Luzon/Manila Community Quarantine / Lockdown daily blog (MARCH 2020)

Hi blog reader
This blog post is for my documented experience during the Community Quarantine of Luzon and Manila aka Lockdown of our region

March 13, 2020
There are a lot of hearsay running around the internet that there are already plans of having a lockdown in Manila. We get first dib from people who are on the field and everything we read on the screen caps, docus and forwarded messages became true when our President went LIVE on TV to announce that Manila will be locked down to contain the virus and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
At home, me and my family went to a nearby convenience store to buy some food supplies and prepared for the next 2 day lockdown. I already ask the people in an agency if they already deposited their payment to my bank account, and then I got a very sad news that they didn't and they are working from home for that week. It was a week delay and I think their finance department forgot to deposit it, so they told me that I should wait for the next work day and hope that the situation is mild.

March 14, 2020
Its just a normal day here in our home, I woke up early and then went to my laptop to do some video editing. Then I manage some household chores like washing the dishes, making sure the pet cats are okay and etc. Its like a normal day and we do this everyday. We read some news that many people coming from Manila are trying their best to get out of the city. They went on a rush travel just to get away from the city and not be trapped by the community quarantine lockdown of Manila. On that day, it was my sister's birthday, she sent some Shakeys pizza, chicken and pasta to our home, she ordered online while she's in Chicago. She always do that every birthday.

March 15, 2020
Its the most stressful day. Its the 1st day of the lockdown and the worse news is that everyone are not happy, some are confused and some are obeying our governments request to stay home and not panic. I also get news from my circle and learned that there's a forecast or projection that the country might get a 76,000 positive COVIG-19 and expecting a 3,500 deaths in just 5 weeks. When I read that, I did not panic, by my mind and spirit is not in the normal way. I get worried, because this projection might be true if ever we didn't follow the government's advise to stay home, do not travel around the metro and quarantine ourselves away from everyone. But its not easy....the pasaway Filipino wins... shet good luck to us

This screen cap shows the scariest projection

We get some advises that the virus might infect alot of people in one week because of the pasaway mentality of our people.. face mask might not be helpful, now Im getting some plans on doing a DIY of these hazmat suits

March 16, 2020

Another stressful day.. Because I keep on monitoring the news, watching the recorded news report on Youtube, read articles online and get to chat with friends as we exchange information about the sitation. Here are some photos

pic from net - workers woke up early in the morning to get a ride

pic from net - it looks like the lockdown is not really effective. They say that this pic is the Pasig-Cainta boundary

Then a work in progress new building is on fire infront of Glorietta or Dusit

Wow!!! this pic is going around social media. Some person just hoarded PHP950k worth of grocery in S&R Alabang.

I reading some news before the 4pm announcement that there will be a transport ban and tigil trabaho for the next day. It means that people should be inside their home and never travel from city to city. I went out to buy some food supplies to a nearby Alfamart. Mama Sally sent me a list of things to buy

Que horror!! all their breads are sold out. Kahit hopia pinatulan na

Ater buying some goods in Alfamart, I went to a nearby sari sari store to buy some bread. As I arrive in the store, I hug this Gardenia bread right away..it was the last piece of bread !!!

Our PR friend who works with Gardenia told us to send her some report if there are grocery and store that need to have restocks of Gardenia. Our blogger community sent some photos and location of the sold out stores. Then later that evening, lots of trucks of Gardenia are rolling out and they are spotted in SLEX, our PR friend said that the restocks are coming

And then our President announced the transport ban and tigil trabaho..he ordered all leaders in each city to do their job -- from mayors up to the baranggay captains.

For us citizens, all we can contribute now is to OBEY the government.

March 17

Our life started normal here in Bacoor. But we are still worried that we might get the cabin fever in the next few days. That's why we made ourselves so busy and tried to do more activity while inside the house.

For example. I did some cooking vlog that afternoon. I filmed this mac and cheese instant cooking
and uploaded in my Youtube for fun. Then I always play some good vibes music while I have my afternoon coffee.

