7 Awesome Things That Happened During the STAR WARS CELEBRATION in Manila

More than a week back, I received an invite from the Jedi Council and who could refuse that right?? The invite was for the Star Wars Celebration which is happening at Anaheim Convention Center. It is actually a global event happening in different parts of the world, all celebrating the pop culture phenomenon that is Star Wars. Also, this is the day that people are waiting for updates and news on the upcoming Star Wars Episode 7, The Force Awakens movie.

The Star Wars: The Force Awakens panel simulcast fan event in the Philippines happened at IMAX in SM Mall of Asia last April 16, around 11:30 PM. Now here are the 7 Awesome Things that happened during the Star Wars Fan event in IMAX Mall of Asia.

1. Character appearance of some of the Star Wars characters! of course any Star Wars fan must not pass up the opportunity for a photo-op with these iconic characters.

2. Introduced three new characters of their upcoming Episode 7 the Force Awakens.

Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Daisy Ridley playing Rey and John Boyega playing as Finn

Daisy Ridley describes her character "Rey" as a scavenger who lives in a ship graveyard (which goes a long way in explaining the crashed Star Destroyer seen in the new trailer). She is self-sufficent and solitary, but "meets another character" and sees her adventure begin. And while she didn’t specifically say who this character is, it was heavily hinted that it will be

John Boyega as "Finn" shares that the story of his character begins in finding himself in incredible danger. This fact winds up changing his life completely, and "launches him into the Star Wars universe in a unique way."

Oscar Isaac plays Poe Dameron who is an X-Wing pilot. He describes himself as "the best fricken pilot in the galaxy." Rather surprisingly, it was revealed that Poe’s role in the plot comes from a mission that he is given from "a certain princess"

3. Star Wars Emoji!!!
Yeap! J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy revealed that leading up to the Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Twitter has rolled out special Starwars Emoji! Users can easily activate the emoji by using certain Star Wars-themed hashtags

Here's me trying one.

4. Stormtroopers wearing new helmets! A much sleeker and better looking ones!

Check out the old and new one!

5. They called in the Star Wars Veterans!

Original "Star Wars" cast members Peter Mayhew (L), Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Anthony Daniels (R)

They shared how happy they are to be part of the series again and that the fans are in for something really amazing.

6. New drodi was introduced! BB8

When it rolled out of the stage, we just couldn't help but wonder. "How does it work??" It may look like CGI in the trailer, but the droid that will join R2-DR in the forthcoming Star Wars film - The Force Awakens - is very much real. Named BB-8. JJ Abrams, the film’s director, confirmed that a real robot was used during filming, but did not reveal how it works.