Agent Zero rocks Manila

Gilbert Arenas aka Agent Zero makes an appearance at the Adidas Shop in
Rockwell Makati City.
(Photo by Roy Afable 07/06/08)

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas made an impact as soon as he arrived here in Manila, Philippines. He didn't disappoint his Filipino fans when he visited selected Adidas stores yesterday as part of his Agent Zero Asia Tour. It was truly a treat for us NBA fans. From the looks of it, Agent Zero pretty much enjoyed his stay here.

I was lucky enough to be invited for a rare opportunity to meet and greet Arenas in his second leg of his Adidas store visit at the Rockwell Power Plant Mall in Makati. Special thanks to Sir Rommel (I didn't get his last name) for the invitation. When I got there yesterday, it was already packed. I got there about 10 minutes before the said time his arrival there.

Armed with my handy dandy digital camera, Adidas replica jersey of Gilbert Arenas and of course, a pen. The crowd was really excited. I really wished I was able to witness all of his mall visits but I'm just happy to just witness one of them.

Fans roared when he finally arrived. He did a little trivia contest and gave away some Adidas goodies (I think) to the winners. Then he went inside the store and only peeps in the guest list are the fortunate ones to get close to him. I was able to get a piece of his hand when he was giving hi fives along the way. He was wearing wearing his white NBA Live 08 shirt underneath his white sweat jacket (that matched his pants of course) and I presume he's wearing his NBA Live 08 Gil II Zeros to go with it.

There were some who were able to get his autograph and at the same time, get a photo op with him but getting Gilbert Arenas' autograph on my jersey was something what I really wanted. There was this supposed "line" to get his autograph. When I was almost getting close, Arenas stood up and bade farewell to his adoring fans (it was after he put his hand print/mark on a cement). I thought I had already lost hope of getting my jersey signed by Agent Zero himself. With that in mind I had to fulfill my mission or the opportunity given to me will be for nothing.

The opportunity came for me when he was mobbed by his fans on his way out of the store. Lucky for me I was in the middle and I saw him signing autographs while walking. I reached out my jersey almost in front of his face after he signed a fans shirt. He signed it quickly (he kind stopped a little bit while signing my jersey) and the rest was history. Mission accomplished! There were some fans pushing me. I had to go with the flow before I get myself injured in the process.

Everybody was all smiles after he left the store. Who wouldn't be? All the fans had a great time including myself of course. Had to get my picture taken with my freshly signed jersey by Gilbert Arenas. Speaking of pictures, I had a hard time taking pics of him inside the store. I'm just not blessed with a height of a basketball player.

The writer with his Adidas replica jersey freshly signed by
Agent Zero Gilbert Arenas
(Photo by Roy Afable 07/06/08)

I was supposed to bring an artwork I did of him that I really wanted to personally give it to him but I wasn't able to bring it with me. I was thinking twice whether I should head to Trinoma Mall for his final leg of Adidas store visit to personally give the artwork to him or not. The problem is, there's no guarantee that I'd be able to personally give the artwork to Agent Zero, plus I don't have enough time to back to my house in Las Pinas, pick up my artwork and head to Trinoma Mall in Q.C. I'm sure he'll love it. In the end, I just went straight home. I was just too tired to go there (Trinoma). Yeah, I still feel bad that I failed to personally give the artwork I did to him (some of my artworks can be viewed in my deviantart page). It's still all good though.

On that note, I have to go back to work. I have to finish an article on a PBA player which is due this Friday. I'm out like Baron Davis signing with the LA Clippers.