During the evening, I challenged my son Ashton if he try the drawing tutorial of Robert Alejandro, the guy who owns Papemeloroti store. He did a live FB drawing tutorial and most of the participants there are kids. Ashton did the drawing challenge and he finishes it as soon as the tutorial ends.. galeng!

We're trying to be more productive and creative this time of the quarantine lockdown.

March 18
My daily morning routine here at home... wake up at 10am (yeah because we sleep at 3am ), make my coffee via our Breville barista express, then I play around with the Fujifilm X-T200 camera review unit from Fujifilm Philippines, then I browse my FB and emails for messages, check my social media networks, watch some Youtube while eating my breakfast.

Imagine Im doing this ever since the Covid scare last Feb 2020.

That morning, I let my son create his own Adorable Home account, and then we laugh whenever we see the virtual pet cat is doing something like a human being

Our pet cat Benny... also doing the social distancing

This is an old pic from my files. I wonder where did I keep the content of this The Walking Dead Quarantine Box. I believe there's a swiss knife, some food, bandages, wound medicine, map and some crayons that we can use as a candle

That afternoon, I went out to buy some noodles, canned goods and some bread. I wear my face mask that I bought from Baclaran for only PHP20. I have two of these and I wish that I bought more. Its better to be safe. It will be just a quick food run outside within the our village

Im glad that our nearby sari sari store has lots of stocks of food. I took a pic and sent this to my family so that they are aware that the store across a few blocks is replenishing stocks every day.
Good job! Aling Tess.

Im so happy and now Im no longer worried if ever we ran out of stocks of food, we can just go here to buy raw meat, veggies and canned goods.

Time to watch the news.. I heard of the ongoing problems in QC. People in QC are now airing their disappointment on social media about the slow action of their Mayor. I hope they can resolve that right away.

My son Ashton and pet cat Jackson enjoying some bonding moments. I just wish that Jackson can turn into human -- para may kalaro ito anak ko sa bahay. Also that night, me and my son Ash enjoyed watching some videos by Daniel Schiffer

Before bedtime.. Im watching that Marvel docu by BBC on Youtube. Thanks to Xtreme Appliances for this 49 inches Xtreme smart TV --- yeah its a review unit... now stuck at my home for a month because of this quarantine lockdown -- sana akin na lang ito. Xtreme..baka naman.

March 19

Sad news... we just received a report that there's a Covid case here in Bacoor. And now our Bacoor LGU announces that we our city will have its own Extreme Enhanced Community Quarantine. It will be more strict, there will be curfew, and we are now required to get a quarantine pass if ever we will go out to buy some supplies

There's a lockdown already in this area of Bacoor. The report says that the COVID patient lives in Digman st. - a popular street where the famous Digman halo halo can be found. Everyone who lives in that area are not allowed to go out of their baranggay and also go in.

It's just a normal day..but we tried to relax in our home and practice the safe distancing and also strict rules when going out -- we need to follow our schedule, to buy food once a week.

Wala na din magawa, so Im watching Mortal Engine on my Huawei T3 Tablet via HBO Go Asia app. For me this is the best app right after Netflix.

Thanks to our neighbor.. The Morales family for sharing their freshly cooked Spaghetti. Sobra tuwang tuwa kami ni Ashton sa bahay. Kasi its our favorite. Kita mo naman. Inupakan na agad namin. This is our merienda of the day.

So while we are eating our merienda, we learned that the main vocalist of the rock band, Autotelic, is live on FB and he's doing a mini concert for FREE. Me and Ash watched the live streamed and super enjoyed the unplugged version of their hit songs.

Then we learned that some morning shows and regular shows on TV will go off air. As the host and staff of shows need to stay home and practice the quarantine lockdown.

And then I saw a FB post of my friend and she said that she saw a some kind of UFO in the night sky. The curious me, I went out and check, and then I told her if this is the bright star or light she saw and she said yes. Im sure it was the planet Venus, then I checked the Sky Map app and its confirmed that it is Venus. I sent her the screenshot and told her to install Sky Mapp app so that she can learn the positions of the stars at night. |

March 20

I'm posting a vlog before I go to bed, this is around 3am of March 20. Im stll wide awake and I have this vlogging itch, so I need to make one and post before I go to bed.

