My Four Favorite Childhood Video Games

Hey there, World!

I grew up having two brothers who liked to play video games. When my father brought home a PlayStation, well, I probably guessed that my brothers were ecstatic. For me, when I saw that gray rectangular box, I just looked at it curiously and wondered what it does. But since then, I hung around in my brothers' bedroom more often. I saw my brothers playing the PS1 and of course, as a kid I had that "I wanna play too" feeling. I always pester my brothers to let me play and my mother would scold them if I didn't get to play. Eventually, they let me play and I was happy. I was their Player 2 in any game whether it was an RPG, fighting games, etc. Though, of course we wouldn't forget the PC games. My brothers were in to DOTA (Defense of the Ancients) during the early 2000's while I was in to other games in the PC.

Let me tell you my four favorite video games growing up.

1. Legend of Mana

This game was my all time favorite PS1 game to play. The story is set in a fictional world of Fa'Diel. The Mana Tree burnt down before the time of the game, and since then a war broke out between humans, faeries, and others who are seeking for any scarce resource of the Mana Tree. In this game, you control a silent protagonist which can be a male and female. You set out on an adventure to restore Fa'Diel and the Mana Tree to it's former self. You get to meet different characters as you play the game. You will trigger events of different stories that are like quests that will help you move forward.

The reason why it's my favorite childhood game of all time is because, firstly, I love RPGs. Secondly is that I love the stories that this game holds. I personally like all of the Jumi (jewel-hearted race) events. The characters here are lovable with their own personality and story. I also liked that you can party with them for their story and you can party with your pets that you capture. I'm also a sucker for concept art such so it's another point to add.

Cover art of Harvest Moon: Back to Nature

2. Harvest Moon: Back to Nature

Another one of my favorites is Harvest Moon: Back to Nature. It's about a young man that inherited his grandfather's rundown farm and restore it to make it livable and resourceful. You control the young man and it is in your hands on what you can do with the farm. You will also meet the villagers that you befriend with, and you can court and marry the ladies there.

When I saw my brother play this, I was like in my mind, "I wanna play that too." So whenever my brothers are at school or not at home, I would play it for hours until my brother would come home. I just love simulation games such as farm games like these. I enjoyed hours of taking care the farm and animals, giving gifts to people, and wooing the girl that I like to marry... for my character, of course. I remember that I would name the farm animals with funny names, and sometimes I would name them after the characters from other games or anime.

Current logo of the Sims

3. The Sims Series

Like I said before, I love simulation games, and The Sims Series is one of them. The Sims was one of those games back then that was so new to the public, that it was a big hit. What makes it unique is that you get to tell your Sim whatever they should do, whether it's to fulfill their need, go to work, or go improve skills. I played the first Sims game and I didn't even know that it had almost all of the expansion pack in our old PC, I just thought that those additional things was part of the game.

Then I got to play Sims 2 though it was only for a short while, it was better because you can actually zoom in to your Sims and see their reactions and facial expressions. I still don't know about expansion pack back then so... yeah.

Then came Sims 3. It was more diverse with the open world and the traits. This was probably the game that I played the most. It is actually installed in my boyfriend's laptop so that if ever that I can't play online games, I will just play Sims 3. And since Sims 3 came out I finally knew those expansion packs and I have 4 EPs in my laptop. I also played the stand alone game The Sims Medieval. I just love the RPG aspect of that game. I haven't played Sims 4 yet because I was quite skeptical about it. But I am thinking of trying it one day.

4. Ragnarok Online

This game was the first online game that I played. My brothers were playing it and of course, being the bunso that I am, I told them I wanna play. The first class that I made was a cleric or acolyte. I didn't play that much because my brothers were always occupying the PC. And when I got a chance to play the first thing I did was get a pet Poring, the cute little pink slime. I would make the Poring wear a pet accessory which is the Poring backpack. Years later, I felt that I wanna play Ragnarok Online again. So I told my boyfriend, who played RO back then, that I wanna play it. We played in a private server and we played for a month. But then we stopped playing again ever since we lost our internet connection.

I love games like these that you don't need to queue to enter a dungeon for a dungeon run. That you get to interact with other players outside the town. This is why I played the spiritual successor of Ragnarok Online, Tree of Savior. But I'll tell you about that game soon.

Well these are the games that I loved playing when I was a kid. These are the games that I would play again when I feel like it. These are the games that made me a game-loving fan that I am.

How about you? What's your favorite childhood video games? I hope you enjoyed reading, and I'll write again soon. :)

One Month and Jobless Blues

Hey there, World!

Well, it's been another month since I last wrote here. I guess I had nothing to write about in one month, but now I do.

