Gold Rush (-ing River) 2011

I rarely have time to watch news on television and I normally get my daily dose from the radio instead (while driving on the way to work or home) or from the internet. One of those instances was last Monday, I woke up early than usual, roughly around 6am and chanced upon "Umagang Kay Ganda", a morning news show in ABS-CBN. Still sleepy, I sat down and watched, as they were featuring the latest update on tropical storm "Sendong", that hit Mindanao (Cagayan De Oro and Iligan in particular). I was completely unaware of the news, not until that Monday morning. While watching, it just reminded me, how blessed I am and those of us who actually joined the Gold Rush 2011 at Eton Cyberpod event last weekend. The discomfort that I felt during the said event, was still fresh in my mind. I even thought to myself that I may never want to attend such type of events (those tournaments with expected huge attendance) in the future, if it'll still be held in the same venue. I mean, the whole 8 rounds were a grueling challenge, not against your opponent, but the physical and environmental conditions itself. I (and everybody else around) was perspiring the entire time, starting after round 2. Given a chance, I should have brought with me extra shirts (a total of 7 extra shirts). You'll literally want to change your shirt right after every round, as you'll surely be dripping with sweat after every round (except for those playing inside the famous "burger chain" area). So, to cut the story short, either the venue was not really equipped to handle that huge number of attendees or the air-conditioners of the said mall were not functioning properly. Lesson learned, when attending big MtG event/tournament, bring an extra shirt or two, hehehe.

Moving on and putting the said experience aside, we were blessed to be in the said event. Simply because were not one of those who were hit by the storm "Sendong". So, just a break from my tournament report, I would like to take this opportunity and appeal to the MtG community to take part and do our share to help our kababayans. For those of us who are busy and can't do any voluntary work/service, we may opt to send our help through Philippine Red Cross, by SMS or G-CASH (see details below).

SMS
Text RED(space)AMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4143 (Smart)

G-CASH
Text DONATE(space)AMOUNT(space)4-digit M-PIN(space)REDCROSS to 2882

You can donate the following denominations: 

Globe: 5, 25, 100, 300, 500 or 1000 

Smart: 10, 25, 50, 100, 300, 500 or 1000

In this season of giving, let it be felt by our kababayans who are in need. Happy Holidays! :)