Once upon a time, people didn’t really wear costumes in Manila. Save for the village trick or treat or contests within the private subdivisions, there wasn’t much action. But judging from the past few days of Halloween debauchery, you wouldn’t be able to tell. Everyone and their mother — including Manny Pacquiao — had a Halloween costume party!
During the days leading up to last Halloweekend, the Twitterverse was agog with action. First, I got my Twitter account back, so thank you to all those who helped with it because I didn’t want to be a hacker victim for Halloween! When I logged on and viewed my timeline, tweeps were already fitting their costumes, excited for the superhero fest that was about to happen 50-plus days before Christmas.
My Halloween hop started early with a cocktail at Robot on Makati Avenue the night before All Hallow’s Eve as Boys Night Out hosted a party for friends and followers. I spotted a bumblebee, a couple of geishas and a lot of painted faces that night. Somehow, it reminded me of a high school dance — in a good way. Lots of happy faces, a myriad of colors and party treats all night long.
The night of All Hallow’s Eve and the costume fest reached fever pitch. The Resorts World area was ground zero for all the action, and the lines outside by the fountain area could have been transformed into a Halloween costume parade! I saw wannabe beauty contestants (of course, they were men in drag), a lot of guys who looked like they were either part of 300, Spartacus or Rome, cast members of Jersey Shore and a whole slew of superheroes!
Leveling With Heidi Klum
I chose the unpredictable path and went DoTA, (yes, Defense of the Ancients, the computer game) playing Balanar, the demon that gained energy during the night. How apt, right? It was a giant production number just getting into the costume with five bouncers and assistants carrying the wings and armor for me to get inside it. Well, since when did I choose to go the easy route for Halloween, right? Heidi Klum, let’s be friends.
Some friends even hosted pre-parties, got party buses and hung out before heading toward Republiq or that night’s Big Fish Cream Party. Ruffa Gutierrez had hers at home with her friends coming one by one in dramatic, super heroine style. Ruffa came as Poison Ivy. In another hemisphere, Kim Kardashian thought of the same thing. Ruffa though, came with a Batman, while Kim came with her Robin. Who would have thought?
Anne Curtis came with boyfriend Erwan Heussaff as Baywatch couple Pamela Anderson and David Hasslehoff — the most tongue-in-cheek couple costume that night, in my opinion. Lots of nudity from people, but no one’s complaining. If before Halloween used to be a scare-fest, this time, it was more of a flesh-fest as girls and now, guys came to the Halloween Balls (no pun intended) partly undressed. Thus, the presence of Tarzans and Janes, and Adams and Eves that night. Again, no one was complaining.
Azkals’ Anton del Rosario swashed himself with blue body paint and labeled himself “Mr. Fantastic” with an arrow pointing down there. For his naughtily nice pun, he won Best in Costume. There were also live Transformers toys, giant Zoids and caped crusaders all over Republiq that night. Martin Pulgar and Mars Miranda alternated on the decks while I did the ledge, happy to see the growth of our costumed metropolis.
Here on this Supreme page, grab a bite of the Halloweekend festivitites. Yum.
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For more costumed feats, follow me on twitter.com/officialTIMYAP.