Animal Crossing New Horizons – Best Game for the Pandemic

The latest Animal Crossing game arrived at the most perfect time, when the entire world was basically in lock down due to the pandemic. It helped me cope up with being stuck at home, and I’m sure it’s the same for everyone who played the game since its release last March. I did not know what to expect when I purchased the game. I thought it was similar to Harvest Moon, and it is in some ways, but it’s much more than any life simulation game I’ve played before. It is my first time to play Animal Crossing and I was immediately hooked.

My seventh day of quarantine, my second day in ACNH!

A reflection of human nature

Everyone starts the game as a stranger to an island that’s teeming with life. As you start building your own life on the island, you start taking from it. This isn’t wrong – but it makes you realize how we human beings really are. We live like we own the world, disrupting nature for our own advantage.

I started cutting down trees to craft tools

Catching fish and bugs for for the museum

The early days are spent exploring the island, building tools, and making money by selling things (and creatures). Catching bugs and fish felt like Pokemon, trying to catch them all and filling up my Critterpedia.

No man is an island

You can play by yourself but Animal Crossing is best played with others. My villagers felt like real people to me, and I was attached to them in no time.

Fishing with one of my original villagers – Sheldon! He’s still with me until now!

One of the best features of the game is that you can connect to the internet to visit other players from all over the world. You can generate a Dodo code and share it on the internet to invite visitors to the island, and visit other islands using other people’s codes, too! I was thrilled having visitors on the island – I couldn’t do it in real life but this was possible on Animal Crossing!

You can trade items with your friends – the possibility is endless. There’s even a Nookazon (an Amazon rip-off for Animal Crossing items) where you can buy things for Bells (Animal Crossing currency) or Nook Miles Tickets.

Time is Real-Time

I love how time runs at a real-life pace in the game. The day officially starts at 5AM every morning with an announcement from Tom Nook (and later on Isabelle). And, not just time, even the weather and the seasons follow real life.

I chose to live in a Southern Hemisphere island where the seasons are the opposite of most players (I think majority chose Northern Hemisphere). At around March/April, it was Summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and there were a lot of creatures not spawning in the North, where it was Spring. But, I was envious of the cherry blossoms so I also looked for friends living in the North so that I could visit and take photos with Cherry Blossoms.

I couldn’t fly to Japan for spring, so this is the closest thing to Hanami I will get.

There are also events that coincide with real life holidays, such as Bunny Day event which happened on the week of Easter in the real world. Egg hunting wasn’t as fun though, because they were all over the place and it certainly got annoying after a few days.

Bunny Day – glad to be rid of eggs after this day!

You are your own enemy

Animal Crossing New Horizons is a very chill game. There are no enemies to be defeated. Yes, you are forced to take up huge loans with Tom Crook — sorry, Nook, to advance in the game – but there’s no deadline so you are not pressured to pay it.

You can design your island and your house however way you want! Your imagination is a limit! Most common themes I found on the internet are Japan-inspired alleys, zen gardens, coffee shops – you can really go crazy with your concepts.

My flag is of Cebu, and my island’s name is Ubec

My bedroom had to be Japanese-inspired as well

The goal in developing your island (note you have the power to change its landscape, too) is to become a 5-star island. Once you reach this status, a unique flower (Lily of the Valley) blooms as a reward for your effort. It doesn’t sell for much, though, but just think of it as a badge for having a 5-star island!

After spending hours of developing your island, it’s not unusual to end up being dissatisfied with your output, especially if you check out other people’s islands on the internet. I am quite chill with the game and I don’t let other people’s islands get to me – but my brother is a perfectionist and because we share the same island, Ubec is forever under construction!

In conclusion

Animal Crossing came at the perfect time. It’s not a perfect game, but no game comes close to being engaging in the time of this pandemic. Its charm comes from how it’s a simulation of life, like living in the matrix, in a world where there’s no virus, it’s not very difficult to make money (I didn’t even talk about the Turnip “Stalk” market), and you have a lot of control over things. It definitely helped me with my anxiety and my need to be creative without being too pressured.

Keeping up with Corona news even in Animal Crossing (also wearing a mask)

My island is already so different from how it was. And, if you play the game and want to be friends at least in this parallel world, let me know in the comments and I can add you!

