Book Sale

Okay, Sunday didn't go that bad today and I didn't actually have to plan to an extent..I..tend NOT to follow most parts of e schedule coz it would be just plain ol' complicated...hehe..What do you expect from someone lazy like me?


Anyway, today actually is the annual National Library Board Book Sale. Okay, I mean..that has been held for the past few years and I actually never attended a single one of them before till today, that is. I did wanna do 'I dont care about it' thingey about this sale too but I kinda felt like hey...it wouldnt hurt to just go there and take a look. At most, I'd just be 'sandwiched' among the crowd and survive getting out. Right...as if that helps. Besides, I got tonnes of errands to run especially on a Sunday. The day before, my friend kinda reminded me of the book sale coz she is an avid fan of books unlike plain ol' me who would rather be caught occasionally snooping around the gossip magazine corners in Borders to see who is with who and who broke up with who. Other sections of Borders? Hrm...maybe the stationery corner where my jaws will often drop when I see how a plain notebook can cost so much. I like notebooks...not coz i like to write extensively on paper but I just like notebooks...for their beauty. I do admire the notebooks though..at Borders..but buying it? narh..unless someone would like to give me one as a birthday..ahem..gift..which is like coming oh-so-soon? Hee...


How about novels? Narh..I can't even remember the last time I ever read a proper novel and not even Clive Cussler. Well, he is my favourite author of all times but his recent books are quite a snooze fest as maybe he has retired and too busy looking after his antique cars so have no time to think of adrenaline rushing action sequences involving the few lead characters. His early books were good..but...I kinda read all of 'em already back then in Secondary School. Maybe, one day I'll just get the right time and opportunity to finally plonk myself down with one of his novels. Oh, wait..I did read two novels in this year...the CSI:Miami novelisation books! Wooh! The first one was alright..which I couldnt remember the title..but the second one, was rather boring. I mean...the only time that was quite interesting was when Horatio was having these mind games with the suicidal leader of a quacky cult who was high with drugs. He saw Horatio as a devil who is trying to stop him and his people from reaching nirvana. Like I said, they are quacker heads.


Anyway, about the book sales, I decided to just go when my brother surfed the net for more information. When I took a look at the site unwillingly (that's the lazy bone's doing), I was shocked when the prices were so generic..$2 for english books, $1 for Malay/Tamil/Chinese books and $5 per pack of magazines. And I thought when my friend said that the books can go as low as $2 inclusive of computer books, I was thinking that heh..maybe just a tiny proportion of them and the rest may be in the range of $5 and above. But $2 for every freakin' English book?!! What the hell...just go lah! My friend couldn't make it so I was thinking to myself like how I was going to survive through the crowds of people who would probably be rather pushy. But, I told myself that if I can survive the popular Mango sales..twice....with girls squeezing in from every corner at every clothing bin and every clothing rack, I....Rahayu Sedik...can survive this as well. So off I went not bothering to change to new clothes but simply touched up a bit (in case bookworm cuties are around), and finding a bag to fit in a few books ( and yet be stylish at the same time). Hrm, the bus came quickly as if helping me to be there asap but it was the standing throughout the whole journey that was rather uncomfortable.


Halfway, I just remained standing coz I couldn't be bothered to sit anymore..hrmph...still, I didn't know that throughout my time till I reach back home, I would be constantly on my feet..it is a miracle I can still type this out! It wasn't difficult to find the place as I conveniently had a bus that would stop right opposite the expo hall. So I thought hey..it wasn't that bad as it was quite a breeze entering and walking a bit to the magazine sections but alas, as I looked towards the 'horizon'..damn the place was big...I saw..THE CROWD. And how convenient, they were hovering around the book bins in the English section..haiz..so I am here...shouldn't be undermined by them...I didnt stand in the bus for nothing..I shall move on and do what I was supposed to do: to search for relevant computer books.


As I was pouring through a messy state of books, I was thinking....that I should have systematic way of looking around the book sale. At first, it seemed rather overwhelming but I must not give up; I decided to adopt my method of looking for clothes during the sales period where there were just so many to look through. And that is..to search every freakin' bin....so that I would not miss out on anything which can be a big loss if I didnt look hard enough for some 'treasures'. It went quite well initially except that I didn't think I wanted to end up getting books that I will have no use later but seemed interesting. So, I narrowed my focus and then decided I shall look for web design related books that provide useful reads without the complicated jargons, have lots of colourful picture examples, are rather up to date and that I will not just leave around in my room waiting to be thrown away one fine day.


Okay, so that went well too...until, as I looked ahead to see how much I had to cover, I was dumbstrucked for awhile, coz there was not one...not two..but four rows of book bins covering the english non fiction books! Haiz....had to work fast then. I didn't know long it took me to go through ALL the book bins but some I just had to skim through if there were not much books. The travel books were also placed together with the computer books so I had to really dig through most times. Halfway through, I got some books which were very useful, to me at least, and one of them I did borrow before and I knew that it would be interesting....but if only I had the time to read during the time I borrowed it. But now, I get to keep them for good..hehe...and best of all, I saw the first and the second part in different bins coincidentally! WOot!


