I Met Lang Leav

I met Lang Leav, the famous poet and author. And I'm not a fan. Initially.

Sorry for the pretentious first sentences. But they are true.

Have you ever intentionally met someone famous but you are not really a fan? By intentionally, I mean, you are absolutely not a fan but you went out of your way to attend his/her fan meet event or something. I'm sure I did!

Last December, Lang Leav, came to Singapore for a meet and greet, and an autograph signing session to promote his new book, Lullabies. My friend asked me if I want to attend her event. I am free that day, so I said okay. But I told her I am not a fan, but surprisingly, she revealed that she's not a fan, as well. The only reason why she likes to meet her is to get her autograph coz she has a copy of her book that was gifted to her. Conclusion here: we're both crazy.

The event was held in Kinokuniya Bookstore in Takashimaya. We actually reached the place early so we were able to position ourselves in front (no seats were provided in the event, the crowd just need to surround the area where Lang Leav is supposed to seat). By the way, just a side story; we are both actually not sure on how to pronounce Lang's last name. We thought it is pronounced as /lee-yav/ -- the Tagalog pronouncing way, pronouncing every syllable. But then, before the event started, we heard one of the ushers say her full name. She pronounced it as /liv/; similarly on how the word "live" is pronounced. We both looked at each other and told ourselves: "Oh, so that's the correct way of pronouncing her last name!", then we crazily laughed. Haha.

But then, when I was writing this post, I was just double-confirming the pronunciation and saw this tweet from Lang herself! It is indeed pronounced as /lee-yav/! We made fun of ourselves when we're the ones who are correct! If you also don't know how to pronounce it, then you're welcome.

My last name is pronounced as Lee-yav ☺️ And Faudet is pronounced as 'faux-day' ☺️ https://t.co/5B7QhkET8v

— Lang Leav (@langleav) February 26, 2016

Anyway, the first part of the event is a fan interaction segment – the fans asked her any topics under the sun. She delightfully answered all of them. One girl even asked about her partner, Michael, who is also a poet and an author like her. Also, the fans were able to ask her to read some poems from her books. Her voice and accent are so lovely.

One girl asked her to read the most special poem for her. She read 'Sunday Best' from the book, Memories. According to her, the reason why it is the most special is because it is about when she and Michael first met. So cute!

The next part of the event is the most awaited autograph signing. We were allowed to ask Lang what to write in our books aside from having her signature. I don't know what to put on mine, so I just asked to put my name LOL. When it was almost my turn, I actually prepared something to say to her. I was kinda nervous because, as I said, I am not a fan, so I don't know how to enthusiastically praise her books. I just simply thanked her for reading poems to us earlier, and I told her that she's a lovely lady (which she is!). She thanked me with a smile, and we took pictures together.

Oh, by the way, I actually bought three of her books before the event. It would be lame and stupid for me not to have a book signed when it's an autograph signing event. I haven't finished a book yet, though, because poems are really not my cup of tea. But I have read some, and I think they are as lovely as their author.

Can I now declare myself as a fan? :)