Bookstores in Town: Singapore

Penguin Books sold in Books Actually

Book stores in Singapore have been declining in an appalling rate. So many major bookstores have closed down like Borders, Page One and Prologue (in Ion Orchard). And I think Prologue’s only branch left (Orchard Central) is also on the verge of closing soon too. Luckily, Kinokuniya, MPH and Popular are still around and surviving. As much as we would like to put the blame on the technological development that is “e-book”, there are still people who prefer going to an actual book store, browse through those timber-smelling pages and savor a story on either a hard or soft-covered books. Aside from those major bookstores, there are still those “specialty bookstores” and I found three of them in Tiong Bahru.

Books Actually

This book store is located in a shop house at Yong Siak Street. The store has a variety of Penguin published books, Singapore published and a small collection of vintage books. They also sell vintage gift items, stationery, postcards and other little stuff.  What I liked about this store is that they sell books that have rare copies. Books are priced almost at the same rate as major book stores in town although the stationery and other gift items are quite pricey but rare to find so it is still worth the price. And I love their caption, "Books Actually Love You".

Bilingual Comics: The Little Prince Feature

For book lovers and language lovers out there, you will be glad that Gramedia, Indonesia's largest publishing house, released a series of Bilingual Comics of our beloved childhood fairy tales and famous fictional characters. This set of series which currently has 10 different story books is published in English-Bahasa Indonesia Language. It also comes with a bonus CD for the audio version of the book

I consider this to be the best souvenir I can take with me from Jakarta. Who would not be in love with these books that will help Indonesian kids and language lovers understand the story of famed fictional characters in two languages, both in English and Bahasa Indonesia in one book.

There are total of 10 books published but it was quite difficult for me to find a whole set as it ran out of stock in most bookshops. Hopefully I can complete the whole set soon.

These are the books:

   

                           The Little Prince / Pangeran Kecil      Aladdin's Magic Lamp / Aladin dan Lampu Ajaib

Bookstores in Town: Mt. Cloud Bookshop

There is not a lot of great bookstores in the Philippines aside from the usual giant bookstores that we see in the malls. In Manila, it is quite hard to see a bookstore that once you enter, you will feel like being transformed into another place. When I visited Baguio, I made it a point to include a visit to Casa Vallejo where Mt Cloud Bookshop is located. And yes, this small, two level bookshop was indeed mesmerizing. Most of their collection are for children but they also other English and Tagalog Fiction and other books published by local press.

I just immediately loved the place upon seeing it. It was a different world when you enter. I love how they have a lot collection of Tagalog and Philippine-related story books. We have embraced the English language well that we have forgotten our own mother tongue. some people think its "baduy" to read books in Tagalog but what we are forgetting is that we were born with the Filipino tongue. For me it is not bad to learn to speak English or even other languages but do not forget to remember and love your own language.

Mt. Cloud Bookshop is a must visit for book lovers out there. And bring along your friends too and encourage them to read books in Tagalog and Philippine-themed books. I brought my friends there and they liked the place and love that they had such books that they never see in the usual bookstores in Manila.

Bookstores in Town: Jakarta and Vientiane

A book is every teachers' twin. We are all tasked to be handling books in the most time of the day and even when we reached home. But for me, I do not just dwell on text books and work books. I also read. Mostly fictional and literary books but I am so fond of books and reading of course. In my travels, I have always wandered into different book stores, whether its a major book store or just a small and privately owned shops.

Aksara is one of my favourite bookstores in Jakarta, Indonesia. I like it because they have a nice collection of books that are with different covers unlike in what you see in major book stores. Although they only carry a few collection, the way they have carefully laid down the books on tables and shelves are just terrific. They treated books as if it is a part of decoration of the store.

You can find Aksara at Level 5, Plaza Indonesia, Jalan MH Thamrin Kav, Jakarta Indonesia. You may click the link http://www.aksara.com/index.php to access their main website.

Bookstores in Town: George Town, Penang

Shu Children Bookstore

Penang, as most people who knows this place, would always be regarded as a food haven. The place is famous for its local food such as Char Kway Teow and Laksa. I enjoyed their Char Kway Teow. It’s not too oily but still very tasty. Aside from its very famous food, Penang is also known for its capital, Georgetown, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town itself is filled with shop houses dating back to early 1900s. I love old towns and Georgetown is indeed mesmerizing and filled with an old feeling that you can hardly see now. Georgetown is also famous for its street art scattered all over the cemented and brick walls all around. As most travellers would go to Penang and see all these spots in and around Georgetown, I myself tried to search for more, some parts of the town that are sort of less travelled. When I visit a place, I try to find bookshops. It can be any bookshops like a big one or those small one that sells second hand books or just any ordinary books. Lucky for me, I found a children’s bookshop just along Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, Georgetown and the shop is called Shῡ. Shῡ is a Chinese word for Book. The shop is located in one of the traditional shop houses in Georgetown. The owner, Mr. Teo (if I heard and spelled it right), is a local and a retiree and converted this shop house into a small bookstore.