Dear Future Husband,

It's been a while since my last letter.

How have you been? I hope you're doing great, unlike me today.

I'm feeling overwhelmed today. I feel like I'm letting down some of my plans.

Here I am, writing this while watching YouTube videos filed under 'Christmas In A Cabin' because my mind just can't process things other than what to eat, what to watch, and what time to sleep. Also, this kind of video gives me the comfort that I need in a time like this.

After I logged out from work earlier, I felt a wave of relief that finally, this workweek was over. My overwhelmed feeling is not because of work. If anything, working would have eased this feeling.

I think I'm sad and somewhat broken-hearted because of a part-time job. Three weeks ago, I was working as a part-time project coordinator for a small business after I logged out from my full-time work. I was doing great. I was getting consistent positive feedback from the CEO/owner himself. But he said he had to remove me from the payroll for now because new clients were not getting in the door. I understood, I mean it's business and as the owner, he had to do what he had to do. I guess what breaks my heart is the fact that I put my heart into finding and getting this job, and now, it's on hold.

Anyway, I hope by December, I'll be able to resume my work in that job. I really love working in that company.

So much with that, I'm kinda hungry now. I think my boyfriend cooked something delicious.

Talk to you again,

Ace

Manila International Book Fair 2023: Notes of A First-Timer

"My love for books has brought me to places that sometimes I thought I would never be able to visit if I'm not a book lover."

The first time I saw the official announcement on the Facebook page of the Manila International Book Fair, I couldn't contain my excitement. Hindi ko mapigilan na hindi mapasayaw sa tuwa. Ganito lang talaga ako kapag masaya, I even sing while dancing kapag sobrang excited ako.

The moment na malaman ko ang dates ng MIBF 2023, agad akong naghanap sa pages ng mga publishing company at bookstores regarding their own announcements sa participation nila this year.

When I saw that FullyBooked is offering their customers free tickets to the fair, I already made a plan kung aling branches nila ang pupuntahan ko to get a ticket.

My partner and I dropped by their branch in Glorietta the following weekend kaso ubos na daw agad. I was even planning to go to their Greenbelt branch but the customer service rep that I was able to talk to said na mas nauna daw naubos sa branch na 'yon.

Since I was already in a bookstore, I just looked for the second book of What If It's Us, in the Instagram post on the left, Here's To Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera. Luckily, meron sila kaya hindi na rin sayang ang pagpunta namin ni boyf sa branch na 'yon.

The following weekend, my partner and I visited the FullyBooked in Conrad. Ang saya ko lang kasi marami pa silang tickets. The customer service rep even gave us 2 tickets and told us to inform our friends that their branch still have tickets. Since andoon na lang rin kami, we casually browsed their shelves to look for any interesting titles.

While doing so, naalala ko na book nga pala ang source material ng kakalabas lang na BL rom-com movie na Red, White, and Royal Blue. I saw few copies pero medyo mahal pa, almost Php1K. Kaya I decided na hihintayin ko na lang na maging available sa National Bookstore.

***

I've been looking for a copy of Tale For A Rainy Season by Wincy Aquino Ong. You may visit the author's Instagram account below if you want to know more about the book.

Ang tagal ko nang hinahanap ang book na 'to pero palagi na lang out of stock sa mga bookstore na napuntahan ko, even sa Mt. Cloud sa Baguio noong mag-celebrate ako ng birthday ko doon last year.

I've been also constantly visiting the publisher's Shopee account pero sold-out palagi.

But what a coincidence! Since I've been following Wincy's IG account, nakita ko ang story n'ya and took the opportunity to ask him kung nasa MIBF siya this year.

Ang saya ko lang kasi nag-reply siya sa inquiry ko. Kahit na one day lang siya sa fair, ayos pa rin kasi for sure may available copies doon.

And to quote Wincy's reply to me, "Will get back to you! But most definitely, I will be there Friday. If ever, I can meet you sa Komiket booth. Kindly text me here na lang. Text text tayo!

At sa gulat ko sa message niya, all I could do was 'heart' his message. HAHAHA.

I know! Such a lame reaction pero okay na, at least magkakaroon na ako ng copy ng book niya and most probably will have a chance to get a photograph and autograph from him.

***

Now is a waiting game for me. It's just the second of September and DAY 01 of the fair will be on the 14th.

***

I was not able to secure a copy of Tale For A Rainy Season. We went to the fair on its last day and as I expected, the publisher of the book was not there anymore. We only spent an hour in the venue and decided to just have our dinner and coffee afterward.