Asiasoft Online, the videogame publishing company that brought the successful 2D side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) to the Philippines, has officially launched the MapleSEA Episode 3: LEGENDS patch.

About MapleSEA

MapleSEA (www.MapleSEA.com) is the localized version of MapleStory, the revolutionary multiuser online game, for Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines. The world’s first side-scrolling 2D online game, MapleStory is developed by Nexon, a videogame company based in Korea.

About the Legend Patch

Episode 3 will be divided into four parts:

• Prelude (already released last April 15)
• Cannon Shooter (May 16)
• launch of Cannon Shooter character class
• minor user interface and feature updates
• Common potions are stackable up to 300 instead of 100 (Alchemy -> 400/800)
• Every character gains a speed boost of 20%
• Item repurchase ability: If you sold your item by accident you have the option to buy it again from the NPC you sold it to.
• System option and game option UIs are combined
• Victoria Island quests will be restructured they will give better exp and items as well as will have a story line now
• Profession skill restructuring: more and better items will be available to be created. As well the experience will be improved to be more fun
• The Quick Move system – click a button on the minimap and you can choose to be moved straight to a useful NPC on the map
• Racial skills (Link Skill System)
• New 4th Potential Tier: Legendary – new type of Miracle Cube

• Mercedes (May 30)
• launch of Mercedes character class
• Male or Female gender preference in character creation.
• Stylish Move skill enables them to do something no one else can do, like climb a rope super fast, start off with 140% speed and 120% jump, have a flash jump-like skill since 1st job, and get long-ranged mobbing skills in every job.
• Mercedes do not use arrows or anything else. They use a new special weapon called Dual Bow Gun along with another weapon in the shield slot called Mercedes Arrow.
• On job advancements, the only advancement you need to do is 2nd job. You will advance automatically at level 10, 70, and 120.
• Unique pegasus mounts at level 70 and 120

•  Demon Slayer (July 4)
• final phase
• launch of Demon Slayer character class
• Male or Female gender preference in character creation.
• First Dark MapleStory Character Class.
• Demon Slayer is a part of the Resistance. It’s the Resistance warrior, so he can equip any warrior equipment and his primary stat is STR (secondary is useless DEX).
• Demon Slayer uses Demon Fury (DF) instead of MP.
• Cannot use potions to recover DF. You either recover as time passes using a skill or by attacking monsters and absorbing their force.
• Demon Slayers use either 1-Handed Blunt Weapons or 1-Handed Axe. That is along with another item called Force Shield.
• Different Face Painting for choice.
• Unique Devil Wings which can be obtained at level 30 and 120. Unable to use Riding Mount skills.

According to the game’s developers, the updates to the game include the launch of three new exciting classes, new 4th potential legendary tier items, quick move system, item re-purchase system and radical skills system. All of the above will also be accompanied by a faster and more intuitive user interface.

I’ll be leaving this video to tease your imagination and get you into playing MapleSEA now!

Visit http://maple.asiasoftsea.com/ and like them at their FB page https://www.facebook.com/MapleSEA for more info and updates.

GoNuts Donuts has been around for the past eight years and competing against other brands. But what makes GoNuts Donuts unique among the rest is that they’re the only brand that is proudly Filipino. So here’s what went on during the blogger event with the theme as ‘Donut Talk.’

Even with my six-month belly and resisting sweets because of my baby, I still came to SM Mall of Asia last May 2, 2012 and was looking forward for the day. It was great to see that even if the company has been here for a long time, they still want to reach out to the community, and especially to the bloggers like us.

