Manila Major 2016 (10th June to 13th June 2016)

So, my first trip to Manila.

A little explanation on how I got there.

So Bruno introduced me to Dota 2, and then I started to get addicted to watching Dota 2 professional matches online.  And at the same time, Valve has organised Majors (one Major every 3 months), leading up to the annual The International, which is the largest Dota 2 tournament ever held, with the largest prize pool ever, in Seattle.  The first Major was held last year in Frankfurt, and then there’s the Shanghai Major this March, and now, Manila Major in June.

When I first watched Dota 2 matches, it was actually during the Shanghai Major.  Over a few days, I came to know a few of the top teams, roughly some regularly picked heroes, their abilities, etc.  I got to know a little on who are the good casters, panelists, players, etc. Bruno’s quite amazing, to be honest, to be able to make me get so addicted to watching a game just within a few days.

So when Valve announced the next Major to be held in Manila, we were both excited.  Suddenly both of us wondered at the same time – should we go catch the Major in Manila since it’s so near to us?  Well, it won’t be possible if we couldn’t get the event tickets anyway, and knowing just how fast the tickets get sold out, we weren’t super convinced that we would be able to get them.  And so, we camped at my office on the day the tickets were to go on sale, and after refreshing the page for 1.5hrs, we actually got the tickets!  We couldn’t believe it.  We got the inner ring tickets for Saturday, and the middle ring for Sunday.  It was unfortunate that we couldn’t get the inner ring tickets for Sunday, but nevertheless we were glad to have snag tickets for both days!

Right after we got our tickets, we booked the airtickets and hotel stay without delay.  And hence, it’s set.  I have to say it’s the most impulsive travel decision – ever. For me, that is.  I’ve never go on an overseas trip on such short notice!

And so, days went by until the day we were to fly.

9th June 2016

I took half day from work, and thought I could get some sleep in the afternoon before the midnight flight.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any sleep at all.  So I just met up with Bruno at the airport at around 11pm, did the usual check in process, and we started to wander around the transit area for some supper.  We also collected the pocket WiFi which we rented from Changi Recommends. We had some decent fried carrot cake and lava salted egg yolk bun from Hong Kong Sheng Kee Desserts stall, and I had milk tea from there as well, while he had coffee from Wangz. We managed to spent some good amount of time there, eating and reading Dota 2 reddit, twitter, etc, before heading to the gate for our Jetstar flight to Manila. Didn’t manage to get any sleep on the plane either… meh.

10th June 2016

Despite not getting any sleep at all, we did get a few nice pictures of the clouds!

Pretty, huh? =) These are taken by Bruno, by the way.  He’s the one sitting next to the window.

And so we landed in Manila, uneventful, at around 6am.  And I was shocked at just how bright it is in Manila at 6am.  It felt like 10am back in Singapore, really.

First impression of NAIA Terminal 1 – chaotic.

I had booked my airport transfer with Mozio so that I don’t need to deal with unnecessary stress upon landing at a country where I’ve never been to, but it was also hard to find the transfer counter when there’s totally no directions or signage whatsoever.  We had to resort to asking security officers, and even they weren’t quite sure where the counter was.  But we did managed to find it after a security officer brought us correctly to the office.  Thank goodness.  But while searching for it, we did saw the horrible crowd waiting for normal cabs/transportation and boy, I’m glad I spent a little more in getting that private transfer.

The journey from airport to hotel was uneventful as well, except for the fact that the driver didn’t seem to be really sure of the exact directions, and he spent much time on the phone trying to get someone who could guide him along. Bruno suggested that I could show him the google map navigation, but then I didn’t think he knows how to use GPS anyway.

Yup that’s how bright it was.

Anyway, we got to the hotel safe and sound, and the hotel which we chose was Golden Phoenix Hotel Manila. I’m just going to rate the hotel at 3 stars out of 5 (or 2.5 stars actually).  There’s just too many stuff to complain about, and I’m gonna leave all that on my tripadvisor review. The only good points about the hotel is the close proximity to the Major venue Mall of Asia Arena, as well as the super comfortable bed. That’s it.

