There are countries that lose wars. There are countries that lose money. There are countries that lose leaders, elections, industries, borders, and dignity. Then there are countries that lose faith in themselves. That, to me, is the quieter death. Not sudden. Not dramatic. Not the kind that arrives with smoke, sirens, or a final scene worthy of history books. It
Tag: nostalgia
There was once a time when people loved computers. Not loved in the strange contemporary way where one develops emotional dependence on a phone while simultaneously claiming to hate technology. Nor in the tragic modern ritual of lining up overnight for yet another expensive rectangle whose chief innovation is taking slightly sharper photographs of coffee. No. Something older. Something mechanical.
Progress without soul is just noise reduction. The Cult of the Quiet Car Everywhere I look, the world is screaming about electric cars. Not whispering. Screaming. Every influencer, every ad, every smug YouTuber with their “zero emissions” grin acts like plugging in a car is some spiritual awakening. Like owning an EV makes you a saint who has transcended the
I remember the Christmas morning after we lost everything. We had nothing left to give, except the will to smile. That was enough. The Longest Holiday on Earth We Filipinos are Christmas crazy. Always have been. Always will be. The moment September arrives, we start the ritual. The malls explode in red and gold. The parols light up like small
I may have upgraded from a clunky CRT monitor to a 4K ultrawide and from instant ramen to a halfway respectable diet, but some things don’t change. I’m still a gamer. Always will be. You can slap on the titles — IT Administrator, cybersecurity whatever, network engineer-in-training, master’s degree candidate — but peel them off and underneath is the same
So there I was — mid-study break, eyes glazed over from too much subnetting, trying to convince myself that PowerShell is fun — when out of nowhere…I started missing Quiapo. Yes, that Quiapo.The place where you can buy a rosary, a fake diploma, and lumpiang shanghai — all within 5 steps. Why do I miss it? Let me break it
During a study break — between subnetting practice and scripting firewall rules (because, yes, I’m trying to become a network and cybersecurity engineer) — I ended up scrolling through old photos of the Philippines. Escolta in its prime. Manila with actual public transport that worked. Filipinos dressed sharp, moving with purpose. It didn’t just feel nostalgic — it felt tragic.