Monday, August 06, 2012

The Week that Was

It's been a long, long week. Deprived of the much needed mental effects coffee has on me (I'm not phasing coffee out of my life, but due to the fasting month and the fact that the rest of my office is filled with Muslims who are fasting, I have ceased mixing myself a cuppa in the afternoons out of respect for people who would have not had even a sip of water since 6:00 am) and the sudden influx of problems to be solved, I have been having problems sleeping well too. In the end, I'm tired, sleep deprived, irritable and have made zero progress in posting up anything here despite so many interesting things going on. 

Losing Hope on Our Only Gold Medal
I've never been a fan of watching sports on TV. I do watch the occasional football match, but I hate watching badminton. Nevertheless, I sat down and watched last night's men's badminton final on TV, because Malaysia was playing and there was a chance we could win a gold. We've never really been a country to be reckoned with when it comes to international sports, but badminton has always been something we could almost solidly count on. Despite our Malaysian player giving the match his all, he had to settle for the silver. Still, it was well fought match!

Time wasters
Over the weekend when I could have been doing something productive, (or sleep) I stumbled upon a website that subconsciously coerced me into browsing it for hours and hours. It's a treasure trove of all things from the past - old ads, to old magazine covers and photos of people, etc.  I thought I was alone in my insane addiction when I saw someone else's comment saying that he was addicted to the website too! I guess I'll only be happy once I've finished reading/seeing all their archives!


In support of small Independent Businesses
My sister and I went out for some Sunday afternoon book shopping near an aunt's place which is in a different town. We wanted to visit a small independent bookstore that sold a wide variety of hand-picked titles at more competitive prices than the common bookstore chains we have. We don't go there too often because of the distance, but when we do, we get a big pile of  books to fulfill several months of reading requirement. Besides, the owner, being a reader himself, gives you interesting book recommendations, and you can even request him to bring in a titles for you through the bookstore's Facebook page. 

Finding our way to the store in the mall though, we kind of ended up in a different wing and saw another independent book kiosk which had quite a few titles we grabbed in glee. 



Picking and then towing all the books (even between the two of us wasn't an easy task), and we decided to stop for some coffee or ice cream. Instead, after surveying the options, we decided to pick a frozen yoghurt stall that sold (ahem) frozen yoghurt. It's been a minor obsession of mine these past few months - ever since my sister introduced me to a local frozen yoghurt chain. We later found out that this particular frozen yoghurt stall was an independent establishment and that it was the owner of the stall itself who served us, while enquiring if there was a book sale around us after seeing our load of books.

The yoghurt was creamy and delicious and on top of that was free from artificial colouring. There was another woman who was sitting there, enjoying her frozen yoghurt and laughingly admitting to us that she thinks she is addicted to this stuff. I don't blame her. It was really, really good.  

Bookstore: Bookalicious (located in the Summit - USJ)

Frozen Yoghurt: Yogurtbar (also located in the Summit - USJ)

26 comments:

  1. New books are always awesome. :D

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  2. You have quite a few independent businesses near you, well done on supporting them :) It's a shame you missed out on gold but if you guys tried your best, and it was well fought, then you can be happy about it :)

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    1. Very few actually - but this mall I mentioned seems to house quite a number of independent stores.

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  3. I always piss off my Muslim friends that are fasting, especially in the lunch and interval periods, by showing off my often tasty (so says everyone) lunches. I'm so not evil. :/

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    1. zOMG! (puts on a mock shocked face)

      I've been told by friends that they don't mind people eating around them, actually.

      Delete
  4. I saw a Malaysian competing in the track cycling and thought of you. The commentator then mentioned the accident he had last year - don't look if you're squeamish...

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1359081/Cyclist-Azizulhasni-Awang-leg-skewered-shard-wood-finishes-race.html

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    1. Curiosity killed the cat! I just had to check it out. Sure looks terrible. This dude is another one of our 'hopeful medallists'

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  5. Great job supporting the independent stores and can't go wrong with books. Being irritable and sleep deprived sucks too.

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    1. I suppose if they have good stuff, I'd prefer getting them from independent stores. The problem here is there are not that many independent stores.

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  6. it's a shame you'll lost your only gold. America wins so many it's not fun for us to watch anymore.

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    1. I think you've hit the nail right on the head. I suppose we still get excited over the olympics because medals are so hard to come by.

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  7. I already blogged about the Olympics, and how I don't really care, and I think part of that is what Adam said. We win a lot, so who cares? But I bet it'd be something to watch your country compete, if they were an underdog. Shame they didn't get the gold.

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    1. Yes, that makes a lot of sense. The athletes from the US ace most of their events, that it's probably not as exciting anymore.

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  8. That is one impressive collection of Mario Puzo novels there. I'm quite a fan myself :)

    Anyway, sorry to hear you're sleep and caffeine deprived. You sound like... Me! lol Hope the rest of the week goes by smoothly.

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    1. Yeah, this is the first time I'm actually seeing so many of his books being sold over here.

      Oh dear, you too? Well, lets hope for a better week this time around.

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  9. I prefer to support independent book shops because their customer service and book selection are much better.

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    Replies
    1. That's true, especially their customer service.

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  10. Oh i have to tell you...for my birthday, my bestie ordered a personally signed book by Terry Pratchett for me!!!!! You have to check out this website....amazing!!!!

    http://www.pjsmprints.com/books/index.html

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    Replies
    1. Indeed! I think I should probably get at least one book with TP's signature. At least, even in his condition, he still writes, not like my other favourite author who is off gadding about with his young wife!

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  11. At least coffee still works for you. I don't even bother with it because I gain a tolerance so quickly. ._.

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    1. It works, but not all the time, either. If you really need to sleep early, then you really have to, kind of thing.

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  12. What's that I'm reading? 'I've ceased mixing myself a cuppa in the afternoons out of respect for people who would have not had even a sip of water since 6:00 am...' Dear Lord, that's the most politically correct thing I've read all day! Compared to you I'm an insensitive bastard. Good thing I don't like coffee. ;)

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    1. Well, most other people here do the same as well. And you know how the aroma wafts around and flirts with your sense of smell torturing you into wanting one yourself. I couldn't do that to the people who work with me.

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  13. You are a better woman than I. I don't think that anything could ever make me give up coffee. The promise of reversing the depletion of the ozone layer? No. World peace? No. Meeting Johnny Depp? No. Well, maybe.

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    1. Ha ha... I've not given it up completely. I just skip the one I take in the afternoons. My morning coffee intake is still intact.

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