18 A December To Remember

Out of all the months in the year, December is most magical for me. Peace, joy, love, all these words sum up the general atmosphere. People seem happier - school is out, holidays are in. This means lots of family gatherings and meeting up with friends.

I hung greeting cards we received on our Christmas tree this year. It's a nice feeling, this warmth that creeps up on me every time I look at it. The holiday season was not as hectic for me this round. I was most efficient having spring-cleaned my home in November and getting all the decorations up. I'd also gotten the presents wrapped and sent out!

Christmas Tree

My aunt and cousin flew in for a visit a couple of weeks before Christmas. We had a fabulous time shopping, catching up and teasing one another mercilessly. 1Utama and The Curve were the first places we hit. My aunt's luggage was filled to the brim on the first day itself. We felt very proud of her ..haha!

In a bid to avoid crowd and queue, we woke up at 5am the next day just to take my aunt to the legendary Big Bad Wolf book sales at Mines Convention Centre. I got ten books for myself. The rest were for my nephews. With the ones I purchased earlier from Popular Book's RM5 sale corner, I figure it could last me a year. I read pretty fast and have a habit of not putting a book down until I'm done. That's why I make sure I don't start on a new book until I've done my chores and run my errands. Also, my eyes need a break!

Big Bad Wolf Book Sale

Books I Bought

Pavilion Mall is always stunning at this time of year so aunt and I headed there for a look-see. Lucky us came across a LINE pop-up store at Tokyo Street corner - they were giving out free gifts to anyone whose Birthday fell in January. My aunt and I qualified! We showed them our MyKad, the LINE app on our phone and voila, we were given a cute tee, a bag and stickers. My aunt found it unbelievable - "So easy to get free things one meh..."

Christmas At Pavilion, KL

Free LINE Merchandise

My aunt went home, there ended her adventures in KL. Then came the Winter Solstice Festival. This year, I made a different version of 'tangyuan' (glutinous rice ball). I rolled some up with organic moringa powder - it turned a lovely shade of green. We enjoyed it with honey chrysanthemum tea.

Moringa Tangyuan

When my cousin informed that she would be popping by my house one Saturday, I decided to bake her a cake. I woke up early, whipped up a batter for butter cake and kept my fingers crossed as it went into the oven.

It was wrapped prettily and passed to my cousin. She buzzed me later asking for the recipe, saying that they loved it so much. Sigh ..best day ever.

Butter Cake For My Cousin

Christmas day itself was a quiet affair. We skipped doing the 'open house' thing this year. Hubs and I were feeling the after-effects of too much celebrating. It was nice to just chill at home. The feasting and festiveness hasn't ended and we both needed the break.

Rest Is The Sweet Sauce Of Labour~ Plutarch

12 Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2015

Big Bad Wolf 2015

This is my fourth Big Bad Wolf Book Sale adventure. I went on a working day this time, reaching the place 10am-ish. It was still peaceful. Finding a parking spot was a breeze, not much different from my previous experiences.

There were trolleys available; not that I made any use of it. I have always preferred carrying everything in my large recycle sling bag. Easier to get around. When it gets too heavy, I leave the books at the storage counter.

Check out the rows and rows of cheap books!

This is where we leave our books until we're ready to pick it up again.

24-hour Book Storage Counter at BBW 2015

I went home with only five books because I'd already done my Christmas gift shopping earlier. This 'Chocolate' hardcover is my absolute favourite! I just fell in love with the beautiful pictures and the way it was presented.

Sharon and her Chocolate Book

Such a gorgeous layout!

A BBW Purchase

What else is new for me this time around? I finally signed up as member!

"..Why do you need the 'race' field?" I asked the young girl who waited for me to complete the form.

I skipped ticking whether I was Chinese, Indian or Others; forgot if I wrote 'Malaysian' instead, but it's what I would usually do.

She explained, slightly panicky, that it was for them to send us festive greetings. There was no way she could tell for sure what I celebrated from my name. Hehe.

I did my bit for charity by donating a book to Astro Kasih's book donation drive for underprivileged children. They blessed me with bookmarks and a sticky page marker. Wasn't expecting that!

BBW Goodies

Well, that's that on my day at the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2015. It was a fun experience that I'll treasure in years to come. I'm looking forward to the next one already!

20 The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2014

It's happening NOW! My previous adventures here and here. As you can see, I am no newbie to The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale (BBW). I did mention in my previous blog post that I wasn't doing any holiday shopping because I wanted to save all my money for this sale. Well, this is it - check out my purchases.

My BBW Book Stash

And if you want tips, I say choose to go on a week day or early Sunday morning. Take a day off if you have to. This isn't just any sale. It's The Amazing Spider-man Big Bad Wolf!

My other advice? Bring a trolley bag because you WILL get carried away. You can choose to use the boxes provided by BBW to help you with the books, but unless you have strong arms, you're not going to get very far.

You can, however, leave your unpaid stash at the storage counter while you continue your book browsing.

