My Life, My Expression: 2 Secrets,a bookfair & some patriotism

Helo, Salam Merdeka to those in Malaysia & Salam Bercuti 2 those in Brunei. This week again, I travelled out of my 'comfort safety zone' of Bandar Sunway to downtown KL right in the Golden Triangle area. ~~Nada kerja lainkah anak ani, every week travel ja!~~ Well, actually bcoz Im ahead of others as my tutorial dah siap 2 wk in advance for Accounting & Finance, ~~a round of applause please!~~ However, Im still struggling with Marketing as that 'old person' assignment burn my head! This time around Im travelling 1 bus, a LRT ride to KLCC to go to Bookfest @ Malaysia 2010. I have been always wanted to go to this bookfair but bcoz of time constraints & school commitments in the previous years, nada dapat pergilah!

Secret No 1: In the Rapid KL bas

On my way to the LRT Kelana Jaya from Sunway Pyramid, I overheard a few 'guy & gals' discussing about conducting a 'race'. I wonder which uni/college/uni college they are from? Monash, Taylors, Sun UC, Metropolitan, etc????? There were talking about sponsors & cash prizes for the race. Some of the sponsors that they maybe approaching are a bank, a dept store, a resort,a gym,a deodorant brand,an apparel brand,etc. To me, it sounds FUN the way they will be conducting the race i.e. public transport treasure hunt race! I hope its for Monash so that I can join in.

A bookfair:Bookfest @ Malaysia 2010

I didnt knew how many of you are 'ulat buku' like me rephrase Im 'ulat magazine & newspaper'. In this modern technology geek world, books are 'so lame' right? You prefer your Astro (cable TV), Youtube, whatever Blackberry,iPhone,Facebook,Twitter,etc better than books right? No doubt some still read 'light books' like gossip magazines like OK,Helo,People,Mingguan Hiburan,etc. However, I can tell you this Bookfest is not just about books (well mostly are books) but if you are a 'bargain hunter', Bookfest is a good place 2 search for bargain stationeries! A little background on Bookfest. Its organised by Popular (yeah Bruneians know this bookstore very well if they had been to Miri or KK or KL or Singapore,etc) since 2006. Hence this is the 5th year its being organised, with the theme ' Reading embraces the world'. Its considered Asia's biggest book expo with exhibitors from Taiwan, HK, China & of course Malaysia! And did you know that there is also a Bookfest Singapore? The bad thing about Bookfest is you have 2 pay 4 entrance RM2 & still cheaper than Metro Ahad (RM2.30) here in Malaysia. It worth it lah! your RM2 considering how many thousands of books & stationeries are on BIG offer! So, Brunei is on holiday now right? So kepada orang2 Brunei yang suka buku adalah dialu-alukan untuk mengunjungi Bookfest yg bertempat di KLCC (KL Convention Centre) dari 4-12 September. Tiket masuk hanya RM2 & ia amat berbaloi! Lets talk about what I do there. 1st, I go to renew my Popular Card for 1yr @ RM12 bcoz ada free gifts (for mine its a T-shirt notebook & Bookfest 2009 notepad leftover kot jangan membazir). Then, I went to do 'charity work' by buying a Bookfest bag @ RM3.90 where RM2 of each sales will be donated to Yayasan Sin Chew which oversees a old folks home! After that, then I go to take my entrance handband & get my Bookfest catalogue cum tiket validated. Main entrance is via Hall 5 & Bookfest spans from Hall 1-5. Hall 4 & 5 is what I described as a giant Popular Bookstore. All of the English books are inside here as well as stationeries. In this hall, I bought all my stuffs since its damn cheap. As much as I want to buy, but my capabilities are limited as Im using public transport. In the Popbasic booth, I got myself 2 files @ RM8 normal @ 6.90 each & 2 pak of testpads @ 9.50 normal 6.55 each! In the Pilot pen booth, I got myself a pack of 3 ballpoint pen @ 1.80 (member price) non-member 2.40, normal 2.90, and guess what the very famous Pilot Rexgrip can be refilled the refill is 1.30 normal 1.70. Its half of the price of the pen & saves the environment too! And I got myself Pilot latest product, Pilot Progrex mechanical pencil at 2.30 normal 2.90. And from the online games booth, I got FREE pen & bookmark just by showing my Bookfest tiket! 1 thing I like about Bookfest is when you take things from eg Pilot booth you no need to pay there, but you pay when you want to exit. Its centralised cashier counters. Lets talk a bit about the other halls, Hall 1-3 is all Chinese books but still I still go to jalan 1 round. Taiwan books are very interesting but too bad I dont read Chinese! After my rounds at the halls, my earlier planning was go to Wisma Central to have some 'cheap' food but since I bought a bag full of stuffs, malas want to jalan forces me to have 'reasonable by KL standard but expensive by my standard' food at Bookfest. I had wantan mee @ RM8! Good thing is the noodle inda kan simpan the colouring kuning so taste great!

