Battalia Royale Survival Guide

Notice: I shouldn't be posting about Battalia Royale in any way at all. Because I'm afraid I'll be breaking a few of the Underground World's rules or something. I'm into preserving the cult status but on the other hand, it's nice to see people appreciate this kind of live action role playing game. And so, I'll keep this entry very vague but quite useful for others who would want to witness killing other people. And so... We RUN.

My Fanart tribute to Sebastian Kiriyam played by Sir Kevin Martin

I just got to know Battalia Royale from a friend. I got invited and I have no idea on what to expect on this Interactive Play they are raving about. I have denied myself all the spoilers and news about it. In short, I'm very clueless onto what will the curtain offer.

Let's back track a bit: I remember watching Battle Royale, an epic cult film classic from Japan where the story revolves around a class of students kidnapped to be taken in an isolated island and are forced to kill each other for 3 days until there is only one left standing, back in 2007. I have long been a fan of watching Japanese films and this movie sticks with you arbitrarily.

And so being a fan of the film, my friends and I agreed to wear a school-ish outfit to feel that we belong to the scene. BAD IDEA.  At the end of the play, my little black doll shoes was split in half from all the running, my skirt was quite damp from all the crouch sitting position and the rain and I got blood splatters all over my well-made up face.

It wasn't the usual play you see on theaters. First off,  the venue is the whole backyard of Museo Pambata which is quite ironic considering the loosely based premise of the play from the movie. There are no seats. As an audience you literally have to run and you are part of the play.

The experience was quite exhilirating. I've got mixed emotions on seeing other people kill each other and us, the audience, being herd around by Marshalls with flashlights and fake gunshots. Not to mention my very straight upbringing made wince on some parts that are taboo on other people's eyes. I can't tell you how different the play is and how it is chaordically presented. I'm a very techie person. I look on how things are made. But in this case I overlooked it all because I feel I'm really part of the play and you are just captivated by how alien things are in terms of content, technicalities and production especially when you are such a fan that living it for real is whoa.

I guess you just have to sign up and experience it first hand which is also quite a challenge because they have a very different ticketing system. Remember this one is underground. You are warned.

Photo Credit from Battalia Royale/Sipat Lawin Facebook Page.

My entry won't do the first hand experience justice.

And as to abide by artist rules, I support independent artists such as this independent theater. Audience aren't supposed to take any pictures during the event because it is still a play after all. Hence, the lack of photos on this very entry. You don't go to theaters and click away. It's theater ethics. Duh!

But after experiencing the play first hand, I need to post it on my blog somehow. And so I came up with a rather weird idea of posting a Survival Guide for Battalia Royale from my own experience. I wouldn't want someone leaving the venue with one shoe torn in half like me. So here it goes, The Battalia Royale Survival Guide.

1. WEAR RUBBER SHOES. Why? There will be A LOT of running and your feet will be very much grateful because it will survive 3 hours worth of ache. (Remember I went there thinking I'm part of the game right? So I was in cosplay mode, school girl top and skirt, with knee high socks, doll shoes and a clunky handbag - REALLY BAD IDEA)
2. KEEP YOUR BAG SMALL. I carried a clunky bag that night which drags my running. It flops itself around me as I take a sit or stand up. I wish there was a baggage counter somewhere so I could leave my things, but of course, it will be at my own expense. You wouldn't be able to do much while you are inside anyway. You'll be herded.
3. WEAR PANTS. I was in a god-damn mini skirt. I can't crouch down when I needed to view the characters closer. I can't sit comfortably and it was just a complete bad idea to wear a skirt on this play.
4. HYDRATE YOURSELVES. As I said, you will run a marathon - some what. So you will need water. Seriously, we were so parched afterwards and looks like we've been through hell and back.  I'm already saving you from this foreseen event.
5. PACK A PACK. You can include cigarettes and lighters to that small bag of yours. You can take a yosi break in the venue. They are cool with it, even Marshalls smoke their stress off.
6. NO BLINGY. You wouldn't want scratching someone with that huge ring of yours or losing your favorite piece of jewelry over the stampede. So, keep it low key. You are an audience, not the star.
7. DON'T BE SUCH A HECKLER. I hate hecklers as much as I hate spoilers. They are self proclaimed Kill joys and are no fun. There are a few during our batch who seem to be worth killing as well as the characters. Jeez, these people doesn't realize hard work.
8. BRING A FOLDABLE UMBRELLA. Bring this along with your small bag. The venue will be the whole backyard of Museo Pambata, no roof over your heads when it starts raining. That, or a trusty RAINCOAT.
9. BRING MONEY. Aside from paying your fees if you are a walk in, there are also a lot of Battalia Worthy items that are work keeping. Like the survival kit which contains a random class card (the character that you want/don't want to follow), a flashlight, a glowstick, a map anda Battalia Royale insignia bandana for only 100Php. There are also raincoats there for sale just in case you skipped Rule #8 and some cool art pieces. And also, you will be so hungry after 3 hours, you'll just car pool to somewhere open to eat.
10. BRING A HANKY. There will be killings. So there will be blood. That means some mother will be angry about your stained clothes. Prepare a Hanky to wash off sweat, blood, saliva or other human exhaust.
11. BRING A FRIEND. Seriously, half of my experience is enjoying the horror with a friend. We stick together through all the running, and more running. And let's support independent theaters, spread the word.
12. BRING AN OPEN MIND. There will be people who will be not so cool with what they'll see. Majority of them gets eliminated already when they haven't watched Battle Royale. The rest will be just be happy to  look underneath girls' skirts. Jeez.
13. BRING THE EXPERIENCE HOME. Tell your friends about it. Go again next screening. It will be always a different experience I'm telling you.

