Komikon 2013 loots!

Dropped by Bayanihan Center yesterday for this year’s Komikon, an annual comic book convention that aims to promote the awareness and reading of past & present komiks made by Filipino artists.

I have been an avid attendee of Komikon events since 2009 and I was actually looking forward to this year’s event as Indie actress Mercedes Cabral will be there to promote the habit of reading. Too bad I missed and didn’t get a picture but I still got to enjoy Komikon with all my new loots.

• Carlo Vergara and Elmer Cantada’s Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady
• Michael David’s Kubori Kikiam: Guinea Pigs One to Seven
• Pol Medina Jr.’s Pugad Baboy 25
• Lyndon Gregorio’s Go Beerkada: The Rise of the Jhologs and The Return of the Jhologs
• Budjette Tan and KaJo Baldisimo’s Trese 5
• Manix Abrera’s Tibok ng Utak Blg. 1

Will try to write a short review for each loot in the coming days so watch out for it. :)

With Pugad Baboy creator Pol Medina Jr. and Babman:

*Eto lang ang Komikon photo ko kasi late ko na nakita sina Alain at Martin para gawing taga-picture

#ThrowbackThursday: Marcomm’s Halloween through the years

Dressing up during Halloween was never part of my childhood. Heck, Halloween was not even in my vocabulary until I realized that it is less confusing than saying “Happy All Saints’  / All Souls’ Day!” All I cared about during this season are the long break from school, the obligation of travelling for hours to visit cemeteries, scaring the hell out of other people, and the thrill of watching Magandang Gabi, Bayan’s Halloween special.

It was only when I got into my current job in an American-based global company did I get to experience the fun part of Halloween – thrashing up the office and pulling random clothes to dress up.

2010. Experienced my first Halloween event at GSC. It was during the height of the Plants VS Zombies craze and naturally, the office joined the bandwagon. Our team decorated our cubicles with black garbage bags, PVZ-inspired cutouts, and even tombstones with our names on it. Since I can’t find a suitable PVZ character for me, I ended up going as a zombie-fied Harry Potter.

And oh, did I mention that there was an office competition for the best theme execution? Yeah, we bagged that award.

2011. Pixar was 2011’s Halloween theme. Each teams were assigned their own Pixar cartoons to execute and we got the 2004 animated film The Incredibles. With our combined creative prowess, we transformed our plain cubicle into a futuristic battlefield.

We ranked second in the theme execution, next to the Analytics team with their “Toy Story 3” theme. It was a gracious defeat as the Analytics area really stood out with their bright, happy colors.

2012. Possibly my most favorite Halloween event in GSC as we were hungry to get our winning title back. The year’s theme was Disneyland attractions and we picked up Tomorrowland. It was a bit hard to work on this since it was among the lesser known attractions and it didn’t quite fit in with the dreamy theme of Disney. Nevertheless, we worked on the sci-fi feel of Tomorrowland by decorating our cubicles with stars and planets, utilized our 3-year-old black light to create a pseudo-planetarium and reclaimed the Best Theme Execution award once again.

Since the overall theme of the office was Disney, everyone opted to dress up as Disney characters. It was fun seeing characters mingling with characters from other franchise. It was like a walking into an AU-based crossover fanfiction.

I grew up with Little Mermaid and you could just imagine the feels when someone came in dressed as Prince Eric. Can’t pass up this opportunity of reliving my childhood.

So what’s your Halloween history? Share it in the comments!

Cosplay Mania 2013

It’s Cosplay Mania 2013 this coming weekend and we will  be joining the fun!

Just a bit of a backgrounder, Cosplay Mania is an annual cosplay-centered convention usually held around September – October. Started back in 2008 by Cosplay.ph, it is currently one of the biggest otaku convention here in the Philippines that actually focuses on cosplaying, with internationally-famous cosplayers coming over as guests and/or judges.

I discovered cosplay back in 2005 when a new found friend taught me everything I need to know about cosplaying – the perks, the friends, the community. While I did enjoy the local cosplay scene, its starting to lose its appeal on me over the past few years. I guess it comes with aging and eventually outgrowing a thing or two. (gasp!)

Still, I frequent conventions like this for two main reasons – 1. hang out and be goofy with otaku friends and 2. blow up my entire salary on merchandises like pillows (not the dakimakura type tho) and art books. Merchandises from last year’s Cosmania was a bit of a downer so I’m looking forward to see what the exhibitors have in stock this year.

