Sweet As

6. Introduce us to your version of Eva?

Okay, I really wish you hadn’t asked for Eva, because I hadn’t thought this far... thus I will be making up stuff as I go along! So, I will only be answering about certain countries... lol.

SKAM India - Anjali

The season starts with Anjali, a native of Kerala who now lives in Bangalore (yes, I was inspired by Bangalore Days) moving in with her Aunt’s family in order to get a new start. Determined to not bring that much attention to herself or her family (again), Anjali just wants to keep her head down. However, when her cousin insists that Anjali make new friends instead of constantly moping about and following him around, Anjali reluctantly agrees to try. When her family throws a huge function (maybe due to a religious holiday or a wedding?) Anjali bumps into the part of the past that she has been trying to hide from. This is where she also meets one of her extended, crazy extended, family’s friend, the beautiful and independent Nana (my version on Noora). Nana’s family is originally from Nagaland, though they have been staying overseas and have just moved to Bangalore, where she will be attending school with Anjali. Anjali is delighted to find herself a friend in Nana and the Girl Gang. However, Anjali is constantly on edge due to the familial pressure that she is receiving (to not bring shame upon the family again) as well as the paranoia that her new friends may find about the incident from her old school and judge her.

Anjali is the second daughter in her family, and so she constantly put in her position where she “needs” to sacrifice her own desires for her family. Before the incident at school, she was a happy-go-lucky, super kind, as well as musically talented. At one point, she used to post videos of herself singing and playing the guitar on YouTube, but it seemed she stopped doing that completely. Anjali’s family is Catholic, though it becomes evident as the season unfolds that Anjali feels some form of resignation about the church and religion, as well as feeling like she is not good enough... It also becomes evident that Anjali feels some form of aversion to her older brother, who her parents praise to no end. As the season unfolds we see how these familial pressures come to head in Anjali’s life and how she deals with them.

* tw for the season : familial pressure + slut-shaming ** additional notes: Anjali is probably attending an all-girls school, where she will meet the girl gang. The “shame” of the season will deal with the fact that Anjali had a secret bf when she lived at home who she had s*x with. However, when her parents and community find out they all have opinions (especially the church), which Anjali thinks is unfair because her bf and also her brother (who also had a gf) are not shamed for their actions. This is why parents send her to live with her aunt’s family.

Geram - Alicia Tan

Alicia Tan is a Chinese-Malaysian girl who is starting school at a new school (due to the fact that things got messy at her old school). As she starts her new school year, Alicia feels lost, very lost. Her parents are never around, and when they are, they criticise her, expect scholastic excellence from her and compare her to her cousins. This doesn’t help Alicia as she tries to transition to attending the all-girls convent school her parents have sent her too with hopes that it will bring a positive change in her life (especially after what happened at her old school). However, Alicia just feels lost, in part, due to the disconnect she feels with her fellow peers for being so white-washed. All Alicia wants to do is keep her head down, listen to her favourite K-Pop artists, and sketch.

However, when her grandma encourages her to make new friends and her parents sign her up for tuition in order to help with her failing grades, Alicia meets a group of girls that actually seem really cool, ones that she can trust. On a whim, Alicia stalks the strange and alluring Nor, the new Malay girl who’s back from living in NZ, and the girls click. This ends with Alicia joining the girls as they join a school club (the drama club?), much to the chagrin of her parents, who want her to stay focused on her school work. Alicia just wants to forget about her past and move on, however, her past keeps on coming back to haunt her and she wonders if things will ever go back to normal.

* tw for the season : mental illness + suicide attempt mention ** additional notes : the “shame” depicted in this season is pressure brought on from her family (to be the perfect daughter) + the fact that she is mentally ill and there was an incident at her previous school. Her parents don’t want that to get out, and blame Alicia’s ex-friend for being a “bad influence”, and Alicia lets them (this is my version of the whole cheating thing).  