I am still jobless if you are wondering. I have been searching online to find any HR job that I could apply. I was suppose to have an interview at Makati, but I didn't show up. I know that not showing up means that I am not going to be hired and stuff. I told that about it to my mother. She got worried that if I work at Makati, I will have to worry about the fare going there and back also my food. She encouraged that I should apply somewhere near.

So, then my options got smaller. But of course, there are more vacant jobs at Makati and Manila than here around Laguna. Though I still search around that are in Makati.

Oh, I didn't leave the house to apply, I actually searched online. I registered in some online job search sites like Kalibrr and JobStreet. I also browsed in a group page in Facebook to see job postings. I can't go out and go to Makati to apply because we are tight on money and... well embarrassingly, I am afraid to go out on my own.

I searched and sent resumes but none of them called. Well, one did call... but the guy offered me to do sales. And the funny thing is that I think the caller got annoyed at me because of the way that talked to him. I seriously don't want to do sales because not only my parents don't want me to, I can't do that kind of job because of my personality and attitude.

Though during those times that I was still searching, there was a new game that released here in South East Asia. It's called Tree of Savior and it's free to play in Steam. I am actually online more often in Steam than in Facebook because of TOS. I might blog about it soon, so watch out for that! :)

Anyway, I still searched and searched but to no avail, no one called or emailed me to schedule an interview. After a while I lost my motivation again to find a job. Whenever I see a post from my batchmates, both in high school and college, that they have an interview or they landed a job I feel rather sad and I log out. It's another reason that I rarely go online in Facebook. It makes me feel that I have done nothing to get a job and that is why I am jobless. I can't ask money from my parents because I know that they are expecting that I won't do that because I will find a job. I have cried a few times because of the fact that I am unemployed and I couldn't do anything to be employed and help my family. Whenever I go to church, I always prayed that I will have a job. Though I guess it's in God's timing that I will have one but not immediately.

For now, I am not searching any job online now because I can't find anything there. But I am not losing hope that I could find a way to make a living even if I am not leaving this house.

My advice for people who are like me, that are college graduates but couldn't get a job, just keep moving forward, as Walt Disney would say. Keep applying, keep sending resumes, I know that there is a job out there waiting for you. You just have to be determined(like in Undertale). I just wish I put my own advice to myself.

I hope you enjoyed reading, and I'll write again soon. :)

I Am an Adult but...

Hey there, World!

It has been one week since my graduation, and guess what? I am an adult but I am still unemployed. Well, one reason is that I haven't busting my butt and find a job. Another reason is that I don't feel like finding a job yet. Earning money must feel great, but I don't have a drive to get the job I need to make a living. It is a good thing my parents aren't pressuring me much to find a job right away, even though back then my mother keeps telling me to help her with buying her medicine.

I am an adult but I still need my parent's permission to go somewhere. The other day my college classmate had a birthday, and I was invited. I told my mother about it and when I told her that I will go at 4:00 PM, she told me, "Huwag kang magpapagabi ha?" Meaning I shouldn't stay out late. Well, it is quite understandable because I am the youngest in the family plus the only daughter. And I do understand that there are bad people out there with bad intentions, but I have friends with me. I wouldn't go if I go there alone. I still feel like a teenager when she told me to get home early but that's what mothers are. Well in the end, I got home around 9:00 PM.

I am an adult but going out with my boyfriend seems a bit more complicated these days than while I was still studying. My parents wouldn't want me to go out with him unless they approve it. Back then, I would use school as an excuse to be with him, but now I don't have school as an alibi anymore. I remember a while back, my father told me, "Kapag nakagraduate ka na, hahayain kitang gawin ang gusto mo." Well, here I am, a fresh graduate and I suppose I am free right? I'm not so sure about that. I have this unsettling feeling that I need to get a job first before I do anything that I want. But again, I don't feel like it, so it is quite difficult for me.

I am an adult but I still get money from my parents. I still have a bit of money but it is not much and I can't ask for more from my parents because hey, I should get a job to get my own money. I try to keep myself useful and do house chores so that they won't scold me for being lazy. I just don't want to disappoint them from my lack of initiative to get a job.

Being a fresh graduate and an adult is difficult, but I am still young and I don't have to rush in to things like getting a job or moving to your own house. I am still 20 years old and if time doesn't move fast forward, I still have time to figure out what I want.

I hope you enjoyed reading, and I'll write again soon. :)

A Bittersweet End and a Difficult Beginning

Hey there, World!

Oh. My. Goodness.

I haven't wrote in a month! (So much for writing again soon.) Well then... I dunno where to start. Let's catch up, shall we?

