One of the most popular street foods in the Philippines is called BALUT. When I was a little kid, I would rush out of the house every time I heard street vendors pass by yelling "BALLLLUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTT, BAAALLUUTTT" I would always get my mom to crack the shell for me so that I could have the soup first, before biting into the egg. I don't recall if I actually ever ate the embryo but my taste buds have certainly changed. Either that or it's just the fact that I now understand what it is i'm actually eating. >____<

Here I am, probably almost 20 years after my last taste of balut:

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I love potatoes and anything that involves potatoes whether it's baked potato, chips, french fries, scalloped potatoes, mashed potatoes, tater tots....well, you get the idea. I was happy to find out that Harmony from Flo Tea Room also shared my love for this so It only then made sense that our next HERRO X FLO combo would involve it.

Introducing... HERRO X FLO FRIES!

For $6.95 you can choose from 4 different styles AND of course it includes your choice of black/green/milk tea based bubbletea. :)

Food tasting at Flo Granville... it was a happy day.

BAKED CHEESY MEAT SAUCE FRIES - This one was my favorite!

BAKED CHEESY BLACK PEPPER FRIES / BAKED CHEESY MUSHROOM (w/ gravy) FRIES

MILK + HONEY ICE CREAM FRIES (condensed milk, honey, and vanilla ice cream)

This one was inspired by my childhood. After school, a friend and I would go to McDonald's, order french fries and an ice cream cone and dip our fries into the ice cream. If you love salty and sweet in one dish, you'll love this!

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Recently, the Philippines released their new tourism slogan "It's More Fun in the Philippines" and I instantly got inspired to create a few designs centered on that line. I was born in the Philippines but only lived there for 3 years before my family and I moved to Hong Kong, and then eventually Vancouver. I lost my connection with the place after years and years of not being back... all I knew about it was what other people and the media reported... that it was dangerous, dirty, and corrupt. Last June, my family and I went back for vacation after 10 years of not visiting. I fell in love with the place all over again and it felt like home. Yes, there are dangerous parts, dirty parts, and corruption does exist... but where does it not?

Shopping, It's More Fun in the Philippines - If you've ever shopped in the "cheap" areas in the Philippines where you can bargain... these words are definitely familiar to you! I still have not figured out why they like to combine two words into one... like mamsir. Eating, It's More Fun in the Philippines - Balut, anyone? Philippines, #1 - To many Filipinos, the Philippines will always be home no matter where in the world we live. :)

I wanted to create a "provincia" (province) feel for the photos so I decided to clip the t-shirts on a line, just like how we used to dry our clothes when we lived there. I didn't actually have the correct tools to dry clothing in our backyard here so I had to improvise.

Tied an old cable to both sides of the stairs

In order for the cable to be able to hold the weight of the shirts, i put weights on top of it. Gotta use what you got! haha!

Family is a big part of the Filipino culture which is why when you buy 4 or more t-shirts for you, your family, and friends, each shirt is just $20! Use code "HERROPAMILYA" here: http://shop.herrohachi.com!

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It was such a fun ride last year thanks to all of you!

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That is one of the questions I get asked often by people who want to wear Herro Hachi but are afraid little asians will come and beat them up. That question is usually followed by "Has anyone ever gotten offended by this?" so I thought it would be fun to take a little poll in downtown Vancouver to answer these questions once and for all!

Special thanks to Sharon for braving the cold to help us get some answers!

When people ask me this question at shows, I tell them it's all in good fun and not meant to belittle or offend anyone. If my goal was to belittle/offend people, i would just put "Asians Can't Drive" on a shirt or something... wait, what, did i just say that? Just Kidding................. :P Anyway, like one person said in the video "Asians love Caucasians" and vice versa! It all ends happily.

I feel ya kid, i feel ya... potato makes me happy too.

images from buzzfeed.com

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Flo Tea Room + Herro Hachi are in the mood for games and giveaways!

THE PRIZE? 1 FREE T-SHIRT + 1 FREE HERRO FLO COMBO EACH WEEK!

