Sunday, December 16, 2012

new zealand in 7 days


my friend B8's wife, E, is all fired up to vacation in new zealand after the other wives came back with stories of the paradise on earth.

since we've not been to the south island, she asked us if we'd like to go with them next year. i thought it was a good idea, considering that taking turns to drive is probably the way to go if one plans to traverse the wide expanse of land & mountains.

but B8 wants to take only 7 days off, E confessed. you see, B8 is a busy physician in  private practice plus he's also a workaholic. so, i told her if we spend 2 days for the return flight & another to recover from the jet-lag, we'd only have 4 full days for the vacation.

it was a laughable plan, i thought. i told her, as a matter-of-factly, that it's really no point going for less than 12 days.

well, what goes around, comes around & i had my comeuppance yesterday - i did my own NZ in 7 days.

that's the same as spending ONLY 45 mins at the Big Bad Wolf sale. maybe worse.

but let me defend myself. between shuttling between PJ, Puchong & Damansara to run errands, & i'm not exactly familiar with klang valley, i only had about an hour & a half for the book sale. after looking for a parking space (saturday afternoon, mind you!!) & looking for the place (the big banner at Mines 2 was most deceiving!!), that's all the time i had before the next errand.

and again, in my defence, i only targetted the books i had in mind. they didn't have jeffrey archer's 11th commandment & michael g gill's starbucks saved my life, so my only haul was this....

can you believe me? the biggest book sale is in town & i only want 3 books!!!

12 comments:

stay-at-home mum said...

Lol!! better than getting no book at all. And that book is a good read. Too bad I had to pay full price for it sometime back.

wenn said...

unfortunately I didn't hv the time to be at the sale!

Yan said...

Honestly, if I have no book in mind to buy, I may not even buy one book. After all, I have any ebooks on my ipad in queue shouting to me "read me".

But it's quite a thrill to read "myself" in a book called Journalism my way authored by my consultant, friend and trainer.

And it's also equally thrilled to read a book with a promise to do a review to be published, and in there, in a little corner, it runs a small article of mine.

I am vain, my middle name is "vain".

doc said...

SAHM,

sometimes they have very good offers at popular as well. that's why i'm prepared to wait for the discounted price, eg. i bought the hard-cover copy of Life of Pi (with illustrations) at only RM12.95 abt a year ago.

doc said...

Wenn,

the sale is until 23rd Dec, so still have a whole week left.

doc said...

Yan,

well said.

i observed people lugging their trolley bags, like going on vacation, loaded full with books. i was thinking, surely they can't all be avid readers. maybe they over-bought because of the discounts, or maybe they're meant for christmas presents.

congrats on being "published." we are ALL vain in our own ways.

The thumb in every pie said...

So it was you who was zooming around the Klang Valley in the landspeeder over the weekend, eh? I thought I felt a disturbance in The Force. LOL

Have not been to this year's BBWS. Too many things begging for my attention at this time of the year
:)

doc said...

Andrea,

i wished!!

disturbance in the Force? have i gone over to the Dark Side!!

Anonymous said...

Sir,

I'm your one of your silent readers. I came to know about you are still on 'good bargain hunting' for the 2 books.

I'm uncertain if you already gotten any of them but I learnt that Mr. Gill's book is now available at Bookxcess bookstore which situated at Amcorp Mall, PJ. It comes with the price tag of RM14.90.

Just thought of letting you know. If you are interested you may place your reservation (and check for availability at the same time) via their Facebook or via email - sales@bookxcess before you swing by.

Lastly, thank you for keeping a lively, educational yet humour filled blog. I appreciate your effort. :-)

Warm regards,
Maggie

doc said...

dear Maggie,

thanks for your comment.

in fact, my friend told me check up bookaccess when i was in KL that weekend but the schedule was tight. i will certainly drop by soon.

no, i have not got the 2 books in question & i shall look out for it at your store.

thanks again.

Anonymous said...

Sir,

:-) Please excuse me if my previous comment sounded a wee bit of 'hard sell'. I am just an irregular customer of theirs who on and off will check on the new shipments of books via their update in facebook.

The books they sell are overprinted copies. Hence, if a particular book is being snapped up like hot cakes... then... got to wait for the next batch of overprinted copies... which is undated.

I took the liberty to send enquiry on the books & being informed that Mr. Gill's is currently in store (still available as of last saturday). If you are on a tight schedule... it would be good to check on the availability and have them to reserve a copy for you (up to 7 days) so that you don't wrestle through the mad traffic... jam pack carpark only to go home empty handed.

I come to knowing this inspiring book (still haven't collected it) cos of you and for that I sincerely thank you. :-)

Warm regards,
Maggie

doc said...

dear Maggie,

no apologies needed.

i'm glad you took my cue to get the book. many years ago, my colleague told me to check out mitch albom's tuesdays with morrie, & for that i thanked him because i've enjoyed this & the subsequent books.

one more tip for you is randy pausch's last lecture. i posted it here:
http://doc1s1n.blogspot.com/2008/07/goodbye-professor.html

happy reading!!