If you have a Nintendo Switch and haven’t played Animal Crossing yet, please give it a try! It’s a great distraction from the crazy world we live in now! It’s almost therapeutic! 🙂

Why I think PH should not do mass testing YET

This is an unpopular opinion, and I was actually hesitating about posting this. But this is why I think we should not do mass testing yet.

Our doctors and medical practitioners are not the frontliners in this “war” against COVID-19. We, the general public, are. They are our last line of defense.
Our hospitals, doctors and medical practitioners, are already overwhelmed by the number of cases they are handling. They don’t have enough equipment, they don’t have enough hands.
As our last line of defense, we need to minimize the number of cases we send to our hospitals. Current testing criteria (barring these “VIPs”) limit cases as much as possible to those who are critical and require urgent medical care.
Increasing exposure of our last line of defense to the virus by sending more people their way, also increases the chances of them getting infected.
Testing negative now – does not eliminate your risk of testing positive tomorrow. Do we have the capability and capacity to keep on testing every day?
Testing positive is enough reason for one to want to be hospitalized – would you take the risk and go home knowing you have the virus?

We are taking the most conservative approach now, just by having everyone undergo quarantine because we prevent putting so much burden to our last line of defense. They can focus on saving those that are already in critical condition but we are responsible for the lives of the people we send their way. Whether we have the virus or not, we should act like we have it, so that we don’t spread it.

This doesn’t discount that mass testing is an effective solution. It worked for South Korea. It is painful to admit it but we have to accept that our country, our government, and even our people’s behavior and situation – aren’t at the level where South Korea is. We need to deal with the cards we are given.

If we’re sure we are prepared and well-equipped, yes, definitely! But right now, we may just overwhelm our health care systems – so maybe not yet. It would also help to check with our hospitals and doctors what their opinion on this is before we proceed.

Hoping we all survive this sooner than later!

Just another COVID-19 post

Hey guys! Wow, 2020 has been crazy, right? We started out with the threat of World War 3. Then where I’m from (Manila, Philippines), a volcano erupted causing people to evacuate and those in the city buying masks for protection against ash fall. Now here we are with the virus – everyone knows about this already – it’s spreading fast, it’s deadly to the elderly and the immunocompromised. It’s all over the world and since prevention is better than cure, the best way to prevent infection or spreading it further is by staying at home (other than washing your hands of course).

The cases are worst in other countries but I am actually grateful that our government is already taking action by enforcing a community quarantine for Metro Manila where most of the confirmed cases in the country are from. Sure, the announcement, execution, could have been done way better but I appreciate the sense of urgency shown in controlling the spread as early as possible. We are all scrambling – other countries, too. But, we’re all in this together. It is a Global issue. Let’s stop looking at Nationalities, political parties – and focus on the issue at hand. How do we increase our chances of surviving this pandemic?

Practicing proper hygiene (washing of hands) is one. Decreasing exposure through social distancing is another – and that is best done by staying at home. Period. Where companies are flexible, they should allow their employees to work from home as much as possible. Where they are not, people need to be conscious about keeping distance. I’m glad my company allows for such flexibility but it’s not the same for others. So my part to play is to not add to the number of people other people need to distance from because they don’t have a choice. I’m saying this because a lot of people on social media don’t seem to get the point of this community quarantine. Sure, the details need to be properly defined – but if you get the intent and the purpose of why this is being implemented, you will know the answer without having to ask the question. STAY AT HOME WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE ANY IMPORTANT BUSINESS TO BE OUTSIDE. It’s not just about you catching the virus, it’s also about not spreading it out. Even if you don’t have symptoms, you may still have it believe it or not! Our hospitals can’t test everyone so our contribution is really to stay out of the way. And of course, you can donate to groups supporting those in the frontline with all the shortage of masks and alcohol from hoarding. Speaking of – don’t hoard and buy things you don’t need out of panic!

I didn’t mean for this post to be preachy but social media (and I’m only on Twitter) is adding to the toxicity of the city (pardon my pun). I suggest you get your news straight from DOH (they have a Viber group) – all the important things that you need to know are there. When it personally gets too noisy on Twitter (because they show you tweets your mutuals liked without your permission), I just mute it. There’s no need for political arguments at this time. I like reading about stories of people helping each other out, though. Those that show hopeful signs of us making it through this ordeal.

