All food and culinary enthusiasts would find this interesting:

Photo from Wikipedia.org

The Japan Foundation, Manila and the Shangri-La Plaza Mall invite Filipino culinary talents to showcase home-grown Filipino ingredients and products and prepare intricate and artistic bento (lunchboxes) by joining the 1st National Bento Competition.

The National Bento Competition is open to Filipinos aged 16 and above who can illustrate the fusion of the Japanese bento custom with Filipino local ingredients; and of Japanese and Filipino culinary culture and ingenuity. Bonafide students of any TESDA-recognized culinary school or CHED-accredited college offering HRM, Nutrition and Technology and other related courses, as well as housewives, non-professionals and professional food aficionados, are welcome to join.

More of the details here: Japan Foundation, Manila

New poster for the event!!

Featuring the Premiere Mangaholix debut of the Pulis Pangkalawakan Manga, with live performance by Kala.

Also featuring: the exclusive advance release of Mangaholix 1 and Manga Kami! Portfolio Review.

Guests of Honor are Taga-ilog (Pasig) and Wilson Tortosa (Battle of the Planets), with special guest appearances by Kriss Sison (Last Hope) and Gilbert Monsanto (Rambol).

With live performances by Eternal Now, Lucille, Squeezers, Fuseboxx, The Kagaws and Kala.

For more details, log on to their website.

In lieu of the upcoming launch of Mangaholix, Groundbreakers Inc. and Manga Kami! studios proudly presents:

MANGAHOLIX MANGA MANIA!!!

Where: Mall of Asia Music Hall
When: From10:00am to 8:00pm on May 19, 2007
Guests include: Taga-Ilog, Gilbert Monsanto, Wilson Tortosa, and Kriss Sison
Band performances by: Squeezers, Lucille, Wickermoss, Enternal Now, Fuseboxx and The Kagaws

FREE ADMISSION!

Aside from the manga launch and band performances, the event will also be featuring cosplay and art competitions.

Hope to see you there!

Tsk, the evolution nga naman of the anime community here in the Philippines! Was it 7 years ago (shoot, almost a decade na pala!) when the word “anime” was just an obscure term. Pinag-aawayan pa yung pronunciation. Sabi ng mga neo-otaku (hindi yung banda) ‘ani-may.’ Yung mga die-hard elitista naman, ‘animeh.’ It was also rather difficult (logistically and financially) to acquire goods and the only anime screenings happened one Saturday a month at the 5th floor of the Engg Building in UPD hosted by the now defunct Anime@Arki. At that time, GMA Network was also just beginning to launch their Japanese cartoon campaign.

And now we have all of these specialty stores, magazines, events, cable channels and whatnots galore that cater to the growing number of Pinoy J-otakus! Proof of which is the barrage of J events this year. One of which is…

Ang haba naman ng intro ko. Sige segue ko na dito:

[More]

Otakuzine Anime Magazine will be holding the Ozine Fest ‘07 on the 1st of April 2007 at the SM Megatrade Hall 2. And of course the event won’t be complete without cosplay!

Are you interested in strutting around in your most provocative (makalaglag panty/brief/boxers) costume? Here are the guidelines.

Guys and gals, these guidelines are still subject to change without prior notice. Anyway, good luck, minna-san!

For more Pinoy cosplay stuff, please visit Cosplay.ph.

I hope my pal, Direk Mike Rabanal sees this:

The poster is a little blurry. But the contest runs from Feb. 26 to May 4.
For more information or for submission of entries, please contact: laurette.farr@educationnz.org.nz

EDIT

Here’s the link to New Zealand Educated Philippines website. You might want to see the contest’s Terms and Conditions. You can even enter online via this form.

The poster image now links to a larger file.

Cosplay.ph is having an online cosplay contest. If you are Filipino and have a number of photos of yourself or your friends in full cosplay regalia, then click here for more details. Deadline for submissions is on March 10, 2007. So better hurry!