After registration, they suggested for me to do the Create-Your-Own-Donut contest already so that the area won’t be that crowded yet. So here’s what I made:

• instead of the usual donut loop, I had the stuffit – plus it can hold more decorations and ingredients of course!
• we filled it up with bavarian cream
• glazed with chocolate frost and drizzled with red syrup
• for the toppings, I selected a red rosette candy to represent my baby girl and for happiness and love – mini mallows, chocolate-coated candy and rainbow sprinkles

The event officially opened by Vince Golangco, the Editor-in-Chief of WhenInManila.com and Radio DJ on Mellow 94.7 FM. He sum up the things we’ll be talking about, plus the news and updates from GoNuts Donuts. But before everything else, he announced a contest in which most of us did not volunteer, and he just picked out the contestants, and I was one of them.

The contest was to guess the flavor of the donut, and good thing it wasn’t chocolate (it was not good for the baby) – mine was Pandan Macapuno. I was only able to guess one of the combination of flavors. Oh well~

I was very much interested in Ms. Tina Lagdameo’s presentation, the GoNuts Donuts Marketing Manager, on their products. What I only knew was the usual stuffits and donut loops, but did you know they also have sugar-free / lite donuts? Good for those who’s watching their sugar intake and of course, those on a diet. We were also eating and enjoying their pizza donuts – okay, maybe some would say, ‘how would that taste?’ It’s 100% pizza that looks like donuts, so rest assured, the ingredients are all ingredients that you see in a pizza, not combined with syrups, sweet stuff, candies or chocolates.

What caught my attention was the Fudgy Loops – the same moist and texture of brownies in the shape of a donut. It’s one of my faves! Yum!

They also had chillers drinking contest – talk about brainfreeze! I’m saluting to the bloggers who participated in this one.

Yabang Pinoy also introduced themselves since GoNuts Donuts is a proud Filipino company; they are non-government organization made up of volunteers that envisions every Filipino being Proud to be a Filipino. Woohoo! Who wouldn’t be proud to be Pinoy?

I had fun talking to the marketing team, and was imagining myself in donut heaven – literally!

But before I conclude this aftermath article, remember the Create-Your-Own-Donut contest? I made this donut and dedicated it to my baby and my blog altogether. To share the GoNuts Donuts happiness, if you vote for my donut and it won, VeyaLeecious blog will be giving out tons of gift certificates again to random voters!

Here’s how to vote:

1. Like the https://www.facebook.com/gonutsdonuts.fanpage Facebook Page.
2. Go to this online poll - https://www.facebook.com/questions/10150720000103302/
3. Click on the radio button to vote for “Veyaleecious” by Bea Corbilla

Friends of friends of friends can vote! So please share the happiness too! And with that, if you’re craving for donuts in all kinds of taste and sizes, if you’re a proud Pinoy, and still want that awesome quality in donuts without having to think about budget (their prices are not that expensive), then this one’s for you. You can check out the branch / store near you by visiting http://www.gonutsdonuts.com/ - because GoNuts Donuts Plus is more than just great donuts!

A long time ago, when social networking was all about photos, profiling, and of course, the famous testimonials. It’s like an online slumbook with all of your friends and favorite stuff – ah, those were the good old days.

But now, that social networking site has been revolutionized more into gaming – and we still call it Friendster – Living the Game!

They’ve launched their new website yesterday, April 27, 2012, at the SM North EDSA Annex Cyberzone.

Usually on Fridays, only the students are able to attend events since they’re on vacation, but to my surprise, even the old peeps are there to witness the said event.

Tons of activities were lined up, and these were hosted by Adz Sison and Ashley Gosiengfiao – much to the crowd’s delight, they’re having a blast listening to the programs, watching the videos and laughing at the comedy rap-it-out something on-stage.

While there was an on-going tournament for Boomz, one of Friendster’s popular games, this tiny kid caught my eye – yup, ages doesn’t really matter when it comes to gaming.

And also, the Ozine Cafe Maids where there! Super kawaii!

An event like this wouldn’t be the same without the awesome and cutest cosplayers ever!

The tiniest Erza of Fairy Tale  - again, can’t wait for my baby to do the same. So adorable!