Mó Bafão - Marie Vitória Silva

The season starts with Marie Vitória Silva entering a new school year in São Paulo, Brazil. Originally from the city of Cuiabá, Marie moved to São Paulo around the age of twelve. Much like Eva, Marie’s parents are divorced and she lives with her mom. Marie feels a lot of pressure from her extended family about the way she dresses, her weight, her hair, her skin etc. She is very self-conscious, which is totally amplified by the fact that her boyfriend (who she spent the “best summer of her life with”) sometimes belittles her. Said boyfriend insists that Marie should go to a party and “have fun”, which Marie does only to feel incredibly self-conscious by the appearance of her ex-friends. However, Marie also meets Grace Lee, the new Coreano-Brasileira (Korean-Brasilian) international transfer student.  Marie eventually finds herself befriending a new group of misfit girls, due to the fact that they end up working on a group project together.

Marie Vitória Silva is a young Brasilian girl who doesn’t necessarily fit into Brazils mould of a beautiful young woman. Marie is more on the thick side, with curly hair that she can’t seem to control (unless it's straightened), She is not doing that great at school, and is constantly compared by her family to her more successful cousins. Marie Vitória Silva enjoys watching movies and TV shows and is a pretty important voice within certain Brasilian fandoms. She spends a lot of her time on the internet creating content for said fandoms and prefers that to party and whatnot. However, as the season goes on Marie Vitória Silva starts to come to terms with herself and the things that she enjoys, including finding peace with herself as the way that she is.

* tw for the season : slut shaming + fat shaming ** additional notes : the “shame” depicted in this season is pressure brought on by Brasilian society to look and behave a certain way. Marie feels the pressure to constantly look beautiful and constantly party. Much like the original SKAM series, it will involve the tension between Ingrid and Marie. However, this tension is exemplified by the fact that during her previous year of school, Mó Bafão!Ingrid would pressure Marie Vitória Silva to drink, party, and find a boyfriend, instead of staying home all the time. This led, Marie to go out and party which would eventually lead to the infamous kiss, and Marie being labelled a slut. However, one of the things that the season will touch on is Marie’s introversion and also the fact that she is asexual.

BONUS:

SKAM TURKÏYE : Eda

(Me? Being inspired by the dizis I’m watching? More likely than you think!)

Eda is a young Turkish woman, who’s family is German - Turkish, but decided to move back to Istanbul when she was younger. (This has nothing to do with the fact that I am a complete ho for Serkan Çayoglu, this is straight-up coincidence, don’t @ me). She’s starting a new school year, after spending the best summer of her life with her boyfriend, Can (my version of Jonas). However, Eda feels ostracised at her new school due to the whole Jonas/Ingrid thing. Eda is a total nerd and really loves watching Dizis, which Can totally give her shit for because they are apparently “so dramatic” and “so long”. However, Eda is a total romantic at heart and doesn’t really care. She has difficulty at school due to her dyslexia, which has caused her to be the butt of numerous jokes in her family and accounts for why she isn’t doing great academically. Her parents are together, though they constantly fight, which causes Eda to feel uncomfortable in her own house, accounting for why she spent so much of her summer at Can’s house. The shame that is dealt in this season is about still more or less about slut-shaming, and the isolation that Eda feels before and even when she joins the girl gang. It also has huge and insanely important themes of girls supporting girls. * tw for the season : slut shaming

[sisbotanical0]

via Siesta Botanicals,

Yellow kratom is without question a new development.

White Vein Kratom strains are made with the white-veined leaves of the Kratom tree coupled by a unique drying process that turns the Kratom powder white. White-veined leaves appear in the spring when the plant is restarting its cyclic cycle. Experienced harvesters pick the white-veined leaves by hand and store them in burlap bags until their work is done for the day.

So aside from being a rare, spiky plant found only on one island, horn kratoms are highly sought after for their powerful effects. And whether one seeks the pain relief of Red Horn Kratom, the energy boost of White Horn Kratom, or the nootropic effects of Green Horn Kratom, there is a potent horn kratom strain for everyone.