Boxes!

And my final tip - Bring extra cash.

I woke up in the wee hours of the morning last Sunday just to get to the sale by 7am. There was ample parking space and it wasn't too crowded yet.

The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale In The Early Morning

The best part? No long queues at the cashier.

BBW Cashiers Taking A Break

I make it a point to leave by 11-ish. That's when it begins to get crowded. My visit to the BBW has always been peaceful and pleasant. You are looking at a pro. Hehe.

Check out some of the books I saw at the cookery corner.

BBW Cookery

I bet you recognise some of these chefs! Priced between RM15 to RM30, these books are a steal, I say.

BBW Cook Books

The Big Bad Wolf gives out bookmarks to good customers - one at the cashier when payment is made and another for filling up a survey form.

BBW Bookmarks

These cute button badges cost RM10 per pack. I wanted it but was torn between spending it on books or badges. I let the badges go.

BBW Button Badges

If you need any assistance, don't hesitate to howl, I mean ask. BBW has hired the friendliest peeps to attend to you.

BBW Help

The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale ends on 16th Dec 2014. Have I mentioned that it's non-stop? That's right, you can shop at 3am if you like. It doesn't close for the day.
Location : MIECC, The Mines

Go and be wow-ed.

6 The Big Bad Wolf Fireball Book Sale 2014

Hurry! The sale ends in another two days - 23rd February, to be exact.

The BBW Fireball Book Sale holds its own

I enjoyed myself tremendously. You could say that the bargains were to die for. It's a smaller version of the BBW year-end sale that many look forward to, but the discounts on top of the already cheap books made it an equally amazing event.

It's not too crowded in the morning!

The BBW team provided us with boxes as a convenient way to carry our books around. I left this at the storage counter when it became too heavy ...but proceeded to gleefully walk back to the counter several times to add more books into it.

I gave my friend the are-you-out-of-your-mind !  look when she asked if I was going to sort out what I wanted to bring home in the end. How ridiculous, I thought then. I was taking everything! So much for self-control. 

Then, I struggled. Lugging three bags of books, mostly hardcover, was an arm-straining affair that made me stop a couple of times to rest before I reached my car. It qualified for a pretty good gym workout for me. 

I am unremorseful about my stash ~ nine of it costing RM5 each and the rest at slightly more.

My BBW Fireball Book Sale stash

Don't ask me why it's all cookbooks because I cannot fathom it myself. I used to love science fiction and fantasy books. I used to grab all of Stephen King's masterpieces. I was also a Mills & Boon fan but these days, my interest in reading various genres has been sorely reduced to one - cookery.

It looks like my weekend will be spent on book wrapping and drooling over stunning food photos. Hungry days ahead.

2 The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale - It's the World's Biggest!

It was so BIG in discounts that I was caught in an intense struggle not to overspend. Only at the beginning, that is. Seven heavy books later .... and sore arms, my desire was quelled.

The sale runs on a 24-hour schedule. I admire people who work the graveyard shift. I find it mentally challenging. Mr. Sandman always comes a-calling. Sometimes, he isn't very nice. He makes me snort and snore with all that sand stuck in my nose.

This is the scene at Mines Exhibition Centre, 8am, Sunday. 

The early bird catches the worm

I woke up earlier than usual to beat the crowd and was blessed with a good two-hour of peaceful book hunting. Man was left to his devices. I didn't want to bore him too much by following me around. You see, there was no hint of enthusiasm for this Sunday outing since the night before, when it was made known to him.

I had to laugh when I saw him with a box full of books, twice my load! He was so engrossed that he didn't even notice that his mobile had rung five times!

Books and more books!

The other thing that amused me was when I saw a luggage seller setting up booth just outside the hall. I thought a travel fair was on too but I understood instantly when I walked in to see people pulling bags along the aisle. It's a convenient way for bookworms to carry it all.

I wasn't buying a lot so the light shoulder bag I had brought along suited me well - made it easier to navigate around busy areas.

There is no need to worry too much about it though. The Big Bad Wolf team has it sorted out for customers. They have boxes that you can use to carry your books around. There's also a storage station where you can leave your books.

The loud speaker came on and the voice of a very sleepy announcer blared through the hall.

"Don't leave your boxes on the floor. Keep the aisles clear!"

"Do not bring books you do not wish to purchase to the cashier counter!"

Getting crowded and it isn't even 10am yet!

I left before 11am. There were no long queues at the cashier yet. All in, I had a glorious time.

The entrance..how cool!

I walked away with the best bargains. Just to give you an idea how much I saved ~ I paid RM20 for Nigella Christmas . It costs RM109.90 at my regular book store.

In our car boot:

My stash and ..ahem, Man's stash *roll eyes*

Four for me, three are presents for the family

The sale ends this Sunday!

It's a 24-hour thing, but only for a week. Hurry now!

BBW website : www.bigbadwolfbooks.com