Last night after visiting Dindee’s mother (she had stroke, pls. pray for her fast recovery) I decided to go straight at home… while walking along UN avenue, I felt this mood of being too exhausted to go anywhere else but too hyper to sleep, or simply say I’m tired but not sleepy. And whenever I’m having this kind of mood, broke or not, with or without friends, I go to Starbucks in Manila Pavilion and let my time pass until I finally feel like resting. And then I realized that it had just been 2 days since it closed but I miss it that much already. On their last day, I, with fellow coffee lovers stayed until closing time and had our last moment in the best coffee house in the world. It turned out that, that place actually touched many lives as well. At first it was just Dr. Robert Li, Dindee and I. Then came Jamir, an Iranian dentistry student at UP. When Dindee had to go back to her mom’s room, I took Dr. Jay with me then Frances and Emil came. Then when we returned, Angelo, a law student was there already. The funny thing was, when each would learn they have a common friend or acquaintance or whatever. And I realized more and more how small the world is. Of course, I’ll always remember the friendliest barristas I’ve known – RS, Paris, Gladys, June, Kent, Ivanhoe, Francis and some that I know by face but not by name… Oh how I really miss them. Here’s my tribute to Starbucks Manila Pavilion.
Last Sunday I attended the Ozine Fest 2007 at Megatrade Hall 2. I was there early just to be sure I’d get a ticket. I’ve learned my lesson at UPAME Matsuri last December. And I was right because it went sold out by the time Neil came. Gosh, cosplay seems to become more and more popular with kids. I noticed the vast increase of young cosplayers in the event and the good news is that they are becoming more conscious of accuracy and quality of costumes. Just to add testimony to the growing popularity of cosplaying in the Philippines, Ozine released a cosplay magazine. I bought one just for the sake of knowing how the Ozine people do it this time. I have to admit that any magazine they release doesn’t please me. There was no single issue have had something that’d be interesting for someone who’s been an anime fan for almost 8 years already. Of course I’m not saying I know every single anime but their reviews are pathetic. It couldn’t get my attention for more than a minute. And I’d say, I could get articles waaaaaayyyyy better than that for free –in the internet. Though it’s really ironic, because I actually have 5 or 6 issues, but it was only because they were featuring events that I had attended and I was hoping I’d see my pic somewhere hehehehe… Going back to the event, I was both pleased and pissed with the way it was organized. Pleased because of the bazaar (huhuhu, I wish I had more okane) and there lots of fun booths –parlor games, video games etc. But I was pissed because the organizers seemed not to consider the convenience of the fans. First, the area for the cosplay viewing was too small, and it went even smaller because they had to put room for the judges just a minute before the cosplay show offs started, making the audience occupying the viewing area, which was supposed to be for us (pls. be reminded it was too small already). Haay, and that annoying Level-up crew keeps on reprimanding some fans to keep from the space (good enough to accommodate 10 people) just in front of their booth. They reasoned out that it was off-limits because they hold transactions in that space for buyers. And I really hated how dimwitted he was, of course that was the instructions of his superior and he’s just following SOPs. But anyone can see that every damn attendant was focused on the catwalk. How in the world can you expect a customer at that very moment??? And with that crowd, how can you expect a 5 ft. kid like me to enjoy the show? Oh well, that was a Palm Sunday and I decided to quit watching, instead I attended the mass and thank God, it gave me peace of mind. After the mass, I contemplated and realized that I am slowly outgrowing the local fandom. Of course I still love anime and Japanese culture, I’m just disappointed. I feel like the Anicons here are contaminated of pathetic Filipino culture. Oh boy I don’t want to end up criticizing my own nation again, so I’ll end these thoughts of mine. Just check my Ozine Fest 2007 pics HERE.
I’m just glad that the long weekend is just a day ahead! And that means I could rest and watch anime! Yay!!!
Last Sunday I attended the Ozine Fest 2007 at Megatrade Hall 2. I was there early just to be sure I’d get a ticket. I’ve learned my lesson at UPAME Matsuri last December. And I was right because it went sold out by the time Neil came. Gosh, cosplay seems to become more and more popular with kids. I noticed the vast increase of young cosplayers in the event and the good news is that they are becoming more conscious of accuracy and quality of costumes. Just to add testimony to the growing popularity of cosplaying in the Philippines, Ozine released a cosplay magazine. I bought one just for the sake of knowing how the Ozine people do it this time. I have to admit that any magazine they release doesn’t please me. There was no single issue have had something that’d be interesting for someone who’s been an anime fan for almost 8 years already. Of course I’m not saying I know every single anime but their reviews are pathetic. It couldn’t get my attention for more than a minute. And I’d say, I could get articles waaaaaayyyyy better than that for free –in the internet. Though it’s really ironic, because I actually have 5 or 6 issues, but it was only because they were featuring events that I had attended and I was hoping I’d see my pic somewhere hehehehe… Going back to the event, I was both pleased and pissed with the way it was organized. Pleased because of the bazaar (huhuhu, I wish I had more okane) and there lots of fun booths –parlor games, video games etc. But I was pissed because the organizers seemed not to consider the convenience of the fans. First, the area for the cosplay viewing was too small, and it went even smaller because they had to put room for the judges just a minute before the cosplay show offs started, making the audience occupying the viewing area, which was supposed to be for us (pls. be reminded it was too small already). Haay, and that annoying Level-up crew keeps on reprimanding some fans to keep from the space (good enough to accommodate 10 people) just in front of their booth. They reasoned out that it was off-limits because they hold transactions in that space for buyers. And I really hated how dimwitted he was, of course that was the instructions of his superior and he’s just following SOPs. But anyone can see that every damn attendant was focused on the catwalk. How in the world can you expect a customer at that very moment??? And with that crowd, how can you expect a 5 ft. kid like me to enjoy the show? Oh well, that was a Palm Sunday and I decided to quit watching, instead I attended the mass and thank God, it gave me peace of mind. After the mass, I contemplated and realized that I am slowly outgrowing the local fandom. Of course I still love anime and Japanese culture, I’m just disappointed. I feel like the Anicons here are contaminated of pathetic Filipino culture. Oh boy I don’t want to end up criticizing my own nation again, so I’ll end these thoughts of mine. Just check my Ozine Fest 2007 pics HERE.
I’m just glad that the long weekend is just a day ahead! And that means I could rest and watch anime! Yay!!!
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