Morning food run -- I went to a nearby bakery here in our village to buy freshly baked pandesal. Here I noticed that the bakery sells a lot of bread. But Im a bit disappointed, because some people who are buying bread are not wearing a face mask and also not practicing social distancing.

Tinapay Online still haunts me.... Im sad that they can deliver Tinapay or bread to Metro residents only. Im going to hoard their Ube pandesal once this Covid19 crisis is over. Tinapay Online..be ready!

CNN Philippines now on home quarantine, their host and staff are at home and we are surprised that Pinky Webb still host the show even shes in her home. She did the news broadcast via FB live. wow!!! Ang galing nila.

My wife Lace found that there's a restaurant here in Bacoor that sells this Boodle Fight food. She ordered it and then it arrived during lunch time. OMG!!!! seafood!! meat!!!! lumpia!!! veggies!!! salty egg!!! it was like a fiesta at home, this food made us happy, because at home..we feel like we are in a prison. We cant go out for days

I shot a vlog on 3am, and then when I was about to film a new video, I accidentally formated the SD card in my camera. So I did my best in recovering the files, but the video didnt survived.

Bacoor Mayor Lani Mercado-Revilla is live on FB, we get some updates regarding the lockdown and here we learned about the curfew and lockdown areas.

For my new vlog, I filmed Mama Sally making some Turon snacks. It was an awesome day during the quarantine period. We're happy that we can still get these food, but Im still worried that some people are not lucky at this time . Btw, check out my previous blog on how you can donate cash to Caritas Manila, they are helping the poor families in Manila to survive in this Covid 19 crisis

March 21
Time is a bit slow. I just noticed that I got tired of doing the same routine every day. Im thinking of to try do an exercise, But I dont want to get tired the entire day, and plus the weather is so hot and dry. Its the most uncomfy day for us at home

We got the update and numbers of Covid cases here in Bacoor. Now we are worried that the number might go up. The quarantine just started and we need to stay home to beat this virus

I filmed another vlog that night.. its just a filler footage for my next vlog.

March 22

Good morning!!! time to go back to work.. same routine. Make my coffee, check social media, watch Youtube and check my Youtube comments stats

Great to see that Casey Neistat uploaded a new episode at his Youtube channel. Good vibes again...this help me get more inspirations in content creation.

I was browsing a site and this raffle thing appear on the browser. I click some buttons to see if its legit.. and then I started to get suspicious. so I Google this and search for news and its a confirmed scam! So guys be careful and dont believe on Sodexho raffle giveaway

Thanks to the Morales Family for another food sharing tradition. Their macaroni salad is so good!!
I wish that our Caimito tree and mango tree can produce more fruits so that we can share it also to you. Thanks again!!

Its just me and Ash always hanging out in the living room and kitchen..
Me - im blogging and vlogging
Him - he plays video games on my Huawei P30 phone - Fortnite and Mariot Kart
Where's the mom - she's in her room working and practicing mega social distancing. I only see her 2x a day whenever she comes down to get some food

I just saw this in the internet.
Did Kojima predicted our demise ?
hmmm..I guess not

Another quick food run. This is the time that I got worried. There are no bread in some stores
and the two bakery are closed.

I walked around and I spotted one store near the club house that sells Gardenia bread. I was happy to see it. They 2 loafs. I got tempeted to buy two. But then since the supply is low, I challenged myself not to panic buy. I bought one bread and I let the other loaf be bought by another buyer

The day ends... as usual...

March 23

My new table set up of day. Here I got the idea that I should beautify my table space so that I can get more inspirations and positive vibes in this 9 days of quarantine lockdown.....

I transfered myself to our living room because its much cooler during the morning.
But then it will be hot here during the mid day til sunset. But thats okay. I can watch movies on our TV while I finish some vlog editing.

haha this made my morning.. Penny..Penny... look at Kaley Cuoco's coffee mug. I want one now! hahaha

Im watching the John Santan's vlog and at the same time Im watching Gab Jornacion's FB Live on editing photos... and at the same time Im editing a vlog haha

Edit done.. This is my Batanes vlog series. It will be out soon in my Youtube channel. I think the vlog is around 5 episodes

Im so excited that Fujifilm Philippines releases the schedule of our webinar. Check it out yo! Im doing the webinar on April 1 at 3pm. Yey!

