Make the first move to take care of your relationships

Don't wait for the other person to ask you to meet at the park and have lunch. Have the initiative of opening your chat box and strike a conversation with your friend. For a relationship to grow or be maintained, actions must be done.

Photo of people near wooden table by fauxels from Pexels

Through my school years, I have noticed that relying on the school itself, clubs, classes, and other institutions are good ways to meet new people and friends. There is always a set time and location for gathering. However, as we move away from school and move forward in our own lives, it gets harder to meet new people or even meet with friends.

Without the schedule of institutions, the burden of planning and following through with the plan is on the individuals. All the details including the time and place must come from you and your friends.

Of course, there are difficulties to have social gatherings even without the COVID-19 pandemic. Expenses are also a factor. In that case, even a simple conversation would be enough to send a message of care for your friend.

I learned early on to never wait for the other person to call. Or to solely rely on an event like a concert to have an excuse to meet. If you want to take care of your relationships, you have to have the initiative. Even a small act of asking about their day would be enough to make them feel acknowledged and appreciated and already goes a long way.

Ride Your Wave brings a good story with colorful characters, beautiful visuals, and wonderful music

The perks of going into a film blind -- in this case, the film is Ride Your Wave -- truly overwhelm me sometimes. Ride Your Wave greeted me with a wonderful setup of a budding romance, developed the relationship on-screen, and took the romance away in just around one-third of its runtime. The two leads, Hinako and Minato, showed chemistry and were likable as individuals and as a pair.

From this point onward, there will be spoilers of the film.

Ride Your Wave trailer from GKIDS Films' YouTube Channel.

 

Ride Your Wave kills Minato while laying a lot of foreshadowing for Hinako and him. The film hints at Hinako being Minato's savior, Minato proposing a year after his first Christmas with Hinako, and Minato being Hinako's wave in life. While Minato lives on as a water spirit, all the hints come to play as Hinako goes through grief and moves forward with her life.

But Hinako was madly in love with Minato; so, she was ecstatic when she could summon the spirit of Minato by singing a song they both love. However, there are some strains in their relationship as Minato laments he could no longer touch Hinako. Minato also encourages Hinako to move on with her life and be brave as she rides the waves of her life. Wasabi, Minato's junior at work, and Youko, Minato's sister, also meet up with Hinako to see how Hinako is coping and help her.

In the end, Hinako moves on after surfing with Minato one last time. After some time, she sings their song again, but Minato no longer shows up in the water as he too moved on from his life on earth. Instead, Hinako is surprised by a message from Minato -- a message to promise he'd stay with her forever and ever.

I'm not great at story recapping, so I strongly recommend watching the film. The film is amazing and brought me a lot of feelings I didn't expect I'd have while watching it. Ride Your Wave stands as one of my favorite presentations of a mature romance and moving forward from the death of your loved one.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle offers impressive gameplay on top of its colorful presentation

In 2017, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was released by Ubisoft; a crossover game of Nintendo's Mario and Ubisoft's Raving Rabbids. I remember being impressed with what I saw when it was revealed as Mario had not had a game like it before. Not only was it a different game from the usual, but it also included the not-so-beloved Rabbids.

Forward to this year, I decided to finally purchase the game and play it. I was astounded! The game looked so beautiful and crisp on the Switch and on the bigger screen. While the presentation was very good, the gameplay was even better. Admittedly, I had low expectations of the gameplay during the first stages, but as I progressed and defeated more of the corrupted Rabbids, I saw a wonderful progression of depth. 

In the overworld, the player can navigate through small alleyways and hidden paths to discover collectibles and weapons. The complexity of the puzzles surprised me as I didn't expect more than a linear corridor from one stage to another. The overworld of this game hearkens to 3D Mario exploration.

The game shines in its battles. Beautiful graphics with fitting music accompanies a wonderful combat system. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is a tactical RPG with the likes of XCOM -- which I played for a while in the past. The mobility of the characters on screen is genius. The player can dash, stomp, double dash, or double jump depending on the character they are controlling. The tip screen is right; doing a dash is like an extra attack!

The game goes out of its way to make each playable character unique: Mario is an average Joe, Rabbid Peach is a tank healer, Luigi is a glass cannon -- a sniper, among eight playable characters. It was fun experimenting with combinations of characters as the game only allowed three on a map.

The player is also given the ability to grow the eight playable characters the way he/she wants. Each character has a unique skill tree to further improve their strengths and battle capabilities. Personally, I improved the movement and jump ranges of my Mario and Rabbids cast as soon as possible, so I can dominate the map even without buying stronger weapons. 

