11 November 2022
October always screams excitement for the Members of the Manila Polo Club. Every year, we look forward to the grand Halloween festivities within the community that include creative costumes, competitive spirits, and good old family fun. Because the pandemic robbed us of all the hair-raising, ghostly adventures for two years, we made sure to bring back Halloween traditions in 2022 the Polo Club way – bigger and more boo-tiful than ever!
To follow an overall Zombie theme, the Graveyard Gala made the perfect opening event for people of all ages to come and join in the Halloween fun. The 30th of October saw the Main Lounge transform into a realistic cemetery, with 479 guests in attendance. Children waltzed around in scary and whimsical costumes, which were all showcased during a magnificent costume parade to kickoff the Hallow’s Eve festivities.
Attendees did not fall short of entertainment. We had a raffle draw for Pottery Barn merchandise, various game booths scattered around the venue and of course, a magic show to tickle everyone’s brains with never-before-seen tricks and trades. We also stationed different food carts in the Main Lounge to keep our guests stuffed throughout the program. With everyone showing up in creative ensembles, judges had a difficult time choosing who would be lucky enough to bring home the grand prizes.
Caden Galang and Eliana Christina Antunez won the title for best in costume for the 2-6 year-old category, while Dominic Alexander E. Del Rosario and Hannah Sabbine S. Tan represented the 7-12 year-old category, and took home special prizes of their own as well. Ultimately, those whose stellar ensembles stood out among the rest were Dominic Alexander E. Del Rosario (overall best male costume), Hannah Sabbine S. Tan and Eliana Christina Antunez (overall best female costumes). The main program ended with an exciting guided trick-or-treat session, where children collected all sorts of candies and goodies along various stations in the Club.
Previously, the Club only hosted one main event and a guided trick-or-treat activity to celebrate Halloween. This year, however, we decided to introduce a new concept to get adults involved in the fun as well. A zombie-themed fun run was set to take place in the Softball Field, where participants would have been tasked to make it to the finish line at the fastest time possible whilst avoiding the zombies that could kill their chance at finishing the race.
Unfortunately, due to Typhoon Paeng, we could not possibly push through with our outdoor initiatives. Disappointed as we were, this hurdle only challenged us to improvise, and plan an alternative activity that would maximize the initial preparations, and at the same time, keep Members and guests safe indoors. Ultimately, we decided to create a zombie-filled horror house with an escape room concept entitled Undead Ahead: Fright or Flight @ MPC.
After sunset was the perfect time to begin the obstacle. When darkness dawned at around 6:00 PM, the runners entered what once were the Turf and McKinley rooms, and soon had to plan their escape without losing any of their lives, represented by flags. Participants got their scream on as they maneuvered through the creepy warehouse setup and the plethora of zombies that moaned, groaned and threatened to take their lives. Those who managed to finish the course with the most flags left sealed their very own “Survivor Medals”, while those who finished without any flags were given consolation medals, with the word “infected” written across it.
Among the participants who were successful in finding their way out of the obstacle, Agnes Oh and Roco Lozano managed to emerge victorious, taking the prize for Best in Costume for the adult and kid categories, respectively.
A total of 117 participants completed the course, and soon afterwards were led to the Pelota building for a night of relief, raffles, and DJ Jason Dewey’s hyped up beats. During this portion, we also raffled off a bunch of prizes from our sponsors including: Hotel Okura Manila overnight accommodation gift certificates, and even a 55” TV from G&W ClubShares.
Despite the challenges we face on a daily basis, and even the unforeseen events that take place in our lives, Members can always count on Manila Polo Club to be their sacred oasis. Whether they are competing against fellow Members in a costume showcase, fighting for their lives in a make believe Zombie apocalypse, or simply chatting with friends and loved ones in their favorite spaces, the MPC family will always have something to look forward to when they visit their second home. Now that we have brought back old habits, we can only look forward to bigger, better events to celebrate all types of holidays and traditions! Look out everyone, because Christmas is just around the corner. You are not gonna wanna miss what’s yet to come!
Our 2022 Halloween spectacular was truly a success, thanks to our talented and resilient planning team. And of course, this event would not have been possible as well without the help of our sponsors. We would like to give a special thanks to the following for their generosity and support: Mitsukoshi Federal, Globe Telecom, Hairwatch, Colgate-Palmolive, Oishi (Liwayway Corp.), Hotel Okura, Perfetti van Melle, Pottery Barn, GG&A Brokers, G&W ClubShares, Nagaraya, Straits Wine, Saddle Brown, Anthem Group, Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc., Home Rituals, Fractal Designs and Concepts, Nestle Philippines, and Esguerra Farms.
