Highlights of 2017

Welcome to 2018, everyone!

With each year that passes, we make memories we eventually keep for years to come. It's been a tradition on this blog to dedicate an entry to recapping all the highlights from the past year. 

2017 was one interesting year and today, I want to look back on all the memories I made and experiences I had that made my year.

These are the highlights of my 2017.

1. At the start of the year, one of our dogs, Hershey, gave birth to five puppies -- Rocket, Boxer, Dixie, Nash, and Tiny.

2. Last February, I had my very first photoshoot with my friends Jenn, Robert, and Monica!

3. Since then, I've published five volumes of portraits! Check: Portraits

4. My blockmates and I competed in our department's yearly celebration week called BehSciYad where we placed second in the dance performance, a first for the freshmen block in years!

5. For my sociology class, my blockmates and I went to Ronggot, Laguna where we met with the locals to learn about their culture and religion. Read: Laguna 2017

Photo by Pauline Disuanco

6. Before the end of the semester, I joined my church's high school camp as part of the Activities and Documentation Team! It was my first time being part of the staff for camp and I can definitely say that it's a completely unique experience with its own faith-stretching moments and God-encounters.

7. This year marked the completion of my first year in college. This was a very huge encouragement to me especially in this new chapter of my life, and I'm beyond grateful I got to do it with these people by my side!

8. Beyoncé gave birth to her twins, Sir and Rumi.

Photo by Pauline Disuanco

9. At the end of June, I attended my first college camp and my sixth youth camp overall. There, I spent time with my close friends, reconnecting with old ones, and finding myself in God's arms yet again.

10. Immediately after camp, I flew to the United States to spend time with my relatives there. Read: Houston

11. There, I met my baby cousin Ilan for the first time.

12. I wrote and published my first entry on faith. It's one of the hardest entries I've ever written taking me nearly a month and a half to finish writing it. It's one of my favorite entries I've ever written and I'm happy that I have this platform to share not only my victories with God, but also my struggles with Him. Read: Loving Jesus On The Hard Days

13. This year, I finally got to visit New York. It's been my dream to come to the Big Apple and though I only spent ten hours there, the experience I had was breathtaking. Read: 10 Hours in New York

14. While in the United States, I had the opportunity of watching a production of The Lion King at the Houston Center for the Performing Arts.

15.My blog reached 8,000 views while my Facebook page reached 100 likes this year! It still surprises me that people from all over the world read my entries and for that I am beyond grateful.

16. Last July, I decided to eat healthier and better so to help me monitor my progress, I started the @whatdoesluiseat IG account!

17. Last August, I began my second year in college!

18. Since then, I've begun commuting to and from school!

19. In the same month, I had the opportunity of watching a production of West Side Story at the Solaire Theatre with my mom. West Side Story's score is one of my absolute favorites, so to finally be able to see the production live was a real treat for me!

20. A month into the semester, I partnered with my church's youth ministry to start the UP Manila Frontline -- a weekly Bible study and support group for those within the UP Manila community who are part of my church community or are interested in getting to know the faith and who God is.

21. This year, I attended my first ever convention. My friend Andy and I went to Komikon Indieket at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig last September where I bought so much komiks and merchandise. I absolutely loved the entire experience and I can't wait to go next con!

22. I went to the Manila International Book Fair with my mom where I bought so much books from both local and international authors and publishers.

23. Last September, I started meeting my discipler regularly. The accountability and genuine, vulnerable conversations that I've had with my discipler has not only encouraged me during my trials, but it has also been pushed me to get to know God more.

24. This year, I found joy in reading my Bible. Instead of having a fixed schedule for my devotions, I started reading my Bible whenever I had free time within the day -- when I'm on a jeep waiting for the other passengers, while I'm in a coffee shop during my break, on the way to school in the morning, or even while I'm laying in bed before I go to bed. Having my devotions integrated in my day outside of a routine has really blessed my relationship with God and it's something I'm planning to continue in the new year.

25. Last October, my mom and I returned to the Solaire Theatre to watch a production of The Sound of Music. I had never seen the movie prior so I came with no idea what the musical was all about. The production was so beautiful and the story very touching.

26. I attended the Scout Creative Talks 2017 at the SM Aura Premier with some of my fellow church leaders! There, I watched professionals in the creative industry speak about their craft. I left the event immensely inspired and motivated to work on my craft.

27. For my humanities class, I attended my first symphony at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The Philharmonic Orchestra performed that night and it was absolutely breathtaking just how beautiful the pieces and their execution were.

28. Last October, I finally turned eighteen. Read: Eighteen

29. My family and friends threw me a surprise birthday party. Read: Celebrating Eighteen

30. For my geology class, my blockmates and I travelled to Tanay, Rizal where we studied waterfalls and the rocks around the area! This was my second fieldwork of the year and my third fieldwork since I started studying in UP.

31. After my geology fieldwork, my blockemates and I spent the afternoon at an adventure camp in Rizal where I went on a zipline for the first time!

32. After about a year and a half, I finally cut my hair short.

33. At the start of December, my friends Jeremiah and Camille and I went on a quick trip to the National Museum which is my third time this year! We went around the Fine Arts and Anthropology buildings where we saw portraits, paintings, and artefacts of our culture. We even had a quick portraits shoot around the complex!

36. Last week, I went on a quick retreat in Tagaytay with some of my church friends!

37. After the retreat, I finished my driving lessons!

38. This year, I attended several of my friends' debuts and birthday celebrations.

39. Throughout the year, I had the opportunity of meeting up with so many of my close friends! If you and I set a date or we spontaneously hung out because we happened to be at the same place at the same time, I'm happy we got to meet this year!

So much happened in 2017. With everything that happened last year, I'm hopeful for what's to come in the new year. At the end of each year, I find myself wondering how the new year will top the year that had just passed. But if my God is truly the same today as He was yesterday, then I can be certain there will be plenty of moments of pruning, experiences of grace, and unexpected God-encounters that will make the new year better than last.

Have a blessed new year, everyone!

Welcoming This Season of Rest

With all my lectures over, my research papers submitted, and final exams done, the semester is officially over for me.

After weeks of stressing over school work, it feels so unusual to finally have nothing to do. With all the responsibilities I have in school and church, it's become normal for me to always be working, and to be honest, it is quite tempting to fill that void during the holidays. But I welcome this season of rest.

Over the past few months, I've learned to listen to my body more -- to be aware of my limits and be sensitive to my needs. Though I've always known to put my health before anything else, this past semester really pushed me to put that mindset into practice.

There were days when it was clear that my body needed to rest. But whenever I decided to take the day off to rest, my heart was heavy and burdened. The thought of having to catch up on every thing I would miss was something I couldn't keep of my mind, but I knew what I had to do.

I took my days off and I'm grateful that I did. My body returned to a state of health that I last felt in the summer. Not only was I recovering physically, my mental health was receiving the care that it needed; my mind was allowed to feel and process -- things I had not made time for because of my work.

Soon enough, I realized how helpful and necessary it was for me to regularly take breaks. While my responsibilities were important, my health was just something that was not up for debate. Realizing that, the worries I had about my work left my heart and in its place, joy and peace came and made its home.

This holiday season, I'm looking forward to all the rest that I'll be getting. The thought of sleeping in for a couple more hours in the morning after an already good night's rest has been on my head for weeks now. That and all the amazing food I'll be eating this Christmas break has got me very excited. I've also planned to have a marathon of all the movies and TV series I missed these past few months as well as read several books from my reading piles. Those will definitely keep me preoccupied and happy during the break.

Mostly, I'm excited for the moments of unexpected peace and restoration that will happen in the next few days. Those have always found its way into my life, restoring me more than I know. So here's to a holiday season full of healing, recovery, and joy -- a season of rest like no other.

Portraits Vol. 5

There's nothing like being with friends and my latest photoshoot with my friend Jeremiah Santos proved just that.

