So what?

(This is just some crap. You probably don't want to read it. Skip it alive while you can)

"Huh?!!" Gasping, my jaw dropping, eyes bulging wide with excitement. The things I just saw tempting me towards them even more closely. Books on the shelf. Here? In this small town? English? Something that's legible to me. That's rare. And there's just soooo much of them like I've never seen here before in Ukraine, let alone in Simferopol (well, if you count two full racks, three lines of books each and situated at only one corner of the big room,  that's already more than enough in the country where I study). Too bad my birthday had passed. I'd forced my friends to buy all these for me. Each and everyone of them. Nevermind, there's still next year. Last next year. Ha ha.

While helping myself browsing through each, I can't help but thinking,

So what, if we don't have Borders or MPH or Kinokuniya or W.H. Smith here?

Or maybe Minerva, Pustaka Salam or Pustaka so on?

So what?

So, they don't have a lot of international bestsellers though. Yeah, Jodi Picoult's are there. Old stuffs. Some kid's books and teenager's. Hurm, so I bought this two (which cost me only UAH 13):

1. Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini (the author of The Kite Runner)

There are fictions and non-fictions. But then, the non-fictions aren't practical for me. Hah! Since when I've ever been a practical person, huh?

Oh yeah, they're second-hands (I guess, some Londoners or Americans dumped/donated them. Not that I have any problem with that. Thanks anyway). Who cares? As long as they're in good condition and readable to me, I'm on it.

I'll start with the blue one during my free time (as if I have enough). But since I've finished the Twilight Saga, this will do for the time being (I mean, I just can't help it you know). The yellow one? That's special. Some inspiration I need. Setting in Kabul, Afghanistan. With Taliban and stuff. Oh, yeah. That's something.

Don't blame me. A month and a half without internet had turned me into that-girl-with-books again. Sorry to say, but I just can't stop once I've started. They're just like, my personal brand of heroine, you know. Books.

Can't wait for 'Nama Beta Sultan Alauddin' by FT's. Ordered a week ago. I'll tell you what. Not worth it buying online when you're living in Simferopol. Tax charge, shipping charge. Doubled the price of the book itself. Guess, I'll just wait till I'm back in Malaysia. I wished they have FT's here (well, that's like wishing they start selling garcinia mangostana or carica papaya in the market here). Sigh.

Outside the story: It seems like Simferopol has turned into some place you-can-eat-anywhere-you-please with branches of Halal food restaurants blooming up everywhere. Turkish, Tartarian and of course Arabic cuisines just around the corner I'd never encountered before during my fresh year. If to say it out loud - it's because we're here that they open the restaurants. The Muslims. The prices are reasonable enough but still a bit overbudget to put it between my pocket money. Still, as much as I can say - Malaysian foods won't survive here. Sigh again.

Foot notes:

Garcinia mangostana = Manggislah. Gotcha!
Carica papaya = Go back to kindergarden if you don't know this!

So what, right?