During early April it was probably the start of our "vacation" (put quotation marks because some of us are already working.) I just lazed around for the first half of April. I know I had time to write but I can't write as much as I can without a PC, decent internet, and the most difficult to attain: inspiration. Oh and another difficult to attain which is motivation.

I know I sound like I am a bad blogger, but it can't be helped that I don't update regularly. I am trying to change my attitude towards stuff that I can not finish. It is quite saddening but I will not stop writing in my blog until I get old and can't keep up with the new tech.

Second half of April we had some activities that involved us as graduating students. We first attended a personality development seminar which was organized by our organization. It's a good thing they conducted such a seminar because it turns out it is required for us to attend one.

We then held a meeting about graduation and the fees involving it. After that meeting, me and my mother went to my cousin's house to have my aunt's 40 days. I spent almost a week there. I didn't enjoy it much because my cousin niece is in to League of Legends and well I am not much of a MOBA gamer. We always end up doing AI games in League... and to make it worse she has to adjust to me not wanting to play LOL and play something else. I very well noticed it when we played a Steam game named "Unturned." We used to have fun playing that game but it seems she didn't feel like playing it at that time.

When we came back it was already busy because we did another seminar which is the career seminar. It's for us graduating students to be prepared and expect what's to come once we step out from the doors of our Sintang Paaralan.

Next was the Job Fair. Honestly, it was a bit of a drag for me to go. But it's needed for the clearance so I went anyway. I might find a job there.

We were required to pass our resumés to five companies. One company I submitted to was from Alabang. Another from Sta. Rosa. The farthest that I applied was from Makati. I applied one company that's interesting. The company was Vans. Since Vans is known for their shoes, there were more applicants lining up there, especially the young ones. When it was my turn to get the interview, I was a bit surprised that the recruitment staff actually gave me a decent interview, with "What do you see yourself on five years?" and stuff like that. I thought it'll be that they will ask questions from my resumé but no it wasn't. Though I might not make it through there because I stuttered even though I received a text saying I am in the hiring pools of Vans.

Next we did graduation practice for three days. Our admin staff told us that we have to make it decent, if not perfect, so that we won't be ranked low among other campuses and branches of PUP. On the second day of practice we were required to sing the PUP Hymn one by one. Well I know the lyrics but I get confused from the lyrics like mixing them up. I made it through anyway.

Before we practiced on the last day, we did the Baccalaureate Mass as thanks to God for helping us graduate. Then on practice I brought the shoes that I was going to wear for graduation. My feet hurt as hell after wearing those two inch heels and I had to wear them again for the big day.

Came the day of our graduation. We were all dolled up with the pretty dresses and make up. The guys looked dashing in their long sleeve polo shirts and neckties. The dresses ranged from the simplest to the most posh looking dress. I wore a simple blue dress and an accent white belt. Unfortunately, somebody wore a dress that's almost similar. It was embarrassing, yes, but I try not to get close to her so that we both won't get compared.

The ceremony went well actually. But I had to remove my glasses so that my make up will be fully exposed. It was a very blurry sight for me but it's fine. I have been doing that for special events anyway. Made me wonder if I should wear contacts when I get married...

Anyway... after the ceremony my mother went teary eyed and she said she was proud of me. It got me teary eyed too but I managed to control it. Speaking of teary eyed... I thought our Cum Laude will cry during her speech but she didn't. I guess it's probably rehearsed so the feeling isn't that deep anymore.

This day, our graduation day, I felt a bittersweetness toward this event. I am happy of course but not that much. I guess it's because that knowing you don't have mean teachers and professors to pressure you all the time. You don't have homework due tomorrow. You don't have school projects to frantically finish. You don't have to see your schoolmates and classmates. All of that you won't be doing anymore, and that's a bit sad for me. It's a bittersweet feeling. (Unless I do Masteral Degree but I don't plan to.)

And now that chapter has come to an end and on to the next one. It'll be a difficult start for me since I don't know what to do at this point. Sure I'll work but then what? I guess I'll have to see what happens next as I move forward with life

I hope you enjoyed reading, and I'll write again soon. :)

Stardew Valley: Let's Farm, Fish, and Fight!

Hey there, World!

Have you played or heard about Harvest Moon? I played it and it's about restoring your grandfather's old farm to it's former glory, make friends, and get married to the one you love. Do you like RPGs? I do, and it's fun to fight various monsters and get their loot. What if you combine the things from Harvest Moon and the things from an RPG? Well, Stardew Valley has those two and more.