My son Ash got sad. Because his Adorable Home set up is gone!! I think someone broke into his virtual house and stole all the appliances and also his pet cats!! WTFF!!! he lost his energy playing this game and I might uninstall it next

Megaman X Dive is now available to download!!! yay!! we've been waiting for this game for months. The official launch is on March 24, but this day, we can download it but the game servers are not yet available. We still need to wait for one more day.

Im saving a copy to remind me... Im not sure if we need the quarantine pass. Because we're not going out of the village. And we can grab some food supply in a nearby sari sari store that is 2 min walk from our home.

Lunch!!! Thank you Mama Sally for the home cooked Tahong!!! Also thanks to the Salino family for buying some tahong for us at the city market. Sarap nito grabe!

Some artist created this Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte FUNKO POP TOY hahahaa
it looks for real!

Another food run!
Notice the same shirt ? yes hindi pa ko nakakaligo nyan. But I took a bath right after this food run.

Few days ago, I posted here that the bakery store sells a lot of bread, but then look at the display cabinet.. 2 piece of pandecoco left. That day I was hunting for bread again.

Bread supply here in our village are starting to go low.. Now Im worried.
I hope this Covid 19 crisis ends tomorrow!

March 24

Creating a new table set up for inspirations
I think Im going to do this a daily series ahah

Im back editing and finishing the Batanes vlog series. I also posted a new vlog on my Youtube channel and its about the donation drive of some organizations and individual people who want to help the poor families in the metro. They've focus on the metro as of now because there are a lot of families that are affected badly because of this lockdown.

New update from Bacoor City. Its sad that there are 2 deaths already. And there's one Covid positive right here in our village!! Its a shocking new for us.

Thank you for updating us. .now we are really scared of going out

Megaman X Dive is now live!!!! its the only game that my son is waiting for. Now he's enjoying it

I cant play it.. the graphics of the character is so small.

huhu thanks again Mama Sally for the adobong pusit!! this is my fave

She ordered fresh squid to our food supplier - its a nearby sari sari store that buys fresh and raw food in the city market every morning. Thanks Mang Joseph!

My wife Lace sent some veggies list. But then Lots of veggies are not available. I took home some potatoes and some junk food

Ano Benny the cat. Kaya mo pa ba? ako...eh

Lolo mode. My eyes hurt and I have this headache. I think its about the hot weather, the blue light from our devices and noise of the radio hahaha

Ok time to retire for a day.

March 25
This day is a special day because me and my wife are celebrating our 10th year wedding anniversary. Last night, I filmed a vlog, a special vlog in line of our celebration, its also a vlog to remind us both that our wedding anniversary is on March 25...and not on March 10, or March 24 or March 27 hahaha

I uploaded the video on my Youtube and I will let her notice it. I actually didnt tell her that I created a vlog, and then she found it that night. Then we watch it altogether in the living room, the we laugh after because I included some of our old videos wayback 2004.

I made another table set for inspirations.... and also thanks to my wife for making me an Okonomiyaki meal for my breakfast

And the cabin fever starts hahahaha... No I will beat this virus and quarantine lockdown burnout

After our breakfast..my kid Ashton is back again to challenge me in a Mario Kart game. This time, I finally learned how to control my car during the race.. Ayan Im always the winner. Nobody can beat me LOL

Its Youtube viewing time -- Check out on Youtube Teddy Sage Studios, their new episode is about Millennials vs. Tito

And then Enzo Luna's Youtube featuring him cooking some Dalgona coffee. We laughed when we saw his video, sabi ko oi mag bra ka naman hahaha

Fujifilm Online Academy just started...and the webinar is about photography featuring Jerico Montemayor.. And wow his examples about shooting indoors are.... puro sexy shots!! wow!

