Some few days ago, my fellow photography enthusiast Josh invited me to an Airsoft skirmish within a private compound in Tomas Morato. To get to ‘The Office‘, you have to give a passcode first at the entrance before the guard lets you in since they only patronize the members and their referrals. It was my first time so without knowing what to expect, I was thrilled.

Dave and I met Josh at Super8/SM Masinag area, went to get our rented gear near Ateneo and then geared up after arriving at The Office. I was surprised how the others were fully garbed – complete with scopes and flashlights on their guns and rifles, sporting 2-way radios and pseudo hand grenades on their thick armors. ‘This’ll be fun!” I thought to myself.

After the main guy Horace gave us the general briefing about the place and about what to do and not to do, we were separated into two teams: the Military vs Contractors (civilians). Our so-called map ‘The Office‘, by the way, is an abandoned eight-floor building with semi-demolished rooms and hallways. Also, there’s no electricity – come the time the sun comes down, all you’re gonna be left with will be pitch-black darkness. Still, the shooting games go on until 9pm so better luck next time if you’ve no lights or night-vision with you. And you have to stay on your guard because since this is a private property, you’re pretty much on your own when something happens.

Our first game consisted of this scenario: Both teams of 10-15 started at adjacent rooms on the seventh floor with both having 2 VIPs whom they must escort outside the building. So this is where careful planning comes in – should our team split in half where one division will focus on offense and the other defense, or should each VIP have its own team of both offense and defense? We went with the latter, but we lost the round. The opposing team went all out by having their group move as one as fast as they can, so we were pretty much screwed.