Yogurt Day: The White Hat Celebrity for Charity Event with Alodia and Ashley

My friends and I attended the Celebrity for Charity Event at the Shangri La Plaza Mall last Sunday, August 30.  The event was organized by The White Hat, the Italian frozen yogurt shop, in cooperation with Got Heart Foundation.  Alodia and Ashley Gosiengfiao were the celebrity hostesses for this event.

This event is probably the first of its kind in the country, combining a charity event with the elements of cosplay.  I personally wanted to see this event for myself as it was something new and different from your typical conventions.  Besides, it included some of my favorite things; cosplay, charity and yogurt!  Who can resist, right?

Sese as Kagamine Rin holding a cup of The White Hat yogurt

There were already quite a number of people and cosplayers at the event when we arrived.  Sese decided to come in cosplay as well as Kagamine Rin of Vocaloid.  Alodia and Ashley had not yet arrived at the time so we decided to get a table and get some yogurt while we waited. A lady even briefed us the mechanics for the event before the sisters arrived, which I actually appreciated.

The Founder and Executive Director of Got Heart Foundation, Melissa Ruivivar Yeung, explained to us more about the foundation and the event.  The foundation helps farmers, indigenous people and out of school youth by teaching them skills that would help them become independent.  Typically, they would hold fundraisers around September to help pay for the tuition of some of the scholars they put to school.  So when they heard The White Hat was looking for celebrities for their charity events, they quickly suggested the Gosiengfiao sisters.

Sese with Melissa Ruivivar Yeung

When the sisters finally arrived, there was a sudden burst of people coming out of nowhere.  I have to admit, that regardless of what people say, Alodia and Ashley draw crowds around them.  The crowds swelled with a bunch of photographers trying to find a spot to get pictures of the sisters.  Cosplayers also had their chance to have their pictures taken with the sisters.

Some of the cosplayers there were Rei and Asuka from Evangelion, Johnny Dep's Willy Wonka, the Haruhi crossplayer (yes, it's a guy), and my personal favorite, the Skurai cosplay from Ragnarok manhwa.  Migs, who dressed up as Skurai, was also at the Otaku Taiiki event donning the same costume.  I have to give props to this guy for his dedication.  Not only was his weapn and the props on his right harm quite heavy, he ended up having to use super glue on his mask because of the lack of accessible and affordable prosthetic adhesive.  He even told us that he even experimented with greco (ouch that has got to hurt).

Me looking campy with Rei and Asuka

I also got a chance to speak with the Rei and Asuka cosplayer.  They had informed me that they were planning to put up a Cosplay Photo Studio in Cubao Ali Mall which they were launching in October.  Aside from cosplay photography, they also plan to rent out and sell costumes, props, accessories and even some wigs.  It's like a one stop shop for everything cosplay related.  I'm pretty excited with the concept and I'm sure pretty soon there will have lots of cosplayers lining up to avail of their services.  

The Asuka cosplayer as the first time she actually cosplayed anything.  She's actually a model so she's pretty new to the cosplay scene.  Some cosplayers even gave her some tips on how to play Asuka so that she could get into character more.  Just goes to show you that anyone can be a cosplayer, even models.  And it was nice that the people there took the time to help her out instead of making fun of her.

Alodia and Ashley

The event was totally refreshing in my opinion.  It was a small relatively well-organized event.  It allowed people to just sit around a table and talk about topics regarding cosplay, events and anything under the sun while enjoying a cup of some delicious yogurt that was served by Alodia and Ashley themselves.  I met new people and talked to some people I never thought and expected. 

As the event was winding down, Alodia and Ashley obliged us with a small interview about the event.  They were pretty happy with the results and it seemed that they had lots of fun.  I understand that The White Hat was able to raise PhP45,195 from the charity event, half of which will be given to Got Heart Foundation.  

Alodia and Ashley with The White Hat crew serving yogurt

The sisters are also interested in supporting and maybe organizing future charity events themselves.  Sese, who has backgrounds in social work, was happy to hear that.  She also shared with the sisters a cause that is close to her as well.  Perhaps our group, Project Eiva may do our own charity event in the future (something I definitely would look forward to doing, if ever).

We also shared with the sisters our experience with cosplay in Singapore and some of the stuff we'd like to see in future events.  I think they were genuinely interested to hear our experiences and even mentioned that they may incorporate that in their own events.  I look forward to any event that would bring a little bit of what they do abroad back here in the country.

All in all, the event was a well organized and publicized charity event bringing elements of cosplay in a more upper class environment.  It was refreshing to see that spectators seemed to have a more positive outlook at what cosplay is all about then your standard Joe at SM Megamall.  I can honestly say that I would love to attend more events like these in the future, regardless of who organizes it.

Here are some photos of the event I took of the event.