There are four worlds in the main campaign with secret chapters and challenges, increasing replayability by a ton. The player also gets to have more varied interaction with the overworld during exploration as Beep-0 is upgraded after the completion of a world. 

At the end of the fourth world, I put down my Switch and said to myself: "That was really great". Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is a standout title on the Switch and one I would recommend for Mario, Rabbids, and tactical RPG fans alike. Now, excuse me while I conquer the game to 100%.

Launch trailer from Nintendo's YouTube channel.

The importance of personal finance and tips to good money habits

Photo of copper-colored coin lot by Pixabay from Pexels

Personal finance

Personal finance is a tricky thing. Making a budget by yourself; tracking your expenses; saving money; aren’t usually taught in school. And, chances are if your parents don’t have good personal financial habits, then you may have inherited those habits.

I like to think that with a positive, growth mindset, one can still learn proper financial habits in spite of their upbringing or lack of education in the matter. It can never be too late to learn.

The importance of learning your money habits

It is very important to have good personal financial or money habits. With good habits, one will have proper handling of their money. Properly managing money means a sense of security for unexpected events and means you can achieve your goals faster.

Say, for example, John wants to buy a gaming laptop. He starts saving a portion of his income. In order to be on track, he had to make a spreadsheet of his cash flow. In about a year or two, he proudly purchases his gaming laptop from a well-established brand.

What would have happened if John had poor habits? Perhaps the words, "I want a gaming laptop", left his mouth without meaning; he would still have proceeded with spending all his money on instant gratification. He never would have gone anywhere, and there is a strong possibility he could even have experienced a negative cash flow for a month!

In my experience, I have always saved money for many things: a book, a video game, good food, smartphone accessories, and more. When I was smaller, I would put a portion of my allowance inside a piggy bank and count the days I would reach a certain amount of money. The wait would be worth it when I would finally get my hands on what I wanted.

Do a self-reflection

If you want to know if you have money habits suitable for your life, needs, and desires, I have some advice.

First, do a reflection on yourself. Think of how you deal with your money. Do you like to spend it as soon as you get it? Or maybe you hoard it for the really rainy days?

Second, ask yourself: are my current habits in line with my goals? Will I be able to get what I want in my life if I continue to do what I have been doing? In my case, the answer is no. I discovered I had to increase my passive income sources, and I will cover that in a different post.

If you also feel like you can do better, read on.

Money habit tips

Admittedly, I am still near the starting line in my financial journey. However, I feel the following are really useful, and you may think so too:

1. Monitor your expenses

Track EVERY MONEY you spend and receive. All the cash flowing out and flowing in your wallet and bank accounts should be recorded.

I recommend downloading a template from Microsoft Office or Google Sheets to make tracking easier. If you want to use an app, there are many on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store.

2. Make a budget

Now that you have a record (or baseline data) of your expenses, categorize each one as needs or wants. Food? That goes to needs. Smartphone case? This one is under wants. Then, all the expenses for needs and wants less than your income are your savings.

If you feel like it, you can also add a charity category and make your savings a fixed percentage per month.

For example, you can have a 70-20-10 split for a needs-wants-savings setup. Anyway, you NEED a budget.

3. Have passive income

I generally categorize income into two: one is active while the other is passive. Active income is your income from your job. You do the work here. On the other hand, passive income means that your money is the one that does the work.

There are many sources of passive income. You can invest. You can have a blog or YouTube channel. You can write a book. You can even have your own business.

4. Try to fix things by yourself

I had to add this as an engineering graduate. If something is broken, try fixing it by yourself first before you acquire the services of other persons. It saves you a lot of money. Plus, you get to learn new skills.

Book recommendations

I am no expert in finance, so another piece of advice I can give is to learn a lot on your own. Try reading Money Mammoth: Harness The Power of Financial Psychology to Evolve Your Money Mindset, Avoid Extinction, and Crush Your Financial Goals or Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth for more awesome information about personal finance.

Do note that some money habits could be caused by deeply, impactful events in your childhood. If needed, have someone by your side when you are reflecting on your money experiences.

The first comics I read in the long strip format: Hive, Sweet Home, The Gamer, DICE, Dead Days, and Who Made Me a Princess

Up until a couple of years ago, I only read comics in their traditional format. In other words, I read manga, manhwa, and even manhua; all sorts of comics from East Asia. I also did use to read Western comics, but I fell out of the loop and was not motivated to catch up.

