Bookshopping In Singapore!!!

Yes you read the title right! I recently went to Singapore  with my friend Sandra… for 8 consecutive days!

And there is only one word to describe our trip:

A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

Anyway, this time, I tried something new in terms of travelling activities and as you’ve obviously guessed from the title, one day we decided to go bookshopping! I don’t know if there is a specific legit word for it, but basically we googled about bookstores in Singapore and spent a whole day visiting them and buying books! And to our convenience, most of the interesting ones were found to be based in a single particular area: Tiong Bahru.

Sincerely, this place is definitely meant for book lovers and artists! It’s a small quiet area, so cosy!

Proof: we went there twice. Well that was because I became crazy…

Anyway, here’s the whole story… of our bookshopping adventure!!!

The first bookshop we went to was Books Actually, one of the most famous and beloved stores in Singapore.

The artwork of the store is just so beautiful! Bookworms be prepared to drool!

Those books in the boxes are actually second hand books. $5 each 😀

Inside… so many books!!!

And they even have cats! Yeah, it’s theirs! The guardians of the library! 🙂

Another awesome thing about this bookshop is the classic authors’ names-carved pencils!!! I couldn’t resist, I had to buy one! $1.50 each xP

I bought the ‘J. D. Salinger’ one because I will definitely own ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ one day. Too bad this book was out of stock in Books Actually on that day.

I love this!!! The bookworm style ♥

Oh and you know what? There are more books at the back!!! Second hand books! Shelves and shelves of them!

And more cats!!!

I fell in love with this book title: ‘Because it is bitter and because it is my heart’, and I couldn’t stop staring at it… but then other books came into my probably-going-to-buy list… and Sandra was in the same situation and we couldn’t decide!!!

But we finally did.

In the end, I chose to get this copy of Ender’s Game because I saw the movie and I love Asa Butterfield, and more than anything else lately, I have been totally in love with sci-fi! So yeah, final verdict!

The packaging is simple but very appropriate to that bookworm-y feel! I love it.

And oh my god, what did we find out when we went out and looked at the store’s designs for one last time??

It’s ADVENTURE TIME!!! 😀 *fan-girling right there*

We realised that we had spent too much time in Books Actually so we quickened our bookshopping space… but instantly got distracted by the random store next to it…

…where they sold these awesome notebooks! These are actually quite common in Singapore and I would certainly have bought one if I hadn’t been on a student budget… xP

We also came across a bookshop called ‘Woods in the Books’ but we didn’t go inside because it was getting late already and besides they focused more on graphic novels and children’s books. Not that I wasn’t interested but there was another particular bookstore I badly wanted to go to and it closed quite early so…

Oh and why did I mention that Tiong Bahru was the ideal place for artists? Not only because of the artworks of the bookshops… but also because we encountered a filming crew on our way!!!

I felt so exhilarated!

And I got even more excited when we finally reached my most awaited destination…

YES! YES!!!! The French Bookshop!!!

With French books all over the place!

Finally!!! After 4 months deprived of that!!! I miss that dear language!

Haha, The Fault in Our Stars in French 🙂

And of course I HAD to buy a book! We don’t get French books in Malaysia.

I bought a classic Japanese literate book (because I definitely prefer Japanese-French translations than Japanese-English due to the poetic feel that French language is able to keep), ‘La femme des sables’ by Kôbô Abé.

There were a lot of books I was considering buying but yeah this was my final verdict!

Until the next day…

Anyway, after that we were hungry and the lady working in the French bookshop recommended us a nearby French bakery (P.S. we talked in French woohoo I missed that so much!):

And so we ate!

By the way I have recently become addicted to the ‘coffee lifestyle’ (since A Beautiful Mind and Starbucks) So cliché but well coffee shops = writing = reading = research = an awesome life for me. XD

Then, the next day while I was reading A Beautiful Mind at night… I suddenly realised that I wanted to buy another French book, one which was suggested to me in the store, and which was suddenly mentioned in A Beautiful Mind (as if it was fate!): ‘Le château’ by Franz Kafka.

At that moment, I looked up at my friend and said: “I need to go back to the French bookshop.”

And so we went on the next day XD

I bought my book and we went back to eat at the Tiong Bahru bakery!

And this time… I ate the most beautiful thing ever.

An $8.50 mixed berries tart!!!! ARGGG I’M SO IN LOVE WITH THIS!!!!

And this marks the end of our bookshopping adventure 😛

By the way, I love the bakery’s art beverage wall 😀

Have a great week everyone!

An Evil Nymph.