A maritime lawyer by profession, sometimes called Frog Prince of the Philippines with currently more than a thousand of collectible frog items. Like the frogs with a reputation for leaping that is well deserved, jump with me to my froglandia as we travel and explore the world seeking symbols of divine powers of love, fertility, regeneration, rebirth, immortality, and transformation.
The Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention is the most anticipated gathering of toy distributors,
gamers, pop memorabilia collectors and cosplay enthusiasts this side of
the planet. TOYCON took place June 14, 15, 16
at the SM Megatrade Hall 1, 2 and 3 from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
TOYCON wouldn’t be complete without the annual Live Action Figure
Cosplay competition, the biggest gathering of all, sci-fi/fantasy,
comics and anime-inspired costume players in the Philippines.
Kashyapa is considered the third in the series of earthly Buddhas, the one who appeared before Buddha Shakyamuni, the historical buddha.
One day, during a public teaching, the mellifluous voice of this fully enlightened being rang out to the hills where a herder who was tending his flock happened to hear it. He could not catch every word but he was so taken by the sound, that he stopped where he was to listen. Resting his chin upon his hands that were planted palm down atop it, he fell under the spell of the sound of the Buddha's voice.
Now, deep in the ground just below where the staff was planted was a frog holed up for the cold weather. It was just his misfortune that the stockman's staff pierced his body as the vibrations of the Buddha's teaching resonated down the shaft of wood and reached him. But the little frog did not struggle, nor make any sound, for he was filled with joy at hearing the dharma and did not want to cause a disturbance.
When the teaching came to an end, the shepherd moved on with his flock and the frog quietly and serenely expired. Because of his virtuous decision not to interrupt the sounds of dharma, the frog was reborn in the Realm of the Gods. This little frog became chief among them, Lord Indra, himself.
This jataka (Buddha's life tale) as retold by Karma Kagyu Khenpo Chokey Gyaltsen of Pullahari, Nepal, emphasizes how merit is gained even in dire circumstances. It teaches that Dharma helps transform our attitude and that influences our actions, eventually leading to our Liberation.
Maybe in my past life I was a frog. What if I am the Frog Prince? You can smile but perhaps that is the rationale why I had the fixation in collecting frog items: I have currently more than a thousand of them they are scattered all over my house and office , a frog memorabilia museum of sort: toys, toiletries, plates, pillows, vases, incense holders, candles, mugs, keychains, wood crafts, figurines, jars, socks, chimes, and several others made out of varied materials such as terracotas, wood, glass, clay, cement, plastic, ceramics etc.. Let me guide you to my FROGLANDIA.....
I started collecting in December 2001,after i noticed that there are some gifts that were not given to my inaanaks. then when i opened them, they are frog toys that i bought for them. Later on, i seemed to have the urge to scavenge for more frog items anywhere i go, as if i had a third eye or sixth sense where the items are located.
I would wake up every morning and start my day with touching some of my frog collection . You find your eyes going to a piece. It pleases you and excites you and makes you want more and better.
In answering the question, "Why do you collect?," many collectors would probably simply say, "Because it's fun." But there's always something behind what we find fun.
Collecting is more than just collecting. Its origins go way back. As a species, we have a deeply ingrained need to hoard to survive the next winter or the next siege, to safeguard the future.Some people collect for investment. Some of us, like Noah for his ark, collect one of each type. Others collect many of a smaller number of types. Still others collect many of many types, amassing them in huge numbers. Some collect to expand their social lives, attending swap meets and exchanging information with like- minded souls.We can be called obsessive compulsive, but we should not pathologize collecting. Almost everyone is attached to a certain kind of item.
To others, collecting is a need-driven compensatory behavior where "every new object effectively gives the notion of fantasized omnipotence."Motive may be so fundamental, so intrinsic that it simply doesn't consciously engage a collector's attention. Focusing on objects, after all, their beauty, function and relationship to each other, may be a kind of self-sustaining process of externalized emotion.Collecting is just another way of organizing thought.
It 's a kind of art. Having something that nobody else owns or that very few people own or that they can't afford to own is very gratifying. Knowing the sought-after item is no longer available to others provides the collector with pleasure and a sense of well being.
