MY BOOK SALE TRIPS

This year has been so awesome, I got to know someone who understands my book addiction. Spoils me with books, and tolerates my book sale trips. Thank you, Jefferson! 

2015 isn't over yet, So I'm hoping for more book sales, more books, a library, my own bookshop and of course THE ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERERS STONE (Merry Christmas Jeff! Hehehe!)

BTW, I'm into steampunk, fantasy, urban fantasy, chick lit, a few of them classic lit, historical romance, historical fantasy, all Harry Potter books, mermaid books and fairy tales. 

And this is what my book collection looks like. It's not much, you really can't call it a library just yet.

And I want more more more. I'm serious.

And now on to the book sale trips.

BOOKENDS MAYON

    

This year I discovered an online book shop called BOOKENDS. I think this ignited and relived my book hoarding skills. Yes, that's one of my skills. Book hoarding skill at level 7/10. LOL! To continue, they have almost all the books that I ever wanted and at a very very reasonable price, most of their books are hard to find the kind that can only be bought abroad or you'd have to bid online. But, their good books are always auctioned. I only won an auction once, the other books auctioned, well instead of bidding, I was lucky enough to be given an extra copy. Sweet!

Below are some pictures, just look at that massive book selection. This, is definitely a must visit. 

 

    

You may follow them on Facebook just search for Bookends Mayon/ Maricar Docyogen or visit their shop in Mayon QC, address indicated on the sale add above. ⬆️

BOOKS FOR LESS

I'm sure a lot of you know BOOKS FOR LESS, we see their stores at the mall. And of course, I would make it a point to pass by their store and browse their shelves. Like Bookends, they also have a wide selection. But I must say, not much of the book genre I like. This year I got to experience their P20 book sale, I missed it last year. Well, this year I got to go there on the first day of the month long sale, most of the books being sold are old and I mean like 20 to 30 years old old. I don't mean that in the bad way of course, old or new they are still books. I spent P800 for all the books, most of the books I got were children's book and I am happy about my book haul.

I got to admit though, I wouldn't recommend that you bring kids with you, we brought my son that day. My nom and my son stayed inside for only about a minute then went outside at the nearest resto to wait. It was extremely hot inside, the only ventilation were 2 big industrial fans, and not only was it hot but it was also very dusty. So next year, I would suggest that y'all be prepared. Bring water, fan, towel, eco bags, scrunchie for your hair and don't bring kids with you.

Their warehouse is located in Pasig, but you may find their book stalls in most SM malls.

NBS WAREHOUSE SALE

National Book Store. Pambansang bookstore. Who among you doesn't know this? Hehe! This was also my first time to go to an NBS warehouse sale. It was epic! Epic fail! Well, the first day was an epic fail. It was terrible. My mom, my son and I got there before the store opened, good thing I spotted a parking space right away, cause we still had to fall in line in order to get in.

There was always a line, it seemed organize right?

This was the first day, I didn't know what to expect. I had no idea that it'd be dusty inside (I don't frequent warehouses 😜), but I thought, not as hot as the booksforless warehouse so it was kinda okay. But my mom and my son still didn't stay that long. So after less than an hour, they were done with the shopping, they waited for me at the department store to finish.

Now, this is what I didn't anticipate... After being inside for an hour and 30 minutes, I didn't notice the line towards the cashier was getting longer. To cut the story short, I didn't reach the cashier! I had to leave my precious books behind because it was just impossible to reach the cashier in an hour and we still had to be somewhere. Then that afternoon when I checked out my book group, some of them were ranting that they waited in line for 5 hours just to bring home the books. Wow! But some of them were happy, saying the 5 hour wait was all worth it. Good for you.

Below are some pictures taken on the first day.

I was heartbroken! So, we left. Of course I had to go back, so I did. The next day.

The next day, was kind of the same scenario, parking, waited in line... 

What I did once I got inside NBS, I sort of did a speed shopping, I didn't browse so much, if I liked the book I saw I just grabbed it (it was on sale!), I grabbed as much as I could. But this time, Jeff, went with me and he just watched and guarded the line for me. Hehe! Lucky me. I finished in an hour. I was happy! There wasn't a line towards the cashier at all. The second day was way organized. That's a tip right there, go on the second day.

Last, but most definitely not the least. 

MANILA INTERNATIONAL BOOKFAIR

Now this, I never miss for anything. I've been going here for years. And I always get free entrance tickets to MIBF, so why miss it? 

Sadly, this wasn't such a good MIBF year for me. Well, only for the reason that I only was able to buy 1 book for myself. The rest was okay. So why did I only get 1 book? There were sooooooo many people, just so overwhelming and suffocating. So my family and I did the usual routine of going around and looking at all the book stalls. I was able to buy my son the books that he liked, books for christmas and other stuff. I always get books at FULLYBOOKED, this year i wasn't able to. The line was depressing. Hehe! Forgive me. NBS is always my last stop, this year they didn't have much of those books on sale that I usually get. So I just bought those colored pens for my coloring books. That was it. I really wasn't happy, I told myself this can't be. So while waiting for my mom, I went back inside NBS and was able to get THE book. I guess the best tip would be, to go on the first three days from the opening, the book fair goes on for about five days. 

Forgive me for ranting. Amidst the sad news, We were able to enjoy the lunch in between breaks of the book fair. Good family bonding. I guess it wasn't so sad after all. Can't wait for next year. 

