As a graduating student this year, what’s next for Bianca “Biancake” Yao?

From her days of playing video games, to hosting and casting events, Bianca “Biancake” Yao has come a long way from being your gamer-girl-next-door.

With her last year of school coming up, the former Mineski courtside reporter turned shoutcaster sat with EsportsINQ to talk about her journey forward, juggling her school life with a gaming career and her next big leap: streaming full-time on Twitch on her senior year at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

We heard that you are graduating this year from the Pamantasan ng lungsod ng Maynila? Have you maintained your scholarship over the years?

Yes, and yes. It’s been a long journey for me trying to balance my gaming career and studies but luckily I’m still here. One year to go.

I was invited by Mineski to be a shoutcaster, an opportunity I’m still thankful to this day. They brought me to different places in gaming not just in Luzon but all over the Philippines. It was a fun ride but I had to take a step back due to my studies and left Mineski early this year.

You’ve been in gaming from a very young age. How did you get started?

I’ve been a gamer all my life from PSP, PS4 and PC. I played a lot of God of War, Ragnarok, Guitar Hero, Tekken and more back in the days. On PC gaming, I started out as a regular gamer who plays in your average computer cafe during DoTA 1 days. I met most of my gaming buddies there and eventually “Julz” from happyfeet asked me to be a member of Happyfeet Chix, an all girl counterpart of their DoTA 1 team.

From that day, I entered the world of esports. The term esports wasn’t even a thing back then and I never knew that it would turn into what it is today but that’s where everything started for me. Right after that, I was invited by Mineski to be a shoutcaster, an opportunity I’m still thankful to this day. They brought me to different places in gaming not just in Luzon but all over the Philippines. It was a fun ride but I had to take a step back due to my studies and left Mineski early this year.

 So what’s the secret then to juggling a gaming career with school? Doesn’t it get hard?

For me it’s all about time management, the important thing is you have to be responsible and strategic at the same time. Discipline is also important as there are so many tasks everyday that you have to accomplish but with the right people around you and a supportive family, nothing is impossible.

My secret is I make sure that whenever I make my schedule for my term, I always take into account that I have to make my weekends as free as I can so that I have time to attend gaming events and the saturday for an all nighter. This keeps me up to date with eSports events at the same time it allows to play my mmr games.

Let’s take a look into your day: how does a normal day for Bianca Yao look like and how do you fit in gaming?

My secret is I make sure that whenever I make my schedule for my term, I always take into account that I have to make my weekends as free as I can so that I have time to attend gaming events and the Saturday for an all-nighter. This keeps me up to date with esports events at the same time it allows to play my ranked MMR games.

I know that I can’t restrain the gamer inside me and because of that I decided to stream on twitch during my free time to stay connected with my followers. I play at least 30 games per week so why not stream them? 

 

Let’s talk about streaming now: so from courtside reporting at esports events, you’ve decided to go full-time in streaming on Twitch. Why make the switch? Will you no longer do esports events?

I have hosted numerous events in my life and I feel that at this point in my career, I would want to take a step back from that as I am graduating. I’m just not sure if I have enough time to do that this year. However, I know that I can’t restrain the gamer inside me and because of that I decided to stream on Twitch during my free time to stay connected with my followers. I play at least 30 games per week so why not stream them, right? 😀

What should fans expect from your new career direction as a streamer? Will they still see more of the videos you do on your Facebook page like song parodies or sketches?

They will see me often online in my Twitch channel twitch.tv/sliceofbiancakes these next two months as it is my summer vacation and I play a lot during my vacation. In terms of Facebook videos, songs and parodies, I can’t promise anything yet but I will try 🙂

Lastly, if you were to give advice to someone going through school who would also one day want to be a streamer or esports host, what would you give?

Just do what you love and try to give your best in everything you do. It’s also important that you know your strengths and weaknesses as this will help you a bunch in accomplishing your short term and long term goals. Always keep your feet on the ground and don’t forget to pray.

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