Since we did not have tickets to the Friday’s event, we spent most of the day queuing for the secret shop instead.  After queuing for 3.5 hours under the hot sun (and subsequently a huge thunderstorm), we finally made it to the Secret Shop!

While queuing, we heard some loud commotion at the front of the queue.  We totally had no idea what’s going on, despite trying to crane our necks to see.  After a while, the commotion got louder and nearer, and guess who we saw?

The actor for Hodor in Games of Throne! There’s a reason why he’s there. He actually opens the door of which the players will enter the arena from, at the grand final between OG and Liquid.  I missed the opening ceremony coz I was on ground floor queueing up for our coffee and pastries, but that’s all right, I’m not a fan of GoT anyway.  :x

By the time it’s finally our turn at the counter, all the “legendary” boxes are sold out.  We had no choice but to just grab the “rare” box, which turns out to be a huge blessing in disguise.  Judging from the online complaints and feedback, it seems that the legendary box is totally not worth the money. Good that we’ve got the “rare” one!

So, the stuff inside my box:  A Dota 2 fabric mousepad, a Lion plush, a pair of Dota 2 socks, a white Manila Major baseball cap, a Batrider tee, a Manila Major lanyard, and a Manila Major iPhone 6 case. All these for PHP1500 (~S$45).  Not too shabby.  I only want the lanyard actually, so the rest of my box actually went to Bruno’s brother (who still owes me the money!).

We finally got time to grab lunch at MOA, and after a long search for Gilligan’s (which Bruno insisted was super nice), we couldn’t find it and the mall’s concierge was of no help to us.  The mall is seriously way too big.  We ended up at a random Pinoy restaurant called K.K.K. The food is decent, but extremely salty.

I don’t exactly remember what we ordered, but I remembered it was some kind of pork stew with caramelised bananas (on the right), a beef stew dish (the middle one), and kangkong. Can’t remember the total cost of this meal though, as I’m not the one who paid for it.  =x  This is so refreshing, not having to pay for meals when I’m overseas. (Trips with Reko notwithstanding, of course.  He’s such a generous guy.)

Because we had this lunch pretty late at around 3pm, we were both extremely full, and we ended up just grabbing some bread from BreadTalk, and some bottled water from 7-11, and headed back to our hotel, hoping to stream the last game of the day using the hotel’s wifi.

We did catch a little of the game, but it ended early and we both were kinda bored out of our minds at around 7pm.  I managed to stay up till 8.30pm, before I dropped dead on the bed.  Not sleeping for more than 24hours is kinda tiring, and coupled with long hours of queuing in the day under the hot sun… I was almost sick.  Thank goodness I brought some medicine along, which I took just before I slept.

11th June 2016

We got up early, but didn’t manage to get to the arena early as we needed to drop by Uniqlo at Mall of Asia to do an exchange on his jacket with a malfunctioned zip. So by the time we got into the arena, the first game had started and most of the seats with good view have been taken up.  But still, no complaints from us as we tried to find the best seats available and just plonked down and got into the hype almost immediately.

Our lunch is just some hotdog sandwich, curly fries and criss-crossed fries which we bought off the food booths as we didn’t intend to give up our seats in order to get out of the arena to search for food. We took turns going out to buy bottled water, toilet trips, etc.  The people at the venue were also very friendly and patient, queues were orderly, etc.  No one attempted to cut the queues, or give an irritated “tsk” when you asked to be excused to walk past them in order to buy food, etc.

And the hype.  Wow.  There’s really just no words to describe it.  They cheer for every team, every player, appreciate any memes by the casters, and everyone is just so passionate about this game.  It’s really just an amazing feeling to be part of them, part of the hype, part of the Major.

Food in the arena was super tasty and super cheap.  Bottled water at PHP25. Hotdog sandwich at PHP110, a combo (sandwich with large drink) at PHP155.  Their hotdog sandwich is sooooo tasty, oh my god.  I could eat like 2 or 3 at one go without feeling tired of the taste.  And they actually warmed the bun right there, grill the hotdog right there, so everything’s just fresh.  Heck, even their Starbucks in the arena is cheaper than Starbucks in Singapore. Only PHP125 for a tall latte!  That’s SGD3.65!  In Singapore?  It cost SGD5.50 for one.

