Written By Patricia Nikole Valdecañas
Photo By Ray Baltazar Alunen
Why don’t you say so? Didn’t even notice, no punches left to roll with. You got to keep me focused; you want it, say so.
Break time, mobile phones by the window, just you and your friends filming a TikTok video with the music of Say So by Doja Cat and Tala by Sarah Geronimo. Don’t you miss it? After a long day at school, you got home and saw the news, “NO CLASSES TOMORROW DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK.” One day of class suspension turned into weeks and months until you never got to go physically back to school. Who would’ve thought that would be the last time you’ll get to do a TikTok video with your friends at campus?
We’ve been in quarantine for nearly two years now, and ever since, Filipinos have tried to find ways to feed their boredom. Let’s go back in time and reminisce about the moments we enjoyed during quarantine.
Dalgona Coffee
Number one on the list is the very famous dalgona coffee or whipped coffee that everyone was eager to try. “How to make dalgona coffee” is the most searched ‘how to’ during 2020. You only need coffee, sugar, hot water, and milk, and you’re ready to make your own dalgona creation. TikTok, Facebook Story, and Instagram Story were filled with photos and videos of people doing it, trying it, and even coming up with their versions using Milo and matcha. It was a really nice twist to our usual drinks especially in summertime.
TikTok
Next on the list is TikTok. Before quarantine, a lot of people are saying “hindi ako magda-download ng TikTok.” Guess what? Because of boredom and curiosity, a lot of people tried downloading and signing up on TikTok. And they ended up enjoying it! Now, they even join different trends and challenges such as the Cannibal, Sunday Best, Cream n Frosting dance challenge, My Heart Went Oops, Something New, and many more.
Cooking and Baking
Due to the lockdown, many people are devastated by the fact that they can’t visit their favorite fast-food restaurants and pastry shops. These catalyzed different food companies to launch a ready-to-cook version of their famous dishes, such as everyone’s favorite, Jollibee’s Chickenjoy.
Another thing that most Filipinos enjoyed is this big food trend, Ube Cheese Pandesal where many people (including myself) savored these purple yam flavored soft buns that are stuffed with ube halaya and cheese—another perfect way to satisfy your pandesal cravings.
Becoming Plantitos and Plantitas
The pandemic also became the uprising era of plantitos and plantitas, which are people who love to take care of their plant babies. Collecting and growing different types of plants became therapeutic for most Filipinos during this stressful time. A few popular plants for new plantitos and plantitas are Pothos, Rubber Plant, and Monstera Deliciosa.
Seedibles, the beginner’s best planting companion, said in an interview with Philstar Global that watching your plant grow from a humble seed to an abundant plant and serving it for dinner while saying ‘I grew that’ is an experience in a full circle.
Binge-watching
One of the most used streaming applications today is Netflix. Watching movies and series on Netflix during the pandemic served as our daily dose of entertainment. In an Esquire article written by Justin Kirkland, Lauren Kranc, and Adrienne Westenfeld, a few of the best 2020 Netflix series were named. The list includes The Crown, which follows the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II's reign and the events that shaped the second half of the 20th century (Netflix); and Anne with an E that talks about the story about a young orphan who is seeking love, acceptance and her place in the world (Netflix).
Aside from this, a lot of Filipinos got hooked on KDramas or Korean dramas. A few of these most-watched dramas are Start-Up, which tells the story of young entrepreneurs aspiring to launch virtual dreams into reality, compete for success and love in the cutthroat world of Korea's high-tech industry (IMDb), and It’s Okay to Not be Okay that tells the story of a community health worker at a psychiatric ward who doesn't have time for love, and a successful children's book author with antisocial behavior who seems to have never known love (IMDb). Who couldn’t resist watching these dramas when Nam Joo Hyuk and Kim Soo-hyun are the male leads?
Online Shopping
During the quarantine, more people became aware of online shopping, specifically Shopee and Lazada. Everything that you need and want (for a much lower price) can be found in these applications, and with just a few clicks, your order will be delivered straight to your doorsteps. The efficiency of using these applications made Filipinos addicted to online shopping. (Are your wallets ready for the 11.11 sale?)
We enjoyed these things, thinking that eventually, everything would go back to normal. ECQ turned into MECQ, GCQ, NCR plus Bubble, and Alert Levels. But it has been more than a year since our country has implemented the first lockdown and here we are still stuck in our homes with COVID-19 cases increasing every day. I guess we’ll keep on finding ways to feed our boredom with no idea when we’ll get back to our usual routine of physical activities.
But hey! More trends are sure to come! So now, let’s hop on the current trends and remember that the best way to predict the future is to create it.
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