Still warming up for Valentine's. Still exploring the connection between love and books.Let's recap.
So now we've learned that Kak Teh and rhelynn found love among the bookshelves. And bookshops are a favourite pick up spot for Walker, so it works for some. (Though Lil Ms D sadly believes it's her karma to only find gonks wherever she looks. Sadly, she may be right.)
A British Council friend in Taipei told me about a bookshop which stays open all night. It has become one of the favourite pick-up spots in the city. A Taiwanese Government report says about the Eslite bookshop:
Besides the store's cozy atmosphere, with places to sit and read, one reason for the economic success of its late-night operations is its popularity with young people looking for romance, especially for those hoping to find a more intellectual or refined companion.So never mind speed-dating, maybe all you have to do is hang out in front of the right shelves and see who happens to pick up the kind of books that makes your heart happiest. It's bib-dating of a more free-ranging kind.
Oh let's do a quick survey - suppose you want to meet the love of your life in a bookshop, which section would you hang out in?* If you don't have that special someone yet, why not put a rose between your teeth and go stand in MPH or Borders or Kino during your lunch-break tomorrow and see which other lonely hearts happen along ...
Incidentally, did you know that a certain local bookshop owner rearranged his floorspace because of the folks who found - ahem - a bit tooooo much love among the bookshelves? (True) But then, why deny spontaneity?
In tomorrow's Valentine installment: a gift suggestion that will cost you next to nothing but melt your loved one's heart.
*If I were footloose and fancy-free and whole-lot younger my choice would be next to the books on tantric sex. (Cut to the chase, why not?!) Not that you're in danger of finding too many of those in KL bookshops!
16 comments:
i been to that Taipei bookstore. stayed there till almost 3am. there were couples there with pillows and blankets. serious!
also, the books there are not wrapped, and even so, despite being open 24 hours with browsers reading the books, none of the books are in bad condition. shows how ppl there really respect books. i don't think it will work over here. the books will end up all over the place, ppl won't return the stacks of books to the shelves from which they took them. and books will be damaged.
anyway, i know which local bookstore you're talking about! i don't know how couples can "romance" there becos it's so quiet and small, you can hear everything that goes on!
I think I'll go fishing at Kino tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.
As I work at the towers, I'll go hang out at Kinos at lunch time just for fun. Probably the sufi shelves, since I referred to that in your earlier blog.
I have in the past found men watching the books I pick up, or even following me around - perhaps I'm paranoid. Being completely shallow, I only peer over their shoulders at what they're reading if they're attractive (or at least reasonably so). I mean what are the chances of finding a good looking man in the bookshop....
But then the capture rate at Kino must be higher given the traffic - and there is that intimate little cafe upstairs ....
Yes Sharon, I'm in a flirtatious mood. It is after all a full moon.
most definitely, the travel and new age sections! strangely - and sadly - enough, all the guys i've gone out with have never picked up a book since leaving secondary school.
Animah, i will be at the poetry section tomorrow afternoon.
ahem.
oh heck, what have i started! the world and her brother will be looking for love in kino tomorrow lunchtime ... just make yourselves visible with a red rose, hey?
and why not pass the invitation on by sms and blog and increase the gene pool?
Which section in the bookshop? Tough call for me, I am into quite a few things, so the sections I would be in would be between philosophy, religion, literature.
just carry a rose as you run from section to section!
*blush*
Do Sports and Recreation students read books? I'd hang out in their section. It's not their brains I'm after. ;-)
I suppose it would have to be in one of the sections I would be interested in myself, such as travel, mystery or "new fiction". But, the gents I see in those sections are often student-age and unlikely to be impressed by our having the same taste in books, while the ones who generally sit next to me on the sofa thoughtfully provided in one of "my" bookshops are usually the anorak type, looking at books about trams or real beer (or science fiction..)!
Visitor, Sorry, can only be in Kino at lunch time.
Sharon, no red roses. Being rather unromantic and perhaps more practical, I would be carrying a pair of newly purchased shoes/boots ready for traipsing about a platform on the South China Sea tomorrow.
wah, i got turned down publicly.
:D
If ever you see attractive women in bookshops, it's because they mistook it for the hair saloon next door.
oh heck, wasn't planning on being out and about today - project to work on - but i will take a break (or rather proecastinate) at either one of the big bookstores near my place today. hmm borders or mph 1U?
one time browsing through the fiction section of mph, there was a cute guy doing the same and the titles he picked up did make a good impression on me :-D but alas i got a little distracted at some point and he was gone! :-P
_sometimes_ i can actually spell correctly ;-)
how come everyone gets lucky in the bookshop while i have to contend with (sigh) i dunno. and i read literary fiction. and now books on Asian history and Islam.
that's it. it's amazon.com for me. the only gook i'll meet is my credit card and that's very tempting... when you think about it, money's a lot cuter than loony bins.
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