What Do Kratom Colors Mean

What Are the Different Varieties of Kratom?

When you browse kratom varieties, you’ll likely see that kratom is usually divided by Red, Green, and White varieties. There are a few specialty colors that might pop up from time to time like Gold or Yellow, but most will be Red, Green, or White.

What Do The Different Colors Of Kratom Mean?

Those new to kratom might be wondering how it is that one plant can come in different varieties when it reaches the market. The difference lies in the growth and methodology, not so much in the plant itself.

What Do Kratom Colors Mean

The euphoria produced by Green Malay lasts longest as compared to all other strains of Kratom.

There is a moment when the alkaloids in the Kratom leaves, which are the compounds that make them unique, are at their very highest quantity. Experienced Kratom growers know when to pick the leaves so they can contain the most alkaloids.

Green and Red Vein Kratom

Harvested in Nibung in the Bengkulu region of Indonesia, Green Malay is 100% pure green vein Kratom. The stems of the leaves are removed before the leaves are dried for one day. This helps maintain the green hue of the leaves, while also preserving the optimum alkaloid content.

Green vein kratom can be mixed with red or white kratom strains to create a more rounded and sophisticated effect. When properly mixed it prevents the excessive anesthesia of the red veins and the overstimulation of the white veins.

Before we get into the three main strains of kratom, it’s important to understand that all Kratom comes from the leaves of a tree that is part of the coffee family known as Mitragyna Speciosa (Kratom). The Mitragyna Speciosa tree grows in nature throughout the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia. For example, countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Borneo, and others located in the same geographical area is where much of today’s Kratom is sourced from.

Red Vein Kratom leaves have red-colored stem and veins. Red kratom is by far the best selling and most widely available strain of kratom on the market. The red vein is sold more than the green and white vein combined. The red vein kratom plant grows abundantly in Southeast Asia and is slightly more persistent than other Mitragyna Speciosa trees. Some studies claim that the substances that give rise to the red color of the veins also ensure that the plant is less susceptible to external factors.

This tropical evergreen tree is native to Southeast Asia in countries like Borneo, Malaysia, and Thailand. It has been used in a variety of ways in traditional cultures for centuries. At times, it was included in cultural rites or to motivate laborers.

Due to the balanced functioning green vein kratom is often used against social fears. You will be less afraid and more able to disregard the importance of other people’s impressions and opinions. Therefore, the green veins are popular during recreational activities such as a night out in town.

Drying Kratom

I’ve seen a ton of supposed examples of different drying processes, such as drying indoors for a portion of time than outdoors to finish or drying without any sunlight versus only utilizing sunlight to dry. With so many different ideas being shouted into your ear, my best advice is to contact your vendor and ask for as much info as possible about the quality and conditions of the products you wish to purchase.

Which kratom vein color will you choose – or what is your existing favorite? Let us know through social media or get in touch. We always enjoy hearing about the experiences of our current and future customers!

What Do The Different Colors Of Kratom Mean: Yellow

Yellow kratom is not a vein color. Rather, yellow refers to the tint that sometimes accompanies the leaves after this unique curing and fermentation process. Undertaken with the best green and white vein leaves of the indicated region, the fermentation process causes changes in the alkaloids, leaving you with a strain that falls somewhere between the red vein and green vein. Indeed, yellow is a mix of green and red veins. Yellow is definitely worth a try if you’re looking for a good fit but haven’t found a more common variety that works for you.

Often, the variation between red and white kratom will be more simply explained as red being more “mature” and white being “younger.” In terms of overall light and sun exposure, this is true, but the terminology can be quite confusing.

Some of the risks of buying Kratom from a supplier that’s not reputable could be that the product you’re getting isn’t 100% pure Kratom leaf. It could also have other detrimental substances in it, like heavy metals, pesticides, or bacteria.

The Different Strains Of Kratom and What They Do

The Kratom different kratom strains thrive at their best in different conditions and contain various alkaloids which each produce their own effects. Red vein kratom strains are suitable for certain purposes, while green and white kratom strains are more appropriate at other times.

