January 2018 – GUREZU

Watch my Spoken Word Performance Entitled “Gusto kong Magmahal (I want to Love)” on YouTube

Published on January 31, 2018January 31, 2018 by Gurezu13 Comments

Tomorrow is February already! The Love Month! The Single-Awareness Month! OMG! Even the moon is red tonight.

So to welcome this month, I hereby share my spoken word “Gusto Kong Magmahal (I want to Love)” which I performed last year at DCUP cafe’.From the title itself, it’s about my yearning to love somebody in spite of the pain it would bring. Because who doesn’t want to love? Countless movies, poems, series, novels has been written about it and yet we never get tired of it. I believe that to love is the human’s innate highest goal.

Along with this I am sharing the manuscript of the poem for your reading pleasure. Let me know you thoughts after watching my performance. I hope you enjoy!

That’s it for the Day 4 of my 30-Day Blogging Marathon Challenge. See you tomorrow!

#FOTD: Stoned Baked Rice, Pizza on a Rice

Published on January 30, 2018July 15, 2019 by Gurezu12 Comments

Food of the Day: Stoned-Baked Rice
Restaurant:Gottis,SM Megamall Branch
Cuisine:Italian

Isa ito sa mga kinaadikan ko ngayon. Hindi ko malimutan simula ng matikman ko. Para siyang pizza toppings na nilagay sa ibabaw ng mainit na rice. Resulta? Mainit at malambot na cheese na naghalo sa spices. May limang flavors ang Stone-Baked Rice. Pinakapaborito ko ang Gambino Gamberi.

Quoting directly “succulent shrimps sauteed in garlic, pepperoncino and sweet peppers”. Katulad ng pizza, binubudburan ko rin ito ng Chili Powder. P140-P160 lang presyo ng Stoned-Baked Rice.

Sobrang sulit na sa sarap niyan. At isa pa, hindi mo na kailangang pumila dahil walang masyadong tao sa Gottis. Sa unang tingin, mukha kasing mamahalin ang resto. Nakakarelaks. Subukan niyo na nang mahusgahan niyo rin!

VERDICT: ★★★★♡♡♡♡

Now for the photography part of this blog, my mentor told me that the photos are too warm. Good food photography should expose the true color of the food. For some reason, I love warm colors in all things and I thought that the lighting makes a good impression for the photo. But hey this it is my first time. I will take note of this next time.

#Gottis #FoodOfTheDay #FoTD #StonesBakedRice #Cheese #PizzaOnTheRice

My Healing From Pityriasis Rosea

Published on January 29, 2018January 30, 2018 by Gurezu30 Comments

A month ago I uploaded a picture of me in instagram declaring my complete healing from Pityriasis Rosea. Because of this I received an out pour of messages from those who are still suffering from this skin disease. Not only from the Philippines but also from abroad. It looks like more and more people are getting this. I’m writing this so I could give an all out summary of what I did. Also to give awareness about Pityriasis Rosea.

First, what is Pityriasis Rosea or PR for short?

It is a skin disease that starts from one big herald patch then spreads as a rash through different parts of the body.

Below is not my photo but this looked very much like my own herald patch

It is not an allergy, not a viral infection, not a fungal infection. Actually even skin experts don’t know the cause of this disease. But most probably it was due to stress and weakened immune system. (A dermatologist told this to me.)
Completely harmless. It could disappear without a trace. Duration could be from 2 weeks to one year. Mine was approximately 8 months.

My Journey

I had it around April 2017. Like I mentioned above, it started in just a one big pink itchy rash in my chest. Then one day, I just realized that it feels like it is giving birth to more small rashes. It spread to my stomach, underarms and whole chest. It scared me because it looks strange. I took pictures of it but deleted immediately because I really don’t like how it looks. It’s just a relief that it did not spread to my face and other commonly exposed body parts. Still, it was depressing to look at.
To give you a clue, my case pretty much looked like this. I grabbed this from google.

I consulted a dermatologist in Makati Medical and finally found out about Pityriasis Rosea. She gave me an ointment and asked me to observe what will happen in a week. If it keeps spreading, she advised me to go under phototheraphy session. From the looks of it, this treatment feels like you are getting a skin tanning session. Though I feel determined to take it, it was costly. One session cost at least 800 and it was not covered in my healthcard. One week and the ointment did not help at all. But I did not comeback for phototheraphy session either.

What I did

Expose affected areas at least once a day under sunlight.

Base on my research, sun exposure is observed to greatly improve the situation. It was not easy since you tendency to cover the affected areas more since you don’t want others to see it. I tried it in the morning before going to work. I also wore dresses so that it won’t spread in my legs. Fortunately, it really helped to reduce the itchiness. And it really did not reach my legs since it was always exposed.

