SM Clarkada: Castaway 3 Music Festival with the PampanGang

So… I unexpectedly had the best birthday week ever this year. Generally speaking, I don't really look forward to birthdays. I don't really remember the last time I received a memorable birthday gift nor do I remember the last time anyone bought me a birthday cake. Most of my friends never really make time to celebrate my birthday, either. But this year… this year was different. This year was perfection.

For starters, I spent my salubong on the road to pick up my mom from the airport. It doesn't sound like much; but Jules was so excited to meer her, he actually volunteered to drive us there to pick her up. That's when my mom surprised me with this awesome Wonder Woman cake!

Other than that, my birthday was mostly spent working (I didn't have the guts to tell my boss that it was actually my birthday) and napping, but then I got a bunch of geeky surprises from my Kuya Rod, who also visited from Davao, Jules and Mat:

And then, on the weekend of my birthday, my friends and I went on a random roadtrip to Pampanga for the Castaway 3 Music Festival courtesy of SM City Clark:

Jep was sitting in front.

After dealing with the heat, the hunger and my PMS-y mood, we eventually made it to Red Planet Hotel...

...where TJ ruled as Gizelle's makeup artist…

...and I got my outfit (and must-haves) ready for the night.

Those Gold Stack Honey Butter chips are TO DIE FOR!!!

Soon after getting ready, and buzzed on the alcohol provided by Ivy (who sadly couldn't make it herself huhuhu), we got on a trike and headed to SM City Clark for what would be one of the most memorable nights of my life. (Ironically, it was memorable because I only remember half of it. :p)

The SM Clarkada PampanGang

The PampanGirls

We were welcomed with unli-Jaeger-and-Red-Bull and the rest is history!

TJ in full-on blogger mode!

Us in the VIP area in front of the actual crowd.

G was super excited to meet Tom Taus. That died down, though. :p

FOAM PARTEHHH!!!

Jules branded me with a J.

I admittedly don't remember much of the night, but I had so much fun screaming, drinking, dancing, jumping and laughing, I have to say it was, without a doubt, my favorite music festival experience to date (and that's saying something coz I've been to quite a lot). Check out TJ's video of our shenanigans here:



To top it all off, I got surprised with ChickenJoy in bed the next morning. :)

Jules always knows exactly what I need. This guy is full of so much win!

You know you had a good time when everyone still talks about the night every now and then. Well, even now, two weeks later, we still look back on the night fondly. So fondly, in fact, that the SM Clarkada / the PampanGang (as we have coined ourselves) is heading back to SM City Clark tomorrow for some more fun!

Huge shoutout to the SM City Clark team for taking such good care of us and for giving us one of the most memorable nights of our lives! So much love for you!!!

Like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter and Instagram: @smcityclark :)

Geekiness makes me ultra giddy.

As a geek, anything related to comic books gets me ultra giddy. As such, when I was told that there would be a gathering of statue collectors in Timog yesterday, it didn't take much convincing to get me to travel all the way over there to experience the world of statue collectors.

black shirt from Fairview Terraces / Loki necklace from Fandom Trinkets / hope bracelet from Quirkypedia / grey skirt from TOPS / stripy socks from Proppy Socks / black leather shoes from Chloe Edit for Zalora

I was first introduced to the world of statue collecting back in the 90s. My dad had quite a stunning collection of statues on display at our apartment in Germany. He had Lady Death, The Crypt Keeper, The Crow, Wolverine, and Batman and Robin (to name a few) displayed on our shelves and while he still has them to this day, they sadly aren't on display anymore.

Still, that collection of my dad's was my first taste of real geekery. I found such immense joy staring at those things on lazy days and memorising every crevice and detail of them.

I would also accompany him to Comic Book Laden every weekend to get my fill of Archie comics and to get some Crash Bandicoot statues of my own. (I know, right? What a choice. If I had known then what I know now, I would've grabbed more epic characters off of the shelves.) Little did I know how expensive those statues actually are. In Timog, all of that came to light.

The meeting we were at had everything a geek like me dreams of: stunning statues, geeky giveaways, awesome auctions and a freaking unboxing of the Iron Studios Captain America 1/4 Legacy Replica, which is, by the way, pretty bad-ass.

Despite it being two hours away from where we live and lasting for four hours or so, I had an awesome time, mostly because I felt at home. I don't really know how else to put it.

See, I don't have a lot of geeky friends, so being surrounded by a whole room of people who understand how I feel… well, that made me feel pretty normal. Just knowing that I'm not the only person who goes crazy over geeky things on a daily basis was really enough to make me feel at home, even if I was the only girl there to begin with. Haha. <3

I'm so grateful to be dating a guy right now who gets my geekiness (and may actually even be geekier than me). I'm also super grateful to the SCAPH group for welcoming this newbie collector with open arms. While I don't think I'll be collecting statues on my daddy's level anytime soon, I still thoroughly enjoy ogling them as much as I did as a kid.

Cheers to these South boys for letting me tag along and for not-judging me when I asked for my photos to be taken. (Sorry for using this photo, though… It's the only decent one of me. :p)