Collecting as a hobby can be a fun, worthwhile and potentially lucrative way to pass time. Amassing collectibles as investments, however, can be a disappointing endeavor yielding nothing but piles of devalued tchotchkes for the next of kin to sort through".collectibles" and the companies that make them are slaves to demand and market forces — and the realization that their mass-produced product is only worth as much as a buyer will pay for it.
For pictures of some of my collection, please view them in my facebook account:
My frog collection was also featured four times in different tv programs, to wit Mel and Joey and Unang Hirit of GMA7, SaPulso of QTV and Matanglawin of ABS-CBN.
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For many cultures, these amphibians were symbols of and connected to divine powers of fertility, regeneration, and rebirth.
In ancient Egypt, the frog appears as a symbol of fertility, water, and
renewal. The water goddess Heket often appeared as a woman with the
head of a frog. Frogs were also the symbol of the midwife goddess
Heqit, who ruled conception and birth, and Egyptian women often wore
metal amulets in the form of frogs to enlist her good favor. Frogs
appeared in great numbers each year at the flooding of the Nile , an
event which was crucial to agriculture in that it provided water for
many distant fields. Frogs thrived in the muddy bogs left by the
receding waters, and it is easy to imagine how frogs came to be viewed
as favorable symbols of abundance. In fact, the frog became a symbol for
the number hefnu, which meant either 100,000 or simply "an immense
number." Perhaps it is frogs’ impressive fertility combined with their
association with water, so important for human life, that has led humans
to see them as such potent and positive symbols.
As a symbol of transformation, the Frog Prince, is a fairy tale, best known through the Brothers Grimm's
written version; traditionally it is the first story in their
collection. In the tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends a frog (possibly meeting him after dropping a gold ball into his pond), who magically transforms
into a handsome prince. Although in modern versions the transformation
is invariably triggered by the princess kissing the frog, in the
original Grimm version of the story, the frog's spell was broken when
the princess threw it against a wall in disgust. In other early versions it was sufficient for the frog to spend the night on the princess's pillow.
In the Philippiunes, therer is this group called Collectibles Unlimited Association, a non-profit association based in Metro Manila, whose main objectives are to promote interest in the collection and display of all types of comics,toys, movies, animation, games and related childhood memorabilia; and to maintain a network of collectors to help members keep in touch with each other and advance the collecting hobby. they organize Toyfairs that feature the best selection of kiddie toys, dolls, action figures, die cast cars, licensed merchandising and high end collectibles this side of town.
Rekindling childhood in Yokohama
(July 20, 2008, Japan)
Our feet took us today toYokohama wherein childhood days are rekindled in the world of toys…
In the Tin Toys Museum, Teruhisa Kitahara’s collection of 3,000 tin toys produced from the 1890’s to the 1960’s is displayed here. he museum exhibits a part of curator Teruhisa Kitahara’s tin toy collection that he started around 1973. The exhibition comprises around 3,000 items mostly manufactured in
Japan between the 1890’s and 1960’s, and the ways they move are introduced on video. The collection illustrates the various trends in toys throughout history. As early as 1920s pre war Japanese toys to 1960s Baby Boomer Toys. You name it, the toy museum has it. If you like robots, space rockets, Batman items, Ultraman toys, Popeye toys or Mickey Mouse, this museum has them, and you will definitely be astonished just by looking at them.
As a colllector of frog items in the Philippines, it gave me more interest in my pursuit of establishing the biggest museum for frog collectibles.
Then we hopped to the Doll Museum. In 1927, the port of Yokohama became the site of this dollhouse that features approximately 13,000 pieces of ethnic dolls, which represent the lifestyles of 140 countries. Now features displays of blue-eyed dolls, which contributed to cultural exchange between Japan and America
, along with documentary photographs of those days. Also displayed are traditional Japanese festive dolls and local dolls, as well as mechanical dolls. Starting with a collection of 3,149 dolls from 92 countries, the collection has been enriched over the years and now stands at 12,926 dolls from 140 countries.
We capped the day with watching fireworks at the pier with many Japanese most of them in their native kimonos, both male and female
