Liveblogging at SM Marikina (updated)

3:30PM

I'm at SM Marikina right now trying out their Free Wi-Fi. Got here about an hour ago and won a free mini-DVD-RW for my trouble. Let me first state for the record that this is my first time to both liveblog and to actually try out Wi-Fi... yeah, I'm so backward. Special thanks to JC for lending me is Eee PC, since I'm too cheap to actually get one on my own. It's a neat little gadget for stuff like these. I actually thought I'd have trouble using it as it doesn't use Windows and all, but it's really no trouble at all... well except for the really small keyboard. I keep pressing 4 keys at a time, so if you see a few misspellings or grammatical glitches, that's because of the really tiny keyboard and not my personal inadequacy.


So far I didn't encounter any problem connecting. I got a strong signal down here at the Cyberzone, but that's to be expected. I'll have to roam around in a bit to see if the signal is as strong elsewhere. It's a tad bit slow for my liking though, someone here told me it might be because there's too many of us here trying to access it. There's about 30 of us here in this spot. I don't rightfully know if that should be the case seeing as I know close to nothing about Wi-Fi except that it's cool when it's free.


I'd post pictures except I can't see the link that I usually use. I'll just fill those in later I suppose. I'll post again in a bit, I'll be checking out the mall now.

4:30
Wow, time sure drags when the connection is slow. I'm at the 3rd floor now near the foodcourt. Fewer people here, but the connection is as slow as ever. I tried uploading a photo again, but the
I keep getting disconnected.

4:55
I'm back down. I got disconnected again upstairs and couldn't get back on so I decided to come back down for the wrap up. I can't exactly say that this test is a rousing success, but at least they were able to showcase this branch of SM. I probably wouldn't come all the way here for the free Wi-Fi, but if ever I find myself in the area, I'll definitely drop by for bite or 2. The place is quite nice, and the it's pretty accessible, so that's fine.

Laptop's being raffled in 5 mins., I sure hope I get it hehe...

After the event
Ok, I'm writing this a day later, because I was bushed and basically plopped down my bed after dinner and didn't wake up until early this morning. I'm adding the photos as I wrap this up as I couldn't for the life of me upload a picture there. So how did I find the event? It was ok I suppose. I can't say it was exciting--a lot of it was spent waiting for things to load.

Still, I did get interviewed for TV. (What? I didn't mention this earlier? Like I said, half of the time I was waiting for stuff to load, decided to post a short one so I could get on with things.) Just a few questions that I answered quite lamely. I don't know when they're showing it, but it's on QTV, let me know if you see me hehe... I got to network a little and met a few bloggers, none of whom probably remembered my blog url, hopefully they remember Chicken Mafia though. Aside from the few that I've met before like Azrael (who announced the event in the first place), I saw Kel the magician, rocker babes Sha and Karla, and for the first time Raredog, the Earning Student, Bob Reyes and the alluring Flair Candy hehe... Oh, and I finally met Ade--really, more respectable that I would expect from his hilarious entries.

And lastly, the place was nice, I mean really really nice. I've always considered SM to be box type edifices. Not much art and just-the-basics affair. This one is not. Sure it's like most SM's on the outside, but the inside were quite artsy and the ceiling spacious. It looks like a really fun place to go to. Plus the employees were friendly. I had to go to Eastwood after and didn't know if there was an easy commute going there so I asked the guard, and he actually made an effort to find out. I don't know if this is standard, but no guard has ever done that for me before. And did I mention how accessible it is? It's a mere 5 minute walk from LRT 2's Santolan Station! Now if only I could've won the laptop...

So again, I probably wouldn't go there for the Wi-Fi (especially since I don't actually own a Wi-Fi device) but I'd definitely drop by when I'm in the area (or even when I get sick of Gateway). The free Wi-Fi is just a cool bonus.

So who won the laptop? Sha, who was actually celebrating her birthday that same day did.

Now that's a nice birtday gift don't you think?