I had just committed myself to decluttering my living space according to Marie Kondo's principle of keeping only the things that spark joy for you. Just as I had either discarded or sold more than half of all my belongings, Big Bad Wolf, the biggest international book sale, had come to the Philippines. And being the bookworm/book-hoarder that I am, that only means one thing: new books are coming into my living space once again.
It doesn't help that Big Bad Wolf offers up to 80 percent discount on over 2 million brand-new and international books. It also doesn't help that admission is free and the book sale is open 24-hours from February 16 to 25. I just had to go.
And my plan on how to conquer the Big Bad Wolf was to come late at night. After a brief dinner with my extended relatives for Chinese New Year, Dad and I drove to the World Trade Center at Pasay. We got there at around 11PM. So did the plan work?
Well, parking at the World Trade Center seemed to be impossible with a long queue of cars getting into the venue and people kept streaming in. There was still a large number of people inside the convention center too. I'll be sharing my advice on how best to conquer this book sale based from experience from now on.
Time Check: 11:08PM
1. Get a shopping cart/trolley as soon as you enter the main hall.
Don't go into the main hall, check out books, and start carrying a few selected ones before deciding to get a shopping cart/trolley. You're definitely going to need one before you start shopping. There is no, "But I'll only buy a few books" once you see them and start browsing.
The shopping carts are mostly available at the entrance, but if the crowd is big, chances are, you're going to have a hard time getting a shopping cart of your own. I was already at the fiction section clutching around five to six books when I came back to the entrance to get one, only to have to wait in a long queue because they ran out of shopping carts. So try to get one as soon as you can.
2. Be sure that you have plenty of energy & time before coming.
Big Bad Wolf boasts of an impressive two million books to choose from, all organised and categorised based on genre. You'll encounter entire tables stacked with books that revolve around Arts and Crafts, Cook Books, Memoirs and Biographies, Romance, Adult Coloring Books, or whatever genre the books fall on. So make sure that you have the energy and the time to go through the books.
And while they are organised by genre, they're not in alphabetical order so looking for a particular author or book is especially dizzying, if not well-rested before coming.
If you're not a night person, I don't recommend coming in at midnight to early morning because it can be tiring and dizzying. Wear comfortable clothing and shoes, rest before coming, bring water, and allot at least two hours to be able to maximize the book sale.
Prices come in at usually Php190, Php230 and higher. Margaret Thatcher's ultra thick book is being sold for only Php230.
3. Keep the book sale organized by returning books at their designated places.
Aside from genre, the book sale offers sections such as Customer Sorting to help keep it organised. Usually, customers would grab books that are interesting to them at first glance, place them in the shopping cart, and then sort them out later, when they've finished. Once they've decided what they really want to buy, they'd just dump the excess books on whatever table is most convenient.
Please don't do that and place them at the designated places to make it easier for the staff to return them to their proper places afterwards. It's also for your sake too, as a customer.
Time Check: 12:32AM
So many good books that you usually don't see anywhere in the Philippines are available. That's because Big Bad Wolf comes from its home country of Malaysia, where it later spread to Indonesia and Thailand. I really wanted to buy this historical book, Memories of a Lost World, which contained photographs from the past that we are no longer accustomed to see. It was really interesting.
4. To help you decide better, refer to the sample, opened copy.
Most sealed books have a sample copy that allows you to view the content. To avoid regret in buying a particular book, before heading to the cashiers, please take the time to browse through the opened copy. You'll get a better idea of what you're getting for your money and you can see whether or not you truly like or need that item. Does it spark joy for you? I can hear Marie Kondo whispering into my ear.
Most people flocked to the Fiction side.
5. Try to avoid the peak hours when the crowds are at their highest numbers.
That was the reason why I decided to come towards midnight because I thought there'd be less people. But boy, was I wrong. It must've been because it was a Friday night and it was a holiday (Chinese New Year) so people must have had the same plan as mine. I'm guessing that the best time to come is at 5 to 7AM. The 24-hour setup definitely helps in avoiding crowds. The book sale is also open until February 25th, giving you plenty of time to keep coming back.
The volume of people adds up to the dizzying effect of the number of books surrounding you. And it's hard to take a good look on a book if there are too many people also trying to do the same. And navigating through the crowd with your shopping cart/trolley requires extra more care to not accidentally run over a foot.
6. Bring a credit card or lots of cash.
Because you will come out with more books than you intended to buy.
They even have a section dedicated to Adult Coloring Books.
For parents of young children, they have a very huge selection of children's books.
Time to purchase!
The cashiers are found at Hall D, which is a separate area from the main hall. This area is reserved for board games, a number of uncategorised books, and discarded books. You thought that shopping ends when you decide it's time to go to the cashier, but the line was long that is was better to browse through the piles while waiting.
OR you can go through your shopping cart once more. If you have any doubts on a book, don't buy it. You can place your unwanted books on any of the discarded piles.
Time check: 1:16AM
7. Bring your own trolley to help you bring your new babies home.
Finally done with shopping! I told myself that I won't buy too many books, but I ended going home with around ten or more books in my plastic bag. OOPS. The management of this event don't allow the shopping cart to be brought outside of the hall, so you have to carry all your purchased books by hand to your vehicle. That must've been my punishment for buying too much.
My plastic bags were super heavy that my arm muscles were given a workout trying to go to the nearest vending machine to buy a drink (I was so thirsty).
So please bring your own trolley (the ones with wheels) with you. It's a hassle to bring and carry along with you, but it'll be an arm-saver later on. Trust me.
I got home at around 2:30AM.
This is my Big Bad Wolf haul (some books I bought are not included in this picture). As you can see, I'm not the regular romance-reading, young woman. I prefer books that have an Asian context, hence, Chinese Women, On Gold Mountain, and such. I like having Asian culture surround and give more color to the characters and the storyline.
As for Capitalism and Freud, I like how informative those little books can be. I've been trying to get my hands on each title of the series, but I only managed to find two this time.
And I read happily ever after.
Good luck in conquering the Big Bad Wolf ~
...
faith
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