The 34th Manila International Book Fair

At the 34th International Book Fair

Yesterday, Borgy and I went to the 34th Manila International Book Fair held in SMX Convention Center. This was my first time attending such a huge book fair and I knew there are going to be more people than expected; thus, more people than I can mentally and emotionally handle being in the same room with. As you've probably guessed, I am not comfortable around a huge crowd. For me, being around so many people requires mental preparation and an immense amount of focus.

I first found out about the book fair when my favorite book shop, Fully Booked, posted about it on their FB page. At first, I was confused because some of the comments were talking about tickets. I didn't know a ticket is required. So, I called the Fully Booked and asked. They reserved a ticket for me and we claimed it the same day. Their ticket was free and it admits two persons. 

We scheduled our book fair visit on a Saturday. That decision was a miss. It was the weekend and there are a LOT of people. And I mean a lot. Imagine how huge the SMX Convention Center is. Two floors are used by the book fair: the first floor, where the halls are, are all occupied by the exhibitors and the visitors; the second floor, where the function rooms are, were all holding events like workshops, talks, and cosplays. We lined up in order to enter the building. Let me tell you, I was not in a very good mood when we were entering. I was irritated, as I usually am when I'm around a lot of noisy, pushy, and disagreeing crowd. 

I don't know why we did it but, we first checked the second floor. Honestly, the experience was not comfortable at all. If there are a lot of people inside the book fair, there are even more people at the cosplay rooms and halls. I have nothing against them but it was a rowdy crowd in costumes, which I am not used to. So when we reached the second floor where most of the cosplayers were, I hurried my boyfriend away. When we finally got inside the book fair, it was mad! Right across the entrance to the book fair was my target: aisle F--where Fully Booked is located. There was a maddening amount of people around. You can barely move between rows of shelves and tables because there are a lot of visitors inside their area. The books were not in their proper places anymore and the staff where all trying to help everyone but it was impossible by the amount of people inside. Aside from the diverse titles they offer, all books inside their area were 20% off! I was muddied and I could barely think straight so it took a while for my book-hunting skills to kick in. I saw a lot of books I wanted to buy but I have to restrain myself or my wallet will suffer. :|

Fully Booked's Exhibit

So after finally getting the books I wanted, I looked for a short-queue cashier. There was none. All cashiers have long lines to them. When we finally paid for my books, we went around the other exhibitors.

Trying to look ahead and check if my target book bag is still available.

Harried but happy. :)

Other stalls and exhibitors have a few visitors. Maybe it was their discount, but I realized that from all exhibits, only Fully Booked attracted that much people. Nevertheless, we looked around and I found other interesting books for cooking. We also came across "For Dummies" books which always get my attention because they have the best how-to titles I know of. Unfortunately, I've reached my budget's limit so I had to take a deep breath and calmly step away from the other enticing books.

A book I was itching to buy.

For the list of this year's exhibitors, click on the following picture:

List of exhibitors. Photo from the MIBF website.
(Click to enlarge)

Aside from the amazing book finds, another cool thing happened. Borgy met Bruce Lim, or as popularly known, The Boss. For those of you living under a rock, Bruce Lim is an amazing chef constantly featured on AFC (Asian Food Channel) through his shows Tablespaces and The Boss. Since my boyfriend watches a lot of food channels, he often sees Chef Bruce on AFC shows. And I can honestly testify that my boyfriend is a fan. So, as all loyal fans do, we stalked him for a while until Borgy got the courage to tap him on the shoulder and ask for a picture. Chef Bruce was really nice, too. He shook Borgy's hand and asked him if he was enjoying the fair. When we asked for a picture, he said sure and indulged Borgy when he asked Chef to do the The Boss sign. Since I was such a good, awesome, fantastic girlfriend, I took their picture and took delight on seeing Borgy as a gushing fan-boy.

Borgy with The Boss himself, Chef Bruce Lim

I definitely enjoyed the book fair. I left happy with my new books and was absolutely pleased to have seen my boyfriend so happy when he saw Chef Bruce Lim. Although, next year, we'll go on less harrowing days. :p

New books!

If you plan on going to the next year's book fair, a few tips:

Tip #1:

Get/buy your tickets ahead of time. Do not get your tickets on the venue itself. I'm not sure if I saw correctly but, the Convention Center's admission/registration area were crowded with visitors wasting their time lining up so they can get a ticket FOR A FEE. Contact any exhibitor the day before your visit and get your tickets from them. They usually offer it for free, too.

Tip #2:

For week-long book fairs, avoid the weekends. They are a nightmare. Since more students are freed up during weekends, Saturdays and Sundays are the day they all pour in.

Tip #3:

Not all good books are found in one exhibitor only. Go around; browse different shelves from the different exhibitors. You might get a pleasantly unexpected book-find. ;)