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I accidentally crashed the World Robot Olympiad 2010 because I got so confused at SMX that I went into the wrong hall. I was supposed to go straight to the UP AME Fair (Track 10).

But I saw this:

This ginormous crowd sort of swept me into Hall 3. I showed my AME ticket to the guy at the entrance but he ignored my ticket and just stamped on my arm. When I perused the hall, I said to myself, “Wait. These are two halls. The AME Fair is in just one hall…”

I squinted at the stage and only then noticed the sign: “World Robot Olympiad 2010.”

Meep.

I looked this up later on and found out that the Philippines hosted the international geek event, where future engineers and young robotics scientists all over the world compete for medals and certificates.

In the photo above are Japanese kids. They have amazing concentration and I really felt the intensity of their tasks.

Sorry for the blurry pics. I just wanted to take photos while everyone was hurriedly assembling their robots. These are timed. I can just imagine the pressure these kids had to go through.

Because the geek in me was becoming stressed just watching the participants, I decided to take it easy and just explore the entire venue.

Yay! Here’s a booth by our very own geek institution. THE ultimate one: Philippine Science High School. My dad had long ago dreamed that I would study here but I made him a deal: “Tell ya what, Dad, lemme just spare my sanity in high school then I will go to the University of the Philippines after that, okie?”

(I kept that promise. It was my cousin Robbie who went into and survived Pisay.)

I passed through this booth by the Thai geniuses. I asked for them to pose and one of them offered to present their project. Actually, I barely understood what he was trying to say. I am bad at any other variations of English, especially the Asian versions (Singlish, Chinlish, Thailish). I think he was talking to me in English… Good thing this project was all about physics (and their culture) so the project already spoke for itself.

I also think they were sweet, highly enthusiastic kids.

These are Chinese robots. There were no caretakers in sight so I wasn’t able to ask about these miniatures. I guess that’s a good thing. I am much much worse with Chinese English.

Now here’s something I could relate to. It’s a booth of one of our own. This one is about the Palawan Underground River.

More booths. I could almost swear that some Asian dudes here are just fanboying over the female engineering students. Really.

I was particularly fascinated by that jar and that mask. And yeah…sorry for the bad lighting.

Here are Korean geniuses with their own brand of robotics. These cute girls were part of the reason why I easily mistook this event for UP AME’s. They looked like they were cosplaying, when they were actually just wearing their national costumes!

This is my favorite costume. It’s so elaborate! I forgot to ask her what country she hails from, but knowing my difficulty in communicating with them, I guess I’ll have to do a bit of research. Uh, I don’t know the girl on the right but I asked her to pose, too, since she was Pinay.

All in all, I had a wonderful time at an event that I wasn’t supposed to be in. Good thing they were open to everyone. What I like best about this is that I discovered other countries and nationalities I have never even heard of. Whew!