I like BooksActually very much.
Because it feels like a place set up by book lovers for fellow book lovers. And how the top of its pretty white shelves are lined with antiquish-looking cameras... Every single book on display feels unique and seems to yell out "I offer some precious insights about our complicated world" or... "Let me help you get away from the ultra-utilitarian/practical world you live in". And though it's prob but 20sm big, I can feel like someone/ some bunch of people poured all their heart and souls into it because the whole place is just so nicely and cosily done up. With little endearing things all over.
While browsing in the store today it started raining all of a sudden. And one of the staff actually asked me whether I needed an umbrella when I was about to pay and head out. I didn't need one, but was so tempted to ask if they were going to give me one? (Ok, maybe I was naive and he wanted to sell me one... but I choose to imagine that he was gonna give me a free umbrella :P). I dunno, but such warm personal touch is so lacking in most stores I frequent these days... I miss the little-independent-stores-by-the-street feeling.
Perhaps the sad reality is also that you prob also need loads of $$$ to comfortably live out your little fantasy without worrying about bread and butter issues. These BooksActually ppl certainly look like they threw in a little fortune for the place to materialise. (Maybe that also explains why the stuff in there's not cheap... :P)
Thursday, December 04, 2008
I felt a little ashamed of myself today :(
Didn't realise that I was in such a pricky mood this morning till I met my first unfortunate "victim". So while walking with tph to NEXUS for Day 2 of "Research Skills & Techniques" course, bumped into the always-bluff-me BTD guy who has owed me some info for the longest time. And everytime he sees me he will give me guilty look and mutter his empty promise of giving me the owed inputs asap. But wait for dunno how many months already he still hasn't delivered his promise. Until I also can't be bothered to chase him anymore. For some strange reason I always run into him at the lift lobby... (I suppose there's some justice in this world...) So anyways this morning I saw him at another lift lobby again. As usual, the sight of me instantaneously triggered his broken tape-recorder-ish lines that he will give me the inputs ASAP... Usually I will try to act stern a bit so that he will really act on his words. However, dunno what came over me this morning, I just like didn't really care to listen to his explanation anymore and even while he was talking to me halfway I just like didn't feel like listening and totally walked away...
Poor tph was apparently a bit traumatised with my behavior and commented that she had never seen me so ungracious and 'fierce' before... Then I realised that I really did a not-so-nice thing to this BTD person. Though yeah, he technically didn't really offend me in a personal kinda way.
Oh well, too bad for him. And not so surprisingly, he still never delivered his promise. So though I genuinely felt a little guilty, deep down the evil side of me didn't exactly regret the little act of 'mischief' for the day.
Didn't realise that I was in such a pricky mood this morning till I met my first unfortunate "victim". So while walking with tph to NEXUS for Day 2 of "Research Skills & Techniques" course, bumped into the always-bluff-me BTD guy who has owed me some info for the longest time. And everytime he sees me he will give me guilty look and mutter his empty promise of giving me the owed inputs asap. But wait for dunno how many months already he still hasn't delivered his promise. Until I also can't be bothered to chase him anymore. For some strange reason I always run into him at the lift lobby... (I suppose there's some justice in this world...) So anyways this morning I saw him at another lift lobby again. As usual, the sight of me instantaneously triggered his broken tape-recorder-ish lines that he will give me the inputs ASAP... Usually I will try to act stern a bit so that he will really act on his words. However, dunno what came over me this morning, I just like didn't really care to listen to his explanation anymore and even while he was talking to me halfway I just like didn't feel like listening and totally walked away...
Poor tph was apparently a bit traumatised with my behavior and commented that she had never seen me so ungracious and 'fierce' before... Then I realised that I really did a not-so-nice thing to this BTD person. Though yeah, he technically didn't really offend me in a personal kinda way.
Oh well, too bad for him. And not so surprisingly, he still never delivered his promise. So though I genuinely felt a little guilty, deep down the evil side of me didn't exactly regret the little act of 'mischief' for the day.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Monday, December 01, 2008
Of Fort Canning Park and NMS...
This is part (II) of photo outing last last Sat... and the journey begins from the drive up to Fort Canning Park...
Right opposite the first carpark is the back of the National Museum of Singapore (NMS). No idea who decided to plonk this ugly capsicum right in the middle of the grass patch...
The ugly capsicum close-up. Maybe I should give the sculptor some credit for his/her skill in making this public art look REALLY like the real thing :P
If you look to your right instead of looking directly opposite, you'll notice the pretty gothic gate...
Hey this time round I really didn't tilt my photo. How do you tell? The tree is straight.... ;)
If you begin strolling down towards the direction of the NSM 'lawn', you'll pass by some cool flowers...
And a tree with huge buttress roots that double up as some kinda refuge for the miniature shrubs...
And before descending via the most beautiful escalator (MBE) in sg to the front/side entrance of NMS, you'll first notice some sweet orange flowers again... :)
And while on the MBE, you can marvel at how nicely the old NMS building merges into its new extension...