I came about Solo Leveling when I was scrolling through my Reddit feed -- back when I was on Reddit. If I recall, that comic was being sung praises by its fan. I then discovered Hive when I was looking for a survival comic. It was also in long strip format. A thought came to my head: huh, I guess I should try reading comics like these.

Hive was a great comic. It set up its world nicely in its first part. I remember feeling excited, anxious, and happy throughout its plot. Sadly, I feel that it became too long for its own good and started getting worse after a certain character turned out to be a queen too.

Through WEBTOON, I also discovered DICE, a fantasy comic. Good premise; bad execution. The same can be applied to The Gamer and Dead Days, which had an odd, unsatisfying ending.

Unbothered by the quality of long-strip comics I had encountered so far, I tried to get into Sweet Home. I think Sweet Home had a tighter plot and pacing than any of the comics I've mentioned. It ended recently by the time of this writing -- a satisfying, lovely ending if I might add. I also picked up Who Made Me a Princess, another fantasy comic. It had a better protagonist and a good plot pacing and is a comic I strongly recommend for people who want to try the medium.

Both Sweet Home and Who Made Me a Princess were great enough that I was able to notice more beyond their art styles. The way they handled their characters and plot were superior to those before. With these two comics, I was excited to find more long-strip comics.

In my heart, traditional manga (and manhwa) format is still better than long strip. They place emphasis on story and better paneling. However, I still read long-strip comics from WEBTOON and Pocket Comics because they occasionally offer compelling premises with an art style unique to the format.

The Parascientific Escape series on the Nintendo 3DS is a fun but uneven journey that satisfied my need for short adventure games

Game box shot of Parascientific Escape: Cruise in the Distant Seas. From GameFAQs.

Okay, so I played the Parascientific Escape series on the Nintendo 3DS last year, I think, after going through an Ace Attorney game and before I replayed the Zero Escape games. I was looking for a shorter adventure in video games, so I decided to buy these when they were on sale although they were cheap to begin with.  

There are three games in total released from 2016 to 2017. I’ll go through each entry in this post as best as I can remember playing them. It should go without saying, but this post contains spoilers of the three games.

Parascientific Escape: Cruise in the Distant Seas

 

Intro video from CIRCLE Ent.

The first game, Cruise in the Distant Seas, introduces 4 heroines. I’ll be honest. I didn’t like their character designs. They suffer from having the same faces and having only their colors and hair different from one another.

The environments on the other hand? I liked them. Detailed as you would expect from a game that involves making the player investigate the scenery for puzzles and clues.

The music (across all three games) sufficed for the mood of the scenes. And the gameplay was split into two. One making the user investigate the room and another solving puzzles, utilizing the main character’s (Hitomi) powers. Puzzle-wise, I was really impressed with the progression of the game. It kept up with the pacing of the plot. In other words, when the plot was in its climax, the puzzles, too, had an increase of difficulty.

Regarding its story, I think that it was a bit boring and the characters were on the blander side, which I find disappointing since a setting in a sinking cruise ship is interesting. It did set up future installments, and I was more than intrigued to play the next entry to know more about the side of the antagonist.

Hitomi is really the only one of the heroines who returned in the next games if I remember correctly. Chisono, Merja, and Misaki are just mentioned in the succeeding entries.

Parascientific Escape: Gear Detective

Ah, my favorite of the franchise, Gear Detective. This game improved much from its predecessor. Better character designs, better characterizations, multiple endings, better-written story, better UI, AND it has a map.

Kyosuke is a big improvement of a main character from Hitomi. He has an interesting background, interacts well with other characters especially Yukiya, and has better motivation throughout the game.

Just like the first entry in the series, I also enjoyed the progression of Gear Detective’s puzzles and story. In the puzzle sections of the first game, you had the ability to see through objects and move small things because of Hitomi’s psychic abilities. In the second game, Kyosuke can go back in time and move stuff around. His ability makes for far more interesting gameplay.

 

Intro video from CIRCLE Ent.

Yukiya also made a far better friend of the protagonist than Chisono, Hitomi’s close telepathic friend, did in the first game. Yukiya had a sense of conviction, wanting to protect his family or the company he works at. He assists Kyosuke many times in this game and in the next.

Game box shot of Parascientific Escape: Gear Detective. From GameFAQs.

Tsukiko, the woman Kyosuke and his assistant Mari decided to help at the beginning of the game, also started interesting and mysterious. But, as the game went on and in the next entry, I felt she became cardboard and a cliche.