Before we knew it, the games for the day was over and we went over to MOA for our late dinner.  We tried to search for Gilligan’s again, but nope… couldn’t find it.  We ended up at a random western grill fast food restaurant where Bruno grabbed a beef stew pasta, and I ordered a beef stew with rice.  Again, I don’t know how much it cost as I’m not the one paying.  We didn’t take any pictures this time either, I guess we were too tired and hungry.

We somehow managed to trudge back to the hotel, and spent some time over Reddit and Twitter (as usual), before we sleep.  It was pretty nice, having some small talk between us, with him showing me what Reddit was saying, and me showing him what players were tweeting.

12th June 2016

Grand finals! First up, Newbee vs Liquid!

I’m so hyped about this.  I’m first and foremost an EG fan.  They are the first team I rooted for since I started watching this game during Shanghai Major, but they have a bad run ever since then because two of their players went over to another team to play at the very last minute before the player rosters were locked.  EG had to scramble to find players for their team.  And apparently the team cohesion just wasn’t there – so the results were pretty bad.  EG was placed last in their group at group stage and didn’t make it through the playoffs.  I supported Liquid too, probably because I like how the team came together, and that all of them were pretty low profile. and humble. Doesn’t help that there were two cute Finns in the team ( *cough* do I have a weak spot for Finns or something?!).

Anyway I was cheering for Team Liquid, and so was the majority of those in the arena.  The roof almost came off whenever Liquid gets a kill or wiped Newbee.  The games were so back and forth that I thought my heart couldn’t take it anymore.  Liquid took the series 2:1, and cheers went off the roof.

Liquid advanced to the grand finals to face up with OG, and this time the arena seemed to be pro-OG instead.  But it’s pretty obvious that most of us were then just there for good dota.  It doesn’t matter which team wins anymore.  As long as there’s intense fights and wipes, the arena just exploded with all the cheers and claps. The hype was just awesome.  OG took the series 3:1, and even though the team I rooted for lost, I’m still glad I was there to witness the whole tournament for the last two days.  Bruno is an OG fan, but he knew I was slightly sad and tired/hungry, he decided that we should just leave the arena once the games ended.  And so we did…. and now I felt quite bad because he didn’t get to see his favourite team lift the trophy.  =(

But anyway, this time we managed to find Gilligan’s!  It’s actually over at the sea side boulevard, where there’s like a permanent fun fair going on.  There’s the giant wheel, bumper cars, some games and stuff, with many restaurants and bars.  Pretty awesome place actually.

Since Bruno had eaten there before, I let him decide on the dishes.  We ended up with pork sisig (pig’s ears), lechon (roasted pork) and sizzling tofu.

Verdict?  Pork sisig is surprisingly nice.  The tofu was okay, but I realised Philippine’s tofu tastes somewhat sour-ish.  It’s definitely not tofu that turned bad though, I guess they are all sour by nature.  The lechon was definitely something I didn’t like.  I upheld a certain standard for roasted pork, and this certainly did not pass my mark.  The skin isn’t crispy enough, the lard doesn’t melt-in-your-mouth, and the meat is just generally really tough.  Maybe it is a popular dish among Pinoys, but definitely not for me.

While we were finishing up our food, we heard fireworks. It was then we remembered that it was Philippine’s Independence Day, and we hurried to finish our meals and managed to catch the last few seconds of the fireworks show.

If we had another evening to spare, I would have come back here just to enjoy the breeze a little, and explore this place a little more at night.  It certainly looks like a place to let your hair down and relax a little.

13th June 2016

Last day in Manila!  We packed up, and checked out of the hotel, choosing to leave the bigger bags at the concierge while going over to MOA for some brunch and dawdling our time away before catching our flight home at 5pm. After wandering around aimlessly, we decided on Gerry’s Grill.  I wasn’t feeling too well due to the intense scorching heat while walking to MOA from our hotel, but I kinda bear with it until we got into the restaurant.  I really didn’t have much of an appetite as my body had a mini riot. I felt feverish, sweaty, had difficulty breathing and feeling nauseous all at the same time.  I was a little annoyed when I learnt that Bruno wanted to order a proper lunch, because I really had no appetite then.  But since I didn’t really say a word on how bad I was feeling, I couldn’t blame him.  So I just asked him to choose the dishes.  We went with beef stew and kangkong again.  This time I ordered watermelon shake instead of the usual melon shake, and thankfully I ordered that because for some odd reason, the refreshing taste of watermelon helped to stabilized my body a little.  It also helped that Bruno indulged me while I tried to make some small talk in order to distract myself away from the nausea.

