I used to love Popular Bookstore as a kid. Back then, I would run into the shop, check out the awesome shelves of CDs which lined my path, go grab a read of a few picture books or read horrible science(I used to think it was hilarious then), and feed my heart with satisfaction by staring, touching and holding those toys in my hand.
But as I grew up, I started losing interest in such things. For one, I have progressed (well if you consider it progress...) from computer games to the internet, I got sick of reading the same "Did you knows" and "101 Amazing __fill_in_the_Blank_here". Horrible science transformed into science for the ignorant and Murderous math had underwent a personality change into Boring and tedious Math. And those toys...
Actually I still had quite some fun when Braintwist was on the shelves, especially when one irresponsible customer have opened it already and left it lying there, which thuswas technically not my fault that the packaging was ripped apart.
A glimpse of hope shone down when I started getting interested in Archie Comics, and thus I would go in and read the unwrapped issues, but that newfound hobby cost too much, because I would buy them every month. So not anymore. (Maybe I can sell them in future, what d'you think?)
Now, I usually only go to Popular Bookstore for three reasons.
1) Following my family - usually to spend the member's 20% off voucher
2) To get stationary, materials and equipment
3) To pass the time, when no other interesting things were in sight
Like this
Perhaps the only typical thing I found interesting there was the Guiness Book of Records. (Yea, I used the word typical, because every now and then someone will publish something great, and it would sell fast, so that wasn't really considered a 'typical thing'.)
Popular bookstore sells a variety of things, but if you are looking for specific categories of items, or looking for entertainment and interest, you would be better off hunting them in a more specialized store.
And there it was! An exhibit, from err...a leisure shop, I think, of stuffed rubber bread and fake swiss rolls. It belonged to Action City, not sure if many people have heard of it, but at least I walked past it several times, but never walk slowly enough to take real notice of it. On second thoughts, the name sounds so familiar, so it is probably quite well known. Once again, I have no idea.
It was a small shop. A small shop with the atmosphere of gifts and baby clothing. At one corner of the shop, it was all soft toys, soft toy key chains, and everything soft and plushie. As the shelves progressed to the cashier, things began to look more interesting. Bread seemed to be a popular theme there. Mainly Japanese products, there were bread with eyes tiny tissue box, Cup noodles wallet(I have to say that this is a real rip off; the interior felt like cardboard, only wrapped around with rubbery covering of instant noodles, selling for over 5 dollars, if I recall correctly).
This would be a good time to start posting photos, but I lost my phone with camera with uploading feature.
Then there were just fake pastries filling up one whole shelf. Bagels, wholemeal, long breads(I'm sure there's a name for that!) All kinds of inedible, expensive rubber pastries that cost 5 dollars per piece! I have to admit though that the models were kinda sleek and I was rather attracted to buy them at first. Maybe some other time, when I am unimaginably rich or something.
In the center there were exhibits, tables displaying electronic and mechanical stuff. The first thing I saw when I turned around was rubik's cube, 6 sided and 7 sided. I felt like I was watching a commercial. Hadn't I read somewhere that these were only available in Singapore via orders?
I considered two explanations. 1) My brain mixed up April first with May fourteenth. 2) The internet talks crap.
Anyway, I believed it was pretty expensive ($60), so I did not dare observe it for long, lest my clumsy hands decided that it was going to drop it, or the store owner starts getting suspicious, I doubt the latter would happen, but I like to leave a good impression on others (which unfortunately I usually don't)
There were several other toys, like a ball filled with pyramidal dice, which was supposed to be a rather uninteresting puzzle, but still, what amazed me the most was the rubik's cubes. I have taken apart a 3 by 3 by 3 cube countless times, and resorted to the truth that the mechanism was complex, yet elegant, and hand crafting the mechanism would take a lot of effort. I tried imagaining how even a 4 by 4 by 4 cube would work, being able to be rotated in 3 axes, but that cube of mine refused to come apart without getting broken. So I did not force it. A 7 by 7 by 7 would be lovely to hold though, it just feels good, even if I never figured out how to solve it.
On the next spot alarm clocks were on exhibit. A time bomb alarm clock, a rubik's cube alarm clock which I have only seen on the internet, a speedometer alarm clock, and a lot more varieties.