So yeah, I think that sums up all my frustrations. But those frustrations only added more fun to my Battalia Royale experience. Seriously, I got blood splattered all over my face because we got good erm, seats. And I was drenched from the rain, but it made all the scenes quite dramatic and daring.

But at the end of the day, you question yourselves about the morality of it all. It's one of the message that BR is trying to tell us. If given the choice, would you stop the play or not?

To experience the thrill of killing people, please check out their facebook page here. And their ticketing system here. And here's a SPOILER alert for the stubborn ones on what Battalia Royale is all about. Spoiler here.

33rd Manila International Book Fair 2012

Last September 13, I proclaimed myself bankrupt. Because it's that time of the year again when I went on a marathon sprint on how to splurge money on books in less than 2 hours~! 



Happy 33rd Bithday MIBF~!



Look Ma, NO LINES~!



Guess who greets you Welcome~! Ramon, Stan, Carlos and Tado.

Manila International Bookfair is on its 33rd year. And I'm one of the many who looks forward to the event to make that one big haul of book acquisitions every year. Well, not really a BIG haul, but it is one of those rare moments that I get to buy more than 2 books on a visit to the bookstore. For your information, I do go to bookstores a lot. I lurk there and smell the pages of fresh and worn out books. One of my dream is to die in a library. Pretty morbid but I'd be one hell lucky ghost. :D


Anyhoo, I accepted the challenge from myself to only spend 2 hours buying books in the sea of pages. I geared myself up: rubber shoes for comfy walking, shirts, back pack for convenience, debit card for atm access use and my trustee phone for the list of books I need to acquire for this year.


It goes:
1. Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
2. Umbrella Academy (Graphic Novel) by Gerard Way
3. Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
4. A classic book.
5. A graphic novel.
6. A New York Times Best Seller Fantasy Book

So hunting down this book became my mission for the whole 2 hours. I readied myself up and when I enter the halls of SMX convention center - damn! It's vast and spacious. Lucky for me, they aren't a lot of people at this hour. And so the book hunting adventure begins.


I first lurk the corners of the event. Rows and rows of stalls from different publishing houses filled the venue. Students came in and out in different uniforms and books in every shape, sizes, thickness, tangibleness and rarity were stacked, shelved, spread out and boxed out decorated the place in every turn. I enjoyed the first 20 minutes booth hopping, checking out some rare finds, too expensive memorabilia photos and flyer collecting. By the time I bought my first book, I got loads of wasted paper in my hands, but I hoard it because I am a self-proclaimed pack rat.




I love the spacious hallway. That means no hassle.



Books of the Great.



Books of the Awesome.



NBS: The Usual Suspect.



Someday, their idea of how a book looks like will be an abstract thing to the next generation.



Tempting isn't it?



The Books of the Future. No more old dusty rickety shelves.