That’s all I have to say. These wouldn’t fit in a tweet and I needed to vent. Keep safe guys! We will make it through! This is the most difficult global situation I’ve gone through in my life so it feels unreal – but it is real so let’s go through it together one day at a time.

Official HIGE DANdism – Lady – Romaji Lyrics

Bokura wa majikku de kioku wo uwagaki shi atta
“Hajimete” wo hitorijime shitakute

Kimi wa itta yo ne ato kata mo naku nuritsubu shite
Hontou ni “Hajimete” ni naretara to

Sonna omoi ni futari shite toshigai mo naku “ai” to furigana tsuketa
Itakute kowakute ureshikute

Yume mitai da ne osanakute tameratte sure chigatte mo itoshii no wa otagai sama
Baka mitai da ne mendoukusakute sekai de ichiban suteki na LADY ah

Itsuka wa narete tsuraku mo naku naru sa toka
Kako ga aru kara shiawase wo mamorerun da toka

Kizukeba mou ki no kiita koto mo ienakunatte
Bokura nante nante chisakunatte shimatta no darou

Nando namida wo nagashitemo kienai yusei inku no shibutoi “ai” ga
Itakute nikukute nasakenakute

Yume mitai da ne osanakute ijihatte hanaretatte sabishii no wa otagai sama
Baka mitai da ne mendoukusakute sekai de ichiban suteki na LADY ah

Futashika de modokashikute taerarenai hodo no omoi wo
Umarete hajimete kimi ga boku ni kureta boku wa kimi ni oboreta

Yume mitai da ne osanakute tameratte sure chigatte mo itoshii no wa otagai sama
Baka mitai da ne mendoukusakute sekai de ichiban suteki na LADY ah

Yume mitai da ne osanakute ijihatte hanaretatte sabishii no wa otagai sama
Baka mitai da ne mendoukusakute sekai de ichiban suteki na LADY ah

Itoshikute itoshikute tamaranai LADY ah sekai de ichiban suteki na LADY ah

Lady (Official Video)

Romaji Lyrics were transcribed by me. Let me know if there are any errors! 🙂

2019.12.30 – E-Gang Yakiniku Party

E-gang, or Eyeglasses gang, is what we used to call ourselves back in our Villaruel Tower days. It’s been a while since we’ve hung out together since Darl’s has moved to Cebu for good, so we had a lot of catching up to do.

And what better way to spend time catching up than over never-ending food? We had lunch at a yakiniku place in Lapu-Lapu (where both of them are living) called Cebu Sumibi Yakiniku Tajimaya. They apparently have other branches within Cebu City, too!

The unlimited set is at 650 per person – you get unlimited meats (beef, pork, shrimp, others) and other sides for grilling. To get your money’s worth – I suggest you focus on the beef and the shrimp.

To be honest, while the beef is really good, there are already a lot of other Unlimited Korean BBQ that offer similar if not better variety at a lower price. You can also already eat at a buffet like Yakimix at this price so I can’t fully recommend the place. If you want to try something closer to real Yakiniku in Japan (they do have high quality meats that you can order separately) – then you can try out Tajimaya! We didn’t have the money for it so we limited ourselves to the meat in the eat-all-you-can menu.

After almost two hours of eating and chatting, we went to S&R for some spontaneous shopping, where we ended up buying things we didn’t really need! Our last stop was at SM (our old hang-out place) where we stopped by the Food court for some take-out and finally, coffee from Starbucks, where I finally claimed my 2020 Planner!

It was a long day and we were all tired at the end! Haha. Everyone gets tired after listening to Darl’s talking non-stop (she’s the best story-teller I know because she goes through everything in detail). I unfortunately had migraine when I got home, probably because of too much food or because I had my coffee too late! Anyhow, it was a fun catch up and can’t wait to do this again next time when Darl’s visits Manila!

2019.12.28 – MAP Christmas Party

MAP stands for Mahjong Association of the Philippines – no, we’re not an official association – we just called ourselves that several years ago when we played mahjong almost everyday as a past time back when we all lived in Makati. My friends have all long gone home to Cebu for good, but we meet up at least once a year and when we can, we play mahjong!