I used “Dove” soap.

The dermatologist advise this herself. Other recommendations are soap with oatmeal bits. Avoid using the harsh soap like whitening soaps at all cost. I use Safeguard as my daily soap. Dove is too oily for me. But since I have no choice, I obliged myself to use it. It reduce the dryness and flakiness of the rashes. But still did not go away.

Use BL cream

I visited an aunt for a celebration and advised me to try this. She is also using this whenever she is having rashes. She gave me a half-filled container of it to try. I applied it after taking a bath. I think in just two days, my rashes turned to brown immediately which is actually a sign that it is healing.

Base on this article, BL Cream is ” is a combination of a 10mg/g ketoconazole and a 500mcg/g clobetasol”. You can get this in your nearest drugstore. In my case, I bought it in Mercury Drugs. I don’t understand much but what I remembered is it should not be taken for a long time. Though it is just used externally, it can penetrate way beyond the epidermis. Large amount of its ingredients can cause cataract, diabetes mellitus, glaucoma and tuberculosis. But its okay as long as you don’t apply it to a large part of your body and you don’t use it for a long time. Because of what I read I only used this for a week. When I thought that my PR is healing, I stopped using BL and Dove soap altogether. I think this is the reason why I had a second wave attack of PR. This time it spread on my back. When I noticed it, I bought Dove and BL cream.

This is one of my pictures when I applied BL cream on my chest after taking a bath. I thinks this is the only pic I have when I still have PR.

In addition, I finally bought Aveeno Moisturizing Lotion. The dermatologist also recommended this but I refused to buy because one bottle is way too expensive. But I decided to give it a go this time so I can finally get rid of PR. Also I can’t apply BL cream on my back or the whole of it so I just use this lotion for that.

Other things I Did

I joined a Pityriasis Rosea Support Group in Facebook. It is a closed group and you need to be approved before you can join. People share their own journey on healing there. I found that I was not alone and there are far more worst PR cases there. You might discover what method will work for you.
I also started taking Vitamins C because I thought I could have been lacking in vitamins. I’m not fond with eating fruits but I pushed myself to eat banana everyday. I also started drink turmeric tea. I keep on and stop thinking about my PR. Slowly, I notice that they are disappearing for real. And last December, I finally celebrated my healing by wearing Bikini (hihi!).

Having PR made me realize that I should appreciate my body more no matter what the flaws are. What matter is it is healthy and strong. I hope this write-up will help you. Feel free to comment below if you have more tips to share regarding this disease.

KEEP GOING, Gurezu

Our Mini-Photoshoot in the Office with the Theme “Black”

Published on January 27, 2018January 2, 2020 by Gurezu25 Comments

I am officially blogging about my photography journey. Let me vent out some feelings a little bit. I’m actually feeling frustrated and anxious right now. Apart from the feeling that I feel like I’m starting again in blogging world, I haven’t reach a level of confidence that I wanted when it comes to photography. I overthink and at the end, I don’t start and finish anything. I argue myself these past few days. What matters is I love to write and take pictures right? After a lot of self-negotiation, I’m finally throwing any emotional baggage at the moment and decided to blog about our first photoshoot of the year . #WriteAndShoot2018, here we go.

Last year I transferred to another company and eventually joined their photography club. Almost every week, we organize a photoshoot to hone our skills. We do our shoots inside the office since our models are also from the company and we are just borrowing their time. For this year, we are starting our photoshoot series with the theme “BLACK” inspired by the Korean series with the same name. Actually our model proposed this concept herself. And that’s good because I won’t have to overthink on the concept.

Before photoshoot, we prepare what we call a “mood board”. Actually it’s just a collection of pictures from the internet which fits the mood of our theme. It serves as

1. inspiration for the photographers

2 idea for the models to know what kind of expression they would exude for the photoshoots.

Imitation is an effective learning style. So at first we look at these photos to learn how those effects were made. Apart from that, we play a sort of playlist in a background for added atmosphere related to our theme. It also helps our models feel homey and at ease. For this photoshoot, we just played the theme song of the korean series BLACK. To tell you the truth, we got this photoshoot workflow from the free seminars we attended in Camerahaus. Actual photoshoots were really like this. Let’s copy from the experts haha!

(Photo credits: Dan Olarte)

We were five in this session. Or beautiful model, Hasz. Our mentor which is also my manager, Sir Ge. EJ, Dan and yours truly as photography proteges, char!

