This was the first Monday I spent alone in a while. Usually I spent at least a portion of it with my Dad, but today I had it in my mind to go shopping, and I certainly couldn't go with my Dad to do that. Still, for some reason, the idea of going alone and making decisions about what to do made me feel anxious - and I hadn't the foggiest idea why.
My first stop was Namnam, where I finally tried their Pho. I had previously tried the Banh Mi from there when I went with Ianthe to attend the Esperenza Spalding concert, and thought it was a poor cousin to it's London-based counterparts. The Pho there was tasty, and the spring rolls were great too. I was happy at having chosen to eat there, plus their set lunch menu prices were quite reasonable.
After that I ended up going in and out of stories looking at superficial things. Then I headed to Kinokuniya to get some books. I bought 4 books in total, 2 of them graphic novels. One of the graphic novels was written by a Singaporean, called The Girl Under The Bed. The other was Yoshihiro Tatsumi's Abandon the Old in Tokyo. I had previously read The Midnight Fisherman and thought it was great (Joaquin has it now), so I decided to try another one of his books. Books wise, I bought Michael Frayn's Skies and Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being.
Paying for the books at the cashier's in the Fiction section, I chanced upon a most surprising poster. It listed the Booker Prize Shortlist nominees for this year, but under Tan Twan Eng's book was a little stuck on sign that said 'Winner'. I was distressed at this for two reasons. One is that I couldn't believe I had missed such literary news, and the other than was I wasn't quite a fan of his. But then again I wasn't quite a fan of anyone else on the list (Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil which I read about a week ago, I didn't quite enjoy), so I'm not sure why I cared.
Ruminating on the poster later on, in Toast Box, I decided to stop my marking and google the 2013 Booker Prize Winner. Predictably (to you other book lovers out there), the Booker Prize for this year had not been released. It was far too early. I started to get rather annoyed. Then, I did something I never did before: I called the Kinokuniya hotline and complained. My heart thudded in my chest as I went on a short inane rant about how they should not have misrepresented Tan Twan Eng's book. I think I even said Tash Aw a few times instead by accident. I became That Weirdo Who Obsesses About Inconsequential Things. After the call, I felt strangely exhilarated. Then I went back to marking and wondering how I could ever drill proper grammar into my students' heads.
My first stop was Namnam, where I finally tried their Pho. I had previously tried the Banh Mi from there when I went with Ianthe to attend the Esperenza Spalding concert, and thought it was a poor cousin to it's London-based counterparts. The Pho there was tasty, and the spring rolls were great too. I was happy at having chosen to eat there, plus their set lunch menu prices were quite reasonable.
After that I ended up going in and out of stories looking at superficial things. Then I headed to Kinokuniya to get some books. I bought 4 books in total, 2 of them graphic novels. One of the graphic novels was written by a Singaporean, called The Girl Under The Bed. The other was Yoshihiro Tatsumi's Abandon the Old in Tokyo. I had previously read The Midnight Fisherman and thought it was great (Joaquin has it now), so I decided to try another one of his books. Books wise, I bought Michael Frayn's Skies and Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being.
Paying for the books at the cashier's in the Fiction section, I chanced upon a most surprising poster. It listed the Booker Prize Shortlist nominees for this year, but under Tan Twan Eng's book was a little stuck on sign that said 'Winner'. I was distressed at this for two reasons. One is that I couldn't believe I had missed such literary news, and the other than was I wasn't quite a fan of his. But then again I wasn't quite a fan of anyone else on the list (Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil which I read about a week ago, I didn't quite enjoy), so I'm not sure why I cared.
Ruminating on the poster later on, in Toast Box, I decided to stop my marking and google the 2013 Booker Prize Winner. Predictably (to you other book lovers out there), the Booker Prize for this year had not been released. It was far too early. I started to get rather annoyed. Then, I did something I never did before: I called the Kinokuniya hotline and complained. My heart thudded in my chest as I went on a short inane rant about how they should not have misrepresented Tan Twan Eng's book. I think I even said Tash Aw a few times instead by accident. I became That Weirdo Who Obsesses About Inconsequential Things. After the call, I felt strangely exhilarated. Then I went back to marking and wondering how I could ever drill proper grammar into my students' heads.
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