Table setting of different cuisines
Ever since this quarantine, people had no choice but to cook more because restaurants are closed and delivery is very limited. While a lot of us have now discovered our talents for cooking, why not take it up a notch? Try table setting with different cuisines! For every dinner for the week, assign one cuisine that you or your family will devour in for the night; may it be American on the first night, Japanese on the second, Italian on the third and so on. Not only will you cook a full cuisine meal, you can also decorate your dinner table (complete with the silverware you’ll be using of course!) with the design that represents your country of choice. Travelling may not happen this year but hey, at least you get to have international dinners from the comfort of your own home!
Find and learn unique hobbies
We all have hobbies. Some may enjoy artistic hobbies like painting, drawing, designing. Some enjoy sports. Some love to play musical instruments. Whatever our hobbies may be, there are still moments that we get bored with it. If you get tired or used to the same hobbies that you do, find unique ones!
Learn how to cross stitch, knit or sew.
Not everyone has the talent for fashion designing, but who says learning and fabrics has to equate to fashion design? You can cross stitch as simple as your name on a handkerchief or if you’re good in drawing, cross stitch an original artwork into a pillowcase, a shirt or just a blank canvas.
If cross stitching may be too complicated for you, try your hand at knitting! You can even make your own scarf or hat with it. A cardigan or a blanket if you’re a bit of a pro already. Plus it also relieves stress and reduces anxiety!
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Not a fan of woven things and meticulous pattern-making? Take up sewing! Sewing is not as complicated as it sounds, as it can be done by hand if you’re a beginner. You can finally learn how to repair a rip in your shirt, a tear in jeans or a missing button on your jacket without spending at the repair shop! If you want something more advanced and want to go all out and make your own clothes, learn how to sew using a machine. If you’ve got money to spare, you can buy a compact sewing machine or thrift for one if you’re on a budget (you can thrift or haggle online) With a sewing machine and a how-to from the internet, you’ll be making your own ready-to-wear clothes in no time!
Been wanting to visit Spain? Here’s your chance to learn Spanish and communicate with them like a local when you can finally go! Want to watch your K-drama series without having to multitask between looking at the scene and the subtitles? Learn Korean to fully focus and feel all the feels in Captain Ri Jeong Hyuk and Yoon Se-Ri’s love story without distractions! With all this free time we have, quarantined at our homes, it’s best to use it wisely. Learning a new language is a fun and useful time-consuming activity. Plus it’ll be an added skill!
Love music but is a frustrated singer and doesn’t have the patience to learn how to play a musical instrument? Well then make your own music! If you’ve ever heard of “lo-fi beats” aka those 1 hour loop beats on Youtube that you can study or relax to, then that’s what you can learn even if you’re not blessed with a golden voice! Lo-fi music is a “low fidelity” music or a type of recording that consists of technical flaws like distortion, hums, background noise with a mix of different instrumental beats. You don’t have to be a professional to make beats like these. You can start by just mixing and matching instruments to your liking on Garageband or any other music-making apps. It’s basically like playing with different types of sound that can be music to your ears. Once you get the hang of it, you can go to an extent and acquire the necessary equipment to make a much more advanced beat or music and who knows, you might be a music producer in the making!
Hold a themed Zoom party with your friends (or family if you’re away from them)
There’s a lot of things we have to consider for the “new normal” and Zoom is definitely one of them. It’s basically now our telephone call to our friends, family members even our colleagues. While yes, it does suck not being able to see your friends during this trying time we are currently facing, why not make the most out of it and still get the party started even if you’re all miles away from each other. And to make things interesting, hold a themed Zoom party to double the fun! You and your friends can do something as simple as a Karaoke, Game or Movie Night. Or take it up a notch by really sticking with a theme! A Beach Party theme to still live out the summer fun, Spa Night with the girls complete with ladies drink of choice and face masks or a Club themed party to never miss out on an epic rager - all while being at the comfort of your own homes! So bring your friends together and get creative for a night of fun!
Even in quarantine, game nights can still be done without Zoom - instead do it with PowerPoint! This game night would be much more fun in person so gather whoever you’re quarantined with and plan a PowerPoint game night! A PowerPoint game night is basically a PowerPoint or Slides presentation of random topics from something as serious as Effects Of Global Warming to something as crazy as Why Finn And Jake From Adventure Time Exist In The Real World. You can whip up whatever topic you want and present it in front of your audience for 3 minutes or less and just learn useful and random information throughout the night! Plus points if alcohol is involved for a more LOL-worthy presentation (but only do this if you’re in a house with people of legal drinking age!)
This quarantine really is taking a toll not only on all aspects of our health but also on our minds. With being stuck at home, work and school postponed, the only information we’re getting besides the current news is, well nothing. Feed your brains and get those thinking gears working by taking free online courses! And truly make the most out of it by taking courses from Ivy League schools. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia and more are offering FREE courses that you can enroll to! From Buddhism to Modern Psychology to The Science of Well-Being to Artificial Intelligence to People Analytics - these are the topics covered in their online courses and these aren’t even half of it! There are lots to choose from and you can even get an actual certificate from these schools once you finished the course! Of course you’d have to pay for it but it truly is worth the money. Even if you’re not an actual student from these Ivy League schools, you can still proudly say that you’ve finished a course AND show off a certificate! (These also look great on a resume/portfolio!)
Open a local online food business
A lot of people have now been amateur chefs/bakers and entrepreneurs during this whole lockdown and let’s face it, you’re also one of them! If you’re not, then try your hand in opening a small local food business. Whether it may be cookies, pasta or even as simple as hummus! Other forms of business is quite hard to manage during this period of time since only what is considered essential are allowed to be transported within the metro but thank goodness, food is! And since we are all basically glued to our phones now especially on social media sites, what better way to advertise and sell your products than on Instagram. Let’s all support our local shops especially during this time since everything is currently limited. And local businesses are usually the ones who are truly special since they’re all made with dedication, passion and hard work!
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