It was a day full of spooky surprises as the HGS offices underwent a slight transformation last Friday. The Halloween spirit was in full force in both our Makati and BGC offices last week as the staff took some time to dress up both their workstations and themselves for the occasion.
Fun and Games Galore
Like we did last year, an overall theme was decided on for the competition and would have to be followed by each of our teams. With last year’s Carnival theme in the books, this year HGS celebrated some favourites in television, movies and fantasy. To get things started, it was decided that our Makati and BGC offices would adopt a Hogwarts theme for the offices’ general area. Whether it was in Makati or BGC, this meant there were posters, House symbols, Golden Snitches, Sorting Hats and Invisibility Cloaks all around the HGS offices. Some of the movies and television shows represented were Star Wars, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Pan’s Labyrinth, Alice in Wonderland and Stranger Things. Even Shake Rattle and Roll, a popular horror movie anthology that has been a staple of Philippine cinema for more than 30 years, was represented by one of our teams. To go with these themes, the staff also dressed up to match their respective set, with a representative briefly explaining why they chose that particular theme.
It wasn’t just about candy and costumes though as there were also some surprises that made both Halloween parties extra special. Taking inspiration from escape rooms like Mystery Manila, the HGS management team presented everyone with the “Guess The Murderer” game. Based on a short story given by a host, three teams would be provided clues in the form of puzzles that they would need to solve in an effort to determine who the culprit is. Clues were hidden all over selected areas of HGS’s offices and would needed to be solved on the spot to determine where the next clue could be found. The team that finished fasted would be declared the winner. It certainly was a different but timely game that is often not present during Halloween parties. As an added bonus, teams got to also explore HGS’s offices a little more!
Your Spooky Self
To say that that some of our teams went “all out” this year would be underselling just how much effort was put into making this year’s Halloween party so much fun. In our Makati office, there was an eclectic mix of fantasy and science fiction as Star Wars and Chronicles of Narnia themes adorned two stations. Both teams showed off their creativity and ingenuity by having Aslan from Narnia be represented by one of HGS’s employees, while R2-D2 was created from a rubbish bin! Perhaps the most talked about set was the Alice in Wonderland station, which boasted a full set design of giant mushrooms, playing cards and signs directing you to where tea with the Mad Hatter (who was also present) would be.
Meanwhile, over at the BGC office, the Willy Wonka set was an assortment of bright coloured balloons and different candies scattered all over. Music was also continuously on loop as Wonka herself welcomed guests and judges to her “factory.” The team behind Stranger Things stayed true to Halloween’s horror roots by making use of familiar elements of the popular show, from the music of the 80s to the Christmas lights strewn all over the wall with an alphabet. The team also recreated the show’s main antagonist –the Demogorgon – that also growled whenever someone would approach it.
Needless to say, our judges had a hard time choosing which themes and costumes stood out from the rest.
In the end however, there had to be winners from each side and one overall best theme. It was clear that the team behind Alice in Wonderland put in plenty of thought, time and effort into creating their stations and they took home first place. Second place was a tie between two other sets in our Makati office: Star Wars and Pan’s Labyrinth, another movie popular for its strange and fantasy motifs. The Narnia set took third place and was also tied with the Stranger Things set. Individual costume awards were also awarded to each of the offices. Rolly Castro, who dressed up as the Mad Hatter, took first place for the Makati office while Quina Halbi’s interpretation of Willy Wonka made her the best dressed in our BGC office.
HGS certainly has a reputation for throwing some pretty memorable celebrations, and the 2016 Halloween party was a definite addition to that list. Everyone at both Makati and BGC contributed considerable time and effort to make sure it was a great way to cap off their work week, with memories of the day still echoing in them as this piece goes up. Indeed, none of it would have been possible with the staff – whether they were from management or newly hired ones – coming together for an afternoon of candies, scares and laughs.
