I’ve been a member of USTExchange for quite some time now and when I heard
that there was going to be an eyeball party with other online
communities, I was thrilled. My officemate and I agreed to meet in Gateway Mall
last Saturday (July 2).

We had our own set of adventures in Gateway Mall – it was both our first
time to eat in Taco Bell, the first branch to open in the country; it was his
first time to roam around Gateway mall; and I went back to Pizza Hut Bistro,
the venue of my 24^th birthday celebration.

We then took a ride to Libis from Alimall in Cubao. Roger immediately
noticed something peculiar about the guy sitting opposite us.
 

It was a good thing that Icicles16 texted me beforehand so I knew exactly
where Club 650 was – right beside Shopwise in Libis. When the organizers
informed us that the venue was Club 650, I immediately imagined it to be a bar
where we could order drinks and mingle with other members. However, it turned
out to be a health club with badminton courts, basketball courts and even a volleyball
court (or was it fusball?).

Upon entering the club, you had to pass by these courts until you reached
the area where the booths and the stage of Blast4 were located.

Roger and I looked curiously at the booths that offered Canon products,
engraved pendants and even tickets to Good Charlotte’s concert at the Folk Arts
Theater on July 8. Aside from the booths, there were computer stations set up with
a basketball video game that uses teams in the NCAA.

When I came upon the booth for engraved pendants, I recognized a former
officemate of mine in GS, Marie Christine. It had been more than a year since I
last saw her and she now works in a marketing firm. We exchanged calling cards
and she was surprised to hear that our former bosses had resigned as well.

Marie Christine and Jocie, both former employees of GS

I also recognized a former org mate of mine in UP Diliman who now works for
Parlance Systems. Steph even requested that I take a picture of their banner so she
could show it in their office.

I was curious to meet other USTexers and through Icicles16, I did get to
meet most of them. Dr. Noel Bautista, founder of USTExchange, introduced them
to me but he gave only their aliases so their real identities are still a
mystery to me. I even got to meet a batchmate of mine who remembers me from UST
HS.

Doc Noel and I had quite a long talk about USTExchange and the direction he
wants it take in the future. He also encouraged me to sign up for
blogger.finder.ph so I could be part of this brand new online recruitment site
for Filipino bloggers. He also wanted to introduce me to his partner so we
could discuss it even further. His partner Jedi also encouraged me to
participate in their new project and he said they were planning to launch it
this July.

After our talk, I signed up in the Chikka booth where they were giving away promotional
items. Since I have two Chikka accounts, the one with 20+ buddies earned me a
USTExchange.com shirt while the other earned me a mousepad, which I now use in
the office.

There was a concert and a trance party scheduled later that evening but I
couldn’t stay much longer since I still had to go the birthday celebration of
my best friend that night.

Here’s to all my new friends and more power to USTExchange!