My First Ever Book Signing Event Experience

Last year, National Book Store announced that the next author they are bringing here is none other than Gayle Forman. I was beyond ecstatic. I really, really wanted to go but the thought of school held me back (not that I am a hundred-percent-school-loving student). I've never been to an author signing before. Authors rarely come here in our country and even if they do, I still live far, far away from the venue. But now NBS have one in Cebu which is literally an island next to mine. A little far still and on a Sunday but then I found out classes the following day were suspended (yay!). Now my problem is, the last time I've been to Cebu was four years ago and I had companions then but now I'm going alone because my sister is in Manila. I don't know the place and I most definitely don't know.. the language. BUT! It's Gayle Forman. She is one of my most favorite contemporary authors and If I Stay and Where She Went are the first ever contemporaries I've absolutely loved and the reason why I've been a little into contemporaries eversince so I thought "Fck this, I'm going." Before 2013 ended, I've booked my plane ticket to Cebu.

The night I booked my ticket, I dreamt it was already the 19th and I missed my flight. HOW CRUEL! Thank God it was only a dream. Now fast forward to the real January 19. It's 3AM and I'm wide awake because I have to be at the shuttle terminal that would take me to the airport at four. Fifteen minutes - shower, ten minutes - primp, ten minutes - breakfast, five minutes to recheck my things: boarding pass, books, money, id, etc.. and I'm set! Fast forward to a few hours and I'm checked in and only waiting for my boarding gate to open at 6:50am. My departure time was supposed to be at 7:20 in the morning but because my "flight-mates" are very punctual.. 10 minutes after the boarding gates opened and we're all ready to go so I arrived in Cebu at 7:30am (30 minutes early!) and I had no idea what to do since mall hours are not until 10am. I figured my too early breakfast had been digested already so I went to the nearest restaurant to eat. By that time my mom was calling me, checking how I'm doing and telling me to make sure I eat a real meal - with rice and I'm like "Yeah, yeah.." while shoving the last of my pancakes in my mouth.

It's a 30-minute ride from the airport to the city but since I had a lot of time to kill I thought I'd ask directions on how to get to Ayala Center other than a taxi. But holy crap I can't follow the language and they speak it really fast so in the end I was all, "Yeah, thanks so much.." then hailed a freaking cab or I'd be late otherwise. And lost. Definitely lost. LOL.

I arrived a little early so NBS wasn't open yet but I saw other people already waiting outside. The event starts at 2PM so after registration I decided to wander around.. have a little fun. It was really crowded since it's Sinulog Festival but.. more fun!

After lunch I visited the bookstores and of course bought books. Back to the signing..

Gayle was late and after about half an hour I'm getting annoyed. Not because of her being late but because I've been to the restroom about a hundred times by then! I should've been thinking about the possibility of being delayed for my trip back home but honestly, the only thing I can think about is "If I pee one more freaking time, I swear..". Damn. Too much soda for lunch.

*Oooh.. There was this Korean girl there.. she had with her a Korean version of If I stay. It's so pretty!*

Then Gayle finally arrived. She got her face painted (experienced the fun of Sinulog)! She's really funny and cool and oh-so-awesome and loved her more than ever. I had a great time listening to her talk about her books and answer questions about her writing process and stuff.

In the end, we high-fived, hugged.. and my books were signed!

 

Um.. I just realized I don't have a pic of my signed books. Doesn't matter. This trip was sooo worth it even though everything got a little complicated in the end. It was almost 4PM when I left the mall and woah... traffic. When I arrived at the terminal I had to wait for 4hours before a van arrived for the port. I decided to make my trip back through sea but I didn't know all trips were cancelled until further notice because of a storm. I called my mom and ask her if there are any more flights left I can take and she said it was fully booked so.. yeah. Stranded in Cebu for two nights. But I survived. You think this would make me say no to another signing event? Heck no! I'm so going back for this: