Today's #PpopWednesday#OPMwednesday is 「Shout For Joy」 by Gary Valenciano. A fitting song after Passover, Resurrection Day, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Happy #Resurrection Day! On this day, almost 2,000 years ago, the Master of the Sabbath rose from the dead after fulfilling 3 days & 3 nights in the grave.
Never leave the Philippines without eating these fruits, and taking a bunch with you when you fly home.
Mangosteen
While popular in Southeast Asia, the Mangosteen in the Philippines is the best variant in the world. Mangosteen is plenty and cheap in the country. You can find it anywhere, from wet markets to supermarkets to street stalls.
There are also many other products made from Mangosteen, from coffee to juice to daily supplements, even a candy and cookies!
Banana (local: saging)
Like Mangosteen, Philippine bananas are the best in the world. There was even a joke how a Philippine banana was exported in the West, and a local restaurant bought banana supplies from those countries and used it, hence, their very simple banana dish (that is ₱20 elsewhere) is worth a Big Mac (₱200). Without them realising the banana they imported originated from their neighbour.
Of course it's a joke. Or maybe not. (We did have an incident like this decades ago, for shoes. Marikina-made shoes were exported. Branded. And then that brand sold it here. 🤣)
Trivia: An endemic banana, "abaca", is also used to produce "Manila Hemp", which is expensive.
Mangoes (local: mangga)
Yes, the best in the world too! Some of our Asian neighbours visit the Philippines just to eat Philippine mangoes, because it's very expensive in their country.
Pineapple (local: pinya)
The best? Well, some of those popular foreign pineapple brands actually have farms here in the Philippines because they found that Philippine-produced pineapples are better.
Trivia: Pineapple was brought here during the colonial era. It's not endemic.
Trivia: Pineapple fibres are used to make clothes, and are usually expensive. It's the most common Philippine linen. Filipinos were the first to create clothes from Pineapple fibres. In fact, like the Coconut, Filipinos found use to everything Pineapple, generally, nothing goes to waste.
I just started today, and even though the #game is only in closed beta, and the features are basic, the concept and mechanics are different from the other fitness gamification apps I've played/playing.
It did capture the feels of an #MMO and combined it with fitness.
Again, I'm just a newbie, only started today. I haven't thoroughly explored the game. I just walked.
You don't even need to run the app in the background, it will collect the steps your phone recorded the next time you open the game.
Features I'm waiting for (not sure if it's planned, again, I'm a new player):
Sync with Google Fit or Health Connect. This way we can use the "steps" from our sports watch instead of the phone. I think it's also easier since the Dev doesn't have to add support for Product X and Service Z.
Health Connect is good for those who prefer privacy, as Health Connect stays in the unit (unless the user syncs it with Fit or other apps).
Google Fit is, well, cloud-based. (Then again, most sports watch users are using their brand's cloud-based service anyway, and are more likely sync'd to Fit. 😆)
Guilds/clans. Because why not? Hehe.
Quests/missions.
It might be possible to add quests wherein even if we're not moving (like those in work-from-home), we can do something. Nothing game changing, because again, you have to move move move!
Of course, the majority of the quests require moving.
More races!
Elf
Half-elf
Dwarves
Vampires
I dunno, any race that no one can claim copyright is good. (I mean, we can't use kinder because that's DragonLance.) And each race has some pros and cons.
Foes?
Say, during a game event, we have to, for example, collect 10,000 steps in a week to ensure we are ahead of an enemy chasing us? If we fail, there's a penalty.
And the story of the event moves forward depending on the total steps of everyone in a kingdom.
Create three lists: "CUR: All", "CUR: Flipboard", "CUR: Newsmast".
(CUR = CURated / CURation)
Search for "Flipboard" and "Newsmast" (Flipboard accounts share the same icon, Newsmast accounts share the same icon as well.)
Follow the accounts you're interested in. (It's by topic.)
Add each of those accounts to your "CUR: All" list. And to its respective platform list: "CUR: Flipboard" or "CUR: Newsmast".
Switch your "Home" view to "CUR: All", "CUR: Flipboard", or "CUR: Newsmast".
Another way of doing it is by topic:
CUR: Nature
CUR: Current Events
CUR: Programming
Or, by region:
CUR: Local
CUR: Asia-Pacific
CUR: Africa
Adjust it to your needs.
In the Mastodon family, you can set the list to not show up in your "Home" timeline. This way, you can still see the posts from other people you follow without it being filled with curated content boosts.
Benefits of following curation accounts:
You don't have to follow every single account.
> Usually, accounts share other topics which you probably are not interested in. Curated lists filter these topics for you.
You will discover content and people to follow.
> Both Flipboard and Newsmast boosts/reshares the original post. You see the original source/account and interact with them directly.
> You can then choose who you want to follow directly so you can see more of their content and interests, and build a friendly relationship with them.
It becomes possible to only follow 10 accounts ever, yet consume hundreds of content and information.
This way, you can avoid following hundreds of accounts which will only make your "Home" timeline confusing; and more likely, you'll miss what matters most for you because of so many posts from so many accounts.
I hope it helps you! Welcome to the Fediverse #SNS !
