For the first time ever, Manila hosted one of
Asia’s biggest pop conventions, AsiaPOP Comicon (APCC). Geeks, cosplayers, artists,
collectors, gamers, and otakus gathered together for this three-day event. It
was held at World Trade Center, Pasay City on September 18 – 20.
Celebrity guests, such as Paul Bettany (J.A.R.V.I.S./Vision
from Iron Man and Avengers films), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei from Game of Thrones), Colton Haynes (Roy
Harper/Arsenal from Arrow), and
Jeremy Shada (Finn the Human from Adventure
Time), were present during the event. Famous cosplayers, such as Alodia
Gosiengfiao, LeeAnna Vamp, and Linda Le, as well as well-known artists, were also
there to meet and greet their fans.
At first, I didn’t really plan to go there,
because I would have to go there by myself and I might just bore and tire
myself. I already missed the first two days and it was on the third day,
that I found out that Jeremy Shada was at the event. As a big Adventure Time fan, I rushed and drove
as fast as I can to The World Trade Center to have the opportunity of meeting
or at least see the real Finn the Human.
This was the first comic convention I had ever attended, and I wasn’t really sure where I should go or what I should do, and I
went there alone by myself. I didn’t know if I should take a picture of the
displays or with the cosplayers, or maybe look for the celebrities. I was such
a comicon virgin. Haha!
The first thing I did was just roam around. I
wanted to know what was going on during a comicon, what the booths were, what
was happening, and where I could find the celebrities.
After that, I saw Alodia Gosiengfiao’s booth,
and she had the longest line of fans who wanted to meet and greet her. She is
one of my local celebrity crushes. Beside the fact that she’s pretty, she’s a
certified geek and gamer. So what’s not to like?
Anyway, this is the part that I love to tell.
I stood in line to meet her, and after some minutes, an event staff came and
cut the line, because Alodia was needed on the event program. The bad luck
threw a rock and hit me right in the head when the line was cut in front of me.
But then suddenly, a woman, just right behind me, started arguing with the
staff saying, “Kanina pa kami nakapila
dito! Pagbigyan niyo na kami! Magpapa-picture lang naman mga anak ko!” She
kept arguing with the staff. It was like her children are the spawn of god or
whatever. The staff ended up letting them back in line to have a photo with
Alodia, and now they were in front of me. I didn’t leave the line. I kept
standing there, hoping I’ll still be able to meet Alodia, while listening to
them quarrel. Then I was literally like, “Miss,
teka muna. Nauna ako sa kanila. Nasa unahan nila ako.” The event staff said
to me, “Ganito nalang. Para wala nang
gulo. Umalis nalang kayo sa pila.” Yup! She really said that to my face. I
mean okay, I get it. She was trying to do her job, but still, that’s just
straight up rude. I was so pissed.
Now for the best part. What I did next was to
go in front of the line. I squeezed myself in front of the crowd, just so I
could get a closer look at Alodia. She was cosplaying as Mikasa (Shingeki no Kyojin). I grabbed my phone
and snapped some photos of her. I even called her, and she looked right at me
and posed. <3 Luckily, a cosplayer friend, who was standing right behind me,
got her attention. She went to her friend and greeted him. She was literally standing
in front of me. I could just tap her shoulder, or even sniff her hair. When she
was about to return to her table, I grabbed the chance to have a selfie with
her. I said to her, “Alodia, selfie!” And that’s the story of how I had my
selfie with Alodia Gosiengfiao.
After the Alodia part, I roamed around again.
I took photos of the displays and took selfies with the cosplayers. There were
tons of cool cosplayers, from quite simple to very amazing costumes. I met
Spidey, Jack Sparrow, War Machine, Batman, The Flash, Scarlet Witch, Black
Widow, and many others. And then I saw Natalie Emmanuel walking around with her
bodyguards and her fans following her. I couldn’t even get near her.
I was only used to seeing comicons on the
internet, and I never really knew that it was really that fun. Meeting and
interacting with awesome cosplayers, witnessing the talented artists at work,
seeing different celebrities, and just being surrounded by my fellow geeks. It
was so much fun. I really love the experience and I’m sure that I will again be
present for the next AsiaPOP Comicon.
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