Ayos Night

It wasn't until I was in the venue, in COWO Asia somewhere in Ortigas, that I realized the event AyosDito.ph had produced was exclusively for bloggers--so much for retention. Like what I told their country manager as we waited for drinks, it was a bold yet appropriate move for the online selling and buying site. Bloggers have come a long way.

It's been a while since I last attended a bloggers' event. As usual, I went alone. Good thing the organizers provided transfers to the venue as it's not exactly the most accessible spot in Ortigas.

As expected, there was food, entertainment and prizes including a camera and an iPad 2, none of which I unfortunately wasn't lucky enough to win. What I didn't expect though was the booze. The bar was open and it was a Friday night so before even finishing my iced tea, I grabbed a Buko Lychee Martini while talking to one of the company's customer service officers who was very nice and chatty. The drink was strong I thought. Really strong. I was a little buzzed after my first one.

The food was OK. They were pretty consistent with the Filipino theme. AyosDito.ph has many "versions" in many countries but locally, it sets its self apart from other similar sites by providing quality service in that unmistakably Filipino manner. I think the best part about it is its no-hassle posting feature. There's no need to register and fill out long forms. You can even link your AyosDito.ph account to your Facebook profile.

For dessert, I was glad they got Sebastian's as I've been curious about this ice cream house for some time now. Offering distinctly Filipino flavors, they had Frozen Taho, Mangga't Suman, Sapin-Sapin and Champorado for us that night. I'm glad I didn't have to pay to try Sebastian's because I realized that night that it's not for me. Although Sapin-Sapin was surprisingly not bad, Taho and Mangga't Suman were just weird while Champorado would have been good if it wasn't too sweet.

The bloggers were each asked if we wanted to join the games. I appreciated this because it's one of the parts that I avoid in such events. Naturally, I declined. While everyone busied themselves, I got me another drink. Bad idea. I could barely finish that second Martini cocktail. I don't know what they put in it (muriatic acid?) but it felt like it was burning my stomach and it really got me buzzed. It was that strong.

The event was hosted by AyosDito.ph's representative, Vanessa and DJ Tony Toni who provided the much needed comic relief though out the program. Aside from the question and answer portion where the bloggers got to know more about AyosDito.ph, one of the highlights of the night was when celebrity guests John Medina and Solenn Heussaff came out. Solenn and John Lloyd Cruz are the official endorsers of AyosDito.ph. The latter couldn't make it so we were treated to another John--less star power (as of now) but cute nonetheless.

Solenn was funny and cool.

DJ Tony Toni: If you were to sell something on AyosDito.ph, what would it be?

Solenn: Panty!

The event was capped off with a performance from harana.ph.

I thought I'd spend the entire night in one corner having mental conversations with myself but thanks to the friendly folks from AyosDito.ph, I wasn't a wallflower. A classmate from last term, who happened to be with the company, was also there. It was a pretty fun event--and the loot bag was not bad.

Check out AyosDito.ph.

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