Anime Festival Asia 2012: It's A Go!

And it is confirmed!

I will be going to Anime Festival Asia 2012 (AFA 2012) to be held at Singapore Expo. This was merely a coincidence because we booked our flight to Singapore for November 9 to 12 last August and after a week of our booking I saw AFA's advertisement. I was like, YAAAAYYY!!

If going to Singapore is my first time to head outside the country, AFA is my first ever international convention. Not only that, it is a well-known gathering of otakus all over Asia and has amazing booths and programs planned for the attendees. This year, AFA was held also in other countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.

AFA is not only an anime convention but also a movie house and a concert hall. I Love Anisong which is dubbed Electric Groove is the musical event for AFA and it will hold three concerts for its three-day event starting 7:00 PM. On November 9, there is the Electro Stage for a solo concert of T.M. Revolution. The next day there will be the Jump Stage for FLOW, LiSa, BABYMETAL, fripSide and m.o.v.e.. On its last day, the Diamond Stage will feature May'n, Minami Kuribayashi, Sea*A and Sphere. Aside from the concerts, movies such as Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Naruto: Road to Ninja will be shown during the day. Separate tickets apply for all of the abovementioned.

Having all of these ahead of me, who am I to be not that excited? See you AFA and see you Singapore!

RA 10175: A Stand

I was eating breakfast when I heard on the radio about a certain cybercrime bill that the government is about to approve. I said to myself, "Wow, it's a lot better than RH bill", since right now cyberbullies and other forms of computer misuse exists. Then a few days after, I've encountered some posts in my Facebook news feed about liking or retweeting a post can have you charged for libel. I disregarded these until last Monday, when I heard that RA 10175, Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, is about to be implemented on Wednesday, October 3. So it was that bill I heard last week with the news on banning liking and retweeting.

Last Tuesday, while I was browsing my Facebook groups, a friend of mine posted something about an online rally against the Cybercrime act. That pushed me to read its full text since a lot were already sharing "No to Cybercrime Law" and other anti posts. I don't want to make a stand without analyzing what this act is really about. As I was reading, I really knew something was wrong with this.


Photo courtesy of Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance
RA 10175 contains the usual cybercrimes we are to encounter at present. Punishable offenses include illegal access, gadget misuse, hacking and identity theft. There were also content-related offenses like cybersex, child pornography and libel. If you are found guilty, you can be punished with prision mayor or fined at least Php 200,000.00.

Now what is it that the people are ranting about? It is the libel clause. There is no doubt that this act is to protect the public as well as the corporate industries from cyber attacks. But to suppress one's freedom of expression, it is a different story. One cannot simply comment regarding a national issue since he's afraid to be charged guilty of libel. For example, a congressman will run on the upcoming elections, as well as his son. Many whereabouts will arise from the public and these whereabouts will be released in their blogs; an online journal. Now, if this act is to be implemented, whoever writes against an issue is charged of libel.

But what they are tampering is public opinion. We are all entitled to speak our minds. Who knows if our understanding of the matter can be beneficial to the ones involved? Sometimes listening to others can make us grow and create better decisions. If speaking one's mind is a crime, how come we call this government democratic?

Another is the clause on cybersex. Have the authors considered that if a couple decided to do "it" with full consent due to their longing for each other, will that still be considered a crime? To what elaborate means does this clause pertain to? Maybe they should go after those who engage in cybersex with compensation; that is already considered prostitution.

There is nothing wrong with what the act is trying to do. Banish cybercrimes. We all want that. But to our legislators, please consider revising this law. What you stated here is only a side of the coin. Before you pass this, please think of what the consequences may be. Please look on all areas of concern before creating a law that might affect millions of people.

I hope the legislators who created this bill will hear our pleas. But as for now, I make my stand to not pass this until amendments are made. Remember that what you are trying to get into is social media. With just a blink, everything may change.

Think before you act. Think before you click. Think before you sign.

The Third Hospital

It was not so long ago when I started watching Korean drama. Also, it was not so long ago when I started fangirling over So Nyuh Shi Dae (Girls Generation). And it was also not so long ago when I became aware of the effects of eastern and western medicine.

