ANXIETY PINOY | 5 SIGNS NG HYPOCHONDRIA OR HEALTH ANXIETY

The Mental Health issue is not a joke. It's real and it's something that should be out on the surface for people to talk about. People need to be aware of it and to know that even here in my country, the Philippines, we have a lot of Filipinos suffering from any mental health disorder.

Anxiety for instance is very common. I am one of them and when my anxiety issues started, I couldn't find anything on the web to help me deal with it. At least not from a regular Filipino sharing about it on YouTube or anywhere. Most of them were celebrities.

It was a struggle and I had a lot of trips to the ER and even they didn't know how to deal with me. I promised myself that I overcome this predicament, I would put up a content that solely talk about mental health, specifically Health Anxiety and share my experiences and best practices.

I am not an expert as I still continue to learn more about my condition. I am not properly diagnosed as well and my videos goes to the Filipino viewers who can't afford to visit a therapist every week for treatment.

My aim is to spread awareness regarding Health Anxiety or Anxiety in general and share stories.

Xoxo

IS CHANGING YOUR EYE COLOR WORTH IT? SOLOTICA HIDROCOR QUARTZO & MEL

I'm always fascinated with bright colored eyes but I'm a Filipino and it's unusual here in my country to have different eye color other than brown. My eye color is darker than the usual brown and if you look at it from afar, it looks  black at times.

Don't get me wrong, I love my dark brown eyes but sometimes I just wanted to experiment with the color because why-the-fuck-not?

I searched the internet of the best brand for colored contact lenses for dark eyes like mine and found the Solotica brand originally from Brazil. I was skeptical at first because I found the product expensive but then if I wanted to wear one, I wanted it to look natural even if it's unnatural for me to have different eye color.

I watched tons of product reviews in YouTube just to be sure and when I was finally convinced, I decided to order it at Vision Market Place since a lot of YouTubers recommenced the site.

The product came within 3 to 4 days here in the Philippines. That was fast knowing that it came all the way from Europe.

I noticed that there are certain colors that will suite Asian eyes. For me I think the color Quartzo is not for me but regardless, their hidrocor lenses collection are gorgeous.

Please check my YouTube review below.

QUARTZO:

MEL:

If you wanted to purchase yours. There are different colors available in their hidrocor collection. Hidrocor means that there's no limbal ring around the edges of the lenses so it will gives you that natural look.


You can use my discount code RONNAN28 at check out to get the 10 percent discount.

Hope this short post will help. Let me know what your experiences are.

Xoxo

Link

TAKE ME TO THE BEACH - MY LA UNION TRIP | TRAVEL BLOG | 12 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

This is a late post.


I haven't been blogging lately since I got hooked with Vlogging for my YouTube Channel.


It was our 12 year anniversary and my partner and I decided that we wanted to have a weekend getaway as a celebration. It was just supposed to be a short trip but then we couldn't decide our destination. It had to be a beach getaway since both of us loved beaches. We were busy checking different travel apps on our phones when we saw a beautiful resort with a Spanish architecture design which reminded me of the dons and donyas of the olden time.


The resort has a pool and a beautiful patio at the back with a pathway leading to the beach. It was the best place to relax, unwind and enjoy the beautiful scenery. The resort was in San Juan, La Union - a 7 hour bus ride from Manila.

I couldn't be more happy to find this hotel and we were so excited to be there and experience what La Union could offer. We also invited friends to join us in this escapades.

La Union is a laid-back surfing extravaganza and I have a video as a receipt.


Video 1

Video 2

It was a long bus ride but I would say that it was worth it.
Celebrating milestone in our relationship and spending it with our closest friends is the best thing ever.

Xoxo

BOOK REVIEWS: WONDER WOMAN - WARBRINGER

TITLE: WONDER WOMAN - WARBRINGER

AUTHOR: LEIGH BARDUGO

I was thrilled when I found out that DC Icons Series was being cooked. But my excitement sky-rocketed knowing that the first book was about the crowning jewel of the DC Universe - Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman is one of my favorite characters among the DC icons. She is in my opinion a true embodiment of what a woman is in general - strong, powerful, courageous, sensitive and a total bad-ass all in one. I know, I am self-confessed feminist - growing up in a household filled with strong willed women in my family made me one. I truly believe that women can rule the world if they wanted to and wonder woman's world of Amazonian warriors from Themyscira could vouched for that.

“You do not enter a race to lose”

The story begins with a quote from Queen Hippolyta to her daughter, young Diana before she joins the amazon race.

I like the way Leigh Bardugo plotted the story. Before there was the infamous Wonder Woman that we know, she was once a young Amazonian princess name Diana. Growing up in a mysterious island filled with strong women who are battle ready wasn't easy for the pampered princess. She was trained by one of the bests in combat but still she was yet to prove to them that she was more than just the daughter of the queen. She hungered for glory and to stand side by side among the fiercest warriors in the island, eager to prove herself so her comrades will see her as their equal. She wanted to be out there, taking challenges, quests and proving her strength and worth to all of Themyscira.