Dance and band performances also entertained the audience, along with some in-between trivia about Friendster games that made me want to answer them since the games were previously what I handled when I was working with Friendster before.

The crowd were also treated with an MTV Unplugged-like when Ashley played acoustic songs to her fans.

Thank you to my Friendster family for the loots! Happy to see you all again!

Don’t forget to visit http://www.friendster.com/ - register and play for free. See you there!

IP e-Game Ventures Inc. celebrated its sixth year anniversary last April 21, 2012 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

I haven’t been to any conventions lately, so when I was invited again, even with the beating heat of the summer sun, I was able to go to the venue and witness the said event.

Even before going inside, you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of sponsors and partners showing off their products – especially the models that will get the attention of every gamer – and the community is predominantly male.

Beside the sponsor and food booths, of course, the main event will not be complete with the e-Games titles’ booths that has been the area of the old and new gamers alike.

You’ll also witness and hear the screams of the community cheering on for their favorite guilds and teams competing in the RAN Online, Cabal, Point Blank, Audition Dance Battle, and Bandmaster tournaments.

Level Up! also had some treats for the gamers – as the Bounty Hounds booth was filled with gorgeous models, and I also heard that they gave out Ragnarok goodies (wasn’t able to get one, I was late!)

In case you get confused and haven’t heard the news, yes, Level Up! and e-Games merged into Playweb Inc.

And your day won’t be complete with the awesome dance and band performances!

My fave bands – Up Dharma Down and Join the Club (met these guys during e-Games Guild Congress 2011) performed, also Tanya Markova with their bubbles scene and wacky outfits always amuses me.

Awesome cosplayers also flooded the stage with their detailed costumes – a lot also cosplayed again for RAN, Cabal and Granado Espada. My vote went for the tiniest cosplayer which reminds me how my daughter will look like in the future.

Congratulations to the champions of all e-Games tournaments! I was a bit jealous on the yummy Razer prizes, although I was able to took one home, theirs were much better!

It was great seeing the community I’ve managed before, and also awesome to be with my former colleagues as well. Happy to see Mark - the ever so active blogger friend of mine, Adi – former colleague, a good friend, and will be blogging as well from now on, and Mike – my good friend and photographer, thanks to all his shots above.

So till the next gaming event, as always!

Are you into gaming, cosplay and reminiscing the good old school days? Then this event is definitely for you!

All roads lead to SM North EDSA Annex-Cyberzone on April 27, 2012, 10:00AM as we bring the coolest virtual playground to life!

Join the Friendster FunXtion (fun-nection) where you can discover new friends, play games and enjoy rewards!

Click on here for more info and details!

So old and new Friendster peeps, gather up! This is one eyeball for your friends that you’ll surely wouldn’t want to miss out.

I was able to attend the Palm Sunday mass but did not do our yearly Visita Iglesia this year. My husband was worried about my safety and health. But thanks to my eldest sister, I was able to experience the Stations of the Cross at Bonifacio High Street for Black Saturday for the very first time.

The organizers did a very good job – with putting info on what happened every station, and added some activities that families can reflect on and enjoy at the same time.

The activities were a combination of reflection on yourself and your loved ones – past, present and future. It helps us deal with our troubles, our pain, happiness, triumphs and failures. As you go along the way, you grow and learn more, and looking forward for every step.

The Acts on Every Station of the Cross

• 1st Station – take a hard look at the reflection of the mirror, remember that Jesus endured what He did so that you don’t need to perform or put up a front to approach the Father; thank Jesus, because through him, you can come just as you are
• 2nd Station – take a marble and place it in one of the scales – a particular area in your life that you’ve been giving your heart to (in this case, I placed it in Intimacy), and always keep in mind to always love God above all else
• 3rd Station – pick up a pebble and let it remind you of a person you have formed your own negative opinions on – reflect and listen to what your heart has to say about him or her, ask God to renew your heartand transform it into one that gives people a benefit of the doubt
  

