Electrotherapy Massage @ Takshing (w/ Ms. Ana King, General Manager)
Have you tried having an electrotherapy massage over a traditional massage? If not, I must say you should try it at Takshing. It is not painful and it is just completely relaxing. 🙂
Read more of my experience here:
“Takshing Massage: A Rejuvenating Experience with Modern Electrotherapy”
Mountain Dew’s NEON GLOW
I usually hang out around Sunken Garden in the UP Diliman campus after church service because I got used to it during college days watching the joggers, the people playing Frisbee or soccer or just the regular strollers like me. It is such a great breather to be with nature every now and then.
After eating my favorite snack which is “siomai (steamed dumpling) & pancit canton (noodles) combo meal,” I usually buy a drink before heading to the jeepney stop. The moment I laid my eyes on the set of drinks lined up at the store, one instantly caught my attention and yes, my purse.
I bought a bottle of Mountain Dew with a neon green color. Very catchy, indeed. I believe manufacturers of this drink came up with this idea to compete with Coca Cola’s everyone’s-name-on-the-bottle stint.
Went to the same food stalls last Sunday and I was overwhelmed by the buyers of this neon-colored Mountain Dew, I just see green everywhere. Very nice marketing strategy, I must say.
BUT it would’ve been made better, in my opinion, if the bottle indeed glows in the dark. I can imagine joggers around the UP Sunken Garden strutting their stuff either holding a glowing bottle or having one on their belts while jogging. That would be a fantastic sight. 🙂
Snow Creme’s Golden Mango
If you are a little bit down under the weather, I say something sweet and something cold will surely boost that energy level up and will keep the doctor away. 😉
Read this article to find out more:
Snow Creme’s Bestsellers: Melt Your Heart Away with Sweet Frozen Goodness
HOPE
Yes. I think I have it.
Although I wasn’t diagnosed, I believe I have a Bipolar Disorder II with Hypomania. It is mild but it still is a medical condition. Here is a link re bipolar disorder to help you understand better: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic449381.files/Adobe_Acrobat_Format/WLecture_10_-_Bipolar_Disorder.pdf.
The news re Robin Williams’ death saddened me and reminded me of what I went through battling depression. The reason I took Special Education now is for me to understand myself more. Because the moment you realized you are different than others, you will seek for ways to help yourself and you want to help others too who may be going through the same thing.
Most of you think I am naturally gifted with those “talents.” The truth is that they are skills I acquired to help me combat depression without the medications. Doing art, playing the guitar, photography, dancing, writing and all my other hobbies all helped me take my mind off those depressive thoughts – they sidetrack all feelings of anxiety, paranoia, and fear.
I attempted to commit suicide twice. The one suicide incident wherein I was almost successful doing it was in 2012 after a very stressful and violent breakup.
BUT it was also on that same year when I got SAVED. I was introduced to the faith on January 2012 and made my altar call during the Singles’ Getaway last September 2012. I created this blog on October 2012, which now became my “megaphone” for my faith and my spiritual journey.
If I have been vocal about my faith in all social networking sites, it is not because I seek for attention nor for popularity but because I intend to share the FAITH that saved me from committing the greatest sin that one could ever do while alive. And I also hope to encourage those who are on the verge of losing hope as well to not give up.
Cry your heart out. Belt it out. Drop down on your knees, repent, pray aloud, cry His Name aloud, seek for His Grace BUT NEVER GIVE UP.
Because God did not give up on you and me. He sent His son Jesus Christ into this world to suffer the pain for us, to save us from our sins – to give us HOPE.
NO ONE and NOTHING else can save you from what you are going through EXCEPT our GOD. The moment you surrender your life to Him, you will feel His presence in your every breathing moment. You will feel the Holy Spirit in you. God will give you opportunities to create a new life and a chance to redeem yourself.
God used the skills I acquired and my circumstances to make me better and stronger so I can serve Him, serve others, and spread the Good News. God surrounded me with people who helped in bringing me closer to Him, and who will remind me of Him every now and then. Because of God, I don’t look back to my past with pain and regret. I see my past as God opening the doors to a new life – spiritually restored and healed.
Bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition. There is no cure. But there are ways to manage it if you don’t want to take any medications. Although this has to be decided upon the assessment of a medical professional. Seek help if it is too much to bear. I sought help from my spiritual family, and I always have this Bible verse to remind me every time I have those depressive episodes. This Bible verse is what gives my life purpose and meaning:
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” – John 15:4
If it wasn’t for my faith, I’ve long been gone. This testimony will speak how it really means to be BORN AGAIN through the Cross and through God’s love. ❤️🙏
“For it is by Grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” – Ephesians 2:8
The Lady and The Hat
I seldom post articles that are fashion related here in my blog, but what I am about to feature today is something extraordinaire. 🙂
My brother bought these lovely fans for me, my sisters, and Mom as souvenirs. At first glance you will think it is just an ordinary fan. But if you are to look closely, they are not like regular fans with its curved shape when folded.
Zambo Fans for The Ladies
When I opened it, voila! It is also bigger than the regular fans. I bet this fan is twice as big as the ordinary fans sold at the market.
Zambo Fan
Then my brother showed me why the fan was made with a curved form. It is for this: tadaaaa…..A HAT! Sorry, I oftentimes have the curiosity and enthusiasm similar to that of a kid. 😀
Zambo Hat (Photo courtesy: Abe Ginete)
I was totally amused and amazed at the same time how one simple item can be used for two purposes – a huge fan and a fashionable hat. If only I have an idea who invented this first. This might influence a new revolution in today’s fashion industry.
If you are wondering where to buy one, these are locally made and sold in Zamboanga City here in the Philippines.
Indeed, they are Fashionable Fans – simple treasures, rare finds. 😉
This is an all-time favorite of mine. I have seen this movie for countless of times already and I’ve been crying over it for countless of times as well. 😀
It is not your typical romantic, fairy tale kind of movie. In fact, the movie is just too realistic to dismiss that you’ll find yourself relating to every single part of it.
But in general, this is a movie on relationships and how God makes all the difference when He is at the center of it.
More tissue rolls, please. 😉
Shoe on the Spot
Yes, that is how I call her – She. 😉
Her name is Sheryl San Diego. If you are wondering who she is and how is she related to that shoe above, please allow me to give you a brief rundown.
I was lost.
It is that one point in your life wherein you don’t know who to turn to. She is a Victory Group leader and I was assigned to her when I signed up to join a small group. I reached out because I could no longer carry on with the battle all to myself. He answered.
God gave me a spiritual family.
It is with She that I had my One to One Discipleship. It is a process which helps you commit to a deeper and more personal relationship with the Lord. We would meet every Sunday and discuss the Word through the One to One booklet. Every meeting starts and begins with a prayer. The entire time I had this with her, I was slowly being relieved of all my burdens – emotional baggage, pressure, stress and unanswered questions.
With my Victory Group leader, Sheryl San Diego (Photo credit: MJ Gotostos)
Until came the time that I finished it and I thought that was it. I already felt at ease after finishing our One to One Discipleship. What I didn’t know was that I was slowly being prepared for the main event, the Victory Weekend. It is that moment wherein I can say I COMPLETELY surrendered everything to God and COMPLETELY accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.
3/3/13 Victory Weekend w/ She (Photo credit: Joyce Tan)
It was a 2-day event wherein the first day was allotted for baptism of the Holy Spirit and the second day for the water baptism. I was renewed, revived and made new.
Victory Weekend 3/3/13
I was found.
I am that 1 lost sheep and they were the 99. I was rescued but I was weak. God gave me an accountability partner to help me recover and to help me regain my strength in renewing my faith.
She is the other pair.
The one who helped me and accompanied me in my WALK with GOD. And I THANK her from the bottom of my heart for everything that she did – for being so patient and determined to see me finish the race towards a changed me. I learned a lot from her in my baby steps in my spiritual journey. She is indeed an epitome of a woman of God and a woman of faith – strong and devoted. And I am thankful to God for choosing her to be my partner in this lifetime walk with Him. I could not “walk” in my spiritual journey without her.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” – Matthew 18:19
Now that explains the shoe above. 😉
#radicalsince1984 #myVictoryStory #everymemberaminister
ILoveU
I particularly love macro shots. I believe it is one area of photography that I learned first before I even began learning all about the “rule of thirds,” etc. 🙂
My favorite would be this macro shot of Made in Candy‘s “I Love You” candy which is about 2 centimeters big in diameter. I only use a regular 32mm lens and if there is one item in my birthday wishlist that I would like to have, that would be a telephoto zoom lens. *wishful thinking* 😉
Cactus
I oftentimes use manual focus because I get to choose which part of the subject I like to highlight as well as the areas where I would put more emphasis on. Bokeh is also a favorite photography tip of mine when taking macro shots. It doesn’t completely blur the background and your background still has texture and patterns on it. Although a “clean” background does have its benefits too especially in pictorials and if you wanted to give extra focus on particular details of the subject like the texture of the fabric, intricate design of a piece of jewelry or to highlight the makeup of the model.
