Yay!! I am so proud of myself! We arrived at our destination without getting lost! Phew..
While waiting for our turn to pay at MIECC's parking booth, my boy spotted the sign and read out aloud, "Empty your car, drive the books home (Your passengers can walk) to which I replied,"How about that? NO WAY! was all he said. LOL....
As the preview day was on a weekday, we paid RM2 per entry for parking. I heard they charge RM3 per entry on weekends.
A big banner greeted us the moment we drove passed the parking booth. Wow! The only passenger and his driver in the car got even more excited. The long awaited world's biggest book sale has finally arrived! Wolfie, you better don't dissappoint the mommy and son team here.
As we arrived way ahead of time for the BBW book sale preview, arriving there at 11am, we walked across from MIECC car park where we parked our car to The Mines Shopping Mall for some shopping. You can also park your car at the shopping mall and the parking rates for the 1st 4 hours are RM1 and RM1 for every subsequent 2 hours during weekdays. On weekends and public holidays, the parking rates are at RM3 for 1st 4 hours and RM1 for every subsequent hour.
Hardly venture into this part of town if not for the BBW book sale so we took our time touring and snapping photos.
We spent our time in the shopping mall and had our lunch there before walking back to our car to unload our purchases. As we planned to go in half an hour after the opening time, it was a breeze and no scene of queuing at the entrance. I later read from BBW's FB page that the queue before and during the opening time at 12.30pm was a bit chaotic and unruly.
The highlights of the Sale Preview opening: The appearance of a Lamborghini and superheroes' parade. Photos taken from BBW's FB page. As we were half an hour late, we missed this one.
The place is vast, 3 million books!!
The entrance
The boy's stash
Mine
My sister's and her two boys'
The bad news is the selection of books this year paled compared to
previous years. On the other hand, it's good news that I didn't burn a big hole in my pocket. The total damage was RM250 for 30 books and 1 silicon bakeware for my sister. I spent the most time at the children section trying to stock up books for the boy's library but the selection for his age was somewhat limited. I had no plans to get any fiction novels this time as there were still many in boxes and in the shelves unread but still I ended up buying three copies.
Will I go again? Oh, yes for at least one more trip and not forgetting the aftermath sale that follows. I will be browsing the non-fiction and cookery sections this round as I didn't get to do it before my legs gave up carrying my body around on the sale preview day. :) I really hope they replenish their books everyday!
There is a Fragile section where all the pop-up books and CDs are just before you exit after paying at the Cashier counter. Thumbs up, Wolfie. Those pop-up books were an eyesore with torn edges, crumpled and missing pages and were particularly everywhere at the sales area during last year's aftermath sale.
We were done book hunting after 3-1/2 hours, not really done, just that our legs refused to move. Before stepping out from the door exit, we were asked by a minion if we wish to return to continue shopping and a stamp would be placed on our wrists for re-entry later. We had to reject his offer as our legs didn't allow us too. Ahahaha...
We took some photos before leaving.
A matt black Lamborghini bearing WOLF 1 plate number was on display in front of the entrance
The boy pampers himself with a cup of orange juice and boiled eggs courtesy of OCBC Bank after spending hours being my porter. ^.^ Thank you, son and you will be rewarded with more books!
Our car was parked at Level B1. There was no hassle dragging our book loot to the car. We took an elevator down to Level B1 and my little porter volunteered to push the trolley all the way to the car as it was parked quite a distance from the elevator. Well done, boy! I now announce you "My Best Shopping Partner Of The Year!" LOL!!!
Tips:
1. Bring your own trolley, luggage bags to lug your books.
2. Bring drinking water.
3. Have a filling meal before stepping into the sales area.
4. Wear something comfortable
5. Sort your books by price before proceeding to the cashier check-out. It minimizes chances of miscalculation and speeds up payment process.
6. Last but not least, don't forget to bring your credit card / lots of cash! :)
Read about Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2011 here:
Labels: Big Bad Wolf Sale, Books