Memorabilias.






Who dares to put the 2 side by side? My favorite author and my not-so favorite fanfic writer. Jeez.






Sophie's World.  I got the very old version of this for just 85 Php. Now it is almost triple the  price range with a new embossed 3D looking cover. I'm glad they retained the butterfly. 

The usual stores dominated the place, National Bookstore takes up most of the place, but not as quite big as last year. This year, they seem to split it with Alamat or one of the known publishing houses. There is also Powerbooks rivaling NBS, then my favorite PSICOM Publishing and Summit Media.


I failed to find VISPRINT's booth on the event. I want to buy Siege's novel or Eros Atalia's but turns out when I asked the customer service, they weren't on the list this year. But I think some of its comic book writers were on the event for the free comic book signing even on the Sunday.


I first bought Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. I've been contemplating to buy this book for years, but it's quite pricey, but with the MIBF event, I make exceptions. I first found out about this book through a friend of mine in college. She lent it to me but I wasn't able to finish it. So I promised myself a copy.


Then I found Skyworld Series on an independent table somewhere in NBS. I first look at its first volume, I'm like, okay, blah blah blah, but then the second book caught me off guard it says Alexandra Trese and my hand immediately grab the first one and my feet head straight to the counter. Jeez. Talk about a nice collaboration. :D




Another proof that Filipino Comics is still alive.

Then I found this booth, I'm not sure if this is the real name, called Manila Typesetter but I found a bunch of really old sci-fi books and magazines tucked away in a small corner of the venue. And seriously, some of them are first editions. The ones with good titles are 100 and above, but there are books sold at around 50 or 10 pesos. I've never been a fan of sci-fi but considering that Douglas Adams is under that category I feel I must scour the place for any Douglas Adams. NONE~! Turns out that all these rare books are owned by one person only, and he set up this book to sell them. I was curious, so I asked the owner, which turns out to be a foreigner if he has some Douglas Adams earlier edition books. He said "Oh, I have them. But it's in my house." I asked him why isn't he selling does. He kindly  replied "You know, there is none other out there compared to Adams." and he just smiles at me and I think I know what that means. NO HITCHHIKER BOOKS. Turns out Adams is a collectible. Drat. I smiled at him and he said that I could always order online. I said sure, but I'm looking for early edition ones. And with that I walk away with a solo Neuromancer first edition at hand bought for 100 pesos. Still a score! :D





Cheap books. Guess what, so is the book on the right most side. Tsk. Tsk.

I am down to my last 10 minutes. Although I found a rare find, I'm not satisfied with my acquisitions yet. I browsed on the rows of books around me and found myself lurking the halls for a whole hour for that one other acquisition. I broke my own record. Jeez. But still I browsed and went for a really nice New York Times Best Seller book The Magician by Lev Grossman. It's being compared to Harry Potter as for the reviews.


And so the list goes: 
7. Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (NO AVAILABLE STOCK)
8. Umbrella Academy (Graphic Novel) by Gerard Way (NO AVAILABLE STOCK)
9. Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides (CHECK)
10. A classic book. (NEUROMANCER - CHECK)
11. A graphic novel. (SKYWORLD 1 and 2 - CHECK)
12. A New York Times Best Seller Fantasy Book. (THE MAGICIANS - CHECK)

Over-all I got 5 acquisitions and I'm really happy about it. Books in general make me happy but it's the point of acquiring them and the idea of living temporarily in someone else's shoes that makes me feel rather fond about it. For me reading a book is choosing one's own adventure. You can live suicidally like the Lisbon sisters, or be fearless like Alexandra Trese, or live in an ultimately impossible future in Neuromancer or live in a world full of magic. It's a choice. I've chosen my books wisely and from there I make my world more interesting.


And thus conclude my experience from this years MIBF~! Till Next September again~!

Visprint's Writers In Talks 2012

It's hard to picture last Saturday without all the jumping and photo-bombing involved. But of course, you'll go gaga over your favorite local Filipino writers and artists if you get to meet them in person.


Instead of rotting at home, I convinced myself to go to Visprint's Writer in Talks event at Alphaland Southgate Tower near Magallanes Station. Together with 3 of my friends, V, Z and P, we spent the early hours of a Saturday morning spazzing at our local comic book heroes.