(Photo credits: Dan Olarte)

Behind the Scenes Photos featuring my behind hehe. (Photo credits: Dan Olarte)

For some reason, this photo looks funny to me. I just can’t look at it without silently laughing bwahahahahahahahaha! (Photo credits: Dan Olarte)

So here are my output for this session. A mix of edited and unedited pics. And some technical notes I could remember.

Would You Trust my Eyes?

Just a short note. My godox flash was set in manual master mode channel 8. It served as a trigger for the honeycomb flash located beside the model.

WARM MEMORIES

Achieving Warm Tone. Just a short note, I set my camera in high Kelvin values for this but for some reason it didn’t work. My mentor Sig Ge set the RGB adding red levels.

“Goodbye Darkness”

There were sorrow and regrets beside you.
But there’s also rest
And a lot of time to reflect
Only with you I can see the light
And I’m seeing it bright now
Before I say my farewell
You must know there’s a joy within you too
Goodbye darkness

And guess what, EJ which is actually a videographer suprised us with a BTS video of our shoot. I was really amazed with his editing skills.

BTS | Hasmine | All about BLACK from straightforwardvideo on Vimeo.

That wraps our first photoshoot session for this year. This also marks day 1 of my 30 days blogging challenge. Yes, I’ll be posting everyday for 30 days! I was inspired by another wordpress blogger boredsensei whom I also met in recent blogger meet-up. She is an English teacher in Japan. As of now, she’s already in her Day 12 already. I love how she chronicles her daily life in Japan because it is very informative. It has been my dream to go to Japan because I was into anime’ before. I even studied basic Japanese. Reading her blog makes me feel I’m getting myself ready for my own visit soon. LAW OF ATTRACTION PLEASE!!!!

Ending my blog with my photos of the session taken by my co-photographers.

Title: When can I go shopping without me looking in the price tags?
Photo credit: Dan Olarte

Photos by: G2Photography

Credits:

Model: Hasmine Ajihil, ig: hma_016

Photographers

Mentor: Gerard Dangca of G2Photography
Mary Grace Sabado of Gurezu Blog
Dan Olarte
EJ Delinquina of straightforwardvideo

Blogging Music: Trust my Eyes (Black Opening song) and Warriors by Imagine Dragons.

Time and Location: 7:14pm , Coreon Gate Cafe’

Weather: Rainy and cold. In a company of strangers mostly students from La Salle.

PAWER! (“The Fault In Our Blogs” Members Meet-up”)

Published on January 14, 2018January 14, 2018 by Gurezu23 Comments

Ehem! This will be my first every blog post in gurezu.wordpress.com. I have a an existing site “gurezu.com” that is currently hosted at weebly and I am confused whether to migrate. But enough on that matter. I’m creating this wordpress blogsite because I recently found a blogger’s community at Facebook. Most of the members have their blogs on wordpress.

Enter “The Fault In Our Blogs”

(photo grabbed from the facebook group)

Most of the members are wordpress bloggers. To be honest, I’ve been blogging for years and I’ve been longing for a community for bloggers. I know there are a lot of talented bloggers out there but it feels like I am alone in my journey. I want to see, talk and discuss with people who share the same passion in writing. In short, I want to have a circle of blogger friends. I have met people in tumblr before but it did not became intimate. And most of them are not active anymore. *SIGH*

And then I re-unite with a highschool -mate Jas (iwannasharemythoughtsblog.wordpress.com/) . We’ve been meeting each other in a sort of ‘bus stop’ on our way to work since I migrated to BGC. One day, she introduced me to this facebook group of bloggers. Without a second thought, I said I want to join. It was a right timing because they are about to have a second meet-up really really soon.

January 6, 2018.

Saturday.

Bannaple. Gateway Mall

I arrived thirty minutes before the schedule. I had time to relax and write in my journal as part of my entry in #Braver2018Challenge at instagram.

EXPECTATIONS

I’ll gain blogger friends. I expect to meet around 5 people.
Maybe there will be a lot of awkwardness. Just in case I don’t click with the group, at least I know Jas and I’ll have someone to talk to.
Maybe the meeting will just last until 7pm.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

I met not only 5 but whooping 14 bloggers! And they are all amazing writers varying in work, experiences and style of writing. Two of them even came abroad. Maldives and Japan. We even met someone in Singapore who excitedly joined us through a video call.