The story will take you to a girl's journey of becoming the mightiest Amazonian princess that she would become someday. A heroes journey must start somewhere and this action filled novel will give you a different take of how a legend was made.

This is a good YA novel for me. I totally enjoyed every page. I felt her dilemma as she made the hardest decision, seeing the reality of the world, discovering the value of humanity and friendship and love.

Bravo to the author!

 

BOOK REVIEWS: THE PRINCE'S PSALM

TITLE : THE PRINCE'S PSALM

AUTHOR: ERIC SHAW QUINN

I always love a fictionalization of historical events let alone biblical. This book is an epic tale of love and tragedy and faith as what most of the stories in the bible are. Yet despite how complex and often time contradicting the tales written in the bible, it takes a master story teller to put all things together and weave a beautiful story of David and Jonathan. I have all praises to the author for pulling the strings. Eric's talent in story telling is compelling and I could see that he treated the story and the characters with utmost respect. The way he created the characters of David and Jonathan are so real and relatable. He is so brave to even tackle this topic in the bible. It's not about homosexuality anymore as the story progressed, it's about love, loyalty and duty and how to go beyond the call of human emotion just to answer the call of faith. The book is beautifully written.

Yes! You're right. this is the story of the famous David who killed the giant Philistine warrior named Goliath by hurling a stone with a slingshot. In the bible, the God favored David. The prophet anointed him while the people of Israel placed him in a pedestal as one of the nation's heroes. In the end he became king.

But there is more to the story than what we normally know and this is a fiction writer's job to do their magic and recreate the tale. Writers often cheat us when it comes to pulling all these information. They're ability to go beyond imagining as to what really happened, read between the lines, putting pieces together and creating compelling dialogues and scenes through extensive research and later on masterfully and eloquently put them in words to create a beautiful masterpiece like the The Prince's Psalm.

I enjoyed this book so much I didn't want it to end. As a reader, I was rooting for David and Jonathan's love for each other and that their bond and commitment is enough to save everyone. But we all know the biblical tale and how the tragedy of their relationship ended to give way for David to become King. But still, because the characters were created with love and realistically - it was easy for me to see them as men who's love for each other was beyond grave and not just the biblical characters of a hero and a king.

I highly recommend this book to those who are open minded readers who just wanted to be entertain. This is one of my great reads for this year I have to say and I'm hoping that the master Eric Shaw Quinn will write more of this type of books.

Xoxo

    

LIVING ALONE| THE FREEDOM AND WHAT NOT

Excuse my self-centered mug

It wasn't something I considered a big move, in fact, I still lived in the same compound but will be transferring to a different unit.

However, it was major! why? Mainly because I lived in the same unit for 8 years. That was long! The memories that I had in that place somehow shaped my me for the better. Those were crucial events that molded the person that I am today and the path that I wanted to take in the future.

It was where the ultimate dreams happened because I didn't just wake up and decided that I wanted to be a writer. The first characters that I created and the first plot of my first book materialized one Sunday lazy afternoon while I was in my bed procrastinating like I had all the times in the world. I am an independent person and I am always been that way ever since I can remember. I lived alone in my uncle's house when I was in my senior year in high school which was scary if you really think about it mainly because I was a kid. 

But in terms of living alone - it was the most liberating experiences I had and I didn't want to change it any other way. I learned more about myself by living alone. It was scary yet it was cool because I got to play how to be an adult before I truly became a real adult. But the perks of being young was being fearless of mostly anything. I was never scared of being by myself even though when times that I got sick with fever. I took myself to the doctor, got my prescriptions, bought my medicines and went home. Even when I was a 16 year old boy, I was very responsible for myself. I had that inner realization that my mom lived a plane rides away from me and so were my relatives. I was the only one and I had nothing but myself to rely on. 

The drive to be independent is embedded in my bones. I loved the freedom of buying what I needed to sustain myself. The freedom of deciding the color of paint to buy for my walls. The grocery shopping for food and learning its health benefits. The kind of paintings that I wanted to hang on the wall. Paying the bills and budgeting are something you have to expect doing. Sometimes the type of person you wanted to invite in your place somehow becomes an excitement.  Though I am not this person. I didn't invite guests in my place and I didn't feel obligated to do so as well. I felt like my place is sacred and the only person I allowed here are immediate family members and my partner.

I know living alone is scary for some. Heck! it isn't for everyone and that's a known fact. There are people specially here in my country who are contented to live with family members since here in the Philippines, you are not actually oblige to move out of your parents house the moment you hit adulthood. There's no 30-ish living in the parent's basement story-line here because 1.) most Filipino houses don't have basement and 2.) Family bond is so tight that parents don't kick their kids out to live on their own. If you want to live with your parents all your adult lives then that's fine because it's acceptable here and no one will judge you. 3.) Filipino parents love to see their children around. 