Sweet Ecstacy

Right after a short tour of Cubao Expo, we got hungry. It was already 8:00 P.M. by then and most of the shops were either closed or getting ready to close. So we decided to look for a decent place to eat. There are quite a few restos in Cubao Expo,  but this small red room caught our eyes. It was even being renovated at that time, still the facade of this small resto will make you look twice.

Yup, The Sweet Ecstacy! That's the name, so we became instantly curious. Why such name? Will it make us feel as if in a trance if we eat whatever is being served there? Or are they serving tons of sweets, sweets which I am crazy about. LOL! As mentioned they were being renovated so the first level was empty but, there read a sign that says Don't be alarmed, we are open. A sign which i thought was kinda catchy so we went in right away. I don't have the photo of the resto from the outside since it wasn't permissible, but here's a photo from the inside going up to the actual resto.

Okay, so as it turns out this place is a burger joint. So much for my excitement! They serve burgers, fries and milkshakes. My apologies for not having enough photos to support this write-up. We are not a burger crazy lot, but I'm sure the burgers are awesome. I was hoping for a veggie burger on their menu. Well, better luck next time. But here are some of the food we tried.

Burgers! Photo grabbed from their FB.

I don't remember what this is. But, it sure looks good. My 2 friends had this, I just ate the camote fries.

Camote fries, yum! Sweet and salty, the honey dip really complimented this root crop. ^_^

Chicken wings! Zesty, tangy taste. Yum Yum!

Cookies and cream milkshake and Choco mint milkshake. This is what made eating here memorable. LOL! Yup, definitely a must-try.

The other thing I liked about this place is the fast service and the artsy-fartsy ambiance. The walls are red on one side and white on the other, lots of pictures hung on the wall, colorful pictures from movies, from artists and I guess just some random catchy pics. The red couch was also comfy so it made staying there for a while, well, worthwhile.

I like the warm red walls, and the bright pictures hung up on them.

One for the road, last pic before leaving!

That's it! If you want to visit their resto, they are located in Cubao Expo. Or check out their facebook for more info. https://www.facebook.com/SweetXManila

Photo credits to Mack!

Cubao Expo

Among the list of places we wanted to visit was Cubao Expo, and we made that happen just a few weeks ago. Cubao Expo is located at the Araneta Center near Ali Mall, if I'm not mistaken this place was formerly known as Marikina Shoe Expo. There are lots of unique finds in every store, they don't only sell shoes like one would initially expect since it was once known as a shoe expo. But Cubao Expo has a whole lot to offer, from vintage stuff, collectibles, and unusual finds which my friends and I are always on a hunt for, there are also clothes, shoes, bags and stuff from the past and stuff from now. I have a very faint memory of the first time I visited this place, it wasn't fully developed back then, but I definitely remember that I enjoyed in the ukay-ukay shops.

What I like about it now, the place is now well lit and a few restos has been added and lot of people are now taking time to appreciate the place. For me, it's always a different feeling to take a trip down memory lane some people find comfort in going back to the past, I simply just feel happy seeing stuff that reminds me of my childhood. Most shops close early tho, or maybe we just came in a little late. Oh and some of the shops were closed then, and we found out that they have different rest days so there's a certain day that a shop would be close.

I was hoping to share loads of photos but the admin was very strict about taking pictures in the area, but we managed to take some stolen shots. My apologies.. Well we weren't aware that it was prohibited, pictures already taken so it's ours to keep. ;) Besides, we just wanted to share to friends and family how nice the place is. But, it was funny how the guards would make ninja moves on you and pop up behind your back saying "Bawal po mag-picture ma'am". Fine! Actually it was annoying cause we were super excited to be there. Good thing some of the shop owners were kind enough and allowed us to take some snaps of their uber lovely store.

                                                         MY BREATHING SPACE
                                                              Collectibles & Gifts
                                      www.facebook.com/mybreathingspacecollectiblesandgifts

This is my favorite shop, not only is the owner super friendly, but he allowed us to take pictures endlessly so we voraciously did. ;)

                                         

                                                                      Cars, old and new..                    

                                             

         Who doesn't love Audrey Hepburn? My breathing space has the largest Audrey Hepburn collection.

 It's the only shop that has mermaids! I hope you still have this piece the next time we visit.

                                                
                                                         Added one to my collection... ;)

Just look at that! If you love coke, then you'll definitely love it here.

This is actually a cool idea to display your mug collection. Don't ya think? 

A few more pics from the other shops...

Me want one!

Fash! This actually scares me. It's lovely but I don't want it in my house. What if it walks during night time? LOL!

Oldies but goodies!

Love the smell of books... Would've loved to go to THE READING ROOM, unfortunately they were closed the day we went there..

What a pose? ;)

Those glasses! Must be from the 70's!

PEZ galore! Had tons of these when I was a kid...

Me, Maries and Mack...

That's it for this trip! Will definitely come back to this place, it brought back a lot of childhood memories. The toys from the 80's, collectible items from 50's, 60's and 70's. If you want to take a trip down memory lane, then this is the place where you should be. 

Cubao Expo 

(The Old Marikina Shoe Expo)

Gen. Romulo Avenue

Araneta Center, Cubao, Q.C.

Photo Credits to Mack! ;)