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Relic of the Recent Past: The Decline of Internet Cafes

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A decade ago, every street corner had a crowded internet cafe filled with students and out of school youth. For Millennials and Gen Z’s, countless days and nights (as well as cash) were spent hours inside the confines of these cafes, becoming the center of social life for many. Ten years later, internet cafes can still be found throughout the Philippines but they aren’t as abundant nor are they attracting the same crowd and hype from all those years ago. Many had closed, and many had minimized their products or services, sometimes to a bare minimum.  If this same predicament has crossed your mind, you’re in for an enlightening read. Origins The Philippines was late to the information boom of the early 90s. The ‘cyber-age’ was late to arrive in the Philippines until March 1994 when the country was hooked up via an underwater cable by the initiatives of the DOST and major universities throughout the country from the United States. It was at this moment, the Philippines was introduced...
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Weird Filipino Hygiene Facts

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The Philippines, located near the equator, experiences harsh weather conditions, especially the infamous tropical heat. This heat naturally makes our skin crave for something cool and wet. Water. And as such, bathing is a natural pastime for many Filipinos. But modern bathrooms are a recent invention, so where did Filipinos go to have their business or a good ol’ scrubbing of their bodies? You’ll be surprised to learn more about it! The Spaniards hated our love for bathing The river was a source of living for many Filipinos... and also a place to do whatever business they have to do. During the pre-colonial period, Fr. Pedro Chirino wrote down his observations of the bathing habits of pre-colonial Filipinos, to the point of admonishment. There, he described pre-colonial Filipinos as hygiene lovers who love to bathe in hot springs, rivers and other bodies of water. “They bathe at all hours indiscriminately, for pleasure and cleanliness…” Pedro Chirino (1556-1635) Fr. Chirino also noted ...
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Beatles in Manila 1966: The Depressing Arrival and the Press Conference You Didn’t Know

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Everybody knows at this point the infamous event involving the Beatles earning the full wrath of the Marcos royal family. It has been told hundreds of times, from news articles covering it, gossip stories from your lolo at lola as well as countless of retellings throughout Philippine media as a nice topic for looking back into the country’s ‘Golden Age’ during the 1960’s right before the declaration of Martial Law in 1972.
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Spain’s Last Stand: The Siege of Baler and the Last Remnant of Spain’s Colonial Empire

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There is a common misconception among Filipinos and the wider local historical community that Spanish rule of the Philippine Islands finally ended on May 1, 1898 when the U.S Navy Fleet commandeered by Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish Pacific Fleet after the Battle of Manila Bay or when Spain and the United States concluded the Treaty of Paris, which Spain effectively sold control of the archipelago to the Americans in the 10th of December, 1898.
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