The Yuzen Diaries

By: Mia Soriano

Have you ever asked yourself on what gift you may have? Growing up as someone so curious and manifested to what your dreams would give upon you are very interesting to me. The shapes, colors, aesthetics, words and sounds that I hear, the stories that I've made are like experiments to me not proficiently speaking but, it has always been my way of discovering what can truly be the meaning of what I am able to do. Because as a young kid, it feels like every glimpse ahead of you are getting nearer and it makes you more excited on what talent you may come a hold of. At the age of 4 I came across a huge board of shapes at my school, to my surprise I saw animals, trees and plant but my friends said and my teachers told that its all just random illustrations rather than drawn prints. So I wandered could this mean is my imagination is really just so random or am I "weird".  At grade school, I tried discovering and depicting on how far my illustrations may come therefore I took a pencil and hand drawn everything I can visualize. And that's how I founded a newly beloved hobby of mine and it was making "visual art" on sketching what may come randomly like a flower, clouds, faces, anime characters etc. Once I've seen the focus of my drawing/subject, I would make as sketch or add some color and uniqueness to it as if it was on my own depiction. Its just like in storytelling and writing you would add "your own way of creativity" that you don't need to copy anything or retain something but rather, make it as your inspiration to what you can incorporate it to make something out of the extraordinary, thats the true meaning of art and beauty of a masterpiece. Artworks for some people must be "perfect", every shapes and features must be structured and symmetrical, the colors must be in contrast, the measurements must be balanced, the over-all impact must be appealing  but in my opinion, "true pieces shines brighter when the tinkering you gave are truly from your passion rather than perfecting it to reach high standards" that's my motto. My hobby is to create art but I make according to my emotions whenever I feel stressed or burnt out in School, I would get my Faber-Castell pencil and paper or get a blank Canvas to paint and paint anything I could think of or relate to.

Sometimes I would take some time to still draw despite my homework, its quite weird to say it this way that I'm making something harder other than my modules but due to creating art I can perform well after. Many individuals would come and ask me questions like "Why didn't you take the Arts and Design Track?" or "Are you looking forward to a course relating to Artistry?" Well honestly, I might take a course relating to either Philosophy, Political Science or even Aeronautics cause these are my first choices ever since. But then again I will never leave art despite my academic decisions, those might be incorporated with my future job although, never shall I forget the gift that was granted upon me that had turned out to be this great dominion in my world where I can feel a certain excitement, relief and even a rain of joyful frenzies coming down upon each stroke of my pencil and paintbrush. Regardless of what I can do, one summer night I felt anxious on what would be the future of my art due to the fact that school is getting nearer I'll be running out of time to practice my hobby, and some of my classmates are already improving.

photo source: Google

Then I saw this artwork did by Picasso, and it displayed uniqueness but the same time you would know that this person truly loves what he is doing without him making it perfectly accurate upon other artist standards however he did his tinkering "according to what he feels and what he imagines". And seeing what motivated him, made me so happy that I continued this artistic leisure.

As time passes by, I've realized that life is like a blank canvas if you painted something too "perfect" or based it upon today's liking, It becomes, dull, predictable and boring. But when you make sudden mistakes or something randomly that came up to your mind, it makes something "out of the ordinary" and more interesting to look at. "Life is not all about existence entirely, but rather a challenge on what you can discover in this world full of curiosity and vastness".

By: Mia Soriano 

Hollywood, a place full of individuals that are well recognized with their talent and performance all over the world. Whether it may be singing, acting, stunts even modeling and artistry its a stage full of audiences from country to country. Filled with photographs, awards, glory and satisfaction that most people would strive for just to get that glimpse of happiness they see in movies and within the public. Well who wouldn't be pleased if you'd be able to do your passion and get extensive fame and fortune from it. But then again it comes with different kinds of consequences that might change you, your attitude, your appearance, your privacy, your personal relationships and many more. These changes may either have a positive outcome or a negative impact. Becoming a star isn't all cupcakes and ribbons it also brings a huge commitment. Come to think of it, a man's idea of paradise is pretty close to Hollywood but little did they know its also a place of drama and controversy, if you speak or act differently without accepting the standards of society some people would hunt you and your family without your consent nonstop. I may sound like I'm "over the top" exaggerating but sometimes, you could never ever cover reality no matter how hard you try. So no wonder some celebrities sacrificed almost everything even their childhood, love, education and family just to fulfill their job as an entertainer to bring smiles and enjoyment to the viewers and forgetting their own. But sometimes these are not enough to some critiques and it leads to horrible mental health conditions, the worst part might even collide with some unexpected obstacles upon the way.

