the mines | I am Danny Foo

Compared to the Big Bad Wolf Sale last year, I would have to say this year was an improvement. One of the better parts is that we didn’t have to drive all the way to somewhere out there on yonder. Thank you event organizer!

Although I couldn’t believe it, there were actually crazy persons who went to the Big Bad Wolf sale in the wee hours of the morning after 2am. 0.0 And I think one of them was my friend. Just because she said she had a hard time sleeping?! Wha?!!!! *facepalm*

We weren’t as crazy, being a Sunday and all. So we just decided to go to the Big Bad Wolf sale this year at 8am. Not that crazy, right? 😛

big bad wolf sale crowd — Pictures taken near 11-ish

Now, if you’re planning to head to the Big Bad Wolf sale, here’s my strategy of browsing. Obviously, it would only work if you’re looking at the similar genre I was browsing – business.

What I did was circle each table of books in the business section from a right to left position. Once you’re done with 1 row (because you’ll notice the next table not having business topic books), you move to the next lower table. Here’s a quick illustration of what I mean.

big bad wolf sale walking line — Once you’ve circled a table, move on to the next table and circle again

Of course, the biggest challenge of browsing only 1 section is that you’ve to be not distracted by the unrelated books on the other table, attractive lady at another table or detour from your path because there’s an OCBC credit card agent eyeing you.

Once I was done with the business section, though not taking back some books I thought I’d get, I thought to myself that I shouldn’t be just reading this genre and mix it up with novels. Problem is, I’ve not known what I like reading.

So I picked up some fiction novels, read from the beginning and flipped to a random page of the story to continue reading. I found myself falling in and out of a sleepy state. To me, this meant it wasn’t my cuppa tea. 😛

Then I paused and started thinking back about the last book I read completely – Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. What was it about the story which made me read it. My guess was that I preferred stories with a mystery to solve.

With that thought in mind, I happened to pick up a novel by Michael Connelly, flipped to the back and found that it’s a story of a detective. Started reading a few pages in, flipped to a random page in the middle, didn’t fall asleep.

Why the phreak did I buy so many Michael Connelly when I never knew what I liked reading other than business books? Well, it was only RM8 per novel, so it would’ve been a real waste to only get so few. If I found myself finishing 1 book, then it’s a bonus since I’ve got enough to keep me reading. LOL!

Besides, I only bought the titles which weren’t too old because I noticed that some were republished. So I got the ones between 1998-2002 about there.

And by the way, if you’re planning on going, make sure to bring either a luggage trolley or borrow your Mum’s market trolley (after washing it). This makes it much easier carrying your selection around than a box. Or, alternatively, use a large sling canvas bag. I saw someone using the blue IKEA bag, that works.

If there was 1 improvement I’d like to see next year; designated area for patrons to filter out their selection. This way, all books discarded before purchase are in 1 central area than having them left on tables or in boxes on the floor, disrupting others from walking.

The last time the Da Vinci machines exhibition was in town was around 2 years back, said the counter person at the Mines International Exhibition & Convention Centre. It was previously hosted in the national science centre located in Bukit Kiara. Me and Ariel were thinking of going but our funds were overly tight at the time.

So we made it a point this time to pay it a visit. In addition, it was kind of our pre-Valentines date since the actual day falls on a weekday. 😛

Now, photography and video recording was apparently not allowed in the exhibit. Though I witnessed some other lady happily recording the whole place with her iPad2 as we exited the exhibition. Thus, as a disclaimer, let me say that my photos here are primarily to help promote the exhibition and isn’t used for personal gain.

da vinci exhibition — About the Da Vinci Machines exhibit

Although the exhibit space wasn’t huge, there were quite a number of machines, some paintings and even manuscripts to read. Note though Leonardo Da Vinci wrote backwards.

The Da Vinci machines were downsized replicas of what the man envisioned in his drawings. Some replicas were so cool that it allowed you to interact with the machines itself. Look out for the ones which says, please handle with care.

The coolest machine me and Ariel liked was the Archimedes machine. It was a machine which drew water using a pipe wrapped around a cylindrical object. By turning in accordance of the pipe, it pushed water from a lower portion to the container above. Cool!

In the TV series Doing Da Vinci which was on Discovery channel, they recreated a life-size replica of what was known as the armored tank.

The exhibit had a few sections starting from war machines to flying machines and other machines used by Da Vinci to create new inventions by experimentation.

Unlike a changing room, explanation written for this exhibit was to observe the person in it – beats me, what what Da Vinci was observing. 😛

Some of the famous paintings you’ll see at the exhibit are the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. But they’re more like printouts than fake paintings. Nonetheless, I now know few other paintings which he did and what’s the story behind them.

Overall, it was an alright exhibition. Inspiring to see how one man, inventor and artist, actually visualized machines and ideas which gave birth to some of the things we use today.

The exhibition is on the Ground floor at the Mines International Exhibition and Convention Centre (MIECC). The entrance fee is RM28 for adults and RM18 for students. I personally recommend arts people, engineering backgrounds or people who appreciate Da Vinci to pay the exhibit a visit.

It just might be the spark you need to solve a problem. 🙂

Tag: the mines

Taming the Big Bad Wolf Sale

Da Vinci Machines