Just like in the photo below, I wanted to achieve a smooth progression of my subject and the background. The subject (keys) are detailed enough so to highlight them I opted for a soft blur contrary to a bokeh background. Always use your camera’s f-stop feature to change aperture settings and achieve a blurry background. I tend to do this manually as well.
“Keyboard”
But as for me, I don’t really follow rules in photography. And neither am I a professional photographer. I simply point and shoot and rely on my eye for the aesthetics. 😉 I cross-process my photos though using Photoshop but I only use it for color enhancements. And I watch tutorials re tips in capturing challenging photos i.e. moving objects, waterfalls, long exposures, etc. Keep in mind as well reminders from professional photographers you randomly meet during pictorials and events or even from a friend who is more experienced in this field.
If you love photography or just starting to love it, I suggest just go with what you enjoy taking photos of. In time, your shots will become better. Just keep on taking photos, keep on learning and keep on exploring. 🙂
Greetings beloved readers and fellow bloggers of WordPress!
Before anything else, I would like to take this moment to extend my warmest gratitude to God and to my fellow blogger/writer Ronovan of Ronovan Writes for nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. I am deeply honored and much appreciation goes out to him for choosing me. Having been nominated, I would like to uphold the award’s name by continuing to provide more inspiring stories and articles to all of you. 🙂
I would like to share this opportunity of appreciating fellow bloggers here on WordPress by selecting my nominations for this award as well. But first, here are the rules in accepting this nomination:
7 Facts About Myself
1. I prefer to eat cold food and rummage the refrigerator.
2. I always play a particular song in my guitar wherein I only get 30% of its lyrics right.
3. I enjoy long talks whether they may be over the phone or chit chats over coffee.
4. I love rainy days but ironically, I haven’t experienced getting soaked under the rain on purpose.
5. I have occasional bouts of random words that I do not know popping in my head I just have to write them down.
6. I prefer writing articles using a pen and paper when I am not at home than type them in my laptop.
7. My thoughts may come in as fast as they go out I easily forget things, but my faith in God remains constant.
15 Nominations for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award 2014
The Crazy Bag Lady @ BulanLifestyle.com
These are just some of the awesome blogs that inspire me on a holistic sense. There are still lots of other blogs that I’d like to include but I guess I would have to just end this by saying that all the blogs here on WordPress are amazing and unique in their own special ways. This is in fact what makes my blogging experience worthwhile and awesome – versatility. 🙂
Continue blogging my dear blogger friends and inspire one another, one way or the other. Happy blogging, everyone! 🙂
Chaos
Patent unknown….
As chaotic as that picture above. And you don’t have an idea what the image originally was.
Just to give you an idea, that photo was the result of my light textures experimentation with my camera. I took a photo of an oil burner that has a moon and stars design. Set to low light and long exposure, I just wiggled my camera back and forth, from side to side and achieved this – a state of confusion. Just like ideas.
A borrowed thought if not properly cited is plagiarism. And that is my dilemma now being a blogger. Because I honestly admit that my thoughts are not really my own. They are all a fusion of principles and theories influenced by the philosophers in my literary textbooks way back college days, by my former and current professors, by our Pastors and lecturers in church or even by a random jeepney driver ranting about life whom I happened to sit beside while commuting.
I believe the people who have every right to accuse anyone of plagiarism would be the philosophers and thinkers of the ancient times who have drawn their discoveries out from their own experiences and not from what they have already seen on a printed text or heard before from someone else.
But then again, a rule is a rule.
UP instilled that fact to me. Expulsion or a grade of 5 (Fail) for those guilty of the crime. So, I think this will then prompt me to make an “Acknowledgment” page in my blog to thank the people either one by one or in general with whom I have learned the ideas from which are now being reiterated in my sites. Check it out every now and then ‘cos you might be surprised if your name pops up in there too. Yes, I learn everywhere from anyone, anytime. 😉
But my greatest learning comes from God. I assure you, it is less chaotic and it’s one-sided – all to glorify and honor Him. 🙂
The Journeyman's Moments 