• 4th Station – donate five pesos or more for the “Sponsor a Child” program of WE International Philippines, let’s rewrite their story; don’t wash your hands
• 5th Station – pray for yourself or someone you know, who needs physical or emotional healing
• 6th Station – deposit the stone of judgement from the third station and take a strip of black cloth – it represents your own sins and failures
• 7th Station – carry a cross on your shoulder and walk a few feet; when you lay the cross down, take a few moments to thank God for walking a road we couldn’t walk on our own
• 8th Station – pick a prayer requests written by people who have gone before you and pray for that stranger’s need, in return, write your own prayer request and place it in the prayer bowl
• 9th Station – with nothing but your finger as ink, write your own sins and failures on the black cloth from the sixth station, take a hammer and nail the black cloth on the cross that lies on the floor – your Savior is reminding you that your sin is nailed to the cross – not in part, but in whole – and that you bear it no more - you are free
• 10th Station – if you are with your family, grab this opportunity and let them know how much you love them; thank God for this time with them, if there are strained relationships within, pray for healing and restoration (this station touched me on how Mary truly loved Jesus, as a soon-to-be-mother, I really felt it, and hope I’ll do the same for my own child)
• 11th Station – take a card from the pew – God has made you new – scan the code from the card to explore more about your new identity
• 12th Station – enter the tent of darkness
• 13th Station – take a card from the table – write the name of a person whom you feel has touched your life in a special way; post it on the board and offer up a prayer of blessing to that person
• 14th Station – take a piece of bread and cup of wine prepared at the table; take a few moments in the area provided to remember that Jesus died and rose again for you – you are part of a family of Christ followers

So, how was your Holy Week? Whether you experienced it by traditions or by simply loving life just as how Jesus Christ had provided for you, I hope you enjoyed it – God bless!

Visit http://churchsimplified.com/ too!

February 19th this year was my twenty-eighth birthday. Ah yes, 28 years of blurry, going-with-the-flow-of-life moments. Years ago, I wanted to grow up fast, so that I can put on make-up, buy my own stuff, get my own pad.

And now, I woke up every day to a handsome face beside me in bed, with a big belly, with a child moving inside. I have my own family now.

My side of my family wanted to have a two-day celebration because my aunt/ninang and cousin from the US were here for a visit. So on the eve of my birthday, we agreed to a dinner of my favorite seafood dishes at San Miguel by the Bay near MOA. It was so hard to get to our usual restaurant, because apparently there was a pyromusical fireworks event happening as well. The only advantage was, most of the people that were there are attending the said event, so the restaurants are practically empty with plenty of tables and seats to choose from.

We were not into dining by the bayside because of the heat and damp weather, so we opt to dine inside the restaurant, with the pleasure of music, cable TV, and we get to chat at each other without having to shout at the increasing noise outside. We ordered crabs, shrimps, and fish, but also got some barbecue for the kids.

After admiring the fireworks display and checking out the ferris wheel, but was too tired to ride on it, we hit the road and I showed my family our new condo. They gave me tons of gifts including my favorite fresh strawberries from Baguio. They were sweet already, so I ate them without having to dip it in cream or syrup.

The next day, on my official birthday, we woke up early to go sight-seeing in Intramuros (although I’ve been there for photowalks and shoots for the umpteenth time!). What caught my eye in the Fort Santiago museum was the picture of Leonor Rivera side-by-side with Jose Rizal, our national hero’s first love and inspiration for Maria Clara in his novel, Noli Me Tangere.

After that, we went to Casa Manila and San Agustin Church. Not much to sight-seeing as the sun was beating hard fast. So, we end the day with lunch at the Ayala Triangle Garden, and I treated my family at Wee Nam Kee. We ordered a lot, I really loved those spicy clams. I was trying to taste the spices and check the ingredients they used so that I can cook them back in our condo.