Ultimately, however, the color of kratom often has a lot to do with the way that it was dried! Green leaves are usually dried indoors for 80% of their drying time while whites are dried inside in the dark. Red leaves are given more sun exposure via outdoor drying or UV lighting, depending on the variety.

Green Vein kratom is another popular variety because most strains offer a nice balance of gentle, caffeine-like energy. For the same people noted above, this might be a good choice for daytime relief, while a red vein is reserved for evenings. In addition to stimulation and analgesia, green vein strains often alleviate symptoms of depression and improve mental clarity.

Yellow kratom is without question a new development. I highly recommend you contact your vendor if they sell yellow kratom and make sure they can answer all your questions. Where is it from? Is it a mixture of different veins or strains? You can even request a certificate of analysis (COA) from a testing laboratory.

The strains get the colors from the drying and the fermentation process. Most strains start as red vein Kratom leaves, and then the amount of time they spend outside, in UV light, or fermenting in bags determines what color they become.

These amazing tropical trees, related to the coffee plant, boggle botanists with their ability to thrive in almost any condition. They grow in floodplains or arid deserts, and when they are subjected to a lot of heat and light close to harvest, they grow exponentially.

The strains get the colors from the drying and the fermentation process. Most strains start as red vein Kratom leaves, and then the amount of time they spend outside, in UV light, or fermenting in bags determines what color they become.

Then, the drying method will change the final chemical composition of the leaves. The final product depends completely on what type of process the leaf went through when it was grown to when it was dried after harvesting. All of the differences of kratom varieties come about during these parts of the process!

For example, green vein Kratom is dried in an air-conditioned room in the dark, then brought outside for exposure to UV rays for one hour. White vein Kratom is also dried indoors in a cooled room, and not exposed to UV rays, so it keeps its light hue. Red vein Kratom gets the most light and is fermented in bags, which enhances its red hue. The more light red vein gets, the darker the hue.

Get The Right Kratom For You

Siesta Botanicals prides itself on providing quality products and keeping our customers happy. Check out all the different kinds of kratom available and choose the one that is best for your needs here in our shop.

from https://siestabotanicals.com/what-do-kratom-colors-mean/

from Siesta Botanicals https://siestabotanicals.blogspot.com/2020/08/what-do-kratom-colors-mean.html via IFTTT

[alanaherz97889-blog]

Know Tips For Expanding Organic Veggies In Your Garden.

Xmas nowadays is celebrated as early as Nov right after the festivity of Halloween. Due to stringent top quality controls, so about there is actually definitely a lot of preventative measure that is actually been taken aimed for landscape weed control. August in north Colorado is actually also the month from rich harvesting in the yard as every one of our effort starts to settle.

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Really, any kind Dietsstyle-Befit.Info of vegetable that you grow outdoors may grow inside with a compartment garden. A water garden appropriates for fish simply so long as it could supply enough air as well as disintegrate the wastes generated. As a result, people who develop food in their backyard are actually far healthier simply due to the fact that they have lots of new produce to eat. Then, the Chinese Backyard, Malay Garden, Indian Landscape and Colonial Landscape are actually good for inducing fond memories. Official yard fine art additionally includes luxuriant birdbaths and also heavy classical drinking fountain. This article as well as the web site are used as an information for developing holiday ideas. Our company have raised our headcount through greater than 30% year-over-year in the digital region, to increase our information online, to create even more promotions online. The best disturbing feature of the walled backyard viewpoint typically is the fact that this has actually actually harmed a lot of web sites as well as communities on the net. All gardeners recognize that to obtain a flourishing plant, the dirt in the garden needs to correct. If all your plants are actually developed to possess comparable sprinkling requirements, the pop-up spray head is actually one of the most ideal to put up through the support from a yard water device Surrey professional. Many thanks for your check out as well as for cherishing the elegance from my landscape and also my horticulturist. The data bank, on an Amazon Internet Services S3 server, was probably misconfigured through WWE or some of its own THIS companions, in line with various other subjected data on AWS. And little bit of pointers, techniques and secrets that may help them strengthen their yard without devoting a great deal of amount of money. Possessing a prime focus in a big yard is actually completely crucial as well as depending upon how huge the room is you could possibly have different focal points for different portion of the backyard.