But, there is one star that shined brightly beyond brightly than the others, his name is Keanu Reeves. Known for his hard work and passion as an actor, the first days of his career wasn't all that fast although he still loved his job and continued until he made a name for himself and began discovering all kinds of genres in both film and theater production. He may seem to be a perfect celebrity but as you go further in his life story you'll learn a ton.

As years may come and go, he never heeded to once claim all the desires a rich person can claim just like the others do. Nevertheless, he just wanted to sought a happy life where you'd do what you do in order to achieve a certain goal you want to attain a peaceful existence. He did not want to take things fast and further get pressured by the media. He proved that strong perseverance can give you progress as you take the path, time shall go forward and be in sync with you.   Be that as it may, his story continued to prompt towards a happy ending although some challenges came to distort that. He endured a lot of pain of losing someone you love, meeting negative comments and the tension brought by the media. He took a break after that nightmare he'd been through and let go of the things that held himself back to the past and moved on. Time has passed and that life of him took a turn and a new Keanu faced the world. His current self became way better than before, and it was humble, charismatic, kind and considerate person. Now, he continues to do a private charitable foundation that helps cancer research and children in hospital wards. It is said that he has done this yearly and privately.   The famous actor even had headlines all over the world due to helping passengers that got stranded together with him because of mechanical problems with the plane they were riding. He even ordered vans to help and give assistance to people that was struggling regarding the delay. Some of his fellow passengers said that despite all of the difficulties the actor never gave up and offered aid 

Keanu Reeves truly proved that true happy endings can come in different forms either you work hard for it or you would try to find yourself instead of attaining achievements for your desires in order to break that obstacle and go forward towards your progress into the ending you wanted it to be.

By: Mia Soriano

Do you ever wonder what its like to be in a place and feel nostalgia? I may be the quiet kid in class back then but, I can never deny my enjoyment whenever me and the family goes on summer vacations. We would sometimes visit Tagaytay, La Union and Ilocos Norte. Although my favorite choice of place is Ilocos Norte, the ambiance at this place for me is peaceful, quiet and calm. And of course its my mother's birthplace, so I am proud to present their culture and what makes the Ilokanos unique and humble in their own ways. So just a brief back story on how I loved Ilocos so much is also because of my grandmother. She took care of me most of the time when both mom and dad wasn't around. Grandma is a lovely person, she used to tell me a lot of funny and amazing stories about her younger years, on how she took care of mom, how she and grandpa would farm fields, and also her descriptions about our place in the province. Because of that, I became more curious regarding those stories despite having to visit La Union already where my dad came from due to the fact that I was the only child at that time and got nothing else to do, so I came to my mom asking " What about visiting your hometown? You haven't brought me there yet". My mom thought about it but due to having different kinds of work schedules between the family, it took some time to plan it out. But my grandma needed to take a rest so she decided to go back in Ilocos which, also gave the urge for the family to come and visit her from time to time since we all miss her so much despite all of the challenges that comes upon us here in the City. 2012 was my first year to visit Ilocos and it was a 10 to 12 hour drive from Manila. I had ton of memories since that last trip on a bus with people speaking Ilokano side by side of my ear. Its a good thing that I understood the dialect since most people would ask me "Adda nakaupo idtoy?" which means "Is someone sitting here?" so I said there was and its my mom (which out of nowhere she came in and claimed her sit) But anyhow upon that trip I saw large rice fields, mountains, bridges and the famous Vigan City of Ilocos Sur. Mom's hometown "Laoag City" has a ton of historical landmarks dating back from the Spanish Era. Taking a glimpse of this place became so surreal to me because it felt like I was in a Time machine where you could still see old infrastructures that would make you think Jose Rizal would walk out from those houses at any moment. But until now, the city together with the whole Ilocos region continues to fascinate tourists from all over the world as its story embedded the long term suffering of survival and occupation by the Philippine's rise and fight under the colonial period. The Spanish rule may had been focused more on the Visayan region but due to the fact, that Ilocos was a trading port for Malaysian and Indonesian exchange so the Spaniards situated their strongholds upon this northern area. Hundreds of years may have passed but some of the traditions were absorbed by the community along with the sturdy structures that stood against strong earthquakes, typhoons, or any type of weather which is why some engineers and architects would visit to study the following characteristics of these buildings.

photo source: Google

One of the well recognized infrastructures in Laoag City that i've also seen, is the Bell Tower. With the underpinning stand of its foundation on 250 feet and a height of 150 feet, the tower stood strongly with the Ilocanos for some time now but it is believed that it might fully disappear after a few more centuries because it is submerging little by little hence the name "the Sinking Bell Tower". After my auntie told us about it I did felt lucky somehow knowing that it might disappear soon so, no wonder why some people visits it frequently.   Despite the beautiful sceneries you can see here in Ilocos, the true diamonds here are the people. With their humble and friendly nature, the civilians here  can never disappoint, they'd even make you laugh and communicate even thought you might be a stranger. The food delicacies here are also amazing like Pinakbet, Bagnet, Pinapaitan and including the local favorite snack which is the Empanada. Sure the city is nice although I cannot deny the fact that my mom's province is very astounding in its ways. I am truly happy to reunite with my Grandma and family, to be able to discover something from my culture and accepting it as a blessing for me, that’s something you could never replace for. And most especially I am proud to be an Ilocano. So, come join us visit Ilocos Norte we Joyfully welcome you with all smiles.