I’m truly blessed to have family and friends, especially my hubby who has been supporting me throughout these years. Here’s to my first baby, and to my upcoming 29th! May we all have more birthdays to come and see everyone grow up each day.

]]> http://www.veyaleecious.com/2012/03/my-two-day-28th-birthday-celebration/feed/ 0 http://www.veyaleecious.com/2012/03/circles-event-cafe/ http://www.veyaleecious.com/2012/03/circles-event-cafe/#comments Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:07:38 +0000 Veya http://www.veyaleecious.com/?p=407 Continue reading →]]>

Remember that dinner buffet for two gift certificate that I won at the Lipton Bloggers event? My husband and I finally redeemed it last February 17th. It was our post anniversary and Valentines dinner. Circles Event Café is located inside Shangrila Hotel Makati.

So the only mishap that happened was the hostess who was in-charge of the seating, I wasn’t able to catch her name, only she has this boyish haircut. She placed our names and told us to wait for a minute. So we waited at the lounge, along with a family who also just got in, so that the line won’t be too long. But apparently, we already have a table a long time ago, and she made us wait for almost an hour for nothing. If we haven’t gone up to the new hostess, we wouldn’t know about it.

Although you’re suppose to pick out food that you haven’t tasted before, I wasn’t going to risk it since I’m already nauseous and some food may not be good for the baby. So I opt for the familiar ones – steak, shrimp, mussels, roasted chicken, different maki flavors.

My husband was more into the desserts – especially when he saw the fondue, and needless to say, he took lots of chocolate sweets – and mostly those with chocolate mousse.

My dessert consisted of more on fruity ones, since I’m not allowed to eat too much chocolates since it’s bad for the baby.

The waiters were very much attentive, even when you just glance at them, they approach your table right away. It’s much better than having to strain your arms like a student in a classroom and trying to get their attention. Checking out isn’t also a hassle, you just leave if have a free gift certificate, or even when you’re paying.

You can visit http://www.shangri-la.com/ for more info.

]]> http://www.veyaleecious.com/2012/03/circles-event-cafe/feed/ 0 http://www.veyaleecious.com/2012/03/blissful-moments-of-working/ http://www.veyaleecious.com/2012/03/blissful-moments-of-working/#comments Fri, 23 Mar 2012 07:45:40 +0000 Veya http://www.veyaleecious.com/?p=399 Continue reading →]]>

This is my delayed post on what went on before my pregnancy. So in between blogging, photoshoots, and cooking for my husband, I used to work before, and the latest was in Friendster. It was a bit short, but I made friends in those few moments of my time in the company, and I learned more and was able to apply what I already know.

I already have a mutual friend of a friend there. And some of the faces are familiar since they were also in previous gaming industries. At first, I was intimidated at the size of the office – it’s a huge penthouse floor. What I also loved about it are the walls, decorated by the creative team.

It was fun, every month, when a staff or two celebrates their birthday, the company itself treats everyone to a buffet of heaping food. I was used to having the celebrant be the one to treat everyone on the floor for lunch, snacks or dinner.

I miss working there – mainly because I get to chat with a lot of our international friends from all over the world and help them out with their games being published on our portal. Sometimes it was a bit hard due to barriers like different languages (sometimes they forget to speak English and their typing non-stop Russian fonts to me in Skype), but other than that, they’re fun to deal with.

The best thing about being in our team department – there’s no effin’ competition. We have fun, they teach me a lot, a colleague told me most of my questions, inquiries and concerns were also useful to him. I’ve learned to focus and do my best in a lot of things. Most of all, I’ve learned more from what I’ve already ‘graduated’ from. I wasn’t stuck on one thing, or met a dead end. Everything was an endless flow of things.

Whether I’ll be going back or going to another industry, one thing’s for sure for now – I’m going to finish my current quest for now: get my baby delivered healthy and safe. No matter what other people would have to say about me. So for now, thanks Friendster. Hope to see you all again one of these days!