But then there are people who are itching to be living alone like me. Aside from the fact that I am also an introvert person, I also thought that living alone is one of the most exciting parts of being an adult. You don't have to have your own family to live alone. You just have to make that decision for yourself. I did!

Here in the Philippines, the rent ranges for as low as 4000 pesos to 20,000 pesos or depending on what type of lifestyle do you have. If you have money power then you can afford to buy yourself a condo unit along BGC or Makati for that matter. But if you're a regular employee then you can rent a bachelor's pad closer to your working place. You just have to be creative and find that cheaper place if you're in a tight budget like me.

I've been in the same compound for 11 years. I lived in a high end village but the land lady owned the compound charges 4000 to 6000 pesos for each room. The rooms look old and outdated but if you wanted  to have it renovated then that's on you and not the land lady job. That's actually her grand rule - that the tenant will carry all the charges for the renovation. My old room was big but it was definitely screaming for repair but then I decided it's about time to move out and transfer to a new one. I have the new room restored a bit and I bought an Air Conditioning that I found on sale at SM and have it installed. Since I have a graveyard shift at work, it's important for me to have at least 8 hour sleep and now I am able to do that amidst the hot tropical summer that the country is suffering right now. 

I have to say, getting an AC is no longer a luxury - it's a means to survive the heat of summer and getting through it alive. LOL

Xoxo

     

 

  

BOOK REVIEWS : THE IMMORTALS

The Immortals is a fantasy fiction debut novel by an amazing writer - Jordanna Max Brodsky.  It's the first book in the series called Olympus Bound. A fresh tale about our beloved gods and goddesses from the Greek Mythology.

Obviously, Brodsky has a wide rage of knowledge regarding the subject. It seems that her understanding about myths and legends is beyond what is written in history books and scrolls. Aside from the fact that she has a degree in History and Literature from Harvard according to her goodreads profile. This is probably the reason why she's able to write this book effortlessly and perceived these immortal characters as if they're living among us today. I mean, who knows right?

Honestly, I randomly picked this book because of it's title. As a fantasy fiction enthusiast, anything that has something to do with Immortals, white people withe fangs or wings are interesting for me. I was a skeptic at first because I am the type of reader who don't normally check reviews before burying myself into the pages. I just dive head first! HA!  I always feel that my perception about a certain book is my own. It might be a best seller but if everything about the book is so distant and unrelatable for me then that book is a major let down. I am a sucker for good cover and I want the characters to seduce me for me to keep flipping the pages. I don't normally give up on books but there are few that I just can't finish and I just have to stop and put it aside.

The Immortal is surprisingly amazing! I enjoyed every second of this book and I loved all the references Brodsky used to explain plainly what is happening inside in every plot.

Divinity is living among us - that's the idea of the book it presents. These Deities, they existed for millennia and ruled the pagan world but because the pagan worship was destroyed thousands of years ago when the civilization started to change and when the new religion came forth.

Yes! It seems like Yahweh killed Zeus. shocker!




So what happens to the gods without their devoted worshipers? Their graces diminished until their divine light fades away. This is what happened to the Greek Gods and Goddesses of Mount Olympus. Now, after the Diaspora happened, they are scattered everywhere in the world. Some of them still dwells in the old world waiting for some faithful follower to revive the worship but others just moved on and live like mortals do. Surprisingly, a lot of them ended up living in the concrete jungle of New York as if they're drawn to the skyscrapers and its secret undergrounds.

The book follows the mighty Goddess of the Hunt, protector of the innocent, the relentless one, moonbeam, mistress of the moon, sworn to celibacy and lady of the hound, one of the delian twins - the Goddess Artemis or as preferred to be called Selene deSilva.

She had lived for so many lifetime but most of it blurred in her memory as the fading of her godliness diminished through the years. But Selene is true to her calling as the protector of the innocents and of course she is the ultimate feminist because she only protect women as her charge.

But ancient rituals is revived in her name and once again she taste the incalculable amount of power as a goddess and became Artemis once again. But there's always a consequence, because embracing Artemis will only meant one thing - She will loose Selene in the process, her version of humanity.

A choice has to be made.

The great thing about this book is that Brodsky did her best to humanize the gods and they are thrown into mortal living were they have to make choices for their own and suffer for the consequences after. It made them relatable for me and I ended up rooting for the main characters to actually make the right decision. Brodsky did a great job putting the pieces together and making the greek mythology fresh again but still all elements that we love about the myths are still there. The mystery, the fun, the magic, the fucked up deities and many more... It's amazing and I am hooked.

I'm definitely going to read book 2 and will blog about it very SOON.

Xoxo