We just got back from dinner after Day One of this year's Philippine International Comics Festival (PICOF), and it has been quite a day. As much as PICOF has a slightly more relaxed vibe versus some of the Komiket events (relatively speaking), it was still a full day affair. I'm just glad the relatively lower volume of people (thus far) meant we actually had mobile phone service within the venue, and paying for things via GCash worked like 70% of the time, despite the venue being SM Megamall Megatrade Hall 2.
PICOF definitely has a different audience - especially with this weekend also being a Patron of the Arts weekend. So the more art-centric folk are over at One Ayala, and the comics and book people are sorta of more at PICOF. We know that some exhibitors are juggling both events somehow, which feels like an amazing feat in itself since just participating in one event takes a lot out of me and Tobie. Thankfully, I'm more familiar with SM Megamall now after the Komiket 10th anniversary event was also held here, so I have a general map of food establishments to go to in order to stay functional throughout the day. These events get me to reactivate things like my Starbucks app and such given we don't really go out of our way for these places otherwise.
But wow, the financial damage of PICOF is more significant versus other mixed art events as there are so many interesting books, especially from independent local creators. As much as I want to support all of the creators, I can only do so much. But I still went home with quite the haul - and I still haven't fully explored the international area. I did the bulk of my book-buying today, but I'll probably pick up a few more titles tomorrow because I'm a little crazy that way.
We'll still be boothing at A14 tomorrow, so if you're in the Megamall area, do say hi! Just one more day left.
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