The Philippine Online Chronicles

I’m no stranger to the Manila International Book Fair—it’s been a family tradition for the past decade and a half at least—but this year is the first time I’ve had an opportunity to tromp down its pulp-scented halls on opening day. I have to say that it feels good to be able to rummage through the bargain bins without wondering what hidden treasures I might have missed due to school or work or some other horrid inconvenience that managed to insert itself between me and the book fair.

I’ll be heading back on Sunday (for the activities and talks rather than the books), and I imagine many of you will be trooping down this weekend as well, if not earlier. If so, think of me as your advance scout—I’ve taken the liberty of providing here a guide to the more notable areas of the book fair, so you might better plan your sorties.

[Of course my tastes may not align with yours, but I tried to touch upon interests other than my own in this guide.]

The MIBF is divided into aisles, from A-S—you can identify each aisle by the large banners hanging from the high rafters of SMX. I entered the hall from the rightmost entrance, so we’ll start from Aisle S.

[Note that all directions I give use the orientation you have when you enter the MIBF hall: Left is toward Aisle A, right is toward Aisle S; forward is toward the bathrooms and back is toward the entrance/exit.]

Aisle S:

C & E bookshop: They’ve taken up a large area at the back-right of the floor—their section is the one with the green plastic vines. They have a large collection of textbooks. The 70th off section is in the middle of their area.

Fujian publishing: You can find Chinese-language books here.

National Commission for Culture and the Arts: Some interesting books I caught sight of here were a dictionary of Bisayan arts and a book on local architecture and cinema.

Towards the forward-right we have the Stage Area, where events such as the Kids’ Hour with Maica Torres and Halili Ballet School will be held. Not that not all activities take place there—some will be at the Activity Area, and others will be at the Meeting Rooms on the upper floors.

Aisle R:

Philippine Christian Bookstores: They had an interesting collection of journals and planners. Not Moleskine, but nothing that brought back memories of trapper-keepers either. (Did I just give away my age?)

Aisle Q:

Elsevier: This booth was filled with medical books, so head here if you’re in that line of business, or love someone who is (and I mean really love… medical books are pricey).

Aisle P:

Anvil: I spent a lot of time at the Anvil booth. They have racks of their 2009 releases (such as Waking the Dead) to the left and right. The forward-right has children’s books, both foreign and local (the local ones are on the brown rack). At the mid-right you have 2008 releases such as Leaf and Shadows, as well as Makamisa and award-winning books such as Bad Kings and Banyaga. The cut price section is at the bottom-right and I saw copies of the Best of Barfly and the Parliament of Giraffes.

Over on the left side you can find special signed copies of books by Lualhati Bautista and Jaime Licauco, amongst others. The gay fiction section is here too, as well as history books and biographies including Cory: An Intimate Portrait.

Megatexts: This is another large textbooks exhibitor.

Aisle O:

Lyric Piano and Organ Co.: You can find music-related books here.

Central Books: Central has a good collection of law books, but nowadays it is also notable for its print-on-demand services (or fiction, non-fiction and even textbooks), some of which were available for purchase at their booth.

Aisle N:

Learning is Fun: They have a large selection of children’s books. They also have a “pick a prize” promotion for a minimum purchase of P300.

Bookwagon: You can find some more music books here, and they have a big sale on kids’ books.

Tradewinds: The Intramuros-based store has reproductions of old Guillermo Tolentino drawings, as well as a 4 for 100 section with old literary anthologies and journals.

Bookmark: Sadly Bookmark had a much smaller booth when compared to years past (Did Anvil’s growth perhaps comes at its expense?). Bargain books can be found in the boxes on the floor, which also held some postcards and cassette tapes. Remember those?). Coffee table books, such as a huge volume of Flora de Filipinas, were also in evidence.

Aisle M (and N too for that matter):

National Bookstore: The mother of all bookstores had all books at a default discount of 20% off, including a pair of books for the Neil Gaiman fanatics: Hanging Out with the Dream King and The Sandman Papers. There was a universal “pick a prize” promo for P 500 and P 1000 purchase, but individual books had individual promotions as well. Hunger Games had a special dart game where you could win a shirt; Free Watchmen pins were provided for every purchase of a DC title, while free glow in the dark fangs were given for every Sookie Stackhouse novel purchased.

Sale books were along the outer back-right perimeter. Hardcover books by Jeffrey Archer, Clive Cussler, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and more were available for less than 200.

Aisle L:

Vibal: Aside from a wide array of children’s and educational books, the graphic novel El Indio by renowned artist Francisco Coching, as well as the Rizal biography Lolo Jose, were prominently displayed.

Aisle K:

OMF: OMF had one of the most active booths, with announcers regularly engaging the crowd and story readings being held in the afternoon.

Tahanan Books: The cutprice editions were on the rightmost shelves, and three for 100 bargain books could be found in baskets. There were also packs of three or more books grouped together as a set and slapped with a reduced price.

Aisle J:

Goodwill: What used to be my second favorite bookstore mostly sells textbooks now, though there were some works of fiction available, primarily children’s classics.

Aisle I:

A-Z Direct Marketing: Home to Time, Discovery and Reader's Digest, as well as some textbooks.

Psicom: Always affordable, their book prices ranged from 20 to 100. Packs of four back issues of their licensed comics went for 100 a set.

Aisle H:

Diwa Learning Systems Inc.: This booth had some cool interactive science installations such as a laser harp and a body beat machine. It was also the host of the pasiklaban contest. There was a “three for 100” section at the back of the booth.

Shephed’s Voice: Bo Sanchez’s publishing house was giving a discount of 20% off their wares.

Aisle G:

Rex Bookstore: Rex was impossible to miss due to their red brick facade and faux school bus at the center. They seemed to be pushing their children’s textbooks hard, though their law books had their own rack.

Scholastic: They had two discount modes to choose from here. First was a blanket 50% off total price if you get 5 or more items. Second was the "bag all you can" sale. For 1995 you get every book you can fit in one of their bags. (You need to be able to tie the bag after you’re done, so figuring out the most efficient sale might take some spatial calculations). They weren’t selling the Hunger Games books however—you need to head to National for those.

Visprint: Easily the most awesome booth for a komiks fanboy like me. They’re way to the front of the aisle (near the bathroom). The wall was covered on one side by excerpts from their books and on the other side by a collage of their characters, with anonymized trivia about their authors. You can get free samples/teasers of Crash and Trese 3, and can also avail of their pre-order promo.

Adarna House: They were selling their storybooks for 50 instead of 65.

University of Santo Tomas Press: This is the first of the University Presses I saw. Their sale books were on the white table at the edge of the booth.

Aisle F:

Ateneo de Manila University Press: Some old journals/studies were being sold at a discount on their revolving stand. This is where I picked up my copy of National Book Awards winner Science Solitaire by Maria Isabel Garcia.

University of the Philippines Press: UP press had its bargain books in gray and red plastic containers along the floor. I saw a lot of old volumes of the Likhaan Fiction and Poetry Anthology.

Aisle E:

Gunnar Lie & Associates: This exhibitor had interesting coffee table-type books from Arcturus Publishing on subject matters such as Edgar Allen Poe, Gustave Doré and the Paranormal.

Rarebook Enterprises: They specialize in current and out of print Filipiniana. Strangely enough, I saw copies of Trese being sold there.

Aisle D:

Precious Heart Romances: There was a large poster dedicated to the books, but not that many books for sale that I could see.

Little Genius: Lots of Disney children’s books for sale here. There was also a display of art from Lampara Books.

New Day Publishing: They had a sale on a pair of Cory and EDSA focused books. Also, their booth had a man in robes and a blue wig. An author maybe? Authors are weird. *cough*

Aisle C:

Ayala Foundation: They were selling books from Libros Filipinos Bookshop and the Filipinas Heritage Library.

Cosmos Bazaar: Pilot pens galore! Also: Free pilot frixion pen for every 300 bucks purchase.

Dinsmor Promo: a promo products company, displaying some of their wares in the form of posters, magnets, stickers, pins, and mousepads.

Oishi: Free tasting! Those gourmet Oishis are addicting…

Main Dining Area: The food was handled by Albergus Catering. Prices ranged from 50 (1 viand and rice) to 200 (2 viands, rice and a drink). They also sold chocolate chips, potato chips, brownies, and other snacks.

Aisle B:

Amorsolo: They were selling just one book, a thick coffee table volume of recollections of the renowned painter by his family.

Aisle A:

Business Lounge: For those who need to take a break, this was an area with six net-connected computers, and a leather sofa set. The Internet connection was a tad slow though, and there was no wi-fi option.

Activity Area: As of yesterday it was a home to a rather lonely bunch of cosplay mannequins and statues/busts. Hopefully this will fill up over the weekend… nothing livens up an event quite like a swarm of leaping, posing kids in armed regalia.

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Well, that’s about it for the primer. I know I didn’t cover all the exhibitors, but hopefully this guide can help you map out your battle plan. For the Speculative Fiction buffs out there, I compiled a more specialized guid on my online magazine, Rocket Kapre.

To those who are about to read: I salute you!

Photos taken by Paolo Chikiamco. Used with permission.

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