So I had to carry those thick books around as I kept looking through hundreds of books and working out a sweat unknowingly. First, my legs had to endure the standing...and second...my arms had to shift through the books as well as carry some of them. GOod exercise man..Anyway, I was disappointed that I didn't see any photoshop books and the one book I saw of a web programming which I just happened to go through again the night before, was in someone else's basket and I was so freakin' tempted to snatch it when the mother was not looking. Still, finders keepers so I moved on with my fourth row scavenging but this time, I thought that hey..if people can find the books that I wanted, I can still find similar books as well! Anyway, nope.....still the same tough luck. After I grabbed some malay story books for my brother and then looking through uncategorised shelves of books for some more luck, and then thinking I refused to give up any of the 5 books I had taken, I tried to find the queue to go to the cashier.


But as I was lining up, there was a sudden change in the queue structure. I got stuck in this line of people and there was practically no one at the packing section and the cashier section. EH? What's going on? Then few minutes later, I saw this couple of an Caucasian guy and his Chinese fren or girlfriend..I dunno...escaping the queue by going through another way and they actually let them go! So they had their books packed and sealed in a bag, on to the cashier and out of the exit with no hiccups! And here I am..with the rest of the people in the line..thinking what losers were we when people like them got off scott free with no fuss! Haiz............... But, guess what? Turned out..they were the losers after all! heh heh....coz, the slight delay was actually caused by an impending special promotion of which they were waiting to clear off the last customer before announcing that from now onwards, we could grab 2 books for the price of 1..and 2 packet of magazines for the price of 1..now wht the fark! I was thinking...dammit, I can't get out of this queue! I love bargains!!!! But after two seconds of being dumb, it occured to me..hey, that would involve my books too since I was in the line after all...with the books unpacked and unpaid for yet..so I WAS entitled to such a freakin' good bargain! Imagine..one book already costs $2..and top that with an additional book for free for every book bought!


Man, I was so thankful I took the trouble to go through every book bin which was time consuming! Still, as I waited for them to pack my books, they said that I was short of one book for English and Malay books respectively. THen, I was thinking..dammit again..now I have to restart the queue again. But heck, didn't I want to make full use of my time here as well as the promotion? So out I went again...embarassingly as I was the only one who went out of the line instead of heading straight to the cashier to get two more books. However, I thought that I had just as much as luck as the '2 books for the price of 1'...I saw...finally..photoshop books! Hey, didn't I just go through every single freakin' book bins? Where the hell they came from? So anyway, whoever left them there, I thank U so much I wanna kiss you! Provided you're that hot I.T. geeK! Man, I just didnt feel like letting them go, let alone go through the contents to check if it is useful to me. Then right after one, I saw yet another one..and another one! Gosh..can I jz buy all? But hey, a book sale is still a sale nevertheless and this means that whatever we don't need, even if the price is super low....it's still a purchase. What do I need? A bookshelf full of unread books..or a bookshelf with books well used till beyond recognition? And what's the point of buying a computer book of which even ten years down the road, I know I wouldn't read it.


So logic took over me and I tried to look through the contents to see if there are any new things that I can pick up and if they really are useful...despite its thickness. Okay, so photoshop book is one thing..a GOOD photoshop book is another. I didnt mind if it was a previous version of photoshop..even behind the version of the photoshop software I have been using prior to buying the latest CS2. So one tip: the thickness of a book is not a good gauge of its contents. It can write a whole lotta rubbish with only one or two useful chapters but u're duped into buying it coz you think a thick book would probably cover as many things out there as possible. Hrm, so after what seemed like an eternity deciding hard which one...I finally relented to one of them after careful selection and comparison. However, one of them didn't need that much of thought as it is a book on the 7.0 which Im using so makes sense to grab them!


Then, just as I was about to queue up..again....I saw stacks of books carelessly strewn on the floor left behind by people who decided not to purchase them. HRmph..Singaporeans will always be Singaporeans at whatever sales. But whoever it was, I saw another useful book for myself which placed me in one of my numerous decision making..hair tugging.....moments where I had to decide which one to grab. Like goodness..not another one! But determined to get out asap before my mother decided to call me every 10 minutes of my whereabouts...I made a rather quick one and painfully...YES..painfully replaced one of the books I had taken with that one.


Hrm, surprisingly, I didn't had to wait that mega long for my turn to have the books packed and paid for. I would say Im pleased that the temporary staff as well as the permanent staff did a very good job maintaining the crowd and running a very systematic way.


Anyway, below are my prized possesions! woohoo! Im a proud Geek in the Pink! kekekekeke....Oh, if you're wondering what is that picture all about after that first shot, I dunno..I just thought the message read in a funny way...eh....even a bit the 'censored' as well...hehehe..'stroke'..hehe..'there is nothing to stroke'...tee hee hee...And you say that that photoshop is

Overall, it was a definitely tiring experience but worth every effort. Hand pain from grabbing, hugging and rummaging through the books? Nevermind...a sale this much worth it, beats other sales(Except the unbeatable Mango label..hee) hands down..hehe..geddit geddit?..hehe..*lame rahayu..lame*





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