And when the food came, it smelled so good that I felt my appetite returning.

Very nice.  That’s all I can say.  The kangkong was so leafy and soft, so different from the kangkong we have back here in Singapore.  The beef stew wasn’t as tender as the ones at K.K.K., but they are definitely tastier and not overly salty, and their potatoes were boiled to soft perfection.  Our lunch also involved some constant arm waving to chase away flies, and both Bruno and I were bitten by mosquitoes halfway through the meal.  LOL.  Let’s just hope it ain’t aedes mosquito.

After the meal, we went over to a local coffee chain for some Philippine’s coffee, Bo’s Coffee.  They are quite similar to the US chains like Starbucks, Coffeebean and Tea Leaves, etc, but their beans are obviously different.  Bo’s Coffee beans taste a little milder, but it’s still a good mix of espresso and milk for my latte.  Bruno as usual, didn’t quite like western coffee as he always prefer a stronger type of coffee, and the typical western brewing process just doesn’t suit his tastebuds.  But he knows I need my caffeine, so he just went along with me, or sometimes even suggesting it even though he knows he won’t like it.  He’s a nice, considerate young man… hope some day some girl can be appreciative of him.  XD

Thanks to his insistence too, we managed to finally find Contis too, where I promised Sharon that I’d get a box of Choc Oatmeal cookies for her.  We had been searching for Contis since the first day we were here in Manila, but we couldn’t find it because really, MOA is just that big.  I had already given up and already told Sharon that most probably I won’t be able to get it because I can’t find the shop.  But Bruno is just so persistent in finding it… geez.  You gotta admire his patience, really.

So after everything’s done, we went back to the hotel to repack a little and called for Uber for the trip to the airport.  Uber is certainly life-changing.  Haha, okay that’s an exaggeration but really, it’s so helpful and useful.  I’ll take Uber any day than hailing a taxi along the street. I certainly don’t want to have the trouble of haggling with the driver on the fare, or insisting driver to switch on meter, etc.  Nope, Uber any time please, thanks.

We were pretty careful at NAIA, checking our bags’ pockets all the time, keeping an eye on our belongings etc, thanks to the “bullet planting scheme” that went viral.  Fortunately there’s no such problems for us.  I was miffed that they threw away my extension cord though, saying that it’s prohibited to bring onboard a flight.  Like, what?  Afraid that I’ll go strangle the pilot with the cord?  -_- That’s so stupid.  Changi Airport allowed it, why didn’t NAIA?  But never mind, despite it being a relatively new item, I just let them threw it away at the bin.  Better than kicking up a fuss… it’s not terribly expensive anyway.

Uneventful flight again back home, apart from some slight turbulence. I’m glad to be away from Manila’s scorching sun.  It doesn’t really feel like a holiday to me though.  It’s really just …. attending an event.  If I have the chance to go again, with no objections from my boss or the colleague who’s backing me up at work, I think I would go again. Just a different hotel next time.

Afterthoughts

Learnt a few lessons from this trip.

1) Do not stay in Golden Phoenix Hotel Manila, just because it’s close to MOA.  I’ll rather fork out a bit more and stay at Hotel Jen or Sofitel next time, and catch their shuttle to MOA or take Uber.  Uber is really cheap in Metro Manila anyway.

2) Pocket wifi is useless.  Indoor reception is pretty bad.  Just go for the usual prepaid data sim card instead, and use hotel’s wifi when you’re back in the hotel.

3) Sunscreen and umbrella definitely necessary.  Umbrella for both rain and shine.  It saved my life a few times, lol.

4) Food is really cheap, even at restaurants.  Don’t need to bring too much cash, I doubt you’ll spend much of it.

Well that’s that!

Next thing to look forward to – my Japan trip this December!  =D