Borders, as some of you may know, is closing down. First the Borders UK, now Borders in the US. Here are some statistics, taken from this article: 40 Number of years Borders has been in existence. It was once the second largest bookstore chain in the country, behind Barnes & Noble. 1,329Number of stores Borders operated in 2005 405 Number of Borders stores still in operation 717 Number of Barnes & Noble stores still in operation 200 Number of Borders stores that were closed earlier this year, after the company filed for bankruptcy protection $1.28 billion Assets Borders listed in its bankruptcy petition $1.29 billion Liabilities Borders listed in its…

So 2 months ago I jokingly asked Pat via e-mail, “hey wanna go watch Arsenal B play Malaysia?” He replied “Sure!” and I was like, “er, okay…” So we went to the game yesterday, and I certainly had no regrets. We left Puchong at about 7pm and traffic was surprisingly smooth all the way except at the IOI Mall flyover. We parked right on the TPM flyover and walked a short distance to the stadium. Traffic control was very good, and the atmosphere at the stadium was carnival like with Ella’s “Standing In the Eyes of the World” blasting from the speakers. Security was okay, I got a light pat…

Was watching ‘Before Sunset’ the other day. If you’re trying to preserve your fading memories of one and only Paris vacation (like i’m trying to do), that would be the movie to watch. That is, if you don’t count National Lampoon’s European Vacation, which I ALSO watched (that’s how sad I’ve become). In the opening scene of that movie, Ethan Hawke is giving a press conference in Shakespeare and Company, that iconic English bookstore in Paris (which, sadly, I did not have a chance to visit). But even so, that bookstore captured the essence of what an old bookstore should look like – big, dark and musty, teak shelves, old…

Yes, I onced owned a kapcai when i was in university. What’s a kapcai? Its one of the millions and millions of small motorcycles usually between 70cc to 110cc. Its called ‘kapcai‘ as one of the first to be introduced in Malaya back in the 50’s was a 50cc bike was the Honda Cub, hence the name stuck until today, even though 50 & 60cc bikes have long been phased out. These days kapcais come with electronic starters and hand-clutches, and sometimes they go up to 120cc, but back then they simple 2-stroke machines with a kick starter. The legendary Honda Cub. Looks nothing like a bear cub. That’s a…

I blogged once before about how Wisma Atria has been a pale shadow of it former glory, now the news is that its gonna be torn down and redeveloped into a office block. I think its a good thing, the shops in there aren’t doing much business these day, being the epitome of a neighbourhood mall unable to cope with the big newer malls down the road. So i dropped by today to visit Big Book Shop (not the kind of bookstore I’d go in any other day), for their Clearance Sale, on until end of the week. Not a bad haul, this is what i got for RM50 in…

Reading James’ blog post reminded me of the old View-Master. Remember that piece of magic toy from our childhood? For the uninitiated, it’s small red plastic toy much like a binoculars. It usually came with 2 or 3 reels that you slot in at the top. If you look through it at a light source, you will see a 3-d image – usually scenes from a cartoon or movie. Its a little like those magic eye puzzles, except you don’t need to strain your eyes to see it, and it comes in full glorious colour! If you slide the lever down, the pic changes and you see another stereoscopic picture!…

While most people are abuzz with this weekend’s wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton, its interesting to note that the last great royal wedding, between Prince Charles and Lady (later Princess) Diana took place 30 years ago. Sure, everyone knows Lady Diana, that tortured soul who died young, forever remembered for the sensational new coverage while she lived. But i had the opportunity to remember watching the wedding on live TV as a small kid. I was barely into primary school, when one fine Saturday my parents turned on our old ITT wooden box television to watch it. I hardly knew what was going on, but quickly caught on…

So my wife completed her first official run yesterday, the Energizer Night Run 2011 at the Sepang Formula 1 Circuit. Since running isn’t really my thing, I went as cameraman (and driver). First off, a few of my friends were running in different races, but due to logistics we went separately and we didn’t get to meet up with most of them due to the sheer number people there – 10,000 participants, plus thousands of spectators and crew members. This was my first experience going to the SIC, but first impressions were pretty poor. There was a HUGE traffic jam getting into the parking area, all caused by only 1…

Usually, people have in their minds that Making / Renewing passport = Long wait / a lot of hassle. But i got to hand it to our immigration department, things have changed a lot since i had to wait a whole day when i frist made my restricted passport as a kid (not to mention must go back a few days later and wait to pick it up again). If you’re in the PJ area, try the new immigration office in Plaza Glomac (recently moved from Subang Airport). If you don’t know where Plaza Glomac is, its the same road as Sterling PJ condo, or you can turn off the…

To Bumbu Bali, that is… not the actual island. 🙂 It’s a restaurant in Bandar Puteri Puchong, they’ve a few more branches around called Ole Ole Bali. We usually never go out for dinner on a weeknight, but since I just got some (really) good news from my company (for once!), we had to go out and celebrate. We’ve been here twice before, but the last time was more than 2 years ago. I’ve got to say, the food has improved vastly since then. When we came, place was nearly full, even on a Tuesday evening. So we had to sit upstairs. I was also impressed with their service. This…