Since meeting Jeremiah five years ago, he and I have become really great friends. He's always been such a joy to be with and an incredibly easy person to work with. We did several productions together in high school and taking his potraits reminded me of all the fun that we had working together.

For this shoot, I didn't have any mood boards or themes in mind. All I had was my camera and at first, I was a little worried that I had no direction with the shoot, but after a couple of photos, I knew what kind of photos I wanted to take. I found myself drawn to fleeting moments such as the one in the last photo of the set. That photo was taken outside the Senate Hall of the National Museum of Fine Arts. With just a bit of light coming through the overhead windows, it was really a photo just waiting to be taken.

I live for moments like that. There's a joy that comes from the unexpected but the beauty of moments like that is fleeting. Often times, one has to decide whether to capture those moments or to live in them. But this photoshoot with Jeremiah allowed me to do both and I am grateful beyond words.

Thanks Jeremiah for letting me take your portraits. I'm so happy and grateful I got to work with you on this. You're a great human being that I am beyond blessed to call my friend. Let's do this again some time!

Modeling by Jeremiah Santos
Photography and Post-processing by Luis Abesamis

Collaborate with me! Drop me an email at: 📩 whatdoesluissay@gmail.com 📩

Celebrating Eighteen

Two weeks ago, my mom and my sister threw me a surprise birthday dinner with some of my best and closest friends. Because we're all busy with school, it's difficult finding time when we can all meet. So whenever we do get together, it's always something special.

Here are a couple of photos from the dinner!

In such a faith-stretching and emotionally trying season in my life, celebrating my eighteenth birthday with those I love the most was incredibly encouraging. Having gone through so much with these people, I am reminded of God's grace and faithfulness. Because of them, I am hopeful in my trials.

That's why I'm beyond grateful for my friends. They're family to me and I love them beyond words can express. When I look at them, I'm reminded of all the good things in life. All my doubts and fears fade away and I find myself at home. There's no other blessing quite like being able to call someone a friend. My heart is full and my mind is at peace knowing I have people like them in my life. Truly, my cup overflows.

Photography by Alyssa Abesamis

Ooma's Best Sushi Rolls

Ever since my trip to Japan, I've been on the hunt for a restaurant that serves Japanese food that could hopefully come close to what I had in Japan. These days my craving for some good Japanese food is satisfied by Ooma, a Japanese Rice Bar by Chef Bruce Ricketts that serves Japanese food with a twist. 

This was my family's second time eating at Ooma and for this visit, we decided to try three of Ooma's best sushi rolls.

Ebi and Kani Aburi Maki - P265

Ooma's Ebi and Kani Aburi Maki is a simple yet delicious maki topped generously with kani and a piece of shrimp torched perfectly. The Ebi and Kani Aburi Maki tastes comforting and heavenly with all of its flavors coming together beautifully. The sweet tare sauce drizzled on the maki along with the aligue mayo and cream cheese worked perfectly together. This was my favorite maki and my personal recommendation for all of you wanting to try Ooma!

Steak Aburi Maki - P335

The Steak Aburi Maki takes your classic sushi roll topped with meat to an entirely different level with tender and juicy strips of steak and pickled and fried onions. Lots of makis topped with meat don't get that perfect combination of flavory and doneness, but Ooma's Steak Aburi Maki does making it a must have for your next trip to Ooma!

Salmon Belly Roll - P275

Looking for a more familiar sushi roll? Try the Salmon Belly Roll! The crispy salmon belly brings a crunchy element to your soft and tasty maki. Topped with aligue mayo and an incredible ginger and garlic sauce, the Salmon Belly Roll is an amazing combination of flavors and textures that just gives you everything you need in a sushi roll!

Which of Ooma's sushi rolls have you tried before? Let me know in the comments below!

Special thanks to my sister, Alyssa Abesamis, for taking the photos for this entry! 