P.s. If you're using an awesome Fediverse software or platform besides Mastodon, the steps are similar, if not exactly the same.
Here are some dating tips, nothing grand, but can be useful.
Know how to say “I love you” in the #Filipino language because we have two for romantic relationships.
“Mahal kita” = This is your “I love you” in English. It can be used romantically or for family and relatives.
mahal = ma (as in “mama”) + hal (as in ha + L) which means “love”
kita = ki (as in ‘ki’ in “kit”) + ta (as in ‘ta’ in “tank”) which means “you”
“Iniibig kita” = This can be translated into English as “I deeply love you” or “I deeply desire you” or both; and should only be used romantically. You could say it is a poetic way of saying “I love you”, however, it is more than that.
iniibig = i-ni-i-big (i = as in the sound of saying the letter “e” = iihh) which means “[deeply] love”
Understand what “mutual understanding” or “m.u.” is.
It's actually simple. “Mutual understanding” is that stage wherein two people are already comfortable with each other, but are still not officially dating. Usually, they do not know they like each other; however, there are those who choose it because they are not sure yet (especially permission from parents).
If the person you like decides to be in an M.U. relationship, don't take it negatively. It is a sign that they are considering dating you, just that, there are still things they need to settle on their end. Give them some time.
You need to clarify your relationship.
Never assume that you are dating. I've seen “couples” who never made it clear and later was shocked the other partner finally have a “boyfriend” or “girlfriend”. The surprised party felt “cheated” but in reality, no one cheated, they were never dating in the first place!
It is important to make your relationship clear.
Are you dating exclusively? “Exclusively”, meaning, there are no one else both parties are dating.
Or, are you in an “open relationship”? An “open relationship” is a relationship wherein you allow each other to have other dates.
Are you actually dating, M.U., or just friends?
Are you “officially” dating? “Officially”, meaning, both of your parents know (regardless if they agreed to it or not).
“PDA” or “Public Display of Affection”
This is publicly holding hands, hugging, kissing (cheeks, lips), being overly sweet with each other.
Filipinos are generally fine with it. If you don't like it, a Filipino date might misinterpret it as you not being proud of them. Thus, if it is not in your culture to show PDA, then make it clear with the Filipino you are dating, to avoid misunderstandings.
There are also some Filipinos who are not into PDA, so, you need to be open about it. And limits.
You are not just dating one person, you are dating the entire family.
Filipinos are family-centric. And when it comes to Filipino, be sure to treat their families well.
This is a good thing. If your partner is telling you what to do, it means they really want to date you.
That's just 5 when it comes to dating. Marriage proposal is a whole different matter. We have our own form “dowry”, although less practised today, it is still good to know, especially if the Filipino you want to marry is traditional. (They may not tell you anything because you're a foreigner, but deep inside they're expecting it.)
It's Feb 28th, and if you're suspecting they no longer love you, maybe this #OPMwednesday recommendation will help: “If the Feeling Is Gone” by #EllaMaySaison
This one is rarely asked and advised: you can't lend to someone else your credit/debit card.
Here in the Philippines, all credit/debit card use are checked. If the name on the card is suspiciously not the customer's name (for example, it's a man's name, but the one holding is a woman), it will be questioned and held.
For credit cards (not debit cards), signatures are also required. If the signature did not match the one on the back of the card, the card will be held by the store.
The only exemption to the rule is if it is a company credit card. As long as you can show a company ID, it will be allowed. This is especially true if the company card is Black, because there are no Black credit cards in the Philippines (at least, I haven't seen one; I've only seen it from Korean and Japanese partners).
There were many incidents of foreigners getting stuck because of lending their cards to a friend or relative. One such was in a supermarket.
Our #PpopWednesday#OPMwednesday today is a lively song, 「Atin Ang Mundo」 (The World is Ours) from the Filipino boy band #TheJuans, that will surely make you dance.
「Christmas In Our Hearts」 was released on 1990-11-17 as the titular song of Jose Mari Chan's 7th studio album. Through this album, Jose Mari Chan was nicknamed “The Father of Philippine Christmas Music” and Filipinos start to play the songs from this album a week before September (“-ber months”) begins, the traditional start of #Christmas in the Philippines.
If you want to listen to the entire album, here are the links:
First time I pushed myself since I recovered from pneumonia and a water in my left lung (mid to late 2021).
I used the closed roads being used by two race events, #EarthRun and #ASICS run. 😜
I think being with fellow runners made it easier. I didn't feel any pain and I rarely had to catch my breath. Though I was still slow as compared to before I got sick, and had a lot of walks than runs, this was still far better than whenever I ran 5k solo this year.
Official: If one has power, they can make any justifications for their actions. If one has no power, anything they say is only a counter-argument.
It is true. The Philippines brought China to the international Court re: South China Sea dispute, and what happened? Nothing even though the Philippines won.
China is holding considerable power so even they continue to use the stupid and baseless and no historical support 9/10-dash line.
While anything the Philippines did and said only ended as counter arguments.
Apologies. When I watch and read fiction, I pay attention to it because a good writer always embed current issues, or express their views, in their work.
This is only the premiere episode and the author already demonstrated their talent.