This post would be a lot more exciting if I had pictures...
It was a good shop, but you know what would be even more appealing to me?
A puzzle shop. Not jigsaws and all those picture matching stuff, I mean real puzzle toys. I remember visiting one at Simei MRT station a long time ago, but it had moved. Also, I would be glad if they had spacial puzzles for customers to try out, like the spherical version of the rubik's cube, megaminx, and of course, the 7 sided rubik's. 2D puzzles would be okay too, though not as interesting, like traffic jam, IQ concept (Hey but I have played with those before already!)
I once had a dream that I visited such a shop, and I was having so much fun just by looking at the products...If I am not wrong, however, that dream ended up rather badly when I burned 60 dollars on something...
Popular bookstore sells a variety of things, but if you are looking for specific categories of items, or looking for entertainment and interest, you would be better off hunting them in a more specialized store.
And there it was! An exhibit, from err...a leisure shop, I think, of stuffed rubber bread and fake swiss rolls. It belonged to Action City, not sure if many people have heard of it, but at least I walked past it several times, but never walk slowly enough to take real notice of it. On second thoughts, the name sounds so familiar, so it is probably quite well known. Once again, I have no idea.
It was a small shop. A small shop with the atmosphere of gifts and baby clothing. At one corner of the shop, it was all soft toys, soft toy key chains, and everything soft and plushie. As the shelves progressed to the cashier, things began to look more interesting. Bread seemed to be a popular theme there. Mainly Japanese products, there were bread with eyes tiny tissue box, Cup noodles wallet(I have to say that this is a real rip off; the interior felt like cardboard, only wrapped around with rubbery covering of instant noodles, selling for over 5 dollars, if I recall correctly).
This would be a good time to start posting photos, but I lost my phone with camera with uploading feature.
Then there were just fake pastries filling up one whole shelf. Bagels, wholemeal, long breads(I'm sure there's a name for that!) All kinds of inedible, expensive rubber pastries that cost 5 dollars per piece! I have to admit though that the models were kinda sleek and I was rather attracted to buy them at first. Maybe some other time, when I am unimaginably rich or something.
In the center there were exhibits, tables displaying electronic and mechanical stuff. The first thing I saw when I turned around was rubik's cube, 6 sided and 7 sided. I felt like I was watching a commercial. Hadn't I read somewhere that these were only available in Singapore via orders?
I considered two explanations. 1) My brain mixed up April first with May fourteenth. 2) The internet talks crap.
Anyway, I believed it was pretty expensive ($60), so I did not dare observe it for long, lest my clumsy hands decided that it was going to drop it, or the store owner starts getting suspicious, I doubt the latter would happen, but I like to leave a good impression on others (which unfortunately I usually don't)
There were several other toys, like a ball filled with pyramidal dice, which was supposed to be a rather uninteresting puzzle, but still, what amazed me the most was the rubik's cubes. I have taken apart a 3 by 3 by 3 cube countless times, and resorted to the truth that the mechanism was complex, yet elegant, and hand crafting the mechanism would take a lot of effort. I tried imagaining how even a 4 by 4 by 4 cube would work, being able to be rotated in 3 axes, but that cube of mine refused to come apart without getting broken. So I did not force it. A 7 by 7 by 7 would be lovely to hold though, it just feels good, even if I never figured out how to solve it.
On the next spot alarm clocks were on exhibit. A time bomb alarm clock, a rubik's cube alarm clock which I have only seen on the internet, a speedometer alarm clock, and a lot more varieties.
This post would be a lot more exciting if I had pictures...
It was a good shop, but you know what would be even more appealing to me?
A puzzle shop. Not jigsaws and all those picture matching stuff, I mean real puzzle toys. I remember visiting one at Simei MRT station a long time ago, but it had moved. Also, I would be glad if they had spacial puzzles for customers to try out, like the spherical version of the rubik's cube, megaminx, and of course, the 7 sided rubik's. 2D puzzles would be okay too, though not as interesting, like traffic jam, IQ concept (Hey but I have played with those before already!)
I once had a dream that I visited such a shop, and I was having so much fun just by looking at the products...If I am not wrong, however, that dream ended up rather badly when I burned 60 dollars on something...
No comments:
Post a Comment