I bumped into a friend and he said,
"Nindota ninyo manglaag oy, kuyog man jud tanan."
"It's so nice that your entire family gets to go out together."
My family and I went out to have lunch together at a barbeque place and have some chill time at a nearby mall. I organized the whole thing because I have a goal of bringing the family together at least once a month. It's easy when there are celebrations in a month and the entire family can come together.
For July, I expected the family to celebrate my younger brother's birthday, but we didn't because my brother spent his birthday on a trip with his friends. So, I had to intentionally plan another family get-together.
I have four brothers and three of them have their own families already, so when everyone comes together, it's a crowd.
Growing up, we didn't really have much time together as a family because (1) it was difficult to bring us all five kids together, (2) we didn't get as long as young males, and (3) we didn't have jobs yet that could help us afford to pay for everybody.
It really is nice to come together as a family, enjoy the company of your loved ones, and make meaningful moments with them. It's something to be really grateful for.
For this particular weekend in July, I spent the day with my family eating grilled meat, walking around the mall, drinking coffee, consuming overpriced salads, and playing the arcade. All in all, it was already a weekend well spent.
The day was still not over when everyone decided to head home. I stayed at the mall to attend a special event in the evening. It was this Blockchain/Crypto/Web3 event called Bull or Bear. The main event was a Debate about Web3. On a normal day, I wouldn't have paid attention to any posters about the event, because I knew I wouldn't join.
But when I heard that Hive was going to be featured and that it was going to be held at Ayala Central Bloc on the same day as our family get-together, it was too inviting to say no to.
After sending off my family members to their respective homes and destinations, I went back to the mall to check out the event. It was still too early but everything had been set up already. I went inside and saw empty seats, booths, and food stalls. Immediately, I looked for anything Hive-related and saw a table showing shirts with logos of D.Buzz. There was a foreign guy behind the table and after chatting, I found out that he was Nathan, the founder of D.Buzz. We chatted a bit and he was kind enough to give me some stickers and a T-Shirt.
I decided to step out and kill some time before the event started. I walked around the mall and realized the perfect way to occupy myself, getting a massage! I looked for massage chairs that you can use for 30 minutes and pay around USD2. The place was called Rest N Go. And that's exactly what I had in mind. I sat on one of the chairs and gave my money to the attendant. I laid my head back and let the chair massage my entire body for half an hour.
I slept for most of the massage, and my time was almost up when I woke up. I felt so well-rested and energized, ready to attend the event and meet some Hive friends.
I returned to the event venue at around 5 PM. I presented my ticket which I paid for around USD5. The poster said the event would start at 5 PM. But when I saw the LED up on the stage, it showed a countdown timer for an hour. The event would start at 6.
I decided to check out the food stalls for some snacks or a light dinner. There was one that sold empanadas. Their poster said Empanadas de Ilocos, which I've never had or heard of. Ilocos is a northern region in the Philippines. I was curious about what empanadas they made there, so I ordered one.
The only flavor available was their Special, which had egg, cheese, and some meat. It didn't look like a normal empanada. The outside was orange and was hard and crunchy. The inside was not a mixture of ingredients, but it had a whole egg at the center, and some meat and veggies on the sides. They gave me a packet of vinegar that I could pour on the empanada. It was good but it didn't feel like I was eating an empanada.
People were filling up the venue as I devoured my empanada. I saw a friend and called him. I saw another one and I was happy that I wasn't alone anymore. We talked a bit, and I learned that a group of Hivers were also joining. They arrived, and I was amazed to know that they'd traveled quite far just to attend the event.
While waiting for the event to start, we decided to check out the booths. I knew that they were giving away freebies. I was able to get some more shirts, and a bag by signing up for their apps.
Finally, the event started and after the usual preliminaries, we listened to an overview of what Web3 is. I'm quite familiar with the topic already since I once gave a talk about Blockchain and Cryptocurrency during one of our Hive orientations. It's crazy how far the internet has come, but how far we still have to go in terms of censorship, ownership, and online security. The talk was delivered by the head of the organizing committee and I thought he was able to give a decent delivery of the topic.
Then, a series of Keynote Speeches followed. They were delivered by representatives of the products and services that had their booths. Of course, one of them was Nathan. He talked about the Hive platform and its benefits. Seeing him deliver his talk brought a sense of awe in me. There we were, listening to what Hive is all about and the different projects built on top of it. I heard comments from the people in the back saying how amazing Hive was for incentivizing your content you normally would earn nothing on most social media platforms. I realized that what Hive needs is a stronger marketing campaign so that people can see how great it is.
Another person who delivered a keynote was a woman who was working on growing the tech community in Cebu. After coming back to Cebu from Manila, she saw how dry the tech community was in Cebu. She's been pushing events to highlight and promote tech in Cebu ever since. I was impressed by the work she was doing.
Lastly, the main segment of the event was the debate about Web3. The host called on the debaters, each from the different fields of the tech industry but all had exposure to Web3. There were several debate questions that they had to answer and defend. They were either Bullish or Bearish on the question.
I watched with curiosity and intrigue since I also held a debate in one of my classes a few months back. A pair of debaters were already assigned on what the answer they were going to defend while the rest of the debaters expressed their answers during the debate session.
It was fun witnessing the mental gymnastics that the debaters went through to defend their answers. Being on the bearish side was quite difficult because the whole point of the event was understanding and accepting the technologies that came with Web3.
The audience was also asked to participate in the event by submitting their answers online. I wasn't able to join because the online respondents had a maximum number. It was interesting to note that for some questions, the audience was actually bearish.
All in all, I enjoyed the event. It was a fun learning experience, and it was a good way to bring together the communities that were already involved in Web3. It felt good to know that we were one of the first people to be on board the latest form of the internet.
After the event, all of us Hivers went up the stage for a photo opportunity. We talked some more before heading out to have a late dinner. We shared some of our thoughts about the event and I got to know some of the other Hivers.
I went home, tired but fulfilled. A day spent with family and friends is always bullish.
