Of Brunch and Books

The day dawned nice and with no rain in sight, yet. So we headed out to Old Bailey St for breakfast at The Flying Pan, which supposedly serves one of the best english/continental breakfast around in a cosy setting (also the scene for brunch on some lazy Sundays for my ex-pat friends here in HK, when they are actually in HK on a Sunday that is).

The breakfast was indeed excellent and my stomach was filled to the brim even when I'm barely past halfway through the plate. I particularly like the mushrooms (as always) and the scrambled eggs which were not watery as they turned out at some places but just nice and moist. The croissant was a little too un-fluffy but it still tastes good anyways because of the butter, ahhh, love butter!

While there I picked up The List (a free publication which claims to be The Magazine That Knows) and discovered a review of Specialty Book Shops which included Lok Man Rare Books, which incidentally is on Hollywood Rd, not too far from where we were so we decided to go take a look.

We found a cosy little place which is actually only a five minutes walk from the apartment (so I decided I should go back there and do a reading afternoon with a book in tow every time I'm back in HK - one can hardly expect to read books off the shelf like one does in Kinokuniya or MPH in this shop, the books are so pricey!) decorated with my favourite type of furniture - antique/old looking ones and my favourite type of books - hardcover. =)

Most of the books are just a bit too expensive for my tiny income right now but that said, I actually wouldn't mind paying that bit more if one day, I find something I really like. Lorence (the owner) was kind enough to let me sit and read and I managed to finish Charlotte's Web by E. B. White in a version that one would not be able to find in bookstores nowadays too! I had to be very careful and I think he didn't realise that I could actually finish the book in the short time that I was spending there... (The book has also been adapted into a movie recently.)

Lorence was also very kind to show us many first editions of books that now cost upwards of 10s of thousands of dollars which included many children's titles that Daphne Lee have mentioned before in her column published weekly in The Star and on her blog. She has mentioned Charlotte's Web in an article published sometime last year when she wrote about illustrators for children's titles and also when writing about some of her all time favourite children's titles.

Besides the book and reading of the book (which I did enjoy even though I felt the writer has a long winded way of writing as compared to my two favourite children's author Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl), I was entertained with stories of adventures in Malaysia's pothole filled roads back when PLUS was not in existence and given a few recommendations of books I should read.

Which reminds me, when can I schedule a stop at a bookstore... as I also thought I should look for some of the titles that I would like to read but was too expensive. I think might try Evelyn Waugh first, whom I have always thought is a lady, but turns out to be a man. Apparently, Evelyn is quite a common name for boys in England. =)

Note: Evelyn was also mentioned by Brigid Keenan in her book so I take this as a sign that I really should read some of his works soon. -13 June 08