I just saw a question over the at the X-T100 FB group, a newbie ask why his camera always stop recording. Then I posted a comment that the problem is the SD card that he use. I think he use the ordinary type of SD card, I told him to use this kind of SD Card with a fast read and write feature. So I told him to check out the Sandisk Ultra SD Card woth 80 mbps read and write. Its the kind of SD Card that I use in my X-T200 review camera unit :)

Throughout the day..my kid started to get bored. He cried because he is super bored. I told him he can do other things like drawing, playing with his toys, or other mobile games, but then he told me he did that already and he is bored. So I let him play some Megaman maker games on my laptop to keep him busy and not bored..

Ayun lang.. wala ako laptop na magamit. So Nag watch na lang ako ng Youtube sa TV

Thanks guys for reading my post... March 25 is our 10th year wedding anniversary..
ayun ohh.. sexy wife!

March 26

Im back to my desk again.. Btw the video is Ben and Ben. Nag play lang ako ng music para sa good vibes sa bahay. Again, same routine here at home. Get my breakfast. Sat infront of my laptop, watch Youtube, edit vlog, write a blog, check my social media, post an IG photo, chat with friends on FB and also post an entry in my Tiktok account

Yes. Nag Tiktok na ko

Im ready to film a new vlog entry. I need to get busy and stay productive while at home.

Wow!!! Our barangay team went house to house here in our village just to hand over this relief good. Thanks to our Bacoor City Mayor Lani Mercado-Revilla for the relief operation. A 2 kilo of rice, with sardines and noodles.. a good addition for our food supply.

Take note that they give more relief goods to poor families here in Bacoor, than those who live here in the village. Because people in the village are not in a difficult situation. The poor families need this more than us.

Thanks again Mama for this yummy Paksiw na baboy!! its one of my fave pinoy dish!

I just saw this on the news. Celebs and host of GMA are singing "We heal as one" I hope many people will be influenced by this song. There's so much hate and misbehaving in this time of health crisis.

At night, we watched the global live stream and launch of Huawei P40 series smartphone.
Wow! Im super impressed with the camera specs. But the only sad part here is that the P40 series doesnt come with Google services. It means.. the Google Playstore is absent in this model

I have't posted my blog entry yet about Huawei P40. But for Pre order info, just the details posted by Ed Uy

Late night session with my family.. We watched Youtube videos again and slept at 2am hahaha
Here's my wife Lace posing a pic with our pet cat Jackson

March 27
Again same routine... same same same same!! nakakabaliw na haahah. Pero kaya namin to

Shocking news that HOOQ will end its service. hmm I need more info about this.
but it was a good run with HOOQ. I know that licensing is the most expensive part if you are in the streaming business.

I finally finished a new vlog, its all about street photography. I just showed how I use the X-T200 camera and tried street photography. Watch the video in my Youtube channel

My wife Lace sent a message. She wants pizza. so I tried some pizza stores and all of them are closed. So if you can't buy it..then make it!! so here's my first attempt in making a Pizza bread.

I enjoyed my DIY pizza bread making, I filmed it too for my vlog and then the result is --- my son Ash loves it!!

and here's the review of my wife Lace about my pizza bread

"The pizza bread was a nice comforting snack. Crust was a little soggy but hot dog topping is a nice touch. I can also taste butter on the bread, the sauce was tangy and would be better if suited for pinoy's sweeter taste. Parmesan cheese gives a nice aroma but pizza bread can be better with overflowing classic melted cheese. Overall, a suitable lockdown snack when ingredients are scarce. I will order this again. Thank you."

That evening, Ben and Ben is live on FB. My son experienced to watch the band performing live.

March 28
And again...same daily routine. Alam nyo na siguro

Oh check this out. iFlix is giving away free one more access to their VIP titles. Everyone are entitled to this freebie. So go use the voucher code: iflixVIPtime to access the free stream
This is good for new and old users.

