Booksale in SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City, Philppines

I love buying dog books. Every time I come across a Booksale shop, I would go in, check out the dog book section (if ever there was one) and find something to add in my collection. A month ago, I was able to visit SM Mall of Asia's Booksale.

Inside Booksale located in SM MOA at Pasay City, Manila Philippines

One thing's for sure, the Mall of Asia Booksale has one of the largest selection of manga books for sale. I am still scouring the city for the rest of my personal collection.

SM Mall of Asia's Booksale is a little overwhelming in size... compared to most of its branches that is.

Once, I was able to buy a Boxer for Dummies book for 5 php. ^___________^ 

Read More

Book Latte: Books and Coffee in a Cozy Little Nook

It had been months since I've first eyed this tiny nook in the corner of Robinsons Mall, Iloilo. It's not located inside the mall but rather outside where the bustling streets of the city are apparent. It's the type of shop people will barely notice.

Finally, I was able to find some time to visit Book Latte. It's a coffee shop with shelf after shelf of books- the ones avid readers love to talk about it book clubs. It was pretty obvious that this shop was created purposely out of love rather than profit.

Today's Special is conveniently situated on top of our comfy chairs. Their contact number and location is also written in the blackboard. Oh, did I forget to mention the UNLIMITED COFFEE at 65?

After scorching ourselves in the sun's blazing rays, it was refreshing to come into the air-conditioned establishment. The counter is up front which makes ordering a whole lot easier.

Kindly bear with my photos. They are the best I can come up with using the Samsung Galaxy Y.

I asked for their best-seller frappe. The person in front of the counter recommended Caramel Macchiato.

Served in a tall glass, Book Latte's Caramel Macchiato looked visually enticing. As for the price, I would've preferred it a tad cheaper than 95 php. Taste-wise, I have no concerns there. It was pretty good.

In case you decide to become a member of Book Latte, you'll be entitled to a 10% discount on their coffee and beverages.

Their annual membership rates are as follows:

STUDENTS: P180 / year

NON-STUDENTS: P220 / year

For their menu, we sampled their Hungarian Sausage with Hash Brown and Eggs Breakfast at 148 php.

Hungarian Sausage with Hash Brown and Eggs for breakfast, anyone?

So this wraps up my Book Latte experience. On a positive side, I've seen some Christopher Pike books that I haven't read yet which would probably be a good reason for me to visit them again. Their selection of books aren't as wide as a library but it could definitely be considered a nice hang out place in the city. 

For more information about Book Latte, kindly click this photo. They are open from Monday to Saturday at 9 am to 8 pm. You may contact Book Latte at 333-25-74.

As of now, I still do not find the need to be a member. However, I do think this shop is special as it is a first in Iloilo and should be visited by people who love books and coffee.

Please bear with these photos. I do not have a scanner at the moment and this was the best my camera could do.

Read More

The Hunting Must Stop: Manga Books

A week ago we were at SM Marikina to hunt for a book my sister was dying to buy. Unfortunately to her dismay, it was out of stock. She was looking for Thirst 2 by Christopher Pike. It had gone "out-of-stock" during this time. We've actually read these books in the past (when they were still individually binded and not compiled 3 at a time), but it felt somewhat better to own one.

While I and my nieces were browsing through the 50% off priced books. We came to stumble upon tons of manga at 39.50 php only. I skimmed through them for good titles and was able to decide on purchasing Tokyopop: Confidential Confessions 4. I'm glad I did, it had good content in it. It's a series of stories about the some situations teenagers nowadays get into such as bullying, sexual compensation and even homosexual relationships (It was rated OT short for Older Teen due to its mature content.).

Due to my "life-changing" UBER wonderful experience in reading that manga, I couldn't resist finding the other volumes of the series. I searched through 3 more National Bookstores to find that particular manga but couldn't find any. During which, I found other great titles that I started to grab and pay for in the counter.

The fevered search did not stop here. Two days later, I once again went to search for more manga in other branches- bought one here, bought three there. It didn't matter that my feet were killing me or that there were instances that it got really cold due the air conditioning- not to mention the heavy pouring rain. I just had to get all the good ones (Didn't matter if it were only one volume per title).

Yesterday, I went to two more malls with three National Bookstores in them. I couldn't resist fishing out my wallet upon finding more manga titles which I had not found in the other 7 branches I went to. It felt like finding diamonds in a gold mine.

Doing the National Bookstore pseudo manga hoard wasn't enough for me to be contented. I had to buy one of the expensive ones in Book Sale to get the third volume of Dream Saga. It was four times more expensive than the regular 50% off ones I get from National Bookstore. But hey, at least I got what I wanted.

By the end of the day, I was limping due to the long walks from mall to mall. To top it off, there was this commotion in SM North Edsa that made it very crowded. Before we were able to reach the MRT, my boyfriend and I decided to do a detour at the taxi bay. For those who aren't aware of it yet, some taxis already have the pretty meter which gives out receipts.

Moral of this article: None. I guess I just wanted to remember the feeling when I used to go book hunting alone for 4 to 5 hours every weekend.

Read More