I first thought that the event won't be packed since it is held on the wee hours of a Saturday morning, but I spoke too soon. The event is packed. For the small world of local comic enthusiasts, I think we more than filled the venue. And for some reason that I seriously didn't know about since I just followed my friends into a room, we ended up at the Fictional Writing section not the Comic Book writing section. I still blame V for this though. I've been smashing my head on an imaginary keyboard during the talk. But it turns out that the Fictional Writing is also fun. Actually, I enjoyed it a lot even. So I stopped hitting my head on my imaginary keyboard and prop myself up for some bite size learnings. I actually went there to hear Budjette Tan, writer of TRESE comics, but I ended up being a fan of these three local writers.


For the fiction writing, we had 3 of Visprint's renowned authors - Siege Malvar, Eros Atalia and Karen Francisco. Each give an almost 15-20 minute speech about their creative process when it comes to feature writing.


Siege Malvar is the author of Crash and is a virtual dictator with a huge following. He seems young and enthusiastic enough to impart knowledge to his readers. Though he mostly talk about the "writing process" in general instead of how he wrote his novels. Don't get me wrong. I have an excuse. I confess that I haven't heard of Siege before actually. I'm not familiar with his works or how he writes, so it is very alien listening to him on stage since I don't have anything to reference it with. But I did get a lot of pointers on how to write from him. Really cool inspiring ones. I promise to check his novels this coming Manila International Book Fair.





Here are some of his quotable quotes:
1. Lose Yourself.
2. Love is the greatest influence.
3. Write with your doors closed, don't worry what others are thinking.
4. Burn your ships.
5. Don't worry, you have a new best coming up.
6. Bad decisions make good stories.
7. You will get rejected whoever you think you are.
8. Just FUCKING do it.
9. Let it be the pathetic piece of shit it's supposed to be, you have enough time to rewrite your shit out of your shit.
10. More on him here:  http://siegemalvar.tumblr.com/


Eros Atalia, I think, is a one of a kind - more than  a person with a forsaken name - he is God's gift to our generation of book enthusiasts. Other than being famous for his deadpan and humorous works of fiction and even bigger personality, he seamlessly entered the realm of the independent. Mind you, I love films as well, so that's plus points for Eros. So, Okay, maybe I haven't researched enough, or I'm just plain stupid, but I think he's one of the few authors that successfully made it out of the print medium. His even bigger personality onstage kept the listeners ROFL-ing on every deadpan joke he makes, and believe me I wasn't able to get as much pointers from him because I'm just simply enjoying his speech.
If only I could write his jokes here, I would. But it wouldn't do him any justice.





Let's see if I manage to squeeze something about Eros' awesome speech:
11. Each one of us has a story. "Lahat ng bagay may kwento yan. Ikaw may kwento ka na  kinekwento mo sa kaibigan mo, sa magulang mo, sa sarili mo at sa imaginary friend mo."
12. In writing, it starts and ends with the self.
13. What do I want to tell the world? How should I tell it to the world?
14. "Life sucks - And buhay ay nagmemedyas." (Korny, pero bumenta sa akin. Lol)
15. Your world is not the only thing that is important.
16. You write by where you come from.
17. Start from the familiar. Write what you know.
18. Research can help, not through and through. "Hindi tayo National geographic."
19. Ask yourself if you are happy that what you tell your audience.
20. "Handa ka bang makinig sa sarili mong kwento?"
21. More of this awesome author here:  http://www.panitikan.com.ph/authors/a/esatalia.htm



And lastly, it's Ms. Karen Francisco. Can I just say after hearing this lady in front of the stage, she automatically became my hero. She writes, she draws and she went to law school. Somehow, that's how I see myself 3 years from now. But I loved her instantly at her geekiness.  She reference about Harry Potter, LOTR, Hunger Games and Game of Thrones throughout her presentation to which got me thinking on what she does with her novel. (Yes, I don't have a background about her as well. But I knew it involves a lot of Magick). This got me intrigued and so I dashed out of the room and bought myself a copy of her book Naermyth (on which I would be so proud to share you my review here).


