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Hoyofest in Manila: Genshin Impact
2021年12月11日
It should be pretty obvious now that I’m a big fan of Genshin Impact and Mihoyo noticing their Southeast Asia fans by hosting an event here in PH is something I definitely cannot miss!
Mihoyo, a game company based in China, is currently running three popular games at the moment – Honkai Impact 3rd, Tears of Themis and Genshin Impact. The event called Hoyofest, is currently being hosted here in the Philippines at Moon Rabbit Cafe, which I think is a good place for an exclusive weeb event like this. Starting Nov 5 to December 14 of this year, they have decorated their place to match the themes of each game and at the same time, they’re selling official merch! 👌
- Honkai Impact 3rd: Nov 5 to Nov 16
- Tears of Themis: Nov 19 to Nov 30
- Genshin Impact: Dec 3 to Dec 14
Reservation Battle
Since pandemic is still not over, reservation is a must for the event (unless you’re stronk enough to take your chances by walking in). So when I found out it’s through call – oh boy, it’s basically another gacha all over again!
I’m not the best at multi-tasking but fortunately, I was able to make calls while working. Knowing the Genshin fanbase, I knew this is going to be a bloody battle.
Overly-attached girlfriend? Bitch pls, I made 600 calls before I got through! Haha… ha. My friends did the same so we probably got a total of 1-2k calls or something. And yes this is just for Genshin because I don’t play the other two games. I basically prayed to God that it’s ok if I don’t get Albedo as long as I secure a slot for me and my friends – and He never fails (I didn’t get Albedo on my pity but that’s not going to stop my wallet). The recurring busy tone was quite taxing that when one of their lines rang and someone finally answered, I stuttered and forgot what I needed to do :)). Add it up to my anxiety as an introvert who don’t like answering calls. XD
The journey was definitely rough, but the destination was worth it!
Moving on to the actual event~
I was supposed to visit Japan again last October and it was really timely because they held another Genshin cafe collab that time. Unfortunately, it’s still pandemic, Japan border was closed and our flight got cancelled. Hoyofest here in Manila is definitely a good replacement for that lost opportunity although there could have been more merch to choose from. 😩
My friends were really excited so we went there earlier prior our reservation time. We could’ve made a reservation at an earlier time, but the reservation battle was absolutely tough. I took a leave from work that day because it’s importanter and to be honest, I’m on my Christmas holiday spirits already haha.
Kudos to Moon Rabbit Cafe for the decorations. It was absolutely lovely and you can see a lot of efforts were put on decorating the whole place. The cafe/restaurant ambiance was great, very clean and pleasing to the eyes – I’d probably come back many times if only it wasn’t far and very traffic.
They have a set meal (sadly not character-themed) that you can buy before purchasing official merch. I got myself a spicy squid, which is really good. They also play Genshin BGMs to immerse yourself more in the Genshin Impact world lol.
The reservation lasts for 2 hours to give way to other customers and only around 30% capacity is allowed.
To my dismay, most of the merchandise I’m eyeing were sold out already – mostly Xiao, Kazuha and Albedo character merch because they’re my bbs. Even though it’s limited to 5 items per customer receipt, I didn’t expect it would sell out so soon (hope online sellers didn’t take advantage of this). Mind you, it was still pretty early like 1pm (Cafe opens at 11am) but the thirst for these pretty boys are real! Haha. I’m still very happy with my purchases and the freebies are 💛💛💛.
Before we went home, I didn’t want to miss rolling for Albedo. I’ve saved about 15 intertwined fates (OTL) for this event and finally, the pretty alchemist boy comes home! 💛 I’m actually close to guaranteed after being devastated by a Qiqi spook
Prior to our reservation, we met and took a photo with a very cute Klee cosplayer. She gave us a sticker which is probably the reason why I got him. 💛 I wanted to post our photo but I’d rather keep it private.
Hoyofest got me pretty hyped and ecstatic, I’ve never been this excited since the last time I went to Japan. Haha. The 600 calls I made are totally worth it, and it was a very pleasant and happy day for me getting Albedo as well~
Hopefully despite the Kleednapping that happened few days ago, this won’t stop Mihoyo from bringing another Hoyofest. And when that time comes, I truly wish there’s no more world war 3 for reservations and MHY bringing more merch enough for the thirsty fangirls and fanboys (like me lol).
