The year 2019, last of its decade, was a fruitful year for keepsakes.
We’ve done quite a lot of projects, visited a lot of events, and made new friends along the way. These are so many that by December I wished I could take a break (I did).
To finally close the book on 2019 and start 2020, I am listing down what we have done so far. Those who have listened to Episode 61 got first dibs on this as I posted the episode last month.
Just a note: This post contains a LOT of videos, so bear with me if your browser starts to become slowwww.
January
There are not that many events this month, but my highlights of this month are my first visit to the PPOP Generation: Boom Ganda! launch at Teatrino Greenhills, the first Anime Idol Convention at the Unilab Bayanihan Center and my first trip to Baguio at Kospurei Bunkasai, where I spent half of the day resting in one of the benches.
February
After being invited by Christian Mack to Baguio last month, I got invited to visit the Hypnosis Underground event at One Corporate Center, a few kilometers away from Otaku Expo 2019 at SM Megamall.
If my memory serves me right, this is where I first met Ai Natsumi in a different role as part of the event’s team.
I also made my first visit to the Big Bad Wolf Book Fair to buy some books which I plan to read in my spare time (I’m not yet finished).
The main highlight of this month was my second visit to Cebu for Otakufest 2019 at SM Seaside City Cebu, which gave me a dose of how active Cebu’s otaku community is.
March
Nothing that much happened this month except my visit to Cosplay Matsuri 2019 and rushed visits to both the National Swap Meet and the Ateneo de Manila’s Natsu Matsuri on the same night. That said, I’m no longer sure if my body’s still ok to visit another Natsu Matsuri.
April – May
April is Ozine Fest month. This month also led me to recognize CH4U’s Uriko as a fish lord who persuades fans to watch their reboot concert.
May is another busy month, starting with the first taiban event (or maybe live house idol event for a better term), Aidol Fiesta.
Imagine having the venue’s aircon bust out due to how many people are inside, which makes me wonder if this is the same case in Japan.
Following that is the Pinoy Otaku Festival, NCPH’s way of making me go to faraway places such as the far, far, Fairview, Quezon City. I had a great time moderating another successful panel on idols albeit having some technical difficulties.
June – August
June is TOYCON month, which will see another milestone in the local aidoru community. I had to take a break afterward.
Two months after, I had another trip to Baguio for Cosplay Tanabata 7, which was, unfortunately, their last. They did go all-out for this one, and I left Baguio bittersweet.
The week after, I went to Misaki Con at Lucky Chinatown after a long time not going in.
September
This year’s Otaku Musika Festival saw the LaLa Parade, Wonderland Hiraya A.L.I.C.E. Project (ALIPRO) among others.
This was at a time where the major groups were on a break, so it was an open opportunity for the other groups to take the stage.
I learned to have a checklist for events so I can keep myself busy and fulfilled at the same time. Doing this at Cosplay Mania 2019 satisfied my experience there.
October
It is quite often that events pile up on the same weekend. On a single weekend, I was at Cosmic Con moderating a panel with international cosplayer guest Hanabi, at Kontrabida Ball checking out what made it a unique cosplayer’s party, and at Cafeterium Chaldeas playing games with the servants as their master.
I was also at ESGS to roam around and meet friends because why not:
November
I am happy to be part of the media covering Coslandia 2019, the first Japan Fiesta 2019 and the Melody Road 2019 Anime Feature.
I am sad to learn that the iBlog Summit we bloggers frequent to every year has to end in a half-day session to recap what has happened to the definition of blogging and how it took us to places.
After going to iBlog, I caught up on the Bunny Girl Senpai movie’s fan screening, and it was so awesome.
I went back to Cebu for ARCHcon 2019, and if I were to be asked, I am happy to live in Mandaue City for the rest of my life. Thanks ARCHcon for having me!
Another defining moment in this year (and perhaps in this decade) is the YouTuber boom – at Blogapalooza’s Blogafest 2019, I saw a LOT of people popping their cameras up to document stuff.
I felt really old enough to see a new generation of content creators – and yes, “content creators” are the new “bloggers” for me.
December
December was wild – I got almost broke in the first half of the month if not for my two coin banks in the office. Moving on, I was able to witness an actual SEA Games event and go mingle with the community and media at Movie Stars Cafe for the Naruto Slufgest launch party.
In the second half, I got to witness the 2nd OtaCute Cosplay Festival with CH4U and ALIPRO helming the stage.
I was also able to go to the last three conventions in the Metro for the year, Ozine Fest Winter Festival, Cosplay Matsuri, and the TOYCON held every December at the Megatrade Halls.
“Live at Dungeon Akiba”
After Dungeon Akiba opened in Mandaluyong this year, I paid a visit last May and made it my content house for 2019. Some of the outputs of this are part of the podcast as well as several Facebook Lives.
keepsakes 2.0 / 2.1
Another milestone is my hosting move. I remember again the time I spent to port every post possible to the new platform, spending around two to four hours each night before the site goes up on September 20.
Another theme change was applied in early December, in time for 2020.
Overall, the year 2019 has been awesome – already looking forward to what this year will bring to us!
Thank You to the people I met and will always meet from Manila, Cebu and Baguio – most especially Gary from Cebu, Jhazzie and Protektor from Baguio, Sere from The Lily Cat, and all of you who have made my 2019 great.
Special Thanks to our Partner Brands
- Cubizone / Cubinet Interactive (Mr. Oliver Viray and Ms. Fatima McGinn)
- Aniplus Asia (Ms. Rosanne Lo)
- Dungeon Akiba (Emerson and Ferrari Lacson)
- AICon Team (Shem Yu)
- Otakufest 2019 Team (Ms. Sonia Vidal)
- Pinoy Otaku Festival (David d’Angelo of NCPH)
- Curteanah Cosplay Events Baguio (Ciel Santos and Lora Lopez et al)
- ARCHcon 2019 Team (Jolu Escaño and Jaiun Roa)
- Coslandia 2019 Team (Kai Rodeadilla of HHE)
- The Epic Gaming Regiment (Thomas Regala)
- Anime Corner Philippines (Marlo, Franz, et al)
- Ambox Events (Ms. Joy Nakata)
- Ozine Team (Dennis and Bryan Uy)