For this year’s Christmas Party, it was held at Repry’s new house (or mansion as we want to call it). It was a simple celebration – for food, we had lechon manok bisaya and two of my favorite Cebuano staples – ngiohiong and Siomai sa Tisa!

We arrived quite late so we immediately had dinner as soon as we arrived (this was at around 9PM already). After dinner, the games began, and since there were 5 of us, I settled for the karaoke (and sitting down to play once in a while when someone goes to the restroom or needed a break haha).

Suffice to say I drank a lot of beer this night. We went home at around 3AM already after we did our exchange gifts (I got 3 bottles of Bangus in Olive Oil c/o Rep). We’ll be seeing each other again on Jan 4 to celebrate Rei Dean’s birthday so I am hoping there’ll be mahjong again then!

2019.12.25 – Alice Garden

It’s Christmas day – but for Filipinos, most of the celebrations and parties happen during Christmas Eve. December 25 is when things slow down and people take a rest from all the partying. I got bored at home so I was happy when my friends also wanted to go out for drinks this night!

We didn’t really know where to go, so we ended up at a Japanese Restaurant & Bar called Alice Garden. This is a legit Japanese place because the person who attended to us was Japanese!

They have Drink-All-You-Can menu (飲み放題 – read as nomihoudai) for 500 pesos only, but because of all the rules around it (i.e., only for two hours, you must all order at the same time, etc), we decided to just order a glass each for now.

I didn’t know we were going to drink seriously, so when we finished our first glass of cola highballs (at 195 each), we decided to just order a bottle of whiskey because this would be cheaper in the end! And so – we met again, Johnnie and I.

It was a lot of fun drinking with Hannah and PJ! We talked about PJ’s vlogging career, Hannah’s hope and dreams (haha), my TOTGA, and well, I was just being rowdy as usual. I kind of miss these sit-down drinking sessions where you just talk and drink and bare your souls.

To be honest, I drank more than I could handle and have forgotten the rest of the events of that night, but we did manage to go home safely.

I want to visit Alice Garden again and try the rest of the food on their menu – the hamburg and the cheese sticks we ordered were quite good!

2019.12.23 – Azure Christmas Party

Every year, my college barkada (a.k.a., Azure Society) has an annual gathering for Christmas. It used to be an outreach program, followed by a Christmas Party – but for the past two years (and because we’re already doing our own outreach programs separately), we’ve tried to make our Christmas parties a bit more creative (and competitive).

Last year, we had a game of bowling, where the bottom 2 scorers will pay for dinner. This year, we hit the arcade to relive the old days when we’d hang out at Bibo (an arcade in SM).

Azure christmas party — Hungry early birds

Round 1 – Ticket hoarding

We split into two teams, bought a card each (with 250 pesos value) which will be used to spend on the games.

Tried various games that will give out the most tickets!

The first round is a test of luck – the team with the most tickets gathered after spending 250 pesos each wins. We managed to score over 400+ tickets, while the opposing team did not reach a hundred.

Round 2 – Basketball shooting

The second round is a (surprising) test of stamina and endurance. We had three rounds at basketball shooting/pop-a-shot and the team with the most number of points added up wins. It was touch as our arms started aching towards the last round. Our age caught up to us!

Because our team won both rounds, there was no more round 3! Free dinner secured!

Seafood Island Dinner

The basketball round got us all tired, sweaty and hungry! For dinner, we decided on Seafood Island and ordered a bunch of seafood (to our stomach’s content). Nothing beats free dinners!

While having dinner, we also drew the names for our exchange gifts.

Group photo before heading out to buy gifts!

Exchange Gifts

Our exchange gift mechanic is that we have 30-45 minutes to shop in the mall for a gift that is part of the wish list of the person we picked. There’s a kind of rush that you get when you buy the gifts right before you give it, and with the time limit – it becomes more pressured and challenging! Because of this exchange gift mechanic, we always have our Christmas parties inside a mall! After everyone has bought their gifts, we met up at a coffee shop to settle down and give our gifts to our “babies”.

After-party

We normally have an after party – usually a couple of hours at karaoke or drinks at a bar. But this year, since the “parents” of the group had to go home early, there were only four of us left, and karaoke wouldn’t be as fun. Also, there were no available rooms in the karaoke place that we went to – so we settled for a 90-minute massage instead! I guess you could say that it was the perfect ending to a great Christmas party event (our sore arms needed it, too!).