My not so inspiring table set up.. but hey!!! may banana ako sa table! for inspirations hahah

Awww my wife posted the pizza bread to her FB.. aww awww awww

Thanks again to the Morales family for the this yummy sweet cake and pasta carbonara!!
wow!! salamat. May merienda na kami heheh

Ayan na nilamon na ni Ash

My KDrama fanatic wife is going all Korean dishes in this time of lockdown.
Wow! Sarap nito Kimchie Jigae nya! one of my fave Korean dishes

March 29
Blogging is back again!! How are you , Im now near the end of this daily blog for the month of March. Should I continue til April ??? hmmm if yes, then post a comment below, and if now. just post a comment below hahaha

The FB page of Bacoor City posted the schedules of supermarket. Im saving a copy here so that I can look at it if ever we plan to buy some groceries.

I did some vlogging and trying this new setup. Im planning to do this set up for my upcoming Fujifilm webinar. I plugged my condenser mic to my X-T200 camera and see if it will work properly

status: yes, its working properly.

And here's my tablet set up for inspirations. I transfered here near our lanai. because its so hot in the living room. I just finish some Batanes vlog and Im excited to launch this soon on my Youtube channel.

The Asian Boss on Youtube interview a doctor in South Korea, and here I learned that wearing a mask is very important and its already proven it can prevent the spread of infection. To Asian countries, its part of the new culture of wearing mask, but for non Asian countries, they dont wear mask and its not part of their culture, that's why many Covid cases are present in non Asian countries

Today, I decided to wear my mask --double and then wear a goggles to protect my eyes from unwanted transmission of the virus

That night. I posted a Tiktok video.... ayan na nagka Tiktok character na ko. I named him Cat Tiktok

March 30

Ayan na...cabin fever is coming. Pero I tried to fight it. In my Instagram account I post many photos of my beach adventures, just to keep myself in normal mode and be inspired by my past beach travel.
Add me on Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/popazrael

Also last night, some people are not happy about the President's address

And here's more of my table set up for inspirations.... I eat my breakfast while I listen to some Cafe ambiance music on Youtube. Ayan.. feel ko nasa cafe na ko

Quick food run again. I noticed that our bread suppy at home is low, so I went out for a quick food run and buy some bread. But our nearby store have no new supply yet.

But the most exciting part of my food run is that I found a mini grocery. They dont have any bread available, but a nearby sari sari store is selling boxes of bread

Thank goodness for bread.. But the store owner told me that the boxes of bread is owned by someone.. Ah okay.. but its okay, I bought two loafs and went home happy

Then my wife started making her own pizza bread.
Ayan! kaya important ang bread sa bahay namin

Boom!!!! we won again in Fortnite

Also...March 30 is the day where I filmed my Fujifilm webinar. I got tired that day...kaya konti post lang ako sa social media noon

Busy daw... Pero nakapag post ng new Tiktok video hahaha

March 31
This is the end of my daily blog for the month of March...but wait..there's more.. There's April daily blog so stay tuned.

I woke up at around 10am and I saw Ron's post that he invites everyone for a FB video call. Well that's a good activity because we miss everyone. So I did a FB video chat set up. Using my ring light, tripod with smartphone mount, then my Huawei P30 smartphone and a headphone for clear video voice calls.

Its a fun activity!! lol
our topic -- Tinapay online hahaha

thanks again to Mama Sally for the dinuguan! sobra sarap po
Thanks to Mang Joseph for the raw meat delivery to our home

The weather is so hot that day... so I invited my son Ash to have an ice cold desserts. I opened a can of juicy oranges as our snack. Hay.. naka relieve din ng init

That evening is my lamay night.... hahhaa. I edited a 1 hour webinar video and then waited for it to finish the rendering process. 3HRS lang naman ang render.

The render finishes at around 2am and then I start uploading it.

During that day. I thought the date was March 30, but it was March 31. I was one day away for my webinar schedule at 3pm of April 1

Then the upload starts at 2am, I think the upload process will end at 7am, because I tried to upload 2 videos with 5GB each. So that's a total of 10 GB

I uploaded the file at Google Drive and the other is at Youtube.

I went to bed at 4am and hoping that the upload is a success.

Thanks for reading my blog post, Im updating this blog post everyday so expect a new post and written entry in every end of the day. Pls keep safe, stay healthy and protect yourself from viruses and COVID-19

#covid19 #personal #lockdown