by: Mia Soriano

For the last 7 years or more many role playing games had been stirring up the charts with different kinds of story-telling experiences that were always quite the charmer and tinkering for each massive success. Every member of the Gaming community had been looking forward to a unique jest that can serve them thrill, fun and excitement whatever the hype train it may be as long as it's worth the "penny". Commonly for players back then in order to get the full experience of the game, you would pay an "excessive amount" of money. This is where the term "pay to win" comes in, defined as the transaction used to allow players to purchase character skins, weapons an d abilities to further excel your progress. Since, some story lines are quite hard to trigger, it ends up "troublesome" to Gamers and they would end up paying because it would leave them to "no choice" at all, even when you already purchased the game itself for 30 dollars or more some options are still unlocked that limits you "literally" and it had been an over all business strategy of some developers. The Charts had been full of Games that are mostly pay to win, but why is it so? Because, when you would get to the area of gaming "fully pledged" or not if you are interested into the concept and implying as a new hobby to presume and it serves you competitiveness towards someone who committed his time and effort in playing, then you would most likely grab the opportunity to shell out an extra stash of money to get the serious chance of advancement due to this you become dedicated as far as you can. So, some parts of the Gaming community are not really shocked if all of a sudden after 3 years a Developer instantly releases a new game, all thanks to "millions" of their supporters that are PTW. Some of the biggest games back then and up until now are The Witcher, Assassin's Creed, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Fallout, Star Wars, Final Fantasy VI, World of Warcraft and many more. Most of these games contain high quality graphics, exclusive perks for any kind of enjoyment platforms just like PlayStation 4 and 5, XBOX, Nintendo, Pc or even on Mobile. But, just because these are a good set of leisures, it still won't escape criticism about each pros and cons, some might even come of as harsh comments thought developers actually takes it as a "way they could further improve and exhibit special customer service".

Upon the year of 2012, 3 college students from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China) decided to team up and develop games based on their love of Anime. Upon their dedication (a year prior) the students successfully developed their first game which is FlyMe2TheMoon. Around the year of 2014, they had their first nobility for Guns Girl Z. And ever-since, Liu Wei, Luo Yuhao, Cai Haoyu continued to have success on releasing anime-oriented games especially for mobile gamers. Most of their games were very successful upon Asia until, the release of Honkai Impact 3rd (2016) the name of Mihoyo surfaced around the globe.

But behind their success, they did face a ton of backlash and criticism from some of their Chinese Fans. Some were about the appearances of the game characters and some parts of the community commented that some contents were disrespectful China, this led to the developers in deleting some of their promotional videos and fixing them to face the over-all standard of the country, and to prevent any hatred on some of their future creations. Despite the negative opinions they had received, the Company that started from 3 simple college students that had a motivational inspiration from Japanese Anime paved their own way of proving that no matter what happens these challenges that fell unto them never interfered with their dreams and took it as a lesson to keep improving from time to time. Upon the year of 2020, they had released a game that took "Free to play" standards to a whole other level.

Genshin Impact, a new action-role playing game that features various types of open-world environments by its breathtaking ambiances and accuracy you wouldn't even think that you can download it free. And it does not require you to be Pay to win but, you can rather work hard within unlocking some weapons, characters or even collect wishes since the game also offers a "gacha game monetization". The game is so astonishing that even features beautiful music and story-lines that you can unlock without using any stash of money. It's not even a year yet but the hype train for Genshin Impact has been bulking up ever since. Most youngsters and even adults make the most out of this game, some of them even gets attached emotionally because it makes you imagine that you are already part of the game and gives you an escaping vicinity to forget all of the bad things and probably one of the most unique features of this jest are the unique life lessons that each character even the main mc that you use can provide amazingly. So, it is not a surprise that Mihoyo won countless awards like the Best Game Award for the year of 2020 from both Google Play and Apple Store that prolonged the winning-streak of Chinese Developed games and made a revenue of 1 billion dollars. Seeing the current success of a company that was founded by simple 3 aspiring college students had inspired the a modern generation of youth, to continue their dreams of creating the impossible "reachable" regardless of the hard work, effort, and sleepless nights that you do, when there is something at the end of your journey that you would like to open and discover then having dreams of something is not bad as long as you took effort on what you uphold the possibilities are endless.