Casualpoet

This is a pictureful post of a tiny place.

Casualpoet was definitely more obscurely located than I had imagined... If I hadn't looked up its address beforehand, I would NEVER have noticed it. Because it's tucked away on the 3rd floor of a shophouse in Chinatown. Who would believe the existence of such a cute peaceful little haven above a row of noisy eateries :P So I skeptically scaled the flight of concrete steps... 2nd floor was some dubious massage place i think... kept going... till the above greeted me. The US customs declaration form stuck beside the door felt esp nostalgic. The contents read 'Art Prints', with a little welcome msg beneath it.


After browsing through their quirky but overpriced collection of mags/journals/books, I settled down at a seat by a window for a late lunch. Alas, still not too good at getting my lens to focus on the spot I really want; and only captured clearly the chicken skin of my chicken chop :P It was average-tasting, and somewhat overpriced. But ok lah, tog with the food, I bought myself a nice peaceful spot for an hour or so.

The table tag reads "free wifi for friends with laptops". Seriously, this feels so much like a place I would hang out at in Berkeley.... to just study/chill.

A nice little pin by the window.

The window I sat beside, with lil pots of plants and The Portable Jack Kerouac for browsing.

Postcard packs were also on sale... Ah, the Eiffel tower never fails to mesmerize ;)

Contents of a postcard pack neatly arranged on a wooden ledge.

Seriously, this place felt like someone living out his/her dream/fantasy... rather than a store that would be commercially viable/financialy sustainable... They have really interesting and pretty tasteful items on sale, but I wonder if anyone really buys them... There were also quite a few good 2nd hand titles on sale, and customers were encouraged to give these 'pre-loved books' (their way of describing 2nd hand books) a home. Food was so-so, with a limited selection of breakfasty items, but i mean, it's just such a nice quiet place to chill... To catch up with a friend and relax... The staff were also nice and were quite ok with my snapping away... Though one fellow customer was somewhat curious when I seemed more interested in taking pics of my food than eating it and asked if I were a food critic haha. Another great thing abt this place is that it's so uncrowded (apparently it's still quite new and I guess still unheard of). Oh well, least I hope it will remain this way till the next time I visit.
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Hehe, the pic below is of my shopping find of the day. A retro-ish hairband from Miss Selfridge that was on sale! Though I doubt I'd have any occasion to wear such a crazy thing to work, I just couldn't resist buying it...