12 Jul 2005 by
starlitgrove The whole experience was so surreal.
Day 1: Saturday, July 9, 2005 Rockwell Tent
I asked Nix to go to Rockwell last Saturday to check out the scene at the Gathering, and to procure a couple of those numbered stubs that Fully Booked was giving for the book signing. My grandmother was in town that day and she has never heard of Neil Gaiman. As she considers herself as more important than any celebrity, local or otherwise, I was forced to spend the day with her instead. We went to Rockwell to shop – her idea. I was dying inside. I could see the crowd gathered around the Tent, waiting for Neil. They were lined up under the hot noon sun. For perhaps the first time in my life, I wanted to be there with them than in the airconditioned mall.
Nix arrived at Rockwell at around 11am, and got stub number 565 out of 700. The guy who got #1 has been there since 5am. Neil called us enthusiastic. Some would have used the word fanatic. The 700 yellow-green stubs were gone by 12 noon. I got there at around 3:30pm. Since the one-stub-per-person rule was strictly enforced, Nix wasn’t able to get an extra stub for me.
I entered the packed Tent just in time to hear Neil begin his reading of a funny passage from Anansi Boys. Oh, how I adore the accent! The Tent was supposed to be airconditioned, but you couldn’t tell from the amount of people packed inside, holding up their video and digital cameras, straining to get a glimpse of Neil (sans the trademark leather jacket). There was tremendous applause after the reading, which was followed by a short question and answer program. Selected people were chosen to ask Neil the questions they sent in to the Yahoogroups. Jordan was one of the lucky few, and asked the first question, stammering a bit at the start – starstruck perhaps? 
I got goosebumps when Neil said something about Terry Pratchett, J.K. Rowling, and the great J.R.R. Tolkien knocking on his door one night and saying, “We have come to share the secret with you.” I love you Neil!
When asked about the women in his stories, particularly Death and Yvaine, Neil said, among other things, that “Women tend to be more sensible.” 
One more quote that was memorable for me because of the way he said it: “I make things up, I write them down. And people like it. It’s just glorious. And lucky.” So humble about his success! He didn’t let fame get to his head.
There were 3,000 people in the Tent. Most of them left when the signing began because they didn’t have the much coveted yellow-green stubs. This is the part where Fully Booked messed up, but that’s for a whole new different entry altogether.
Thanks to Froggy, Nix and I had 4 black passes between us. But we only had 1 yellow-green stub. Which meant that only one of us would be able to actually get close to Neil and have 4 books signed. I decided right then and there to brave the Greenhills signing scheduled for Sunday. The signing was at sloth pace. The target was 30 seconds max per person, but they were averaging about 1 minute per person. Being Pinoy, there’s was no way we would go without having our picture taken with Neil, right? So the signing of 4 books, the little chitchat and the posing for the photo took a lot of time. Neil even asked if people could limit it to just 1 photo, and if possible, to not use the flash because his eyes were hurt by it. The man’s a vampire, I knew it. I actually didn’t mind the wait, and surprisingly, so did a most of the people. Everyone just sat on the ground or on the remaining chairs and chatted while waiting for their numbers to be called. People looked tired, but no one seemed to be complaining. We were all in awe, I think. And Neil was so nice and accommodating that you really won’t mind the wait. We sat with Jordan and the members of The Philippine Order of Narnians (one of them was dressed as Death). I also got to see Kuya Gab of Parokya Ni Edgar, who was there with Kuya Kervs. The last time I saw him was during last years RPC. Never knew he was a Gaiman fan. He was still very friendly, and Kuya Kervs still remembered me. Later on, Dindin arrived with his wife Ate Billie, and their cute little daughter. To this day, Dindin calls me star. Lol. I kind of miss PNE again. Anyway, I digress.
Around half-past 9, we were asked by a Fully Booked staff if our number was above 500. We said yes, and he asked us to follow him to where the owner of Fully Booked was. He (the owner) explained that at the rate they were going, he didn’t think they would finish all 700 of us, and he didn’t want to keep Neil there till past midnight. He signed our stubs and assured us that we were going to be given first priority the next day at the Greenhills signing. Aj arrived with my Good Omens (hurrah!), and he lent me a yellow-gween stub for Sunday’s signing! More hurrahs! Nix and I decided to call it a night while Jordan opted to stay behind. I thought that the Greenhills signing would be worse than that night’s, and that we needed all the sleep we could get. I learned later on that Jordan managed to have his books signed, as Neil stayed until 1:30 in the morning! Imagine! Signing, smiling for the cameras for hours and hours! And without grumbling! No wonder he is so well-loved.
Day 2: Sunday, July 10, 2005 Promenade Greenhills
Nix met up with Ate Vane to get my hardbound copy of Stardust. We met up at the entrance of the Promenade branch of Fully Booked at around 1:30pm. The signing was supposed to start at 2. The yellow-green stubs were honored, but to our disappointment, we were told that we could only have 2 books signed each. It was Neil’s request, said the Fully Book staff. I imagine he was so tired after Saturday’s stint. Still, it was better than having just 1 book signed. Yes, I’m holding off my comments about how Fully Booked fucked up because this is a Neil-Gaiman-love post!
We met Joyce and Ashley (and Ashley’s aunt Edna) in line and they offered to take our pictures while we were having our books signed because we didn’t bring a camera, lol. And when it was finally my turn? I was a freaking fangirl! Thank god I didn’t stammer! But I was babbling ahahaha! I told him that he was a brilliant writer and that I hope he would always find something to write about. Also that I hope the plans for Good Omens 2 pushes through because I miss Crowley and Aziraphale. He said he and Terry (Pratchett) were already talking about it. I asked him to sign Froggy’s Marvel 1602 (a brilliant graphic novel that warrants another post), and my copy of Good Omens:
He said he was leaving me enough space for when I find Terry Pratchett to have him sign my book. Lol! Neil is so cool! And when that happens, it might be the reverse of this – the origin of Burn this book. My name was on the title leaf of my book, and he saw it, so he dedicated the book to me, even if, strictly speaking, he was supposed to dedicate just one book per person. I told him that my name actually meant star in the Filipino language, and he said that my name was beautiful! Gush gush! My Stardust book:
Afterwards, he shook my hand and thanked me for coming. I looked into his eyes and I was speechless for a moment, then I smiled and thanked him for being so warm and accommodating, and for coming to the Philippines. Exit stage left.
Maybe he’ll come back in September for the Anansi Boys launch? One can always Dream.
Some Gaiman in Manila links:
From Neil’s Journal 1 2 3 4
Tobie Abad
Karen Kristie
Adel Gabot
Azrael
Gerry Alanguilan (he was there!)
Charles Tan’s Transcript of the Writers Forum
Quark Henares
