The Game of Life

I confess. I'm addicted to Mafia Wars...

Big deal? I don't know. I just realized that I spent so much time on it and there are times that I my schedule got affected by it. Ok, i can almost hear those who thought that I must be nuts to be playing a game at my age and status. I don't think there's anything wrong, unless there's a label that says "for children between the ages 3 to 9". In my class in urban planning, even my professor asked us to play SIM CITY to get a good grasp of urban planning.

I remember when I was involved in a youth club in Manila. One time we had an excursion with grade school kids. I was seated at the back of a van with two grade 2 students and I was amused at how they spent their time while traveling. They were playing a game, but a virtual one. Each of them has a particular character and they would exchange roles or actions, depending on what the other says. One kid would say "I will attack you with this weapon! and you will be thrown away!" The other kid would respond: "I will use this gadget to hold on to something and throw myself at you with this weapon"... and so on...

Other than Nintendo's early games like Space Invaders, I don't really play much in computer. I often wonder what goes on in the minds of these kids.

There are many reasons why adults play games like this one. I think that the most important reason is that the game is an outlet for people who get frustrated over their desire to control things in their lives. In games, you have more control

Peace of the Past in Argao

There are many things that Argao is known for, among others there’s the beach, the food, and the heritage resources. Among the heritage resources, however, its cemetery is probably the least popular. It is not common for tourists to tour cemeteries of small towns, but visiting Argao’s cemetery is actually worthwhile.

Argao’s cemetery was built during the Spanish period. It was a public cemetery owned by the Catholic Church. A few mausoleums were built for prominent families but what made the cemetery interesting are the rows of concrete crosses laid in grid over the field instead of the usual stone slabs on the ground. The names of the deceased, including their dates of birth and death, are etched on the concrete crosses. The field is also surrounded by a wall of niches and some structures built during the Spanish era such as its gate and its main chapel with only the façade remaining.

The cemetery is currently being redeveloped. Using the façade of the old chapel, a new chapel had been built. The quaint mausoleum of the Kintanars had been converted into a gazebo which acts as a centerpiece to the whole development and the Spanish era gate and fence had been torn down. Despite these changes the place still transports you back in time

Another point of interest outside the Spanish cemetery is the burial ground of the Kintanar family. The place is surrounded by a moat and is sometimes referred to by locals as an island cemetery.