[vampireadamooc]

As Always: text is provided only in the event of access expiration or post deletions from the hosting site. Whenever possible, always read the article at the link provided.

The bloodthirsty aswangs of Philippine mythology By Yvette Tan Updated 18:00 PM PHT Thu, July 13, 2017 http://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2017/07/13/aswangs-in-pinoy-myths.html

In Philippine myth and folklore, bloodthirsty monsters include a wide array of creatures other than the vampire, from the bebarlang of Mindanao to the supernatural Danag. Illustration by TIM LOPEZ

Manila (CNN Philippines Life) — Mankind has always had its monsters. Many of the earliest stories have been about a culture’s fight against the darkness and the horrors that dwell within the unknown. Today, such beliefs survive in pop culture usually as remnants of a superstitious past, though there are still individuals and communities that believe in such creatures, especially (though not necessarily always) in isolated areas.

Not just Dracula

One of pop culture’s most popular monsters is the vampire. Though Eastern European in origin, it was popularized by Irishman Bram Stoker in his classic book, “Dracula.” Vampires have evolved since its pre-literary days, morphing from a scary, dangerous creature to dashing, well-dressed night dwellers who have the power to bestow the gift of immortality.

The vampire-type creature isn’t just an Eastern European phenomenon. Almost all cultures have their own version of a blood-sucking monster. The Malay penanggalan, for example, is a beautiful female whose head detaches from her body, flying off with her entrails dangling below. She feeds on human flesh and/or blood in almost the same way our manananggal does: by perching on the roof of a house where a child is born and lowering her proboscis-like tongue (basically a built-in bubble tea straw) so that it can suck the entrails out of the mother and child.

CNN Life - Aswang - 5 Manananggal - 170713.jpg The manananggal was made famous in the first “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” through Peque Gallaga’s short of the same name. Illustration by TIM LOPEZ

A more recent bloodsucker is the Mexican chupacabra, which first appeared in the 1990s. It got its name, which literally means ‘goat-sucker,’ because of its penchant for sucking the blood out of livestock, particularly goats.

Roots in nature

The focus on blood is simple: blood is life. The one thing our prehistoric hunter-gatherer ancestors understood was that if you didn’t have blood, you died. If you didn’t have all your internal organs, you died. Another thing they understood was that offal was filled with the nutrients needed to survive a long drought or winter. So it stands to reason that blood and guts is what their most dreaded supernatural enemies would immediately gun for.

Another inspiration is the natural world. There are many fish, birds, insects, and animals that live on the red stuff. We (and our pets) know how painful, annoying, and potentially deadly mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks can be. Birds like the oxpecker eat the insects on the ox they perch on, but they can also drink the blood that flow from the ox’s wounds.

CNN Life - Aswang - 6 Sigbin - 170713.jpg In the Visayas, there is the sigbin, basically a bloodsucking cross between a dog and a kangaroo. Illustration by TIM LOPEZ

Vampire bat saliva have anti-coagulating properties that prevent the blood in their prey’s wounds from clotting so that they can feed on them longer. The lamprey is a leechlike fish that attaches itself to other fish so that it can suck their blood. With horrors like this surrounding our ancestors on a daily basis, it’s no wonder that one of their major preoccupations was keeping their insides intact, thank you very much.

One thing that these monsters play on is the concept of opposites. Since they are essentially the enemies of the forces of good, some of their characteristics are mirror opposites to what is found in nature. It’s kind of the same logic behind the upside-down Christian cross representing Satan as a bastardization of Christianity. It’s why the aswang’s companion tiktik and the ghoulish bebarlang (see below) sound softer the nearer they get.

