My boyfriend and I along with his mom went on this trip in June, and I wasn’t really sure I was going to join them until the last minute and I only thought about visiting bookstores when we were actually there. Thank heavens for the Internet!

After that realization, I kind of made a pact with myself that when we travel, I’ll make it a point to squeeze in at least one bookstore in our itinerary. In our trip, I was able to visit three bookstores; one in Singapore and two in Malaysia:

Books Kinokuniya
Ngee Ann Mall, Orchard Rd,
Singapore

A week before we leave for Singapore, I researched on bookstores near the places listed in our itinerary and saw Books Kinokuniya which was just inside one of the malls in Orchard Rd, so we decided to try to squeeze it in our itinerary (if time permits). I soon learned that there are other branches across Singapore and the one we went to was the largest in Southeast Asia! Wow. I think we spent an hour or so inside: taking photos, browsing through some of the books, etc. I ended up buying Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi. I’ve been looking for this book for quite some time and I was so sure that I was going to find it here because, well, according to my research, they have over 500,000 titles from Japanese books, Chinese books, fiction, etc.

Books Kinokuniya is a Japan-based bookstore with over 80 stores in Japan and overseas. I’m really hoping they branch out in the Philippines, too. For more information on Books Kinokuniya and its branches, visit https://www.kinokuniya.com/.

BookXcess
Fahrenheit88, Bukit Bintang,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Okay, so this bookstore is the parent of the Big Bad Wolf Sale (yes, I am screaming) and their books are just as cheap as the ones in BBW. Too bad I didn’t buy anything from this store because we were a bit of in a rush; I just HAD to visit and take photos with their really cool wall.

So, again, upon researching about this bookstore, here’s what they have to say on why their books are way cheaper than other bookstores:

Publishers sometimes overprint books and are unable to sell them all. We purchase those books at a discount and pass on the savings to you.

For more information on BookXcess, visit the following:
https://www.bookxcess.com/
https://www.bookxcessonline.com/

Books Kinokuniya
4/F Suria KLCC,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Now, this wasn’t really part of the plan but whilst roaming around Suria KLCC, we found out that there’s also a Books Kinokuniya branch there. And since we didn’t have anywhere to go until our flight back to Manila, we decided to visit it, too, because why not?

This bookstore is just as amazing as the branch we visited in Singapore, just a bit smaller but still. Here, I bought two books. Horror Stories by Tunku Halim and Vintage MINIS: Desire by Haruki Murakami. I was actually even contemplating if I should get Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan but I chose to buy Horror Stories instead because it’s a local book in Malaysia and I probably won’t find it easily anywhere back home.

Ahhh, I could get lost in bookstores for days and i wouldn’t even get bored.

Again, for more information on Books Kinokuniya and its branches, visit https://www.kinokuniya.com/.

Ending my post with a photo of my haul! ♡