The Amateur Writer

Scribes: A Magical Shop

Yang Safia On Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Ever since I first saw it on a rainy day; on my first day in Dunedin I knew it was love. It was really love at first sight for me. Scribes looked so magical back then...even now to be honest. If you're a book lover and ever find yourself in Dunedin, Scribes is a must stop. I love the smell of books, especially old books and as most of my friends complained, Scribes reeks of it. There's always a tingly feeling I get every time I find myself in Scribes. The possibility of finding a rare book or even a first edition of a particular work is very...exciting.

Over the years that I've been here, I've developed a close relationship with Scribes. This is where I buy my school books and find materials for my research papers.

From here on there will be a lot of pictures. I tried my best to capture the magic in Scribes. I kept telling the shopkeepers and my friends of how it reminded me of Ollivander's shop. It is simply magical. :D

First thing you will see the second you enter Scribes. Some people can get overwhelmed with the amount of books but I.JUST.GET.EXCITED!

Michael, one of Scribe's shopkeepers. I've developed quite an interesting friendship with him. He tells me stories about the shop and its customers. He knows all the books I have aka my small library in my room and gives me the best deals on books. He also has turned me into quite a book collector!! Try to drop by when he's around. He'll help you through and through.

A rare look of what goes on behind the shop. This is where they keep all the rare books that are just waiting to hit the front shelves.

Scribes's owner, Richard has a very interesting philosophy regarding his shop. How he manages Scribes shows pure commitment and love for books. I'm not going to tell you what his philosophy is...that's for you to find out if you ever come to visit Scribes. My only clue is that I can bet you that NO ONE in Malaysia will have this philosophy.

Missed a day of classes because of flu.:(

Special vlog post in the next post! Stay Tuned!

Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights

Yang Safia On Sunday, March 4, 2012

I can't wait to finish Wuthering Heights so that I could watch this movie. It looks so beautiful. It gives a different feeling from what I've been reading so far. And I'm interested in seeing how Arnold interprets the book.

For Nostalgia Purposes

Yang Safia On Saturday, March 3, 2012

OMSA does this annual event where they welcome new and returning Malaysian students for the new school year. For the past two years, I have worked with OMSA for this event and finally, for my final year I get to be the one who enjoys the party. Also I was busy snapping away because I already feel nostalgic. Alia said I was being over dramatic because we just started but I told her, "Wait till your final year and you will know how it feels!" After all, OMSA has been such a big part of my life in Dunedin.

Kamil, 2012's OMSA president giving his welcoming speech

Alia took over my job as Director of Malam Malaysia! This is her promoting the event and telling people about the audition details. It was so funny seeing her nervous before the speech. Very unlike Alia!

After the party ended, I stuck around to mingle with the committee members. Then I hung out with Alia and her BODs of Malam Malaysia at the Music Room.

Mark and Bell discussing music arrangements

Zaini, a good friend and returning choreographer, freestyling Zapin.

This week was awesome because not only I enjoyed my classes, I found some awesome books to add to my literature collection! I'm imagining this small library in my room back in Malaysia so that I could truly live the English professor life! Mood berangan ON!

After failing to find this book in Malaysia, I am super excited to finally get my hands on this book! Arghhh!! I can't wait to read it!! So excited!

One of the best reasons to live in Dunedin is their supply of super rare books. I found this leather bound Oxford edition of Tennyson's poems. This book is probably over 100 years old. It is sooo beautiful! I'm studying Tennyson for my Victorian Literature class and to be able to use this book is...exciting! It's so beautiful and full of history that I decided to take artsy pictures of it!

I cleaned my room and rearrange my books. The numbers keep on growing per semester and some books are hard to part with. I managed to sell most of the books from last semester because I hate the books. That includes most of my American Contemporary Literature books (I'm sorry, not a fan of this genre) and Joyce's Ulysses.