Stolen

So, the event at SMX just started, I was the first speaker for their seminar. I was gone from my booth for just about 30 minutes and when I got back my laptop bag was gone. It was just beside my handbag and Miguel was there in the booth too. I immediately realized it was gone because my calling cards were in it.

Thieves, they're just really fast.

The contents of my laptop bag were 2 brand new Smart Bro USB modems, my laptop charger, a couple of USBs (free ones I got from some events), my Starbucks diary where I list daily expenses, a notebook and papers I'm about to throw away. My laptop bag though was a collectible item since it's a Google laptop bag which was given to me during the Google Geo User Summit last month.

I'm very lucky though because my laptop and phone wasn't in the bag. I remembered to get my phone in it just before I left the booth for my talk. Good thing I also forgot to bring my camera. The thief is probably kicking himself by now because he essentially did not get anything of value to him or anyone. What sickens me though is the thought that someone so evil got so close to my son. Everything in it can be replaced, and thank God I've got everything on the cloud. Harumph.

One thing that irks me though is how slow SMX was at responding to my report and was only when I called up one of the bosses before security actually got moving. I guess they're so used to this thing happening they just end up counting it as another incident. I decided to immediately leave the vicinity because I felt I wasn't safe anymore. I didn't want to give the thief another chance to get the prize. But, after all these years, it's quite unbelievable that this modus operandi has still not been solved by convention center security.

Well, if you see a Google laptop bag in any of the online buy and sell sites, please let me know. I want my expense diary back!

And to the thief, manood ka ng 100 Days to Heaven!


Update: As I was leaving SMX I received some good news about a project I've been working at for a couple of months now. And when I got home I received a bag of Hershey's Chocolate Nuggets from 7-Eleven and some goodies from Chef Laudico and GMCI! Weeee!

Mangaholix (MangaMania 2008)

Miguel and I went to the Mall of Asia for his lessons at the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Center and wondered why there were quite a number of people dressed up in costume. I thought that there was probably a cosplay photo-shoot or something by the bay area. After his lessons we saw more and more people dressed up in costume and eventually Sweetie asked someone if there was an event at the SMX. We had planned to go to the World Trade Center after having lunch to take a peek at the trade event, but upon hearing that there was a huge "Mangaholix" event at the SMX we decided to spend sometime there before going to WTC.

I've never experienced this kind of event since I only experience manga through some friends and Miguel's stories. I was already dazed even before we entered the hall. I've never seen so many people dressed up as manga/anime characters in my whole life. And well it was a totally different experience for me. My boys were simply in heaven ha-ha. They both got some comic books and I was so green since I left empty handed. (I should've bought a character hat! I could wear it during ToyCon, oh well... I'm trying to convince the boys to wear costumes during ToyCon... asa pa ako). It was mighty fun and here's my vlog about it -




Photos available at my Multiply site.

We did go to the trade event at the WTC. The event was zzzzz... so let's not talk about that anymore coz we were sorely disappointed with it. We caught the first part of the World Pyrolympics on the way home and decided to park first and watch. Here's a bit of what I managed to capture on video using my mobile phone: