Joi

"Love gives meaning to what you are doing for without love, you are like clanging cymbals or noisy gongs producing incomprehensible sound. Love.. gives you a genuine reason to live, enables you to endure all things."

Flower picture day

Selective focusing using the Samsung Note 4 16mp camera.  

Bokeh!

Playing with the Samsung Note 4's SPen

Loving the sensor sensitivity of the note 4's pen. 

Reminder to self

We live in a fast-paced world. Because of this, we fail to notice many things. For a change, try to take it slow today. As you go through your day, take time out to count your blessings. One by one, thank God for the the blessings that come your way. You will be amazed by how blessed you truly are.

http://sessionsdude.tumblr.com/post/104221096013/we-live-in-a-fast-paced-world-because-of-this-we

Taiwan Roundup

Tagged along with the vater on a trip to Taiwan.

Here's a round up of the sites we visited last September.

In a nutshell, Taiwan is a FOODIE's haven, street shopping mecca, more to discover in this humble nation full of  history.

The view from Chiufen Village

Parking correctly + anger issue

I always have this thing with parking lots and parking correctly. This morning I had an irritating case of parking problems upon arriving at work. This pickup truck was parking unadjacent to the lanes thus taking the 3 spaces that would accommodate customers but because the pickup was on the edge, no cars can enter. This scenario got me irritated at first but my calming guard was on alert. I thought the car owner was our customer, it turned out he was a priest who's on business with the bank a few spaces before our store. What got me lose my temper was the banks ample parking space  was openly available for it's clients,  apparently this 'priest' (forgive me Lord) needs a parking, driving etiquette for him to know where to park correctly. So the anger issue here was me reacting with semi-irritation by blowing my horn non-stop hoping i could get the attention of the driver. After that, the bank employee apologized, the driver transferred it's pickup to the banks parking space and I got in my space.

After I got my cool, I suddenly realized that I acted like a total bitch, beeping like that in the middle of the street. And so the 'I feel bad, i'm sorry, gotta teach him a lesson, that was overacting' dilemma enters the scene. Yes I admit I was over the top by my reaction but that was it. I feel guilty and i'm sorry for that commotion but I'm not sorry for the way that 'priest' parked because that was irresponsible, ignorant and stupid. I do hope he also learned his lesson. 

So here I am, keeping my calm by reading articles about controlling anger or temper. 

According to the American Psychological Association, anger is :

• completely normal
•  usually healthy, human emotion
• an emotional state that varies in intensity from mild irritation to intense fury and rage
• allow us to fight and to defend ourselves

Dealing with anger,

• The three main approaches are expressing, suppressing, and calming.

 Expressing your angry feelings in an assertive—not aggressive—manner is the healthiest way to express anger. To do this, you have to learn how to make clear what your needs are, and how to get them met, without hurting others. Being assertive doesn't mean being pushy or demanding; it means being respectful of yourself and others.

Anger can be suppressed, and then converted or redirected. This happens when you hold in your anger, stop thinking about it, and focus on something positive. The aim is to inhibit or suppress your anger and convert it into more constructive behavior. The danger in this type of response is that if it isn't allowed outward expression, your anger can turn inward—on yourself. Anger turned inward may cause hypertension, high blood pressure, or depression. 

Finally, you can calm down inside. This means not just controlling your outward behavior, but also controlling your internal responses, taking steps to lower your heart rate, calm yourself down, and let the feelings subside. 

Strategies to control anger:

• Breathe deeply, from your diaphragm; breathing from your chest won't relax you. Picture your breath coming up from your "gut.
• Slowly repeat a calm word or phrase such as "relax," "take it easy." Repeat it to yourself while breathing deeply
• Use imagery; visualize a relaxing experience, from either your memory or your imagination
• Nonstrenuous, slow yoga-like exercises can relax your muscles and make you feel much calmer

To analyze and conclude today's dilemma, beeping irritatingly was rude and that was wrong of me to react so sudden. What sparked that intense emotion was due to hormones on premenstrual syndrome. Next time, I will turn my anger in to humor and try to widen my temper meter a few tads high.

More anger reading on source: http://www.apa.org/topics/anger/control.aspx?item=3

Psalm 119:76

Trying my luck on quote writing using a Zig Calligraphy Pen 3.0 mm and Sakura Coupy Pencils for coloring.

Leather Camera Strap from My Gilded Nest

Loving this new addition of handcrafted goodness in my arsenal and comes in the form of a camera strap. This leather strap is lovingly hand stitched and carefully hand cut by My Gilded Nest sister company of Leather Fellow. They make bags, jewelry, gadget organizers and one-of-a kind leather creations.
Now my camera has more life and character because of this leather camera strap!

Native tray with modern vibe

I love collecting native baskets and hand woven products. I feel like they give my multi-themed room warmth and a touch of something Filipino. What's more appealing are the textures it display that makes you want to put your hands on and feel the materials.

Some native products that I have such as baskets, trays, bags, mats which can be locally sourced here in Antique are cheap but of good and export-quality kind. Buying  from OTOP (one town one product)  centers  support local artisans too, so it's equally worth having.

Here's a simple and quick diy project I did to spruce up some vibes due to boredom during my flu confinement at home.

Materials:
Nito tray bought for only 200php
Brush
Poster or acrylic paint
Topcoat spray paint

The material is NITO

Compared to other local baskets, this particular material is quite expensive because this requires a much intricate weaving process. 200php is cheap but if compared to the banig tray which is only 50-120-it's pricey because of the craftmanship.

See what color can do to a boring brown tray. I specially love the wave details which the color gave some justice. It looks like it's got some modern twist to its native feel.

Ilocos Norte Highlights Photo Diary

Summergirls head to Ilocos

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The Must-See Tourist Spots we visited in Ilocos Norte

1. Lapaz Sand Dunes
Ilocos Photo Diary: Lapaz Sand Dunes

2. Paoay Church

3. Kapurpurawan Rock Formation
Ilocos Norte Photo Diary: Kapurpurawan Rock Formation

4. Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

5. Bangui Windmills

6. Pagudpud Beaches 
Ilocos Norte Photo Diary: Blue Lagoon

7. Patapat Bridge

We weren't able to see the rest of the tourist attractions due to time constraints.
But here are other attractions to visit to complete the list:

8. Sinking Bell Tower
9. Fort Ilocandia Resort and Casino
10. Malacanang of the North 
11. Marcos Museum and Mausoleum (seeing the frozen corpse of Marcos wasn't too appealing)
12. Juan Luna Shrine
13. Bacarra Domeless Tower

Ilocos Norte Photo Diary, Blue Lagoon, Pagudpud

Summergirls head out to Ilocos

*More on Ilocos Norte 

Ilocos Norte Highlights Photo Diary

Ilocos Norte Photo Diary: Lapaz Sand Dunes

Ilocos Norte Photo Diary: Kapurpurawan Rock Formation

Ilocos Norte Photo Diary: Blue Lagoon

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Ilocos Norte Photo Diary: Kapurpurawan Rock Formation

Summergirls head out to Ilocos

*More on Ilocos Norte 

Ilocos Norte Highlights Photo Diary

Ilocos Norte Photo Diary: Lapaz Sand Dunes

~~~

A late post on one of Ilocos' Must-Visit Places, Kapurpurawan Rock Formation.

*more pics to follow