Christmas Shopping

So because it's Christmas Eve and all, I just wanted to  share a little fun thing. Ever since I got into the Sentai trend two years ago, I've always wanted to come away with something physical, and what better way to do that than by expanding my already growing collection? 

If you may remember, I managed to get the Legends Mobirates some months ago (this post). Treating myself to a Christmas present, I was lucky enough to find the original Gokaiger Mobirates on sale at Great Toys Online Annapolis Branch for P3800! :) 

Christmas has come early me thinks.

The Gokaiger Mobirates comes with a few extra goodies: Gokai Red, Shinken Red and Go-On Red Ranger Keys! :) Finally, a Gokaiger Key. TuT

So below, you can see my growing box of Gokaiger merchandise. Two Mobirates and about 33 Ranger Keys, with a few duplicates that I don't really mind anymore. Merry Christmas!! :)

QA Three

I love being part of the QA Team. While it comes with understated salary digits compared to the rest of the developers, it's an often very misunderstood and underestimated job by those outside the gaming industry it makes having the job that much sweeter.

The opportunity to be a part of Anino Games way back in the summer of 2011 gave me a first-hand experience to what my first job would be like a year and a month later. My practicum with the company earned me rare opportunities to take command of a handful of people in the absence of someone more experienced. The wonderful irony of training real employed trainees when there wasn't any salary for the effort. It was felt.

Anino similarly provided me with a pool of friends that will be cherished forever. The opportunity to work with much of the same band of people I did back in my practicum days was priceless. These small friendships quickly evolved into posse's that shared meals together.

My other cohort in the QA Department is Tristan. He's a few months my superior, but I'm just as amazed at his diligence, despite having various complaints. He gets the job done somehow. We became a duo team-testing several projects together, so we quickly understood how the other works. I couldn't have asked for a better teammate. Especially when you take into consideration his excellent magic tricks and innate designer/programmer prowess.

3 months ago, I had the fine and wonderful opportunity to work with Jamie, an OJT who stayed with Anino after my departure to complete my senior year. When I rejoined the company last May, I heard stories of Jamie mostly from Bea (her teacher who urged Jamie and her friend to apply) that involved interesting comparisons to myself in terms of capabilities. I recall Bea fondly likening Jamie and I to Brawlers or Berserkers who could do so much in the world of D&D.

Meeting her personally last September/October was somehow pleasing. These past 3 months gave me the great chance of watching her work, interact with her and have a sense of what Bea was talking about. Tristan and I were eternally grateful that she was there to shoulder the workload.

It was ultimately a give-and-take between us if I considered our professional relationship: I taught Excel tricks, she taught Cinematics. Timing couldn't have been better.

Together, the 3 of us comprised what I fondly called "the QA Three", inspired by Thor's "the Warriors Three". Towards December, we began planning dinners along with our resident engineers, Fix-It Felix and Marvin the Martian.

Overall, I'm a bit bummed out that the QA triumvirate disbanded last Monday due to Jamie's contract ending after the company Christmas Party. But we all definitely came away with awesome, unforgettable memories we'll cherish forever.

Clockwise from the left: Nikka, Tristan, JD, Jamie, Me

The best memory we'll take away aside from the various dinners would be the QA Shakey's Dinner we financed last December 13. Our QA department comprised of our QA Director JD, Senior QA (now Associate Producer) Nikka, and the QA Three (Tristan, Jamie and myself), so we decided to have a dinner to have a long overdue celebration of mine and Tristan's regularization status with the company, as well as Jamie's farewell party.

Good luck to Jamie wherever she may go, and best wishes to our little QA family in the coming year!

Christmas Party

I never associated Mondays for Christmas party dates, but my company never really followed much of the status quo these days, so I suppose I could forgive the oddball date. That aside, I've been with Anino Games for 8 months now and counting, and might I saw what an interesting first few months it's been.

That aside, I just wanted to share how my first experience went. As far as Christmas parties are concerned, exchange gifts were seldom omitted, so AGI wasn't any different. We used trusty Elfster for the drawing of names, but the only complaint I had was that the names were re-drawn 3 times. Ah well. There was a raffle and I was asked to play the host for the event. On top of that, I joined the Talent Competition instead of the usual Annual Newbies Presentation since there weren't so much this time around.

I must say though: The food was great, I got the right gift for my "baby", I got an awesome gift from my "Santa", I had tons of LOL moments and my group (STAB composed of Felix, Nikka, Kem, EJ and myself) bagged the award for Best Presentation. :D Yup, this was a party of firsts to remember.

22nd Birthday

Two Saturdays ago was the day I turned 22. I remained in the dark with about as much as what I wanted, which I guess warrants the usual dinner party at home. The only difference, I guess, was the presence of mutual friends with Kai. So it wasn't so much of a waste.

As Saturday came and gone, I had yet to confide what I wanted from my parents. It hit me the following day that I wanted new glasses. And the rest, while not exactly history yet, is still in its festering stages.

But let's go back to what I received to save us all from my ranting. God knows I would. So my haul was different from past years without the usual wishlist to choose from. But the gifts rocked in their own way for being so different and unpredictable.

So this year, I got myself a Pikachu stuffed toy and a Challenge Accepted Meme Shirt from the Binamiras, a black paper pad from my nephews (c/o their mom), a Genius Voodoo Doll from TC and Kay, an Adidas Star Wars Jacket from my Uncle Noel and Auntie Shirley and a Harry Potter 1 book from Kai.

Last Wednesday, I received the glasses I had bought for myself that served as my parents' gift for me. The frames are Exte, and our favorite optical shop, Executive Optical, was the usual niche for eyewear of the family. :)