The Babel Machine

getting ready for big school

Sam is taking her entrance exam today at one of our Catholic schools for girls, as she will be going to “big school” for Kinder-1.

Sometimes I can’t believe she’s growing up so fast. Seems it was only yesterday when I was cradling a tiny baby in my arms.

Go, Sam! I’m so proud of you.

tong-its

Just got back from Mumbai yesterday afternoon.

To Jennifer, thanks for visiting my blog. Couldn’t post the Tong-its URL on the tagboard ‘coz it’s too long, but you can check out the article here.

magical mumbai

Mumbai is the world’s second biggest city, and you have to be here to truly appreciate that statement.

I’ve always dreamed of going to India since I was a kid since I’ve always seen India as a magical place, so this trip to Mumbai to be a guest speaker at the R. A.G. E. (Reviews and Gaming Essentials) Gaming Awards and Expo; launch the Indian chapter of the Asian Gaming Journalists Association; and record a podcast with IBM has simply been amazing.

The people are wonderful and the city is a whole world waiting to be discovered.

I’ll be blogging more about it when I get back, but right now I have to prepare for my presentation for the seminar. By the way, Mumbai is two-and-a-half hours behind Manila time, so it’s actually just 9: 13 a.m. Sunday here.

Thanks to Mihir, Milind and the Rage Team for inviting me; Nick and Quentin of IBM for bringing me to India; and Ramesh of IBM for introducing me to some of the players in the Indian gaming industry.

Sometimes all this seems like a dream, and it’s hard to imagine that AGJA is only seven months old.

Then again, as I told the audience when I presented an award and gave a brief speech at the R.A.G.E. Awards night on Nov. 25, reality begins as a dream.

What’s important is to believe in your dream, and do something to make it come true.

x marks the spot

Apart from covering the World Cyber Games last week, I was able to interview some of the world’s leading game thinkers at the X Media Lab workshop in Singapore.

Here’s an excerpt from my INQ7 Infotech story.

EIGHT of the world’s leading minds in the gaming industry were in Singapore from Nov. 17-19 to share their knowledge and give advice to independent companies on launching their own games successfully.

“The idea is to help digital media companies get their ideas to market,” Brendan Harkin, director of Australia-based X Media Lab, told hackenslash.net in an interview. “This is an opportunity to work with eight of the world’s leading game thinkers.”

Read the rest of the article.

iconnect rules

Well, here I am back at iConnect, the lounge on the second floor of Changi airport that allows you to surf the Net and play Xbox games for free.

Just finished editing stuff for INQ7.net. I’ll be on my way to Mumbai in a couple of hours.

first trip to india

I’m flying to Mumbai tomorrow afternoon (with a stopover in Singapore) to attend India’s biggest gaming summit, the R. A. G. E. (Reviews and Gaming Essentials) Awards and Expo, which will be held from Nov. 25-27.

Mihir Shah, head of R&D of R.A.G.E. gaming magazine, which is organizing the event, invited me to make a presentation and launch the Indian chapter of the Asian Gaming Journalists Association. Mihir is our first member from India.

I’m excited because not only is AGJA growing, but this will also be my first time to visit India.

Anyway, wish me luck.

sam and her duck

Sam loves her new fluffy duck, which is a gift from my Singaporean friend Priscilla Tan.

I got a chance to catch up with Priscilla last week when I covered the World Cyber Games 2005 Grand Final. Sam’s named the duck Golly. Quack, quack, quack!

Thanks, Priscilla! Was really sweet of you.

blogging from changi

Free Internet access at Changi airport + Gmail = guerrilla blogging and editing.

Yup, telecommuting’s a blast. I sure miss Ellen and Sam though.

breakthrough wcg performance for rp

These electronic gaming athletes have won honor for the Philippines.

I’m proud to have witnessed the Philippine campaign in the World Cyber Games 2005 Grand Final. Here’s an excerpt from the INQ7 Breaking News story.

SINGAPORE–(UPDATE) Refusing to give up after his opponent took a huge lead in the first match of the best-of-three encounter in the Midtown Madness 3 Mobile Asia Pacific finals in the World Cyber Games (WCG) Mobile Tournament, Filipino Paolo Antonio Carlos Castro nonetheless hung tough and emerged the champion.

“I was very lucky. It was very close,” new Asia Pacific champion Castro, who won 3,000 US dollars for placing first, told hackenslash.net in the post-game interview. The Philippines defeated Singapore in the Asia Pacific championship on Nov. 20. “I have to thank Globe for helping me get here,” Castro added.

Read the full story.

rp campaign ends in wcg 2005 grand final

Here’s the excerpt from my INQ7 Infotech article:

While the Philippine campaign in the World Cyber Games 2005 Grand Final official tournaments ended yesterday, two Filipino players will be vying later for the World Championship in their respective categories in the WCG Mobile Tournament, which was introduced this year.