February, 2009
I arrived at Tara Bar, more nervous than any normal first date. Romantic ballads played in the background as I took my place for Chiang Mai’s first ever speed dating event. Can anyone find love in eight minutes? For that was all the personal time allocated per date. I thought it would be impossible to find a connection so quickly, but found that three to four minutes is all it takes to see if you want to meet again, or run for the hills…which was often the case for me!
The evening started off like a pre-teen dance – boys strutting on one side, girls chatting amongst themselves on the other. We were rounded up and the dating began. Conversation was easier than I expected, and eight minutes wasn’t the torturous eternity I had feared. The majority of daters seemed to enjoy themselves and were mingling comfortably with each other (boys AND girls together!) during the break.
There were 18 people from all around the world and of all ages, not your typical young Thai girl meets older farang man, though there were definitly some who fit those categories. Having nine dates in two and a half hours is great fun, and you don’t have to have a friend waiting to save you from a bad date with a fake ’emergency’ or worrying about fending off an over amorous paramour. Although I was sceptical in the beginning, speed dating was a nice change from talking to guys at a bar; here I could have a real, albeit eight minute, conversation – it was quite surprising how much you actually fit into that short amount of time. It’s a great way to meet people even if you just want to build friendships, and you never know if you will meet someone special until you try, at 300 baht for women and 400 baht for men including 2 drinks, you really can’t go wrong.
Set in a private section we were away from staring onlookers, thankful for the privacy. Fast2Face.com picked a great venue for its first event, even though the love ballads seemed to croon louder as the night progressed, as we all began to yell personal information at each other across the tables.
It can be hard to meet people out of work and your daily routine, spontaneous romantic meetings are hard to come by. Speed dating is perfect for outgoing people who don’t have much free time, or are just plain sick of the bars and discos. Fast2Face will be holding speed dating regularly, the dates and location depend on how many people sign up, Check out their website and sign up, the larger their database, the more events they can have. So if you’re single, don’t spend Valentine’s Day alone, attend their singles party, it should be a blast. Check out fast2face.com or call 08 05021236 for more details.