I was at the Bloggers' Calendar 2009 launch

In mid-December of 2008, I took part in the photoshoot for Bloggers' Calendar 2009. Two separate sessions were held then, and I went for the later one. The session, which was held in Willy Foo's LiveStudios, was a fun and vibrant one as I experienced for the first time what it was like to be a photo model (although I have to admit that I am not photogenic, haha). It also got me excited that my photo, along with approximately 20-odd other bloggers, will be appearing in the calendar itself. And needless to say, it also got me expectant of the formal launch itself.

The launch was held yesterday evening at Ice Cold B's in SMU. I was amongst one of the earlier ones to reach, and hence I also laid my hands on the calendar relatively quicker. It was packed in a neat little plastic casing as shown in the picture below:

Nice idea by the way, to have the bloggers lined up below - the only downside is, it's too small to be seen!

Anyway, back to the event. As I was sitting around listening and chatting to those who were there (e.g. Brennan, Robert and Mohan), the other participants gradually arrived too. As the place was rather small and cosy, we were sort of huddled up and split into small groups as we chatted. Dinner was served at around 7 plus, along with a menu of liquors that the outlet serves. However, not being a fan of alcoholic drinks, I didn't order any of them (reason being - I don't really like the taste of liquor, so I don't really understand how some people manage to finish a few bottles of it...well, to each his/her own). Anyway, the standard of dinner was good enough for me to help myself with two servings.

As the participants busy themselves with their meals and the discussions, I also noticed that there was one photographer who was moving around to take pictures - OK, that's probably pretty normal, you would say. What amazed me was the speed and precision at which the photos were processed - I was handed a couple of them with me included within minutes! Here's a snapshot of the 'freshly prepared' photos:

That was impressive, if you asked me. :p

At around 9pm, another guest arrived at the scene - and this one's not a human.

It's a gaming console - the Wii! I have a gaming console at home as well, but it's a PS3, so handling a Wii was yet another novel experience for me. The hot game of the night was the Rayman Rabbids - I have heard of it before, seen the screenshots but have not tried it. Now I could.

The game itself consists of several continents in the world, within which contains 5 different mini-games each. Up to four players could participate simultaneously, and a point tallying system is used - the player with the lowest gross total receives a roll of toilet paper (LOL). And so I managed to play in all the continents - the bulk of the game was based on a sense of wackiness, humor and novelty. There were a few that I particularly liked, such as the handphone-in-the-cinema and bumper cars mini-game. The fun was contagious as the audience had as much of it as the players.

In my opinion, the Wii is a nice alternative in the gaming market, although I personally still prefer my PS3. The former's useful for occasions such as friends' gathering such as yesterday's though.

The night drew to a close for me slightly past 10pm, although several bloggers stayed to carry on with whatever was left. And so I packed and left with fond memories and a copy of the Calendar.