Who's in?!?! I hope all your hands and feet are raised. All the details are outlined in this video and in this videos description box. This is only for Vancouver locals but if you're somehow able to teleport Flo Tea Room's bubbletea to your country, then by all means, please join!!! (Side Note: 5 Days of Deals going on in our shop from Dec 5 to 10... follow the deals on Facebook or Twitter. Great deals for those of you who live outside of Canada!)

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This year, I decided that I would only join one big show so I chose the Make It Show since i've been a part of their Spring show in 2010 and had a lot of fun. I really wanted to make my booth fun, interactive, and memorable for my customers but how? I had my giant t-shirt made but that's not going to make it interactive... then about a week before the show, i had an idea... A SPINNING PRIZE WHEEL! I was discouraged when I saw that they were selling online for almost $300 but thankfully my dad is pretty creative and handy and made one for me!

Each time a customer bought a t-shirt, they were able to spin for a chance to get a discount or freebies like buttons, stickers, and gift certificates to Flo Tea Room! I'm pretty sure the most coveted prize was the "free smile" though. Hahaha! :P

The show attracted people of all ages so it was really interesting that some older folks would "get it" and laugh as soon as they saw Herro while others would ask things like "What does hee-ro mean?" "Dericious? Isn't that a little inappropriate?" "Are you sure i'm allowed to wear this?" :P

Thank you to each and every one of you who visited and supported Herro Hachi!

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In preparation for the Make It Show this coming November 24th-27th, I got a giant t-shirt made to use as my booth "sign". I thought it'd be a fun way to have people find me and hopefully it'll catch the attention of people who don't know about Herro Hachi. Since I have no sewing skills at all, I asked my friend Sheila from SWFDS to help me out. It's funny because she asked me to have the pattern of the t-shirt already cut so that when I get there, she can just sew it together. Clueless me decided to free hand the outline of this giant t-shirt, haha! Needless to say, I had to re-do it when I got to her studio... this time with a ruler (duh). I was going to release a video relating to my preparations for the show but plans changed after some hilarious footage. HATERZ GON' HATE!! haha! Enjoy: If you're planning to come to the Make It Show, please RSVP on the Facebook Event page here and you could win a g/c to shop at my booth! You can also print the $2 off admission coupon in the events section of the Herro Hachi home page. See you there! Read the rest of this entry »

Gotta give it up to Twitter once again since it is where this collaboration began. A few months ago, I received a tweet from Flo Tea Room asking me if I have been to their restaurant. I thought it was just another one of those robots/spammers so I was hesitant to respond but I knew about the restaurant and I have been there before so I just went for it. I was surprised that they continued to make conversation with me and later on sent me a message saying that they really liked Herro Hachi and wanted to talk about a possible collaboration. A collaboration with a restaurant?!? It was a scary thought since the only collaborations I have ventured into were with individuals or small groups, never a restaurant! The more I thought about it though, the more it made sense. Their restaurant (HK/Taiwanese style cafe serving awesome bubbletea) matches well with Herro Hachi's demographic, design, culture, etc and It's a well known fact that I have a bit of an addiction problem to Bubbletea. It was a perfect match.

Find out more about what we're doing with the collaboration below:

OR click on the "I <3 FLO" button on the top left hand side of this page! :) Read the rest of this entry »

"HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HELLO VISITORS!!!!!"

That's how my family and I were greeted when we visited Gentle Hands in the Philippines for the first time last July. Gentle Hands is a child and youth welfare agency meant to be on the front lines of rescue for kids who are abandoned, malnourished, or abused. What we saw that day were probably some of the happiest kids we've ever met but the truth is that these kids, at such a young age, has probably experienced more trauma than some of us will ever face in our lifetime. Many of these kids were abused, unloved, mistreated...just left abandoned. One story that really tugged at me was of a baby left in a garbage can of a restaurant... her life taken so lightly. Thankfully, there are places like Gentle Hands who take these kids in to care for them, feed them, educate them, find them families, and most importantly - show them love. Herro Hachi will now be donating $2 from the sale of every t-shirt to Gentle Hands and trust me, a little goes a long way... especially in the Philippines! There are also opportunities for you to donate directly to them through their website or you can even volunteer!

Please share this post or video with your friends... we can really make a difference in these kids' lives!

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