Related to this is the concept of the other. Many monsters, such as the penanggal and our own manananggal, for example, have human forms, that usually of beautiful maidens or old crones. This was a form of exclusion — a cultural removal of the powerful feminine, the patriarchy’s way of keeping women in check by branding old, outspoken, or even just plain weird ones as dangerous.

CNN Life - Aswang - 3 Bebarlang - 170713.jpg Bebarlang are basically ghouls, monsters who feed on the flesh of the deceased. They also feed on the living by going into a trance and using their astral body to enter the homes of unsuspecting victims. Illustration by TIM LOPEZ

Filipino bloodsuckers

In the Philippines, we don’t have bloodsuckers so much as what folklore authority Maximo Ramos calls viscera suckers. That is, your friendly neighborhood monster isn’t just going to drink your blood. It’s going to suck up all your juicy, nutritious innards with its straw-like tongue, too. These monsters are generally grouped into the category of “aswang.” Contrary to popular belief, not all of our folklore come from before Spanish colonization. Some of them, such as the kapre and other kinds of aswangs, appeared in the World War II era as word-of-mouth propaganda to scare away the enemy.

There are many kinds of aswangs. Here are some of them:

Danag — One of the aswang creation myths involve the Danag, a supernatural race that lived side by side with humans in the old days. Legend is a human got a wooden splinter caught underneath his fingernail one day and a Danag offered to help by sucking it out. A bit of blood accompanied the splinter as it exited the nail, an iron taste which the Danag took a liking to. Since then the Danag have become aswangs, subsisting on delicious, delicious blood.

CNN Life - Aswang - 2 Danag - 170713.jpg The Danag was believed to be a supernatural race that took a liking to human blood. Illustration by TIM LOPEZ

Bebarlang — Tales of Mindanao’s bebarlang hail from before WWII. They’re basically ghouls, monsters who can be found in graveyards feeding on the flesh of the deceased. When there aren’t enough dead, they feed on the living by going into a trance and using their astral body to enter the homes of unsuspecting victims to feast on their entrails. How the physical entrails get carried through the astral aswang bodies is never explained.

Mandurugo — The mandurugo is the Filipino version of the black widow. Stories tell of a beautiful woman who married a man, who shortly after, passed away mysteriously. Her being beautiful, and beauty being the only thing needed to make a woman desirable back then, it wasn’t long before she found herself another husband. Unfortunately, it also wasn’t long until he too died under mysterious circumstances. The woman married again, but the same thing kept happening until the last man she married, afraid that the same fate would befall him, took a knife with him when they went to bed. When he felt pinpricks on his neck that drew blood, he plunged the knife into his assailant. When he woke the next day, he found his wife dead.

CNN Life - Aswang - 4 Mandurugo - 170713.jpg The mandurugo takes the form of a desirable woman who preys on one man after the other. Illustration by TIM LOPEZ

Manananggal — The manananggal was made famous in the first “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” (SSR) through Peque Gallaga’s short of the same name. The manananggal is usually a woman (though Miguel Rodriguez played one in “SRR” as well). At night, she grows wings, separates her torso from the lower half of her body and flies off in search of a meal. She prefers heavily pregnant women whose nutrient-rich fetuses she can suck out like a raw egg. The manananggal is sometimes accompanied by a tiktik, a small bird named for the sound it makes. As mentioned above, the louder it is means the further it is, and the more silent, the nearer it is.

Sigbin — In the Visayas, there is the sigbin, basically a bloodsucking cross between a dog and a kangaroo. These cryptids are said to be most powerful during Good Friday, where they are said to hunt for the hearts of young children that they make into amulets. They are said to be aswang familiars and may have been a folkloric interpretation of an actual animal, possibly the cat-fox.