Stardew Valley is an indie farming simulation role-playing video game developed by ConcernedApe and published by Chucklefish Games. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on February 26, 2016 (Wikipedia). It is available at Steam for PHP 419.95. It's about inheriting your late grandfather's farm after resigning from a depressing job at Joja Corporation. The town that you are going to live in is called Pelican Town, which is in Stardew Valley. You work your way up to make the farm good as new and meet new friends.

When you create a new game you will see a create a character screen. You can choose the gender, type in your name, your farm's name, and your favorite thing. Though I dunno what's the favorite thing for, but I read that if you put in something inappropriate, your conversations will be connected to it.

You can choose what skin color, top, hairstyle, and accessories. You can also choose what color of your eyes, pants, and haircolor. Oh, and I almost forgot, that you can choose either a cat or a dog for your preferred pet.

It's your choice that you skip the intro and get right to it on playing, or see the intro.

Okay so, once you can begin to play, there are some basics that you need to know. Your character has five skills that you need to develop so that his/her work can be done easily and quickly.

First is farming, you can water your crops, harvest them, care for animals and many more. Crops vary from spring to fall and you can buy seeds from the grocery store. Though I will get to the animals in a short while.

Second is mining, you use a pickaxe to destroy rocks to get their raw materials like stone, ore, and minerals. Some rocks need more than one hit to destroy them and some just need a stronger pickaxe to be destroyed so you need to upgrade your pickaxe along with your other tools at the blacksmith to make your work easier.

Third is foraging, you explore around the valley to search for wild plants and vegetables that are valuable to sell. Foraging also includes chopping wood for raw materials.

Fourth is fishing, though you can't fish yet at the very start but you will after a day or so. Fishing lets you catch different kinds of fish. You can fish at the lake, river, or the ocean. The fishing in this game has this mini game mechanic that all you need to do is making sure that the fish icon is in the green bar, and when it's in the green bar the meter at the right will fill up. But if the fish icon is not at the green bar, the meter will decrease until it empties which results that the fish escaped.

Last is combat, and this is where the RPG part comes in. When you enter the mine at the northeast of town, a guy named Marlon will tell you that the mines has monsters and he gives you rusty sword. This gives you the chance to explore in to the mines and fight monsters while you mine for ore and minerals. The deeper you go, more monsters you face. And at the bottom of the mines is just waiting to be discovered.

So those are the skills that you will need to know to make a living. Though doing those stuff aren't just going to make you money. Animals can make you money too! What's a farm that has no farm animals anyway?

Animals give produce that you can sell or make artisan goods with. Like for example, if you have chickens in your farm, they will lay eggs that you can sell. But of course they can't do this right away, you need to make them happy. Making them happy meaning taking good care of them. And if they are very happy in your farm, they will produce high quality goods. There are other animals that produce different goods. You just need to unlock them by talking to your local carpenter for upgrades and the person who sells animals.

Another thing you can do in Stardew Valley is crafting. Using the raw materials you found, you can craft all sorts of things like fences, machines, pathways, lights, fertilizers and more. Using your crafted items lets you make artisan goods, like the mayonnaise machine. With it, you can put eggs there and make mayo from it. It is quite usefull in decorating your farm with different kinds of pathways and fences.

If you are getting tired from work, why not take a break to visit the town and meet the villagers? Pelican Town is just a small town but has a great community. The villagers that live here have all different personalities. They like holding events and festivals to relax and enjoy. You can make friends with them by talking to them everyday or giving them a gift that they like.

You can also win their friendship by accepting their quests and fulfilling them. You can get their quests from the mailbox or at the bulletin board at the grocery stores. The quests have a monetary reward too so, why not?

If you make friends with the villagers, you can find a suitable husband or wife amongst them. There are five bachelors and five bachelorettes to choose from as your potential spouse. Just look for the people with the word "single" under their names in your social list. Though it is possible to have same sex marriage in this game but it's your choice on who will your character wed. If you have found a potential partner then you better gift him/her all the time, though you can only gift them twice a week and that is true for the other villagers. If you gained ten hearts for them, you will trigger a cut scene of them confessing their feelings to you and its up to you if you will accept them or not. Once you know that you can propose to them and you have your house upgraded at least once, you need to give them a mermaid pendant to propose with. And three days later, you are married. If you upgraded your house again, you can start a family and have kids. Adoption for same sex couples of course.

 

Not a marriage proposal but a proposal to be more than friends.

This game got me glued to the screen for days. Which is why I am not that active in the interwebs. I am just taking a break from playing and giving time to write this for my blog. I really love it and I hope you will try it and discover more things that I haven't mentioned yet or don't know yet. This game is one of a kind and I have to thank my cousin-niece for introducing me this game.