Book Club: Women in Literature

Back in high school, one of my favorite pastimes was reading books. I could spend hours and hours reading but since entering college, I've had to switch out reading books with reveiwing lecture notes and going over presentations. While that has put a (hopefully, temporary) stopper on my reading, it hasn't stopped me from buying books.

Over the past few months, I've accumulated books that are just waiting to be read and I think it's about time that I get back into the habit of reading. With that, I'm launching a book club here on the blog where I will be sharing all of my book recommendations, reviews, and finds with all of you.

Today's book club features four books written by women!

First on the list is Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. This book was recommended by a friend who said it was a great book about creativity and as a photographer and a writer, I thought it would be a great read that could help inspire me and spark my creative juices.

Second on the list is Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I chose this book because I knew it was a classic and one that I haven't read before. Seeing it on the list of recommended books for summer book reports back in high school didn't make it that interesting to me back then, but I know Jane Austen's a spectacular author so I decided to read one of her classic works. 

Next up is Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. A couple weeks ago, I saw the trailer for the film adaptation that's being released fairly soon and it brought me back to my  high school productions of Christie's And Then There Were None and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. I instantly knew I wanted to read the book because I absolutely loved our productions from the mystery genre and having done one of Agatha Christie's works before, I was confident Muder on the Orient Express would not disappoint.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott takes the final spot for today's book club. To be honest, I've never heard of Alcott or her works before and I only found this book while going through the aisles of Fully Booked. The cover caught my eye so I decided to read the brief description at the back. Little Women seemed like an interesting read so I decided to pick it up and go for something I've never heard before!

Those are all the books that I'll be reading for the next couple of weeks! What books are you currently reading? Let me know in the comments below!

Eighteen

Turning eighteen is a pretty huge thing and I'm not going to lie, I've been eagerly waiting to turn eighteen. Eighteen has always been an important age for me because it meant that I was an adult, someone who's independent and capabable of making wise decisions. But as I came closer to my eighteenth birthday, I realized that the journey to eighteen was just as important as turning eighteen itself.

The roads that led me to where I am right now weren't always easy and smooth. There were roadblocks and detours along the way. But these setbacks, though discouraging, never succeeded in leaving me down on the ground. With each trial I faced, I took with me lessons that have (hopefully) changed me for the better and everything that I've been through in my eighteen years on this planet, the most important lesson I've picked up is to always be hopeful.

For me, being hopeful is more than just seeing past our situation or seeing the big picture. It's more than just being optimistic and looking at the brighter side of things. Being hopeful is having faith that things will work out and being at peace with the possibility that the outcome of our situation won't always be what we expect. It involves surrendering to God not only our situation, but also our expectations.

Though the joy that comes from surrender measures far beyond the doubts of the heart, surrendering my situation to God is always a faith-stretching experience. It's like a never-ending debate between my faith and my doubts. But God makes His love known. In spite of my uncertainties, He reveals more of who He is and that hope is nowhere near lost.

When I look back at everything I've been through, I am reminded of how far Hope has brought me. I find rest knowing that the same Hope that saved me from surrendering to my situation before is the same Hope that I surrender to now. My heart is full knowing that hope is gracious and full of compassion. That even before I raise the white flag, Hope parades through the streets of my heart declaring victory and that it is good. Knowing my surrender is to a Hope that never fails, my anxious heart knows peace and I find myself hopeful on the path to nineteen.

Portraits Vol. 4

Today's set of portraits features Elisa Aquino.

Ate Elisa asked me to take her photos for this project she was working on and of course, I said yes. I love taking portraits and to take the portraits of the person who inspired me to try portrait photography was a huge honor for me.

The shoot was fairly quick and easy. Ate Elisa styled herself and did her own makeup. She knew her best angles and how to model herself. She needed very little directing during the shoot. All I really had to do was take the photos. We projected her photos on a wall to get some color and drama in the shots. We played with two different photos -- one that was very dark and dramatic and another that was much more colorful but had a good contrast of light and dark colors as well.

