South.GG Exclusives: Slammin’ with AHOSGaming

The pandemic took away a lot from us — future plans, dates, physical contact, and everything else we lost in 2020. But for 6-time PBA MVP awardee Junemar Fajardo, it was a step into a new field of experience.

Due to his injury and the quarantine protocols set in place in early 2020, Junemar Fajardo had to sit out of the court for a while, continually undergoing recovery amidst a “somehow” lonely environment. During the lockdown, Junemar found himself wanting to stream while playing games like Dota 2 and Call of Duty.

Donning the name AHOSGaming, Fajardo stepped into the world of streaming and vlogging, telling stories about his life and his road to recovery in the middle of the pandemic. When asked about the name choice, he says that it was because he loved eating “ahos” or garlic, especially when it was mixed in with Korean food.

“Hilig jud ko’g ahos, labaw na ug Korean. Kay kung mukaon ka ug samgyeopsal, kay naa man jud na’y ahos. Timing ra man nga gakaon ko ba unya gaduwa, so mao to (I really love eating garlic, especially when it’s in Korean food, like when you eat samgyeopsal, it always has garlics. It so happened that I was also playing while eating, so I chose the name AHOS),” Fajardo said.

Fajardo wasn’t always an avid gamer, saying that the first time he ever played Dota was when he was still studying as a college student in the University of Cebu.

“Wala man mi [varsity] practice ato, unya akong mga kauban kay nanuwa ug Dota, mao to ga kuyog-kuyog ko unya nalingaw ra sad ko (There was a time when we did not have any varsity practice, so some of my teammates decided to play Dota and I tagged along and played with them. Eventually, I had fun playing the game),” he recalls. He also says that he had fun with games such as Counter-Strike and Command and Conquer: Generals.

Fajardo has been streaming on Facebook since mid-2020, and he also has a YouTube page where he posts updates and other game highlights. Check out one of his videos where he accidentally buys the full battle pass for Call of Duty: Warzone. He says that streaming and playing games are just his past-time activity, and he does not plan to move into the streaming career after he retires from playing basketball.

Although he states that he started streaming for fun and to get out of his depressive state, it was not all just for fun. During the recent Typhoon Ulysses disaster, Fajardo launched a stream campaign to help raise funds in order to provide aid for the victims. It is not the first time that Fajardo has done this, since he has been known to be a kind and humble person on and off the camera.

Fajardo, like everyone else, thinks that the Cebuano gaming scene is full of potential.

“Naghuwat ra jud ang Cebuano scene ug time nga mushine (The Cebuano esports scene is just waiting for its time to shine).”

As a parting message, the 6-time PBA MVP awardee said that everyone who aspires to be successful in what they do should stick to their passion and follow it.

“Paninguha jud, paninguha. Wala’y lain makatabang sa imong kaugalingon kung dili ikaw ra jud. Practice kung practice, gahini ug oras kung ganahan jud ka. (Just work hard, work hard. No one else can help you but yourself. Practice all you can, and invest time into if if you really want it).”