Photo courtesy of Google
Korea's tvN started airing The Third Hospital (제3병원) last September 5, 2012. The story revolves around the conceptions of eastern and western medicine. Each practice is represented by a doctor: Kim Doo-hyun (played by Kim Seung-woo), a neurosurgeon and Kim Seung-hyun (played by Oh Ji-ho) an acupuncturist. These two are not just specialists on western and eastern medicine respectively, but they are also brothers who have gone separate ways.

Photo courtesy of Google
Now how does SNSD relate to this drama? SNSD's Soo Young appears in this series as Lee Euijin, a violist, who is madly in love with her childhood friend, Seung-hyun. She opted to stay at Seung-hyun's place when she came back from Germany to audition for the Asia orchestra. With her is Jin Hye-in, which is played by Kim Min-jung, a doctor who is practicing neurosurgery with Doo-hyun but has an eye for eastern medicine since her father is an eastern doctor.

Personally, I am very much excited to watch this series, not just because Soo Young is there, but I would also like to learn about the whereabouts of the different medical traditions. Hopefully, I can create a review of each episode.. errmm, I'll just keep my fingers crossed!

Coffee Break: Subspace Coffee

Before anything else, today is my ping pong buddy, co-owner and good friend, Jonathan's birthday. He generously treated us at Shakey's Restaurant at SM Megamall. Thank you Atan! May you have many more birthdays to come!

For our afternoon snack, Sienna, Ray and I, went to Subspace Coffee. It is only 5-minute walk from our office. Sienna was the reason why I came across this cafe. She said that she read a blog about a Korean-inspired coffee shop having K-Pop music as background songs and a spot for fan merchandise. Having said that, we decided to give it a try.

Subspace has a unique interior which gives a relaxing and classic ambiance. The beverages are in the form of coffee and tea which comes in hot or cold. They also offer pastries and turnovers to accompany your drink. Sienna and I ordered Purple Potato Latte (hers in hot, mine in cold) while Ray had a cold Peanut Butter Latte.

While waiting for our orders, I had the chance to take a peek in the fan merchandise corner. There resides the albums of TaeTiSeo, SNSD, Shinee, Super Junior, f(x), and many others. I believe that this place is a one-stop shop for Korean culture enthusiasts.

So what can I say about my drink? I think purple potato is just a fancy name for ube. We can justify that since our drinks tasted like it. It is not too sweet, which for me is perfectly fine. The cold drink looked like a normal "coffee in a plastic cup with straw". I envy the hot variant because the coffee froth has a design in it. If you want cute drinks, go for the hot ones.

As for the Peanut Butter Latte, well, er.. it tastes like peanut butter. But it is also not the sweet type, maybe because it's coffee. It has a strong taste in it, which is perfectly fine for those who do not prefer sugar.
For my conclusion, Subspace coffee is a cozy place to have an afternoon chat with your friends. The Korean music is a plus if you're a K-Pop fanatic. Prices range from Php 80 to Php 150.

Subspace Coffee
G/F Grand Emerald Tower
F. Ortigas Jr. Road (formerly Emerald Ave.)
Ortigas, Center, Pasig City

Hero Face-Off 2012

Despite my late arrival at home last night, there's no stopping to go to my second cosplay convention this year: Hero Face-Off 2012. It was held at MegaTrade Hall 1 in SM Megamall Building B. This event is mainly a cosplay competition and the winner will be the representative of the Philippines for Anime Festival Asia in Singapore on November.

I didn't come to cosplay at all. I came for a new purpose, and that would be photography. Since I've been inactive in cosplay for almost 8 months already (my last cosplay was at AME Monogatari last November), I decided that I will figure out a reason to go to conventions even without a costume. Thank God He gave me a camera. It will now be put into a good use as I'll be roaming around practicing my photography skills.

Also, we had a general meeting with my other club, Otaku URule! Shot Glass, which is the photography division of my cosplay organization from my alma mater, PUP Otaku URule!. I am required to attend because I urged our founder to make this work. Hearing his visions and desire of the other members to learn, I gained the motivation to push this through. We took pictures of the cosplayers outside the hall (yes, I don't have money for the ticket) who are in really cool costumes. Thanks to my officemate who lent me his Lumix camera, I was able to keep up with the settings and produce cute pictures.

Here are some of the pictures I took:

Check the photos at my FlickR account: http://www.flickr.com/people/paupaulene .

It was a tiring day, yet I am very happy to meet other people who walks under the same light as mine. Cheers!