I hope you enjoyed reading, and I'll write again soon. :)

Built up

Hey there, World!

Well, I would like to take out some emotions for today... if you guys don't mind.

My mother has been feeling unwell lately. She has been feeling weak for a while now and because of that I got a little worried. I told my cousin-niece that we can't visit her during Holy Week. It seemed that it disappointed her and I felt really bad. After a few days I aided my mother in anything that she needs me to do. Though sometimes her orders pile up and she won't wait me to finish my first task before giving me another order. But I endured it because she is mother.

My "time of the month" is near and I have been quite irritable. Which makes enduring my mother's piling up orders a bit hard. When I get irritated a feel something squiggle around on my temple... maybe its a nerve that's gonna pop through my skin. I just kept quiet and calmed myself with some games.

Today I just let out a bit of frustration. I was cooking fish while I was doing something else. I forgot about the fish and one side of it got burnt. To think that it's my mother's dinner. I knew that it made her mood go down so I felt a bit frustrated. Next, my father was doing laundry. It's night so he would need the light... but I accidentally turned it off and he got a little annoyed which made me more frustrated. And lastly, I was helping my mother to read her medicine and to see if her meds are for morning, afternoon, or night. She told me to read only the front page of her prescription. She said that for like a couple of times. I took out one med that's for night out from its packaging foil... almost took out one that's for afternoon... though I said that the afternoon is "hapon" but she argued that it's "tanghali." I gotten used to saying "hapon" as afternoon... so my frustration added.

Then she asked me for one more med to read. I accidentally looked at the back for a second and she suddenly raised her voice saying, "Hindi, ang sabi ko sa harap mo lang babasahin kasi na andyan yung nabili ko." Meaning, she told me to read only the front because she bought those meds at the front. I interrupted her to say that the last med is for morning because I was at my limit. I went to the bathroom to let my tears flow. I didn't came back for a while until I calmed down and ate dinner then washed up.

I was probably building up the bad feelings that I felt before without realizing it. Being a quiet person can be quite dangerous because if you keep things to yourself, you might just self-destruct. I try to voice out to anybody what I feel. To a friend, brother, sister, significant other, anybody who is close to you. Anybody who understands you. After talking to them you'll feel better. Expressing yourself through your hobbies or passions helps too, like what I am doing right now.

I hope you enjoyed reading, and I'll write again soon. :)

Five Ways To Sleep Early

Hey there, World!

As a (soon to be former) college student, phone owner, internet lover, and game lover, I do not sleep early at all unless needed. I sleep at around 2:30 or 3:00 AM, and wake up at noon. My mother always tell me to sleep more early especially if she sees me having colds. She would go, "Wag ka nang magpuyat, sinisipon ka na oh!" Meaning, don't sleep late cause you're having colds... I always end up sleeping late anyway.

So I sleep late all the time because I have my phone, games, and mobile data. But how about I have somewhere to go tomorrow morning? How will I be able to sleep early? Especially now, that it's summer vacation I sleep even more late. Well, I'll share a couple of things that I do to sleep early and a few more that searched in the net.

1. Drink warm milk. This is quite effective for me since I love drinking milk. Some people say it doesn't work for them but it does to me. I feel sleepy after drinking a cup of warm milk then I dose off. I guess warm milk gives me that cozy feeling especially during cold nights.

2. Making up stories in my mind. This is kinda like my bedtime story since I like making stories. I know what you're thinking, "But having something in your mind will keep you awake!" Yes that's true, but thats only if you have a problem in your mind or something is bugging you. I just close my eyes and start making a story after a few hours I didn't realize that I was asleep until I woke up. Sometimes this method gives me ideas for stories since the brain is more active at night.

3. Prevent any light from coming in your room. According to lifehack.org, light interferes sleep hormones and stimulates the brain. So it is a good idea to close all of your lights and you won't have a hard time sleeping.

4. Sleep in a cool room. Health.com says that people fall sleep easier and sleep better when their rooms are comfortably cool. But that doesn't mean you need an air conditioner. An electric fan (that's set to high) can provide that cool feeling even in summer nights.

5. Take a warm bath. Huffpost.com suggest that taking a hot bath an hour before your bedtime relaxes your body and lets your body prepare to sleep. Also, don't you just love the feeling of being fresh out of the bath and then jumping in to bed feeling all cozy? Make sure you dry your hair though.

Well that's it for this post now. It has been another week since my last post. I have been quite busy taking care of my mother because she weakened from being too stressed out. I hope she gets better soon.

I hope you enjoyed reading, and I'll write again soon. :)