To be completely honest, we thought that the April Yim's September Socials dates would be absolute weirdos. What kind of guy would send in an online application form to have a date with someone?

But that's exactly what 23 guys did when they applied for September Socials, an idea that blogger and self-confessed Twtter addict April came up with to give guys that "gentle nudge" to ask her out.

April posted an application form on her blog along with a little introduction to herself and why guys should date her, and the social experiment has worked so well for her that she's extending it indefinitely. Yes, even beyond September. No prizes for guessing what alliteration she'll be using for October - she's sticking with September Socials.

Whatever it's called, plenty of nice young men were eager to give the wacky idea a try.

Magazine writer Amirul b Ruslan, 19, was pretty happy with how his date with April went. He had met April once during an event, and when he heard about what she was doing, he thought it was "cool" and decided to give it a go. He downloaded the application form, April agreed (she agrees to almost all the dates, only rejecting three weird applications so far), and they met up for a date. Amirul was Date #2 for April.

"The date went well! I wanted to keep things casual, because the whole fancy dinner thing is so over-done. We went to a banana leaf (Indian food) place in PJ, and we just chilled out," said Amirul.

Since then, Amirul and April have exchanged phone calls and SMSes several times, and Amirul says they have become "fairly close" friends. They've also met for lunch a couple of times.

"Who knows if it'll go anywhere," said Amirul. "She's pretty cool, and I just hope she thinks the same about me."

Another date, Melvin Van Dort, thought the whole September Socials idea was great, even though "romance was not on the cards" for him.

Melvin Van Dort, one of April Yim's SeptSocials dates.

"For me, it's a good way for people to find dates and to expand their social circle," said the 26-year-old eurasian. "At the end of the day, April can decide what she wants from the dates. The most important thing about it is that it creates opportunities."

It wasn't the first time Melvin had met April either; they studied in the same university, and Melvin follows her blog on and off. When he found out about September Socials, he simply thought it was a great idea that would allow them to get to know each other better.

In fact, Melvin likes the idea so much he says he wouldn't mind doing something like September Socials, if only it wouldn't creep people out.

"I'd most definitely give it a try, but I think gender is a factor in these things. It's ok if a girl does it. If it's a guy, it might reek of desperation," added Melvin, who is a project manager working in retail.

Moreover, Melvin says nothing can beat the feeling a guy gets from actually asking a girl out the old school way.

"I got for dates about three of four times a month... Not as often as I'd like. I usually go out with friends of friends, people I meet at parties, at events. We just exchange numbers.

"I think September Socials cuts off some of the excitement in getting a date, where you talk to some one and ask her for a number. I still prefer the traditional way," he said.

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