Keeping the fun through virtual lunchtime!

By: Jay Quilanita, Graphic Artist

The clock strikes 12. We know it’s lunch time again. Everyone is scramming! One by one, people are stepping away from their computers and getting ready to open their lunchboxes. Some of them will start running towards the pantry to secure the perfect seat to eat their perfect baon. The smell of savory dishes takes over on one side of the room while the aroma of creamy sauces lingers on the other. You hear laughs, loud voices from another room, and different dishes being passed around.The noise and commotion may be unpleasant to some people, but you don’t care because that’s how lunch time is supposed to be.

In TeamAsia, lunch time will always be a happy hour for everyone. It’s a time where we are able to take a break from work, a time to breath. It’s also the perfect time to enjoy the food you prepared or the meal you bought from a nearby store.

Ever since ECQ was implemented more than a month ago, a lot of TeamAsians have expressed how they missed eating together with their teams and being able to share what they have for their baon. But of course, TeamAsians love to eat and always get things done, so there’s no way this ECQ is going to stop us from doing what we love to do.

Every day, we have a pantry bantry, wherein various members of the team send out photos of their lunch via chat, some even send out their work in progress. We get to see different dishes, all equally appetizing. And by doing so, everyone feels like we’re all having lunch together, just like what we usually do inside the office. We get to see and taste (we let our imaginations go wild) what each TeamAsian is having for lunch. It’s like having a virtual pantry! Not only do we see scrumptious dishes, we also get to discover that a lot of TeamAsians have a passion for cooking.

This habit of ours eases the feeling of missing everyone in the team. Our virtual lunchtime brings back that wonderful (almost nostalgic) feeling when the clock strikes 12 at the office and everyone heads towards the pantry. And even though we don’t have the opportunity to eat out together with our team right now, simply sending a photo of what we have for lunch makes us feel we aren’t miles apart and are still close with each other.

We still miss eating in the office pantry. We still miss having to share our baon with one another. We still miss having to talk about anything under the sun with each other while enjoying the comfort of our food. But as long as there’s a need to stay at home, when the clock says 12, virtual lunchtime will continue and the online fun won’t stop.