More Books and Bags

I just updated on my latest book and bag purchase and I have to update more again. I needed a smaller backpack for my travel to Taiwan this coming November. It was a long shot as I found this over G-Market which was tremendously cheap. I know it won't last but the size will do for whatever function that I needed.

Kinokuniya was having it's Autumn Sale where members gets a 20% discount during the period. I took these opportunity to stock up some books to last me till year end or to it's next sale. I still have 2 other unread books so I got my time pre-occupied.

The New Fave: Books and Bags

Double B's - Books and Bags, I found a new interest since heck I do not know when. I would look up to bags to fit my carrying requirements and I'm digging my nose in books whenever I'm free.

Orchard is still the best place to hunt for them both from Kino to {prologue} for books and all the Bag havens all around Ion to Taka and even Wisma.

Firstly books, Instant Chinese is more of revision for me. I've been out of touch in Mandarin due to not eavesdropping Mandarin conversation. MY workplace is mostly Malays and the only Chinese I'm listening to are Hokkien. Also it's to polish up my Mandarin for the upcoming Taiwan trip.



Next up: Bags. This purchase isn't exactly a bag purchase, it's more likely a magazine purchase about bags in Japan. MonoMax is a man accessories magazine which features a lot of bags. And like most Japanese catalogue magazine, there are freebies - a laptop bag by Fred Perry.

The Fuss is Over

Well, the fuss is over. I finally gotten what I wanted when H&M first opened. They featured in their catalogue but it was not on sale. 3 weeks later,  I am one happy soul. I accomplished my H&M shopping needs.

Time to concentrate on my getaway savings.

H&M Singapore

Firstly, I'm both happy and unhappy that Singapore opened up H&M. I'm happy because now that great clothes are easily accessible and I'm unhappy because this clothes will no longer be unique in Singapore. After my first visit to H&M in Japan and several boutiques in Hong Kong, I've been fascinated with their unique clothing variety and the affordable prices. I've bought several clothes which is rare in Singapore. Now, it'll just be a common thing.

With the grand opening at Orchard Building on 3 September 2011, the place will surely be crowded. I had a family event the whole day and decided to go when I'm done. I reached the place 2 hours before closure and the place is not that hectic as I would predict it'll be in the day. The queue was moving and the interior was spacious enough for the crowd. The concept of the store is similar to most of the stores I've been to especially at Shinjuku, Harajuku and Mongkok. The variety are definately unique from common shops but sadly it'll join the ranks of the common shops sooner.

I've managed to get a shirt and a cardigan at an affordable price.

But my main intentions were the boot feature on its' H&M Singapore online catalogue on both website and apps. That was the whole reason for me to visit the store. I saw the boots on the mannequins but could not find it on the shelves. I've asked the people around and was told that it was past seasoned and is not for sale. They freaking place it on the online catalogue with the price and now they're telling me it's not for sale. I was surely pissed and I provided the feedback when I got home. Such a disappointment.

The un-accomplised purchase

I stomped out of H&M in disappointment but had to wait for my dear sister who was happily enjoying herself in the store and uncontactable. So I headed to Planerds and got myself a book just to please myself from the disappointment.

I have several books that I bought but have not started reading. I was told it was a good book and found this manga version at Planerds. This would surely be a fast read so I continue on to my other numerous volume of books that were purchased recently. Most likely, I'm going to get more books.

Books Impulse

I've received an email about {prologue} Borderless sale and didn't realized it even existed. Bad enough I have a membership card for it. {prologue} is situated in Ion on the fifth floor. It's collection of books is not as intensive as Kinokuniya, Borders and pageOne but it sells rarer books similar to Kinokuniya. They even have a good comic corner.

{prologue} is managed by Popular hence the reason why I'm a member. So I was lucky to get additional discount. Just need to remind myself to extend membership because it's expiring in a months time.

Another store that I visited was another Popular managed store - Harris Planerds. This was not listed by Popular but I get to know it during my visit to SGTCC(Singapore Games Toys Comics Convention). It's truly a nerd heaven - there's tons of TPB and notable collections of toys at reasonable prices. Temptation truly overwhelmed to get hold of some action figures. Though there was a book I'm tempted to get.

With {prologue} and Planerds, I have another source to find the books I need. I was thrilled that I managed to get hold of The Psychopath Test which was sold out at Kinokuniya and a cheap hardcover copy of What On Earth Is Going On?

SINs of August...

It's the month of Ramadan and it is time to stay away from SINs but how could you when it's time to celebrate after the long month. And in time of preparation, we'll shop like crazy for the Hari Raya day to come. So shopping is a must.

In preparation for Hari Raya, I didn't intend to get new traditional clothes as the old ones still fits and that I use it only once a year except for the black one which I use it regularly for religious purposes. However, that black baju Melayu has been greatly used and was torn. So it was time to get a replacement and lucky enough that my siblings thought of using black this year. Score!!!

I also managed to get a new replacement for my iPhone cover as the older one has started to crack. I do have other replacement but I still prefer these black cover. It looks great on the phone.

Yup, it's a black Raya this year. I got a new black baju Melayu, a new black iPhone Casing and a new black underwear(CK one Micro - one every 3 months remember).

On top of that, my PC started to act up this month too. I was minding my business online when the CPU blew up, non-lethal nor fired up but the explosion shut down my PC for good. Thank god for my diploma, I managed to troubleshoot and found that only the power supply was damaged. Hence a replacement power supply to kick start the PC up to life. At least I only spent 1/7 of the price of a new build-your-own CPU.

And lastly, Singapore Game Toy Comics Convention was held in August rather than December last year. I was reluctant to attend but since I was in the area and had time to spare while waiting for my friends for dinner, I managed to sneak in. STGCC 2011 was not that that bad but not as great as 2010. There isn't much  of great Games and Toys featured. Slightly disappointed. I've could have bought some stuffs but I only bought this Funko Batman figure out of impulse.

Preparation for Ramadan

It seems like I can only update SIN once a month but it'll surely be wrong if I update it regularly - a definite Sin.

My list of books are piling up after my last visit to Kinokuniya but for now I had to pick only 1 book for the spare time - How To Live Safely In  A Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu. I kinda judged the book by it's cover but wouldn't you want to know how to survive in the science fictional world. It does seem interesting but I kinda side-tracked by another purchase.

 
It's the fasting month and somehow it became a ritual that I get a game to play to make time pass faster till breaking fast. Ignoring that I have a new book to read, I intentionally bought a game still - Final Fantasy XIII. Yes the game was released ages ago on PS3 which I was envious about because I only have an Xbox 360. And after Microsoft released it on the XBox, it was only on the NTSC region. So I gave up and they purposely released it on Asian region. So after a long while, the game was released on the Ultimate Hits which was cheaper. Alas, I gotten it as my time-waster for the month of Ramadan.

Caramel, Iced Caramel and Mocha

 While I glued my eyes on the screen throughout this Ramadan, I was concerned for my regular Starbucks fix. After breaking fast, I foresee the laziness to go out for coffee. Thank goodness my friend asked me if I needed anything while he was in the states. While reading, Starbucks Onwards, I'm truly curious to try their ready-brew coffee, VIA. So I've asked my friend to get the flavored coffee.

Verdict: A great substitute for the usual latte and mocha. Though the additional flavor isn't that distinctive but it still works the punch. I'm still figuring out the proportion for milk and water for a great substitute but so far all is well but I've only 5 sachets per pack. Time to ask some stewardess friends to get for me.