Walking is therapeutic after a tiring day

A majority of my day is usually just sitting and facing a computer screen. That by itself is not odd, I guess, since I've been sitting most of my life from kindergarten to work. Along with performing tasks, looking at the same thing the entire day makes me tired. I'd feel an itch in my brain, signaling me to look at other, exciting stuff. Not to mention, to get up from my seat and move.

Walking is one of the simplest exercises any able person can do. There are numerous benefits of walking in different forms. Taking a brisk walk can elevate the heart rate, effectively being a cardio exercise. Walking can also stimulate your creativeness, and you return to your task more focused and enthused. However, I walk for a different reason; that is to practice mindfulness,

I've actually changed my routine of mindful meditation to a mindful walk. I find that the experience is mostly the same -- my thoughts come and go -- but with more external stimuli. My awareness goes from my body to my environment, and I simply just mind the thoughts that pop in my head. I walk every day, and if I miss one, I become a little bit restless. After walking and coming back home, I feel optimistic about the days to come.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun is wholeheartedly fun, sweet, and great

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun in English) is one of my favorite anime and manga series that is currently ongoing. The manga has a good, attractive art style that got better as more volumes were released. The anime improves upon the art style by having a colorful palette and cutesy animation.

The anime reminds me of watching cartoons early in the morning or late in the afternoon. It brings a nostalgic feeling and a fresh experience. The set of characters is one of the series' biggest strengths. The series treats its distinct characters properly and rotates its supporting characters to progress the plot. Therefore, its plot is easy to follow, and rooting for Iruma, the main character, and his friends even easier.

Character development is a delight in Mairimashita! Iruma-kun. Iruma was adopted from the human world by Sullivan, his adoptive demon grandfather. We see him adjust to a life where he has friends and does other fun activities like going to a theme park. He influences his friends and classmates, and he, in turn, finds his own ideal and ambition.

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun is a great anime to watch or manga to read on a quiet day. There are bounds more to like in this cute, wholesome series.

An easy Python project: the calculator

The tennis game is an easy project to understand core video game concepts. Similarly, making a calculator can help a beginner learn the syntax of Python.

Below is a video recording of my calculator program. I used the article from Mr. Bijay Kumar at Python Guides as a guide. There are differences between Mr. Kumar's program and mine: the addition of a "delete" button, change of calculator appearance, using a program icon, and moving the "clear all" button to a new row. Tkinter was used to create a graphical user interface, and Python was the programming language used.

Opinion: the Pokemon mainline games peaked in the DS era

While I write this, I am also looking at my copies of Pokemon White and White 2. Those were great Pokemon games for the DS, along with HeartGold and SoulSilver. My first Pokemon games were part of the third generation of mainline games for the Game Boy Advance, but the DS games, excluding DP, are my favorites.

HeartGold and SoulSilver (HGSS) are remakes of the second generation games, Gold and Silver. They brought about numerous changes I've liked that made the game world feel more alive. Some of these features are having Pokemon follow the player and the Pokegear.

Pokemon Black and White (BW) and Black 2 and White 2 (BW2) are the best games of the series, in my opinion. The reasons are: the soundtrack of the games is awesome, the worlds even felt more alive with many NPCs, the stories were infinitely better, and the in-battle sprites of Pokemon were nice to watch. 

The games from the sixth generation to the eighth generation are missing some of the charms of the 2D Pokemon games. Hopefully, Pokemon Legends: Arceus brings the series in a different, better direction.

I played Metroid: Samus Returns in preparation for the upcoming Metroid: Dread

Metroid: Dread was revealed at the Nintendo Direct - E3 presentation. It intrigued me because it looked like it has good gameplay, and fans of the franchise were collectively surprised and excited since it was a sequel in waiting for 19 years. Convinced I would buy the game, I also bought Metroid: Samus Returns to ready myself for the release of Metroid: Dread.

 

Metroid: Samus Returns overview trailer from Nintendo's official YouTube channel

Metroid: Samus Returns was on the Nintendo 3DS in 2017. In the context of the hardware capabilities of the 3DS, I think the backgrounds of the areas and character and enemy models looked nice. The music added a nice touch of tension and emotions to the battles. Before this game, I have not played any entry from the franchise, but I was familiar with the characters and gameplay.

Samus Returns is full of action. Perhaps it was because of my first time, but it was also suspenseful and difficult! I loved Samus' movements and the melee counter, which was extremely helpful in defeating tougher enemies. The exploration was fun enough that backtracking to get all items did not even feel like a chore. Speaking of exploration, I had a couple of times when I just couldn't figure out where to go, and it felt rewarding to just find the right place.

Metroid: Dread announcement trailer from Nintendo's official YouTube channel

The Diggernaut is one of my favorite boss battles. It took a while for me to get its pattern -- something I experienced with other bosses -- and it was extremely satisfying to have taken it down. The scene after the battle also depicts Samus as a really cool, experienced bounty hunter.