(photos by Jheff of shadesofwanderer.com)

Here they are, in no particular order.

a. Jheff (shadesofwanderer.wordpress.com). The first person I met. Our main contact. Has a very warm personality. Iyong taong tipong makakakonek ka kaagad and make you feel welcomed.

b. Jas (iwannasharefmythoughtsblog.wordpress.com) A big thanks to you sis for inviting me. Natameme talaga ako when I learned about her illness. I see her very week with a smile on her face. I had an impression she’s a totally healthy person. I mean she’s an adventurer, go to work everyday and life of the party. Tapos ganun pala. Very admirable person.

c. Mary Rose (boredsensei.wordpress.com) She came from Japan and actually on their way to Bicol when she attended the meet-up. Binigyan pa kami ng cute chopsticks. I have an impression that she’s a shy person (pero mali daw ako e ). She’s pretty and ang cute ng plum lippie niya.

d. James (nostalgicquest.wordpress.com) Isa sa mga nakausap ko ng matagal because we are both in IT industry and we had a mutual friend. But he got many plans on his sleeves now, venturing away from this field. Buti pa siya. Good luck on your new journey!

e. Alissa (aysabaw.com) Siya iyong galing Maldives na mastermind ng TFIOB. She has many fans. Hindi ko lang siya masyadong nakausap but I think she’s an approachable person. Hindi ko malilimutan iyong sawang-sawa na raw siya sa sight ng dagat. If you think about it, even the most beautiful view will bore you if that’s the same and only thing you see everyday.

f. Kate (bequietkate.wordpress.com) Very pretty and sophisticated. She’s working in DFA. I won’t forget what she said about wearing high heels and red lipstick when meeting men with regards to her work. She travels a lot pero nakaka-stress din daw kasi puro work-related.

g. Patrick (myneverlandinmywonderland.wordpress.com) I like his eyeglasses and his love for coffee. If I am right, he is working on his masters. Umalis ng maaga para gumala sa Cubao Expo for one of his coffee escapade pero bumalik din naman.

h. Ely (angakingimaginarygirlfriend.wordpress.com) Hindi ko siya masyadong nakausap. Pero isa lang ang masasabi ko. Ang dami niyang fans! Never pa raw kasi siya nag-upload ng pics sa blog niya. I found her blog really interesting. Full of emotions kasi.

i. Rhea (angelien0625.wordpress.com) Mga tipong nag-aadik din sa koreanobela. Mukhang korean. Very pretty! I couldn’t forget when she talked about her heartbreak and how it made her stronger.

j. JC – Jonalyn couple (simplysaycheese.wordpress.com) The blogger couple.They share the same fb and blog account. And I find that really sweet that they share the same hobby.

k. Jonathan (rakudan.wordpress.com) Very popular sa mga girls but his feelings expires for three weeks lang daw. Totoo ba ito? Grabe ka hahaha! On a side note, very cool writer. I read his blog about the first TFIOB meet-up and it is a like a literary piece. I am really amazed.

l. Aila (xoxalthea.wordpress.com) I was not able to talk to her that long. But she’s also fun and very friendly. I couldn’t forget when we talked about “Robust” supplement. Sabi niya iyon raw ang bumubuhay sa company nila. Ibig sabihin malaki ang demand haha!

m. Pajama (intrepidiamcom.wordpress.com) Memorable itong si girl kasi first time kong magkaroon ng kasama sa loob ng CR. Nakatalikod siya when I did my thing. And vice versa while we are talking with each other. Ilang oras pa lang kami magkakakilala niyan.

2. Maybe there will be a lot of awkwardness? That’s a big cross too. Well at the start, maybe yes. When everyone starts coming and we became a larger group, I sensed that somehow we felt lost on what to do next. I mean we didn’t have a program or itinerary. (May pa games ba? May pakulo ba? May mag pe-perform ba?) It can’t be helped that we will be divided into small groups for intimate discussion. But it’s alright because we talked anything at various topics unimaginable. Hindi ko na matandaan nga e. Sanga-sanga na ang mga usapan. One of the most memorable topic was about Robust. Everyone was laughing. We just talked until we decided to leave Banapple at around 8pm. Nahiya rin kami kasi overstaying na talaga. And since we can’t get enough, we decided to go to a KTV.

3. Meeting will last until 7pm? Deym! We parted ways at around 1 am. Inumaga na kami mga besh. We initially rented the room for only 1 hour but we extended it for another 1.5 hours. To those who did not get to this point. James, Jheff and Pajama are good singers. Si Jonathan natulog lang sa tabi.

So overall, the meet-up was a great experience for me. I really look forward in meeting them again. I can truly say at this point that I finally found what I was looking for, a warm community of bloggers. The Fault in Our Blogs. TFIOB. Bow.

First blog post

Published on January 12, 2018January 12, 2018 by Gurezu3 Comments

This is your very first post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it, or start a new post. If you like, use this post to tell readers why you started this blog and what you plan to do with it.