Parascientific Escape: Crossing at the Farthest Horizon

 

Intro video from CIRCLE Ent.

Crossing at the Farthest Horizon ties the whole series together arguably in a contrived way. A couple of characters are introduced or appeared for the first time: Ritsu who is Hitomi’s sister and their foster mother, Iori (again, if I recall correctly the facts). 

In the third entry, the player controls Kyosuke and Hitomi as they find themselves being locked in rooms by either Iori or Ritsu. Puzzle-wise, this game was a bit of a letdown. The sections with controllable Hitomi were bad, and there were less Kyosuke than I had wanted. Not to mention, the climax of the plot is just the screen flashing without any accompanying puzzle.

Credit is due where credit is due. The final entry does retain elements from the second game. The UI is still good and the characters from the second game had a more prominent screen time than, well, Hitomi. Hitomi also had a slight redesign for the better.

Game box shot of Parascientific Escape: Crossing at the Farthest Horizon. From GameFAQs.

Truthfully, I just couldn’t care less about Ritsu, Iori, and Hitomi. The plot should have spent more time building those characters and the tension between them. At least Kyosuke had an interesting subplot about his foster father.

In the end, the happy endings felt contrived. Kyosuke and Mari. Something weird is going on with Tsukiko, Yukiya, and Ritsu. Kyosuke dumps his ability, which was a 180-degree turn from his character development in the second game.

Final thoughts

I got my fill of short adventure games with the Parascientific Escape series. With low prices and short playtimes, the investment in these games is worth it. I just wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending, but Kyosuke and his journey in the second game make up for it.

Bohemian Rhapsody includes Rami Malek at his best and is thoroughly captivating and enjoyable

I didn’t follow Queen or Freddie Mercury. I was born after Mercury died. So, I can’t comment on the historical accuracy of Bohemian Rhapsody, but I can say that it is a pretty darn good film. 

I haven’t been so mesmerized by a leading performance before, other than Tom Hanks in Philadelphia. Rami Malek, who I’ve already seen in his previous works, expertly acted out his role. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen whenever he was in the scene, which was most of the movie. I wouldn’t be surprised if Malek prepared intensively for his role. The way he moved; you could see the real Freddie Mercury in Malek’s acting. On a side note, the supporting cast was also good, especially Lucy Boynton as Mary. 

It goes without saying, but the soundtrack of the movie is excellent. And as a musical film, I feel that the songs were evenly spread throughout the film as the plot is also easy to follow with nice pacing. The sound mixing was also exemplary. 

Bohemian Rhapsody ended my streak of watching disappointing movies. I was fortunate enough to have time to see it earlier in the day, and it receives high praises from me. This film is worth the watch, I strongly recommend it. 

Edited on July 5, 2021. If you have watched the movie and wanted to watch the full Live Aid performance, here’s a link to a video:

If you haven’t seen the film, then may I entice you by linking its trailer from 20th Century Studio’s YouTube channel?

In-person get-togethers still best online meetups even in the anxious times of a virus spreading

Just the other day, I was in need of a tool. I was trying to fix a broken device, a 3DS, at home, and I discovered I didn't have the right-sized screwdriver. As it was only one thing I needed, I sought to borrow one from a friend instead of buying it, saving money and time from queuing at a long line at a cashier.

I excitedly hit up my friends in my area. Luckily enough, I had one friend who had what I needed, and they were at home! With their approval, I hurriedly got out of my pajamas, put on some nice clothes, got in my car, and drove. I wasn't sure if I was overly excited because I could fix my device on the same day, or I was about to see an old friend in person, which was my first time in a long while since the pandemic started.

We talked about a lot of stuff: what happened in my life and in theirs, what happened to our other friends, what our futures would be, and what we felt like we should be doing in our lives. There was a huge comfort that our conversation transpired in real-time and in-person. There were no awkward delays, unfortunate freezing of our phones' screens, and no spotty internet issues. What there were in our conversation included genuine eye contact, body language (and movement), nicely flowing talk, and heartfelt laughter.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I am trying my best to restrict my leaving of the house. We gotta do our part, you know, to keep ourselves healthy and the society safe. But as the order to stay at home except for essential runs kept being prolonged and as COVID-19 stubbornly remains, my need to socialize grew stronger. No matter how much we've been improving in terms of virtual meetups and digital body language, having authentic conversations with other persons without the noise and fault of the internet and devices is still the best method of socializing for me.