And so, Cosmania 2013. It will be held at SMX Convention Center on October 5-6. Ticket prices range from PHP150 – PHP250, depending on the level of access for certain events. And they keep on increasing every year. If I remember correctly, the ticket prices were PHP100 – PHP150 back when they first started the different hall, different price thing. Back then, we actually liked the idea because it keeps the cosplayers from blocking your way while doing your merchandise shopping. Fast-forward, the 50-peso increase every year is losing its appeal on me as well so we might just get the Hall Entry Pass ticket this year.

Anyway, you can check out this visual guide for Cosmania ticket types to determine what ticket would be more suitable for you:

Anyone else going to Cosmania this weekend? Don’t forget to say hi!

ICC 2013: Saving the seas one step at a time

As part of Emerson Climate GSC Manila’s 10th year anniversary celebration, the management pledged to conduct a series of community services and outreach programs as a way of “giving back to the community.” Each team was then asked to submit an activity proposal indicating their objectives and preferred beneficiaries. Since I have anticipated a lot of proposals to be in the form activities that would only benefit a single group or community, I opted for an environmental awareness activity that would eventually benefit a much wider scope of people and even the generations to come.

And this is where I discovered the ICC Philippines and their annual International Coastal Cleanup Day.

As a primer, the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) is the world’s largest volunteer effort for ocean’s health. Its mission is to help clean the seas, lakes, and waterways, and to raise awareness on the growing marine debris problem. Aside from cleaning up shorelines and waterways, ICC also collects debris information that helped inform and inspire policies to prevent ocean trash. For years now, the Philippines  has been actively participating in ICC day, headed by the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary Group and the DENR.

There were two available sites in Metro Manila for cleanup this year – Baywalk, Roxas Blvd. and the Las Pinas-Paranaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA) in Paranaque. Our group chose to sign up for the LPPCHEA cleanup, mainly because of its flat shoreline and the promise of migratory birds sighting. I guess it was a good decision as most of the organizers and sponsors have chosen LPPCHEA as well, making the logistic works a lot more easier.

The event almost did not push through as super typhoon Odette entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility, bringing week-long rains and threatening to landfall on the ICC day itself.  Being  the focal person for our group, I spent the night worrying myself to sleep by thinking about the overall expense it would cost the company if the coastal cleanup gets postponed the last minute. I am quite unsure if Mother Nature heard my pleas but the weather did get a lot better the next morning – with just occasional drizzle that lasted for a couple of seconds as compared to the heavy thunderstorms that poured the night before.

Our group had fun participating in the coastal cleanup despite the minor shortcomings we had that day. I was actually surprised at the number of my colleagues who would prefer going down and dirty in picking up the shoreline debris instead of simply jotting down notes or taking photos. We had to stop at around 10AM due to rising waters and by then, we have already filled up 69 sacks of various trash after working on a 600-meter area.

The ICC Day was a great experience, and definitely an eye-opener. The amount of trash on such a small area is unbelievable; we even joked around that  simply picking them up is futile work and a massive backhoe should be used instead. While most people can easily point fingers to coastal dwellers as the main pollutants, people must also realize that most of the trash in the area are probably irresponsibly dumped debris carried to Manila Bay by rainwater floods from the cities.

*Photos courtesy of my Emerson colleagues – Nad, Deim, and Bevs.

PNKY Travel Cafe’s Maid to Travel

Baguio City’s PNKY Travel Café, with the participation of anime group Gomen, celebrated their 7th anniversary with a twist! Adapting the emerging trend of cosplay cafes from Japan, the PNKY was transformed into a maid café with staff members dressed in French maid and Lolita outfits.

Since my friend Vince was selected as one of the judges for the Art Contest, it was a perfect excuse to momentarily leave the Metro and travel all the way to Baguio for this event.

Highlights of the event include the major contests (Cosplay competition, Maid and Butler Contest, Cosplay Photo contest, and the Art contest), raffle prizes, and of course, the presence of cosplayer Jin Joson and the whole Tuxedo Team.

Kudos to my college orgmates Rain (Priestess) and Eri (Blacksmith) for joining the cosplay contest, Kahlil for winning the Best Otaku Butler title, and Rui for bagging the first prize for the art contest!

We had so much fun pigging out, posing with moustaches, hoarding the raffle prizes, and meeting each and everyone from the event. ♥

More of my pictures at my Multiply site.

Here is the official video coverage of the event, from Luis Magsino:

I’m totally too lazy to post a blow-by-blow account so if you want to read more about the Maid to Travel, you can check out the following blogs:

• Current Anime_HQ chair and my good friend Rain
• Maid to Travel event organizer Sammy Magsino
• Anime website Otakultura