Here are some of her magic tricks:  
22. Storytelling is like a magic trick. You are the wizard. You are free to mold the world.
23. You have the ability to make the ordinary extraordinary. But it depends on how you gonna deliver your story.
24. Ordinary things open to a new world. Like  a scar, arrow, iron throne or a ring. (See the geekiness?)
25. Tip for plots: There must exist a certain physics.Set rules that you can personally abide by. You have to have a signal goal.
26. You need to have outlines. Branch out or draw. Whatever it is, you need to have an outline.
27. Read again and again and edit.
28. Go ahead and be messy.
29. So many things can come from learning - research.
30. Use of tarot cards is efficient in storytelling.
31. What happens next? Know to yourself what you don't want to happen. Play detective.
32. YOU HAVE TO BE YOUR OWN NUMBER ONE FAN.
33. More about Naermyth and the author here:  http://www.naermyth.co.cc/


After the individual talks, we proceeded to the panel discussion. Most of the question raised are more on general fiction writing. Tips and tricks on how to write and how to handle rejection. Then, it's Autograph-signing time! Woohoo!  Each of us clamoured to our respective authors. I made a beeline to Ms. Karen's line immediately with my latest acquisition, her novel - Naermyth. Then got my photo taken with her and with the other two authors. That started the spazz-a-thon and P's unstoppable fan-girling and jumping. Obviously, I'm there to photograph each moment.



Interested minds listen to the speakers.



Panel discussion aka the hot seat portion 



Ms. Karen taking her time to sign my newly bought Naermyth copy.



I wouldn't miss having a photo with her of course.



P spazzes while Ms. Karen signs her uhm, Notebook



A photo with Siege Malvar.



Z opted to pose with THE God of Love



Oh, And V as well.



P asked Eros this time to sign her notebook.
I didn't quite remember what it actually says but it goes something like this:
"SANA WAG MO ITONG IPAMBALOT NG TINAPA."



Guess who's missing in the photo. Hmmp.

Then me and my friends sneaked in to the comic writing section. We are just right on time for the autograph-signing session as well! I bought TRESE's 2nd book, since that's the only thing I'm missing and zoomed straight to Mr. Budjette Tan. Being a crazy stalker fan that I was, I showed him my photo of us together in Metro Comic Con 2010 at Megamall. He told me that he was supposedly going to wear the same shirt today and he said, good thing he didn't. I can't help but spazz around him. I honestly think that Trese is an awesome novel and that it should be made into a live action or movie. And I got dibs on directing it. Lol. (So I get to pick the "Kambal". Lol.) Here's more on my beloved Trese comics: http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/





We were supposed to be here. Not that I'm complaining.



Our HEROES.



After 2 years, I met Mr. Budjette Tan again~!



Spazzing fan girl.






My asking-for-your-shirt move didn't work. He doesn't want  to go home half-naked.



V, giddy to have her comic books signed.



Apparently, they wanted that One Piecce poster signed,
so it's a 2 in 1 inspiration hanging from their wall.



When the organizer said that it's time for Manix to go.



But of course, they wouldn't go home without  a  picture with him - or  sort of with him.



Photobombing their Hero. Oh, I wish Manix could see this.



If you look closer, that's a mic that they are 'touching'.
Because they said "Manix held this very mic. It's sacred."



M got her comic books signed and still, they are photobombing Manix. During this time, we asked Manix if he knows the Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy, he said it is his favorite book. We uncontrollably spazzed, especially our youngest.



Couple Photobomb.



Alas a photo of V with Manix.



Z and Manix. Jeez, Manix wouldn't smile like this if he knew what you did behind him.



Giddy fan girl P poses with his God.



Of course, I joined in the spazz-a-thon anyway.

For those, like me, who missed the comic book panel discussion. Please check this site out: http://flipsidepublishing.wordpress.com it's a podcast about the panel discussion on Budjette's and Manix' respective comics. :D


Luckily, we all got what we wanted. V and Z got their respective photos with their favorite writers, I got photos with all the speakers (lucky!) but P got Photos AND autographs - complete! Her jumping helped her a lot. Haha. Unfortunately, we scheduled that day to be a multi-event. We head straight to Shang Ri La, had our brunch and then, watched a Bulgarian film about a mythical goat that's screening on this year's Cine Europa. But before that compulsary group photo from the event.  



I feel so out of place with the colorful background.



Group photo~!



And another one outside Alphaland Southgate Tower, where no-tower can be seen. lol.

Love,

M