Well, I, or rather, we, finally did it! Our very first BBW Book sale visit at the Mines International Exhibition Convention Centre (aka MIECC)!
I wanted to go ever since I have heard of it more than a decade ago but, it was always the case of having to go there alone in the end. And so, given the choice of a book sale and the warm inviting lure of the Forums, you guessed the path I had taken.
We dreaded going there since it was a weekend and this means a lot of people and no place to park. To play it safe, we chose a Sunday evening in the hopes that there would be less people. Boy, looking at the long line of traffic queuing up, I was already not very enthusiastic about the whole thing.
Then... after paying for the ticket, and despite the Basement parking being full, we found out that there were some good parking spots! After having cleared the main hurdle, we continued with our plan, which is to have Dinner before going in...
Here is their Webpage for the full info:
http://bigbadwolfbooks.com/2014/kl/
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| At the Mines Food Court for a fast dinner since most of the fast food joints are quite packed. Surprisingly, this RM4.80 Ice Kacang Special was quite nice but the girls did not go for it despite the big strawberry ice-cream. |
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| They loved their bento sets so much, Kristine kept stealing Kaelynn's food |
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| I regretted getting this Curry Mee and should have chosen the Assam Laksa. There were a lot of cockles which I don't eat but overall, the curry was not to my taste. |
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| Here we go! And know this, the BBW is a 24-hour event and its from 5th to 16th December. |
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| Yeah, still not used to selfies. In the background, there are a lot of people! |
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| After that selfie, I was faced with a table-full of modeling magazines! |
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| When I turned around, it was the Graphic Novels! Whoa! |
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| Some Graphic Novel titles I did not know existed |
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| Iron Man stuff... yeah, money is the problem. |
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| Underneath the escalator, was an empty space which a lot of people took the opportunity to reflect and think what other books they need. There are so many books, the longer you stay in there, the more you really want to buy! However, I have yet to see any LEGO related books and a decent Star Wars or Star Trek technical/cutaways. |
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| OK, this young chap was checking everyone's bags when they want to go up. I think the books have to be bought for or they cannot be brought up. I wonder what was so special. So, I left my Wolverine graphic Novel 'hidden' on the table (upper) and went up the escalator... |
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| Immediately on the left, was a carnival of sorts with a lot of targeting games, which I think was for book-worms to relieve their stress of not getting the books they wanted. |
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And on the right... what the...
It like a street lined with food! Had we known that there was stuff to eat we would not have bothered to enter the Food Court. |
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| The prices are quite reasonable too, methinks. Not like the 'proper' Cafeteria which would charge more. I was tempted to get this 'sotong' or squid but knowing I would be stopped at the escalator since oily fingers are a no no. |
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| There were stall such as KFC, A&W plus other fast food joints but nope, no MacDonalds. |
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| Kaelynn loves sushi but with such small stalls, you would wonder how they were prepared. Still I am sure there was a Sushi King at Mines and they could have been brought over. |
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| Sexy bikes on sale |
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BBW T-Shirt
Since I am not a hard-core fan yet, this is a luxury. |
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| If they have a reclining version, I am sold! |
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| The Mother of all Books for Star Wars fans |
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| Once you get used to it, you just need to look at the 'Category' signs placed on each table to look for the books you're interested in. And so, try as I might, there was no 'LEGO', 'Star Wars' or even 'Star Trek' tables. I had to search almost everywhere since there were some friends asking for me to help them look for specific titles since they could not come. |
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| When I first came in, I was bewildered with everyone carrying carton boxes and trolly-ed bags. And after having gone through BBW, I now know why. These seasoned peeps knows that walking around with heavy books are no fun and not only that, open boxes, if left unattended, will have missing books which will take you a long time to hunt for another copy if you're unlucky. That happened to me when I came down the escalator only to find my Wolverine missing and in the carton box of a 10-year old girl.... :O |
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| There were lots and lots of books, which the staff periodically refreshed on the tables. |
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| Yep, this is where all the empty boxes end up and of your empty one is not with you even for 10 seconds, it can end up here pretty fast. |
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| Convenience for customers where you can store your loot at the racks (so that you can go get more) |
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| Finally, around 11-ish, I found the rest of the family and yeah, this is out haul. Wife showed me the titles Kristine picked and they're the types I would go for. (Those Why and Literal jokes) |
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| Overall, the staff helping out were actually students on holiday. Here, this very tall girl helped us with out books and checked out at the counter. |
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No receipt, no go.
A lot of people had to show their proof of purchase, plus open up their bags/plastic bags for them to be checked. Kristine and I had to wait for Mommy with the receipt since she had to go back in to the Hong Leong booth for the free bag and to get my Dad. With the Hong Leong card, you get not only 5% discount but a free bag over RM150 in a recepit (IN A SINGLE DAY PURCHASE). Since our was more than RM300.00 we could not get the second bag. |
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| All Mine! Thanks to Mr. Visa |
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| The girls were very excited to start reading their treasures but I had to make sure they took their bath and brushed their teeth first. Kaelynn really loved to read. |
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| Kristine on the other hand, decided to customise her Diary and Notebooks first. |
And so, there you have it, the BBW2014.
And I hope to finish all the books I have gotten before the next BBW, which is in 2015.
