Ron Does Stuff

There was a point in my life when I was a regular at the Instituto Cervantes’ annual Día del Libro celebrations because 1. I had to do it for my job, and 2. Their old location at Kalaw was literally just a short jeepney ride away from where I used to work.

Once I left that old job and Instituto Cervantes transferred offices, I haven’t been able to visit Día del Libro celebrations. But this time, not only was the location nearer to where I now live, Romance Class was also highlighted in two activities on the main stage!

I had initially worried that I wouldn’t wake early enough for the first Romance Class highlight — the first event was at 9:30 a.m. — but I shouldn’t have been worried about waking up early but instead about booking a Grab to the Ayala Triangle Gardens, which is where it was being held this year. Thankfully, Día del Libro itself was running late so I shouldn’t have worried at all!

I arrived early enough to catch Mina’s talk “Amor: Writing the New Adult Romance”. Because of the short time allotted for it, she really just went with the most straightforward version of this talk that does the job, really. Those seven questions are all you need to start on your new adult novella!

The next activity Romance Class was a part of, “Cultura y Letras: A celebration of culture and literature at Día del Libro”, was much later in the afternoon so me and Romance Class friends Mina, Tara, Six, Miles and her sister did a little exploring, some eating, and a lot of chismis because that’s just what you do, you know?

When “Cultura y Letras: A celebration of culture and literature at Día del Libro” finally started later in the afternoon, it was interesting to hear about the different imprints that Vibal Foundation has going on. I wonder what books will be coming out of those imprints soon!

We ended the day with dinner at Greyhound Café and even more chismis because again…that’s just what you do! It was a fun day spent outside for a borderline hikikomori like myself so maybe I’d visit it again next year!

Check out some photos I took at the event below.