[echutti-blog]

Kobji Dubiye Khawa- Wrist-Deep in Food

by Mehuli Saha Ray

Kolkata is slowly and very steadily emerging as a food lover’s paradise. It has a plethora of cuisines to offer, with new restaurants popping up in the city every other day. There are restaurants I’ve given a try, there are restaurants I’ve given a miss, and restaurants I’ve repeatedly gone back to every time I have had a craving for something delectable. This blog is for the third kind of restaurants, and some not-so-famous places, which hold a special corner in my heart and often, my entire stomach. Growing up in Kolkata, my first introduction to good food was through the lip-smacking dishes my grandmothers would prepare, a skill which my parents, aunts and uncles have all inherited. Being in a joint family, there was one thing my classmates had always been jealous of- the Sunday spread at my place. So I have to begin there. There may be many places, like 6 Ballygunge Place, and Saptapadi, which offer amazing Bengali fare. But at that fare, we could all eat lunch and dinner for a week (okay, I may be exaggerating a bit), and having a family full of food enthusiasts meant you never needed to look for restaurants serving Bengali cuisine. Some of the dishes that would forever be etched in my memory would be my thakuma’s ‘Shukto’, ‘Bhaapa Ilish’, ‘Mochar Ghonto’, ‘Kosha Mangsho’, ‘Chingri’r Malaai-Curry’, ‘Paayesh’. Why I mention these very difficult, jaw breaking names? Because justice will not be done to them if these were translated into English, which most people here would not understand, and a food crawl in Kolkata is incomplete without a visit to the house of a Bengali acquaintance and devouring these. Though, I must mention, Bengal is laced with the Ghoti-Bangal divide from the football maidan to the food plates, so you probably will not get Ilish Bhapa and Chingri’r Malai Curry in the same house. Surviving in Kolkata as a student is really easy too. No matter how broke you are, you’ll always have very delicious food to munch on. You’ll get phuchka, ghugni, churmur, jhaal-muri, shingara, kochuri, along with dosas, momos, dhoklas and pav bhaajis at every street corner. It’s a pocket friendly way to explore the entire of the country’s best street food. My most favourite street food would be phuchkas, at any street corner (not for the ones who are picky about hygiene) and Kolkata Kathi Rolls, especially the one available at Nizam’s. They might be available by that name across the country now, but they are all quite tasteless clones of these beauties. Kolkata is a meat lover’s paradise too. There are various steak joints and burger places which will leave you craving for more, like Chilli’s, Mocambo, Peter Cat, etc, besides the American food chains. But here, the potato emerges as the almighty. The proof of that is in the Kolkata style biriyani. The addition of aloo can really make all the difference, and it has triggered fights here, over which restaurant serves the best biriyani- Arsalan or Aminia, or if Lucknow or Hyderabad’s biriyani even comes close to the taste of our biriyani. Perhaps the best biriyani I have tasted is at a friend’s house, though Mumtaz mashi refuses to open a restaurant anytime soon. But biriyani doesn’t just start fights, it has started love stories too, one of them being my own. There are more biriyani lovers here than perhaps the entire nation put together. Speaking of influenced eating, the second most favourite cuisine adapted by Bengalis is Chinese. The Chinese here is far from authentic, for which you’d have to go to places like Mainland China or Chowman, and in its lesser known cousins through China Town near Tyangra, you’ll find Chinese (and Tibetan, Thai, and other Oriental cuisines which Bengalis tend to confuse often) best suited to the Bengali’s overly-sweetened taste buds. Mentioning sweet and Bengalis in the same sentence, it would be a cardinal sin if I didn’t mention that some of the best sweets in the world are available here. One of my friends, who recently came from Canada during her vacations, complained to me that their panna cota does not match up to our mishit doi. If you’re not diabetic yet, Kolkata’s roshogolla, various types of sandesh, mishit doi, mihidana, roshbhora, roshomolayi, malpoya, lyangcha, and I don’t know where to end this particular list, will definitely make you so. As if inventing the roshogolla (not rasgulla, please!) was not enough, we have also come up with baked roshogolla as a way to make the goodness better! There are lots of other things which you’d get in Bengal. It’s a culmination of cultures; of very sweet people, all living to eat. Come to Bengal, and we will show you how to eat “kobji dubiye” (dipped till the wrist).

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