And this time, I get to take home some goodies.
Oh, there were some kikay stuff with it, too, and some grocery items. But I didn’t include them in the picture anymore because I gave them to my mom already. And it’s good that there were Coke glass splinter showers no more. 
Although still febrile due to ATP or Acute Tonsillopharyngitis (and not because of what you are thinking), I joined the other bloggers in invading Taste Asia for the second time for the announcement of SM Hypermarket’s Blog Writing Contest last night, August 23. There may have been a hundred or more bloggers who attended the event. Most, I’m sure, were eagerly anticipating the Cliquebooth and the Chocolate Fountain (and loads of free alcoholic beverages). The Chocolate Fountain was absent from the event though (and Ganns was irked about not being able to satisfy his daily sugar requirement) . But the ever-popular Cliquebooth was back for another stint. Bloggers are just so into camwhoring. Don’t believe me? Go check which group of bloggers have the most number of photos at the Cliquebooth site.
Here are some of our photos:
It was fun meeting the following people again (and some, for the first time): Jake (the first person I saw, going the opposite direction of Taste Asia), Karlo (the first person I saw at Taste Asia), Allen, Jeff, Ganns (why can’t I lose weight like you?), Chris (you caught me in the act!) and Apples Haravata, Benj (rising TV celebrity), Allan (who forgot he had to leave as early as 9 pm because maybe he enjoyed our company too much), Eric (Puedeng puede, ‘di ba?), Darwin (sorry I don’t have the wet ones again), Geri, Jayvee (I love the pink shirt), Jehz (I thought you’re supposed to look older), Joe (thanks for lending me your lighter! You’re a life saver!), JP, Sir Jun, Lauren (who looked fabulous wearing her red WP shirt), Jon Limjap (we meet at last! You’re like a comment away from beating Benj as my blog’s top commenter), L.A. (fresh from school), Marghil, Paul, Tew, Marcelle, Yatot (Promise! I’m really a doctor!), Shari (Late!), AJ (I like your style!), Adam Mordo, Ade (the haircut looks nice, you don’t have to kill the poor barber…or did you already?), and Fritz.
And, yes, I saw my crush and I did get to talk to him. 
By the way, congratulations to the following winners of the SM Hypermarket Blog Writing Contest:
Grand Prize (trip for 2 to Kuala Lumpur) - Anitokid
1st Runner Up (Sanyo digital camera) - Anton Diaz
Winners of a DVD Player
Winners of the Nike Sunglasses
And thanks to Ms. Aileen Apolo for letting us, bloggers, be part of this event. 
The party ended a bit early and the place got emptied of guests gradually until about 1 a.m. when the last of the bloggers, finally, left and allowed the Taste Asia staff to clean and arrange things.
And because school is just school and work is but a hindrance to living life, Karlo, JP, Allen, AJ, Jehzreel, Benj (too bad he had to leave early, though), and I refused to go home yet and went to Starbucks at Blue Wave for a bit of caffeine shake-up (and a slice of sugar rush). We talked about a lot of online and offline stuff. Of course, the Malu Fernandez topic was still hot (though I’m a bit confused about the resignation part. It just came a bit too soon). We talked about the difference and similarities of online and offline identities. Also, we’re persistently egging Karlo to do a particular dare, but I think he did good by not doing so, because, otherwise, it’s just going to fan the already-dying flames. And, yup, a lot of movie spoilers came around. Good thing I don’t mind spoilers that much (I’ll still watch those movies!). Other stuff are already the “unbloggables”. Too bad L.A. wasn’t there. I’d love to grill him with some questions.
At around 3:45 a.m., when all the night-shift barristas have gone and only the manong guard was left to keep us company, we finally decided to call it a night (or a day?). I rode a taxi to get home to my aunt’s house in Mandaluyong, wherein I already found her up and about, cooking breakfast. I don’t know how the other guys were able to go home, though. At least we’re not dead drunk. But, really, we should have gone beer-drinking because some didn’t go to their morning class anyway (hello Karlo!).
This is what I like about attending blogger events. I get to meet in the real world all those bloggers I’ve been following in cyberspace and know more about them, which perhaps could be more or less reflective of the reasons why they wrote those stuff in their blogs. And it’s my only chance to see my crush in person . Blogger romance, according to Jon Limjap. Well, though I had a not so good experience having a relationship with another blogger, I’m not completely eliminating the possibility of having another go at it with another blogger. After all, the relationship didn’t work out not because we’re both bloggers but because of something else.
But, wait, why did I end up talking about my love life? 
All I want to say is: I can hardly wait for the next blogger event! 
Other people who blogged about the event:
Tags: sm hypermarket, taste asia, sm hypermarket blog writing contest, after-party party