We’re already planning for next year’s activity! Christmas 2020 can’t come too soon!

Official HIGE DANdism – SWEET TWEET – Romaji Lyrics

Romaji Lyrics

Ai suru kimi no koe ga donna uta yori kikitakunatta
Sore dake nandayo
Hanasu koto mo daishite kimechanainda yo
Koi suru dake no boku no aite wo chotto dake shite hoshiinda
Furueru yubi de daiaru suru yoru wa suroo saisei de

Sukoshi kasureta hikuku mo takaku mo nai futsuu no toon de
Warau toki dake itsumo no koe yori nion han agaru
Kimi no kuchiguse ya tekitou na aizuchi sae mo kioku nodo mannaka ni
Irokoku yakitsuitanda

Ai suru kimi no koe ga donna uta yori kikitakunatta
Nani wo hanashite mo kokoro wa fuwa tto chuu ni oita mama
Hontou wa motto chanto ki no kiita koto mo iitainda
Demo muzukashikute damatta manma miageta aki no hoshizora

Tooku no hanareta kimi no machi kara boku ni koe ga todoita
Ima sugu ai ni yukenai koto wo setsunaku kanjita
Kizukeba sanjikan! Shizen to tsuzuite shimau kaiwa
Isshun de shiranda sora Ja are to nemuri ni tsuita

Ai suru kimi no koe ga
Koi suru dake no boku wa

Ai suru kimi no koe ga donna uta yori suteki nanda
Kikeba kokoro ga odoridasu nante suteki na koi nanda!
Ai suru kimi no koe wa merodi Koi suru boku kizamu memorii
Ai suru kimi no koe wa merodi Koi suru boku kizamu memorii

Official HIGE DANdism – Tell Me Baby – Romaji Lyrics

Hey guys! It has been a while. I noticed that I’ve been getting a few visits from my Romaji lyrics transcriptions, so I decided to make more! This is the first of many! I may get into actually translating the lyrics into English later, but even with just converting to Romaji, I am already learning a lot! It’s a great way to study Japanese!

This is one of my favorite Higedan songs! If you have other song lyrics requests, let me know via the comments below! 🙂

Romaji Lyrics

Saijoukyuu no kako o yosotte
Seijinkunshi no masuku kabutte
Sonna konna de tsumiageta shatou wa kanari yabai ze
Kaze ga fukeba fallin’

Daremo ga urayamu kimi wa kibouhou
Takane no hana megake ho wo haru tozan sou no
Atsu ga atsu ga kanari takakute tsurai ze
Shoujiki kowai ze

I don’t want to leave here
Yume wo misenai de
Samenai furi tsuzukeru nante
Oh can’t believe it
Dekiru wake nai ne
Dakara subete wo butsukete

Tell me, tell me, tell me baby
Koukan shite myself
Beddo no sumi de naitenaide chanto hanashite
Tell me, tell me, tell me baby
Kakusou to shinaide
Give me more (want to know), give me more

Tell me, tell me, tell me baby
Kurayami ni majitte
Aru koto nai koto narabenaide chanto hanashite
Tell me, tell me, tell me baby
Nazo wo tokiakashite
Give me more (want to know), give me more

Saidaikyuu ni kyariya kasamashite
Yasaikirai wo hitahita ni kakushite
Sonna konna wo kakushiteru kabe wa
Sugu ni kowashite sakkyuu ni otoshite

Utsumuku sono me ni misukasareru boku to
Misukashikaesu koto no dekinai boku to no
Atsu ga atsu ga kanari takakute tsurai ze
Kokoro orete fallin’

I don’t want to leave here
Kyosei wo haranaide
Harareta mama no yoake nante
Oh can’t believe it
Hitoe ni mirai no tame ni subete wo butsukete

Tell me, tell me, tell me baby
Koukan shite myself
Beddo no sumi de naitenaide chanto hanashite
Tell me, tell me, tell me baby
Kakusou to shinaide
Give me more (want to know), give me more

Tell me, tell me, tell me baby
Motto oshiete
Ii toko tori shita otona doushi de musunda sankakukei
Tell me, tell me, tell me baby
Nazo wo tokiakashite
Give me more (want to know), give me more

Tell Me Baby