In post-processing, I wanted to highlight the contrasts of colors and, of course, accentuate the shadows in the photographs. It was definitely fun sorting through all the photos, but these five are my favorite ones. I'm very proud with how they turned out and I was absolutely relieved when Ate Elisa told me she loved the photos.

Thanks for letting me collaborate with you on this, Ate E!

Makeup, Styling, and Modeling by Elisa Aquino
Photography and Post-processing by Luis Abesamis

For collaborations, you can contact me at: whatdoesluissay@gmail.com

Follow Ate Elisa on all of her socials!
Blog: shemakeshimknown.com
Facebook: @shemakeshimknown
Twitter: @elisabaquino
IG: @elisabaquino

Mental Health Self-Care Tips

Last October 10 was World Mental Health Day and the theme for this year was workplace well-being. I'm an advocate for mental health and with the degree that I'm currently taking up, I'm learning more and more about what I can do not just for my own mental health, but also for the mental health of those around me.

With that, I've chosen a couple of self-care tips that I've picked up over the years around the theme of work and school that are geared towards helping our mental health. These tips might not work for everyone as these are all based on my experiences, but I hope these tips are helpful in your mental health journey.

1. Maximize your breaks.

The work that we do can be very demanding. Aside from the rest we're (hopefully) getting at night, our bodies need to rest every once in awhile through the day. That's why it's important to take breaks. But a lot of the time, we still find ourselves working during our breaks. We pull our notes and study for the quiz next period or plan how we're gonna check off each item on our to-do list this week. Theses are all great and important things, but we need to maximize our breaks.

We're in a culture that encourages people to always be working -- to always be doing something. We feel guilty for taking breaks because we've equated resting with being unproductive. Allow yourself to enjoy those breaks. They're little pauses in our routines that allow us to step away from our work and recharge.

Take a nap and get that extra boost of energy that'll help you get through the day. Go watch a 30-minute vlog and catch up on your favorite Youtubers. Do breathing exercises to help you calm down even if you don't feel too overwhelmed yet. We spend a large portion of our day working. I think it's fair to say that everyone deserves to take a break.

2. Embrace lazy days.

We all have lazy days and sometimes, it's (in)conveniently on days when we have a lot of work to do. But if there's on thing I've learned from having lazy days, it's that we shouldn't punish ourselves for them. The work we do takes a lot from us and so we should embrace lazy days because they're opportunities to find healthier and happier ways of doing the work we need to do.

We don't need to feel bad for giving in to lazy days because sometimes, that's the only true rest our bodies are going to get from all the stress. The lazy days are there to help us take a breather and reevaluate how we've been going about our to-do lists.

3. Create a healthy work space.

Having a healthy work space can affect the attitude we have on work and how we do our work as well. Whether it's putting up notes, verses, and photos that encourage and inspire you or taking out clutter and mess that stress you out, find ways that make your space a healthy place for you to work in.

Let your work space motivate you. Make it a place that lessens the stress and lightens the load. Create an environment conducive to rest as much as it is to work.

4. Be honest about your mental health.

This isn't the easiest to practice, but I've found it to be helpful in my journey with mental health. Over the past few years, I've learned the importance of being honest about my mental health. Whenever I felt anxious, the first thing I always needed to do was to acknowledge that I was anxious and that sometimes, I was anxious for absolutely no conscious reason.

Being honest doesn't necessarily mean telling everyone you work with that you suffer from a particular mental illness or disorder. There's still so much stigma around mental health so it's understandable if opening up about it isn't something you're comfortable with. But whenever your mental illness or disorder is acting up and manifesting itself, be honest about the situation. Don't dismiss it by saying that it's nothing when it definitely is something. Be honest about your mental health if not to your co-workers or block mates, then at least be honest to yourself about it.

Let's all do what we can to break the stigma and shed light on mental health. But most importantly, invest in your mental health. Devote time and effort into taking care of yourself. Your health is so much important than work and school. Happy World Mental Health Day, everyone!

Do you have any mental health self-care tips? Let me know in the comments below!