Come, Let's Go Paktor

Have you ever liked someone and wondered for the longest time if they would be interested in “someone like you”. Or have to find out from mutual friends (that is, if there were any) to see if this special someone liked you back? Then risk embarrassment and having your friends gajiao you after that? I know right. High school days… ah~~~

For me, I find that it gets harder to meet and have a crush on a guy after we start working. In school there was like so many guys to choose from even if you are just in one class. (Think about the numbers in an entire cohort of students.) Then when we start work it’s just colleagues and most times we don’t get to change colleagues every year.

Before you start thinking I’m some desperado, I’m not okay. Just saying. I have a really good friend who has never ever ever been attached in her entire life. It’s not like she doesn’t have an amazing personality, or that she looks hideous. She’s pretty smart and holds values dear to mine. In fact I always wondered why she was never seeing anyone.

She just never found anyone who caught her attention (okay she did find one, but he doesn’t even live in Singapore) or shares the same interests as her, and given that she now works in a museum, I really don’t wish to see her marrying a statue. #choichoichoi

What if there is an app which you can like someone anonymously, and if he likes you back, then allows you guys to start talking? Meaning if you “like” him but he doesn’t “like” you back, you remain anonymous? Not bad right? You will only get to talk to each other when you mutually like each other, it’s like the cupid answering your prayers. Lol.

The thing is, this app now exists.

O.O

It’s aptly called “Paktor”. I think it’s such a cute name that all Singaporeans (and Malaysians, and of course, Taiwanese) can relate to when it comes to dating. For the clueless, "paktor" is a Hokkien term for dating. It’s a Singaporean app which is expanding to Taiwan, which means you can soon meet cute Taiwanese guys and girls! Woohoo!

I had the honour of being invited to the movie gala premiere of “Rhythm of the Rain” 聽見下雨的聲音 in Taipei. Speaking of this movie, you must watch okay!!! Will be blogging about this next! It's Vincent Fang's directorial debut! If you don't know who that is, refer to picture below.

方文山！！！！！就是那個幫周杰倫寫詞的那位詞神！！！

Paktor is the official campaign sponsor for the movie’s Love Lock Fence (there is this scene when the characters in the movie were at this love lock fence and they saw Alan’s lock that says Alan loves Sun Yi Rou?), that was how I got to know of its existence.

These Love Lock Fences are inspired by the fences on Pont de l'Archevêché in Paris, on which lovers secure padlocks to symbolize love and eternity. Indeed, love is in the air!

Speaking of Love Lock Fence, have you ever placed a lock on any of such fences?

I haven’t. =)

Like the picture above said, lovers fix locks on Love Lock Fences around the world to symbolise commitment to each other in love. I’ve never been to one with a lover.

I’ve ever only seen 2 such fences in my life. The first one was in Cinque Terre, Italy. That was from my flying days.

See all the locks?

^.^

The second one was at the flash mob at 100AM when the cast and director of 聽見下雨的聲音 were there to help promote the movie and the Love Lock Fence.

For me, it’s only meaningful if I fix the lock together with someone I love. And I was just with friends then in Italy. And I don’t have my lover around when I was at 100AM. (That’s the old Amara Shopping Centre by the way.) So I’m still waiting to fix my lock. ;)

Lovers, if you are looking to fix a lock with your significant other, you can head over to JCube level 3. There’s a Love Lock Fence for you to buy a lock and pledge your love for that special someone. 

All proceeds go to the Singapore Association for the Deaf so you will also be doing something else meaningful. =)

Back to Paktor, you see that logo at the top left corner of the lock which the artistes were holding? That’s the Paktor app logo if you are looking to download it on Google Play Store or Appstore.

It works on a double-blind concept, which means you only have access to chat with each other when both of you "like" each other. Otherwise, it’s just a thumbs up to their profile. Safe? Yes. No malu? Uh huh. No fear of rejection. Yay!

It connects with your facebook account so for your own sake please choose a nice profile picture so people can see you. Or at least choose a relevant picture, meaning if your picture is a dog then it might show that you are a dog lover, or something like that. The key thing is for people whom you wish to attract, get interested. Don't worry, Paktor doesn't post anything on your Facebook page!

You can change your settings like your profile picture and your matching preferences, like within 1km radius and age group.

Would be great if there are other matching preferences that I can set, but as this is a young app, I’m sure they will work on it. Who knows next time matchmaking agencies might not survive thanks to this app. Lol.

I tried it out today and it’s actually quite fun. After sieving through so many profiles, I found one which caught my attention, and minutes later I was notified that it’s a match and he liked my profile too! That got me excited for a while because it’s like, so cool can? Lol. #cheapthrill

Of course I can then choose to chat with him or keep looking through more profiles. No obligations to connect. Good eh?

For the shy types or people who work in an environment where it’s really hard to meet new people, it's the perfect solution! You should definitely give this a try. You can find Paktor on Google Play Store, as well as on AppStore. And don’t need to thank me if you found someone special to fix your lock with okay? Thank Paktor. (Want to thank me I also won’t say no la of course ^^)

I just got my never-been-attached friend to download this app. And I’m waiting to hear if she finds anyone.

You can find out more about Paktor at gopaktor.com. (They even have a brand new candid reality series titled “You’ve Got a Match!” on their site, where it follows one of Paktor’s bachelors as he embarks on a series of three dates). Alternatively, you can go to their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GoPaktor.

Good luck!