WalesOnline reporter James Al-Mudallal tries speed dating Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribingWe have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email Finding a partner is a mighty difficult thing sometimes. I went speed dating in a local Cardiff bar. Normal thoughts for any first-timer of this field I think. So, because of my lack of supreme confidence building up to this, I decided to tell no-one what I was doing that day and go to the bar alone.
Meaning that if — and, no doubt, when — I got mocked and promptly shoved out of the bar by a crowd of primadonnas, the only person who would know of my embarrassment would be myself as I headed back home. Yet as daunting as it was entering a bar with the goal of going on multiple dates in quick succession, I was in a way looking forward to it. At the very worst, it would be an experience. Would you date James? Watch his pitch to potential dates: Video Loading Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8Cancel Play now It was like a school disco The evening was held in a private back room with lots of tables and chairs scattered around the room — meaning there was no hope of keeping yourself hidden away.
So, the first 15 minutes before the event officially kicked off felt very much like a primary school disco. Women were seated on one side of the room, talking together while sorting out their hair and make-up. The men on the other hand were all bunched up on the polar opposite end of that room, quietly chatting to one another in a slightly awkward manner while nervously downing bottles of alcohol for liquid courage. James was initially daunted - but soon got into the swing of the event This is what we had to do At 8pm our compere gave tick sheets to the 12 women and 17 men and began to lay out the plans for the evening.
The women were told to each sit at a table. The men were told to go from table to table in a circular line with each date lasting exactly four minutes. This was a fear that some people unfortunately failed to get over.
But, for most, it took only a few very awkward minutes of silence before most of us realised we had nothing to lose just by talking, starting a quick light conversation and seeing what happened. So the first two dates for lots of people that evening were filled with awkward pauses as they both pondered why on earth they had signed on to doing such a crazy thing. Where was it from? And how on earth you pronounce it an activity they all struggled immensely with? Simple and easy. Once I got over the surname challenge it became a lot easier to get to know some of these women each in such a short space of time.
Out of the 12 ladies, most of them were in their 20s and the most mature was somewhere in her 30s - so not exactly a dinosaur by any stretch of the imagination. They were all interesting people working in a variety of professions, from beauticians and hairdressers to doctors, lawyers, academics and even some university students. And with a variety of interests. And I soon found out I was not alone in being a first time speed-dater, with a fair few of the other men and women also having never done it before.
And for me that was what the evening was about - getting to know members of the opposite sex, spending a few minutes of face-to-face contact with them and seeing if you clicked. Being a loud-mouthed journalist helped somewhat, allowing me to ask what I like to think were interesting, very slightly intrusive questions — and occasionally getting quite a nice response back. But they were tremendously useful, letting you find out whether you had anything at all in common - always useful.
In the end it honestly was an enjoyable evening. So after more than two years out of the dating game, I went on 12 dates in one night, not too bad. And the next day I did receive an email from the organiser listing my matches - what happened next is now all down to me
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