The Unexpected Plan

Didnt knew why I went up to 3rd floor of Convention centre for the Yamaha Piano 'exhibition of the yr'. However, boy was I pleasantly surprised that I learnt a lot about piano! Let me share some of the things I learnt about nowadays you can plug in your pendrive & play to the tune of your fav song. Another type allows you to put in your fav CD & it will auto play the key without you press on it. The most basic piano aka electronic type starts at 7000+ while those Grand type the more high class 1 can go up to 100,000+!

Secret No 2:Asia's best kept secret writer

This Singaporean writer keeps my mind guessing who he really is bcoz he is always 'in the dark' aka he never shows his real face. The song that I can use to describe him is Wang Lee Hom song from his latest album The 18 Martial Arts, Nie Bu Zhe Dao De Shi (All That You Will Never Knew). He is 1 & only Russell Lee, the author of the True Singapore Ghost Stories series which somehow never will be completed since there is so much 'mysteries' around us! Before his autograph & meet the fans session in Hall 4 in a section known as the 'Secret Garden' he was given a chance to speak a few words. He ask the spectators/fans do you want to see his face. They replied yes but then Russell said 'Since this is the Hungry ghost month, Im afraid when I open this mask everyone will run away bcoz they are scared' But the audiences reply no! Russell spoke again 'I am not Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian but I am Singaporean. I think this is what Singapore PM Lee meant about the 'Singapore Spirit' in his 2010. National Day Rally speech. Why cant we Malaysians act like Russell Lee by saying Im not Chinese, Malay, Indians, Eurasian, Orang Asli, Bumiputera Sabah/Sarawak but I am Malaysian'. Since this is still 'Merdeka Mood', here I proclaim that I am Malaysian rather than Im Chinese Malaysian! Russell jokes by saying 'If you take a pint of his blood & put it under the microscope & look closely, you find find the 5 stars & stripes which can also be found in the Singapore flag' Then, its game time as well as writing tips from Russell. He ask 1 of the spectators what do you see? This boy answered people/book fans. The way Russell sees it is different he sees a garden with gardeners, flowers & seeds. The garden is Bookfest while the gardeners are the organisers/parents while the seeds are the children. He is trying to imply that parents should nurture their children to read whil they are still at a young age. His writing tips was Do you have a great story, thats it! Then, came the last Q&A with the gift TSGS book 20 paid by Russell for those who can answer his question. He told a story and ask what is the name of this story. Thats simple, I had ever read the story but I forget the name if not I can save RM12, LOL! Nevermind, my RM12 is worth it bcoz I get to shake hands with Russell Lee & take pictures with him. Also had a short conversation with him & his signature 'Russell Lee handshake' (which includes a high 5). In addition, that I got his book autographed, he also gave me an autographed poster as well as a notebook & a wristband! Its going to be my prized asset! If he comes for next yr Bookfest Im going to meet him again!

KLCC

KLCC basically is famous for its Petronas Twin Towers & of course Suria KLCC Mall. That Suria is a very high class mall so I dont dare to enter any of the shops. Yeah,they are some mid range brands but those are also available elsewhere! Anyway, this KLCC enforces a very strict picture taking policy so I can only take a few picts inside! I bought some keychains as a 'imbal balas' to my friend who bought me a keychain from Dubai last time.

I guess thats about it for this time & sorry that this posting takes a long time to be posted due to my damn laptop having so much problems. Really need to bring for checkup! Before that, enjoy some of the pictures I had taken! Bye & Salam Mesra!