If we try to be the most optimistic creature, the good thing about this pandemic is how we are brought back closer to people who truly matters. From families to friends, humans continue to thrive even during isolation. Video chats and calls became widely used not just for those working from home but for checking in friends and families.
Like most people, I have regular video calls with my high school barkada – the besties – more frequent than ever. Keeping in touch with your friends helps ease any anxiety and depression brought by the pandemic.
Starting with reminiscing and chikas but as we are holed up for almost half a year now, how do go beyond the basic video calls? Here are some ideas that you can do for your next session with your family and friends!
Host an E-Numan Session
As the song by Maroon 5 goes, ” ‘Cause the drinks bring back all the memories of everything we’ve been through..”, an e-numan session is probably the most walang ka effort-effort way to spice up your video calls.
For sure you have your drinks in hand while chatting with your friends, but have it as the main focus. You’ll be suprise with the choice of drink your most lady-like friend decided for the night – check out the tequila girl above. The chosen drinks will become a great ice breaker to start up your all-nighter chikahan.
The Q & A
If you are down to your 4th or 5th video calling session, you may have talked almost all of your classmates back in high school. Just kidding 😉
Seriously, you may need to think about new things to talk about especially if you don’t want to listen to any drama from a hormonal friend of yours. Here’s what you can do instead – have a Q & A night.
You can list 10 questions to ask, nothing serious but you will learn more about your friends. After all, you have evolved all these years and totally don’t know everything about them. Try asking the following:
- “Have you been ghosted?”
- “What are your childhood nicknames?”
- “What will you say to your 16-year-old self?”
- “What’s the first thing you will do after this pandemic?”
- “Where will you travel first after this crisis?”
- “When did you lose your virginity? With whom?“. HAHAHA
Think about themed dress codes
Because we are meeting with friends virtually, we often just pop in front of our screens and start the ball rolling. Make it more special by putting some effort just like when you are going out.
In our last session, we held the “glamour night”, just to dress up and put on make up. You’ll feel better from the bland life of quarantine especially if you are used to socializing.
Stuck at home means we are limited to pajamas and lounge wear. When was the last time you wore your party dresses? When was the last time you had full make up on?
Here are themes you can try:
- Beach party – yes, we miss our swimwear
- Athleisure
- Pastel Night
- Red Lipstick Night
- Pajama Party
Beat Each Other with Online Games
If you don’t want to talk anymore – or taking a break – but still want to laugh your heart out, try online games. There are many apps that you can download and invite your friends to play together.
I haven’t used it yet but a new app, Houseparty lets your chat and play games! But if you find downloading apps a little tedious, you do it the all fashion way.
Here are some games you can enjoy:
- Name the price
- Pictionary
- Guess that song
- I spy (theme: your college professors or batchmates. haha)
You can do quizzes. There are plenty of free personality quizzes online like those with “What do you see first” and you read the interpretations.
Belt out with a virtual videoke
We did this one with the song, “Don’t Say You Love Me” by The Corrs.
It was fun yet still reminiscent to our teenage years. You don’t have to be a famous singer or get the same quality as that of the Cruz cousins, but try this one. #Challenge.
Watch what we did..nothing fancy, just confidence!
Go Virtual with your wellness
Elevate your sharing of beauty tips and your quest to forever young with a virtual wellness session. Together with your barkada, do yoga or a simple home workout. You can also do the Korean skincare routine virtually with your amigas!
Keeping the fun with your quaranteam
It doesn’t matter what video chatt app you use or how fancy your activity is, but what’s important is too keep it from getting too mundane. After all, keeping in touch with your closest friends is one of the best things to safeguard your mental and emotional health during this pandemic.
Thanks for reading and stay safe!