Currently I just finished reading Book 2: Catching Fire and the movie. But before you proceed on reading this, if you haven’t read the first book yet, or watched the movie, then move on to my other posts. But if you’re interested to hear what I have to say on the first book and movie, then you can read the rest. Don’t say I never warned you first.

Like any other writer, critique or blogger, what we say are just our own opinions. I’m a bit wordy on tiny details, so let’s start on the book. The Hunger Games novel is written by Suzanne Collins, and the series is divided into three books: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. On the first book, it describes all the districts of Panem, on how they are divided into their expertise, their status and so on. So how and why was the annual Hunger Games created? It started on the rebellion of District 13 against the Capitol (Panem’s fortress city) is not tolerable, thus they were eliminated and to prevent another uprising, they created the Hunger Games wherein each district must have a tribute – a boy and a girl – of ages 12-18 – to participate in these games. Only one can survive the battle of death. Some districts have volunteers, and mostly are picked out from random lottery of some sort during the reaping.

Some districts are wealthy, most are poor. Each has their mayor and Peacekeepers to keep them in place. District 12 was a bit lenient since their officials are quite okay with their black market of illegal trades. Now, when we say illegal trades and black markets doesn’t mean drugs. Some exchange clothing and other items for food or food for another food and vice versa. Hunting is forbidden since weapons are not allowed, but since everyone was easygoing, some are still hunting, like Katniss (the lead character) and Gale (one of her love interest).

When Katniss’ youngest sister was picked out during the reaping, she volunteered herself as a tribute to save Prim. And her counterpart was Peeta Mellark, the baker’s son. Needless to say, there were some of a bit teenage crush going on between them, and during the games, they used this star-cross’d lovers theme in order to keep them alive, as Haymitch would’ve wanted it.

This could go on if I give out the gist of the story on the first book, so let’s go on to the movie.

They all say that the movie must give out the images as one had imagined it playing in the book. Let’s just say that imaginations of other people are not the same, very different, but still trying to manage to come out with the most important details of the story.

The movie was directed by Gary Ross, and picked out Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique of X-Men: First Class) to play Katniss Everdeen. She’s okay with the role, especially with the facial features on how she manage to feel during the first starvation, the reaping, the training and the games. Let’s make a bullet-point of the movie aftermath:

• description of the districts, especially District 12 was not shown much, or at least narrated by Katniss on a background voice or something as I would imagine it
• Peacekeepers were not explained or introduced
• there were lots of missing/changed scenes or dialogue or characters that was supposed to be important, probably to keep the movie congested into a 2 and half hour, give or take, like the life of Katniss’ family, Madge giving Katniss the mockingjay pin, Peeta’s father giving her cookies, the Avox, Peeta showing Katniss the roofdeck and the ‘barrier’ and the garden, the hovercraft capturing the two traitors in the forest, how Thresh killed Clove, how Thresh was killed, hovercraft taking the dead bodies from the arena, how they would punish Seneca Crane, etc.
• Amusing and amazing details of the costumes, the characters, how they exactly feel on every moment of the scenes
• the battle was as how my husband would say in Filipino as malamya, it was weak, was expecting it to be brutal like Battle Royale, or maybe because they were leaning on families could watch it with younger children, so they omitted those gory scenes? Also, the tracker jackers have these horrific hallucinations and they didn’t show it as well
• The Cornucopia should be a huge golden horn, this was a famous landmark in the arena to get your supplies and weapons
• The muttations – these were supposed to be a big finale, each mutt was transformed and supposedly look like the dead tributes, as Katniss described, but their appearance was also short and fast

Overall, the movie was a whirlwind, it’s like giving a summary of the book. Honestly, was disappointed since the book is so good – it’s like reality of politics and the society in our world – how we shouldn’t overlook poverty, status, and the community. It’s like a V for Vendetta thing, only that the younger generation are the ones standing up for the fight.

I hope they’ll do much better on the second movie. Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor!