The pleasant realm of the Tulisans

November 30, 2007. A holiday. And Powerbooks finally opened its doors to Cebuano readers, literature addicts and bibliophiles. Yours truly, included.

I learned about the Powerbooks branch here in Cebu about a year ago. I was paying for my Love in the Time of Cholera when the National Bookstore cashier kindly said that pretty soon I won’t be buying my books from them because Powerbooks would be opening its Cebu branch.

I gladly told my friends about it. I announced it to my office friends. And I waited. And waited. And waited. And finally the wait is over.

Around lunchtime in November 30, I took a taxi to SM City. I thought of just taking the jeep but I deliberated on the merits of hailing a cab instead.

If I ride a jeepney, travel time would be a few minutes longer. If I take the jeepney, I would go through the ordeal of inhaling the dusts, consuming the heat, and interacting with irritating fellow passengers. If I opt for the cheaper jeepney, the traffic along the way would definitely exhaust me.

Yes, I was that excited and I must be in top shape once I cross Powerbooks’ threshold.

There were also many other stores that opened at SM City Cebu’s The Northwing that day. But they didn’t matter at all. Not for that day, at least. I only had eyes and concentration on the blue and yellow-colored sign that I just basically see when I am in Manila.

The books that populate the walls and shelves of Powerbooks were sights to behold. Of course, I immediately noticed that there are no benches and seats and a café like that of Powerbooks Greenbelt 2. But these faults are just minor and forgivable. Perhaps the Powerbooks team did some research about Cebuano culture and they learned that Cebuanos are basically tihik and instead of walking out of the store with a plastic or paper bag in hand, they would just read the books from cover to cover inside the store.

The left side of the store was dedicated to Philippine literature and “serious” materials e.g. biographies, politics, history, business. The right wing is a multitude of books on arts, popular culture, fitness and health and children’s literature. And the central portion of the store is a haven of fiction, poetry, religious readings and the macabre.

That very same day, I splurged on a new copy of Margaret Mitchell’s epic Gone With the Wind because it has been a decade since I last read it and my 1950’s edition of the book is already so fragile and tattered. And I just had to go home with this 2008 planner generously filled with prints of Frida Kahlo paintings and portraits.

In the days and weeks that followed, I found myself spending a bit more: the Booker-prize winning The Life of Pi by Yann Martel; the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead by Marilynne Robinson; Amy Tan’s fifth bestseller, Saving Fish from Drowning; an anthology of gay writing appropriately titled New Gay Erotica; and a modern music encyclopedia 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

In “wasting” considerable amount on these items, I had to convince myself that I had committed no crime or felony. December is my birthday month and I had to buy some gifts for myself. I had been working so hard, thus I also had to reward myself. And of course, it will Christmas soon and I should also buy some Christmas presents that would satisfy my soul. I also promised that after December, I wouldn’t spend a single peso for a book in, shall we say, six months at least. All these seemingly crazy purchases must be justified, although I am not really very confident about that last justification.

Since Powerbooks opened almost a month ago, I also came to learn that Powerbooks workers, especially cashiers, were not only trained to be excellent in customer service but to be also professional tulisans. Don’t ask me why they are tulisans. Isn’t it obvious enough?