While I do think the gameplay of Samus Returns is already very good, I am very excited to see the improvements in Dread. Particularly, I am looking forward to the new abilities, sliding motion, and moving melee counter. I think Samus Returns treated newcomers well enough, and I am very much hoping that Dread overall has good enhancements.

Is FOMO something to be concerned about? The choice is up to the person

I remember listening to a podcast episode featuring Patrick James McGinnis. He talked about the fear of missing out or more popularly known as its acronym, FOMO. I don't remember the name of the podcast, but it was informative and made me think if I had experienced FOMO.

I can describe FOMO as the feeling of anxiety whenever a person thinks that they are missing out on fun, enjoyment, benefits, and opportunities and believes that other people are having the opposite experience -- they are making the most out of a situation.

Browsing social media is the best platform to likely experience FOMO. Social media has evolved to always show the most attention-grabbing posts, which are most probably the happiest, best experiences your friends or other people have had. Think of posts that are about buying a shiny, new car, traveling to a foreign country, and stock values going up (GME; to the moon anyone?). Now, pay attention to what you feel. Personally, whenever posts like that, I sometimes get sad and think, "That could have been me."

Thankfully, a couple of deep breaths rids my anxiety. Even more fortunate is that anyone could do the same and can have the power to not be affected at all. So what if someone is having fun and making their lives better? Good for them! We can always work on ourselves and create opportunities.

I choose to look at the brighter side. If all the people in the world are running in a marathon, it is only natural that there would be some folks in front of me and at my back. To me, the important thing is I keep on running.

A tennis game is an easy video game project for beginners

When I was looking into video game development and programming, one of the many projects for beginners is the simple tennis game. The tennis game teaches the basic core principles of video game AI and video game theory.

Below is the simple tennis game I made following Chris DeLeon's guide at Udemy. And I made some slight modifications to it though there may be bugs. Although this specific game was made in JavaScript with HTML5, the basic logic is applicable in different programming languages.

The player wins if they get 3 points. The difficulty increases once you reach 2 points as if the AI is suddenly motivated to win. Click the box below to try it out yourself. Right now, it only works on PCs.

Balancing instant gratification and delayed gratification when I’m still forming my money habits

To follow up on my earlier post about personal finance, I want to write about instant and delayed gratification. And to do so, I'll share a recent experience of mine. Just a caveat: I am no expert in psychology.

I’m new to working. And I mean I recently had my first job and first payday. I tried preparing myself for the moment money flowed into my bank account by reading a couple of books and blogs. But when I saw the deposit notification from my bank, I had the strongest urge to buy a video game, Mario + Rabbids.

I had to think long and hard if buying a video game was a sound idea. I had to consider my other needs, wants, and priorities. After confirming that it was safe to buy, I purchased the video game — and had a blast playing it -- and can confidently say that it was a good decision.

I consider my video game purchase as a form of instant gratification. Instant gratification is a reward you can get immediately. On the other hand, delayed gratification is opting for rewards in the far future. Kinda like when a kid saves his/her allowance for a comic book or magazine. The difference is I'm an adult.

While I did spend money for instant gratification, I still had set aside money for savings and investments. Investing is a method to achieve delayed gratification involving my long-term plans: living in a foreign country, buying land, and other stuff. 

It is a struggle to see all the shiny new stuff come and go without buying them because shopping can get addicting. I already have my eyes set on some new video games and comics, and I am fighting every urge in my body not to fall into temptation. I know that if I spend my money now, then there will not be any money left tomorrow.

To realign myself with my goals, I sit down and read my journal in which I had written my long-term plans. I knew that to achieve the things that I want in life, I have to save money and stop myself from buying everything I want as soon as I get money. Waiting is the game and patience is the key to winning.

At the end of the day, I believe that people deserve to be happy now and in the future. And happiness can, and most of the time, be secured by the individual’s own hands. Yes, I can buy that fancy gadget, but I also have my future in mind. Hopefully, balancing the two kinds of gratification gets easier after some time.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning marks the end of the live-action Rurouni Kenshin film series

As a preface to this blog post, I want to say that I have not seen the anime for a long time nor read the manga of Rurouni Kenshin. I watched the first Rurouni Kenshin film in 2012 and was amazed by the choreography and amused seeing the characters again on the big screen. Four sequels later, the series continues to have amazing choreography and cinematography that make the film series one of my favorites.

I also love the films for being not too serious; the manga roots still show in the films. The whole cast is amazing and lovable including the villains. The soundtrack was good too although I admit I wanted more variety.

The series' biggest strength is its fight choreography. As the films are action-packed, they have eye-catching action scenes. There were some scenes in each series that I wished had fewer cuts, but all in all, the action sequences are outstanding.