My part at the packed and fun-filled auction began when I arrived at exactly 4:35 p.m. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was hosting with Tatler’s Anton San Diego and the super singer Jose Llana. Although Anton was a bit nervous – as it was his first time to do anything like this – Jose was all pumped-up and raring to go!
Just watching people at the registration table, I could tell that most of us were first-timers at an auction. This made the event even more interesting, enjoyable and rewarding for those who really worked hard at accumulating as many money cards as possible given the 90-day promo period.
We covered 20 items from the auction in two hours which went by very quickly. While looking at the catalog of the items being auctioned (such as Swatch collector’s items from all over the world, limited edition and autographed pieces, Swatch watches available only in the Milan and Paris stores), we almost decided to step down from the podium and join the bidding. In the end being onstage was probably the best place to be as it was the only place you could see all the funny and entertaining reactions of the participants. Their expressions of disappointment and surrender when they were outbidded, their determination to go on and on and on (and some people did keep going on and on and on...) and of course, their triumph when they realized they could bring home the bacon.
Less than a week after the auction, I had lunch with Tita Virgie. She surprised me with all the pictures taken at the auction. Aside from capturing the challenge of strategic bidding, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, among all the pictures, those that touched me the most were the family pictures. I hadn’t realized just how many families attended the auction together. Whole family clans – including lolo, lola, brothers, sisters, their kids and the apos – came together for a family day at the mall. I saw pictures of a boy with a super big smile on his face while his father held a soccer ball that they had just won, a father, mother, daughter counting their money cards after "winning" the Adidas MVP trophy (that family deserved a Most Valuable Family trophy!), husbands bidding for gifts for their wives, and mothers and daughters bidding together. Even strangers sitting beside each other were talking, laughing and combining money cards to win some of the bigger items up for bid. The auction was indeed a family affair to remember that served as a crash course on how to win your most desired item the next time Tita Virgie decides to be generous and offer all these rarities to the public.
Hopefully for Christmas?
Maybe?