Philippine Tourism's brand new slogan is the trending topic on most of social networking sites. It goes viral in an instant due to controversy and criticism. Nonetheless, more people give in to this meme whether to support it, or to show sarcasm.

It's fun, right?

My boyfriend keeps bugging me about my desired Christmas gift. Well, I am not asking nor requesting for anything. I am not that rich but I can buy what I want. Haha. But if ever there would be people who'd like to give me gifts, feel free!

I only have 3 things on my wish list:

If kids are enjoying Pokemon, then grown ups are addicted to Magic: The Gathering (MTG) cards, including me and my boyfriend. Well, majority of the players are males but there are also few females joining tournaments nowadays, around 4% the last City Championship here in the Philippines. And as a newbie, it’s my pride to be on Top 20. I played my boatbrew deck amounting more than Php10,000. So yes, the first thing that you can notice about this game is the prices of cards. I have to admit this is a very expensive hobby. But hell, I am enjoying a lot and as long as I have spare cash, I will not give up this hobby ever. In my nature of work, I am able to support my family and have the time to splurge on my magic cards. The only thing that is not good about this trading card game is the price change. The card prices are not fixed and there are also time that overpricing is an issue. Some cards also depreciate easily much to my dismay. But later on, I learned the techniques for card investment; it is always a win-win situation if you will purchase land cards. So I did.

Playing MTG is like playing mind games. As a player you should know all the rules, especially the basics. This is pretty similar to the card game YU-GI-OH. Though as many people said, MTG is the grand daddy of other card games. Magic duel is composed of two players, you and your opponent whom we called active player and non- active player. It can also be a multiplayer type of game commonly referred as chaos during casual plays... There are also judges during sanctioned tournaments. I like this game because as an intellectual being, it makes me exercise my mind. It is also a way of relaxation.
Even at home, I enjoy playing it with other people. It hones my thinking skills and my strategies.

I always go to work with my magic pouch which is composed of a deck, tokens, dice and other cards. People are amazed to see me getting hooked with this game. And day by day, I am getting better on this one. I have defeated more guy players too. Then one time I had a female opponent, I also won. For me it is not always about winning, it is also finding joy about what you are doing. Playing magic is not always being after the prizes, but also after learning more and sharing it to others. As a magic player, I have met a lot of friends and they are worth-keeping.

For the magic card designs, I can’t help it but admire the artist behind each of them. Rebecca Guay and Richard Fergusson are just my few favorites. The artists are really great. Perfect! The card prints are also worth-collecting. And before I forget, Wizards of the Coast are doing well for recognizing and rewarding the players based on their online record. They had already shipped the latest rewards and I’m excited to receive mine.

More information about the game?

Recently, I was among one of the many people staying online just to read the latest news from this forum. The cancellation of Alara Reborn Pre Release has created mass hysteria. A lot of negative emotions have been posted. I can’t help it but read through the pages waiting for the right people to respond. I, myself was a little bit affected but I appreciate the fact that the administrator tried their best to pacify the players. Neutral Grounds Forum is a Filipino magic community so we use the native dialect and English language on some occasion. Most members are male. Well, statistic shows that current male to female ratio is 18.3:*1. I’m one of the few girls who actively reads and posts on this forum. I love being here because people are not sexist and they are very supportive to a newbie like me. There are times that they thought I was a guy but it doesn’t matter at all. I love talking to them because I learn a lot. Neutral Grounds Forum is my second home. It is the first forum I always open when I am in front of my computer. Aside from the fact that members are welcoming and opinionated, I know most of them in real life. I can say that I’m one of the guys. And I love being part of this community.

I get the chance to know more people through this forum. You will really get to know most of the people here if you are joining Magic Tournament. Sometimes you will be dealing with them as a buyer, seller or trader. I have dealt with a lot of them and they always give me good impression. In this forum, I can greatly say that what you see is what you get. The forum has a feature called “trade count” that allows you give negative or positive feedback for each transaction. I personally love this one because it shows my credibility. The trading post on the forum is being taken care of by a responsible moderator. Their rules are fair enough and I observe it most of the time. Though I must admit that I also receive warnings. I won’t say that is strict, instead, I will say that the moderator and administrator here are just fair in implementing the rules. Also, this forum is not focused on magic alone. Other boards are allotted for discussion about anything under the sun. Though there are some people branding me as “spammer” and the like, it hasn’t change anything. I have plenty of friends there that make my stay worthwhile. Plus, this is a place of learning and it helps me a lot.