After the short ride down the MBE, I couldn't help but look back at this interesting structure once more :P J-- If you look closely enough, there are pockets of autumn in Singapore too :) But of course, nothing as spectacular as Japan...
There are some funny whiskery purplish flowers at the side of NSM... That was it for the afternoon, cos by then I felt like I was getting a little toasted by the scorching sun! I want 15C weather....
This is part (II) of photo outing last last Sat... and the journey begins from the drive up to Fort Canning Park...
Right opposite the first carpark is the back of the National Museum of Singapore (NMS). No idea who decided to plonk this ugly capsicum right in the middle of the grass patch...
The ugly capsicum close-up. Maybe I should give the sculptor some credit for his/her skill in making this public art look REALLY like the real thing :P
If you look to your right instead of looking directly opposite, you'll notice the pretty gothic gate...
Hey this time round I really didn't tilt my photo. How do you tell? The tree is straight.... ;)
If you begin strolling down towards the direction of the NSM 'lawn', you'll pass by some cool flowers...
And a tree with huge buttress roots that double up as some kinda refuge for the miniature shrubs...
And before descending via the most beautiful escalator (MBE) in sg to the front/side entrance of NMS, you'll first notice some sweet orange flowers again... :)
And while on the MBE, you can marvel at how nicely the old NMS building merges into its new extension...
After the short ride down the MBE, I couldn't help but look back at this interesting structure once more :P J-- If you look closely enough, there are pockets of autumn in Singapore too :) But of course, nothing as spectacular as Japan...
There are some funny whiskery purplish flowers at the side of NSM... That was it for the afternoon, cos by then I felt like I was getting a little toasted by the scorching sun! I want 15C weather....
Sunday, November 30, 2008
My lovely baby... :)
D.O.B: 29 Nov 2008
Weight: 11.5 kg
Dimension: 24"
And so I finally decided to get it. The 24" iMac -- at the Sitex show yesterday afternoon. And somehow the earlier dilemma got resolved as soon as I saw how different my own photos looked on the 13 inch macbook and the 24 inch iMac... Though my sis was rather baffled why her crazy sis wanted such a huge monitor for.... Then again, after we brought it home (sadly had to drag my nice white box on Expo floor all the way to taxi stand hehe) and tried setting it up, she too got very excited and insisted on inserting her face into my very first profile pic when we were prompted by the webcam to take one.
This being my very first Apple product, I was pretty impressed by how minimalist (yet everything u need to know is there) and prettily packaged the whole package was. And there was REALLY but one cable I needed to deal with. Which goes thru this beautiful hole in the aluminium supporting structure and perfectly into another smaller circular hole at the back of the iMac. (Seriously, who thinks abt creating this hole in middle of your aluminium stand such that your cable looks nice and central when plugged into the comp...!) That the power button was so nicely integrated and hidden at the back of the iMac also made me really impressed (though I was stressed for some 10 seconds prior to that cos I couldn't locate it at all :P) These people at Apple are just great at creating functional yet tasteful designs that simplify our very complicated lives! That's how great design should be.... Simplify and not complicate; beautify and not clutter...
And so to my new and not-so-little baby-- It's gonna be a BROKE BROKE December for me... and though I have only prob uncovered 10% of how cool you are, deep down I think you are worth it :)
D.O.B: 29 Nov 2008
Weight: 11.5 kg
Dimension: 24"
And so I finally decided to get it. The 24" iMac -- at the Sitex show yesterday afternoon. And somehow the earlier dilemma got resolved as soon as I saw how different my own photos looked on the 13 inch macbook and the 24 inch iMac... Though my sis was rather baffled why her crazy sis wanted such a huge monitor for.... Then again, after we brought it home (sadly had to drag my nice white box on Expo floor all the way to taxi stand hehe) and tried setting it up, she too got very excited and insisted on inserting her face into my very first profile pic when we were prompted by the webcam to take one.
This being my very first Apple product, I was pretty impressed by how minimalist (yet everything u need to know is there) and prettily packaged the whole package was. And there was REALLY but one cable I needed to deal with. Which goes thru this beautiful hole in the aluminium supporting structure and perfectly into another smaller circular hole at the back of the iMac. (Seriously, who thinks abt creating this hole in middle of your aluminium stand such that your cable looks nice and central when plugged into the comp...!) That the power button was so nicely integrated and hidden at the back of the iMac also made me really impressed (though I was stressed for some 10 seconds prior to that cos I couldn't locate it at all :P) These people at Apple are just great at creating functional yet tasteful designs that simplify our very complicated lives! That's how great design should be.... Simplify and not complicate; beautify and not clutter...
And so to my new and not-so-little baby-- It's gonna be a BROKE BROKE December for me... and though I have only prob uncovered 10% of how cool you are, deep down I think you are worth it :)
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