I had a wonderful surprise when I returned home from work on Wednesday and found a package waiting for me (my husband was the one who opened the mailbox). The back of the package shown that it was sent by Violet (of Violet Crush) and inside the package contains the following items:

~ A book titled Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan (Violet said this is a famous Indian Short Story collection, set in a town called Malgudi and it's all the more famous due to the TV series which was a huge hit in India.)
~ An antique-looking mirror
~ An anklet
~ A set of hairpins for my daughters (Isn't Violet sweet?)

She bought these items when she returned to her home in India some time ago and I am truly, truly touched by her gesture.

Thank you, Violet!

Sambal Delight Rice Set

Ocean Bliss Rice Set (the rice dish and soup are not shown in this picture)

Satay (with cucumbers, pineapples and chilli sauce)

When we were waiting for our meals to arrive, we chatted about books as well as sharing bits of our life.

I suggested this pose to show we are book nerds (to be frank, I'm just too shy to post my picture here! LOL.) I brought them some books (from my Read pile and/or TBR pile) and can you see I was reading Sarah Waters' Tipping the Velvet? (see my review)

After we had our scrumptious dinner, we explored Suntec City Mall and we were excited to meet some superheroes during a game activity. They kindly posed for us when we asked for some pictures. (Don't you think Superman's hairstyle is funny?! :-P)

We then proceed to The Food Republic, a foodcourt located on Level One. I am sure every booklovers will fall in love with the place because it sure looks like a library! I so love the concept! (For your info, those books are not real and is actually wallpaper.)

(Above Photo by Alice)

(Above Photo by Alice)

On the other side of the foodcourt shows the wallpaper with rows of assorted wines. Though I am not a wine drinker, I love the overall ambience because it looks so cosy. We also visited the Fountain of Wealth (it is stated as the World's Largest Fountain on the Guinness Book of Records since 1998) whereby Alice continued to take more pictures. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures thereafter since my camera died on me and I did not bring a spare battery with me. Nevertheless, that did not dampen my mood since the pleasure of meeting Alice and Violet was too great.

Thank you, Alice and Violet! I had a wonderful time with both of you. We definitely need to do this again next time! :-)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

© Melody's Reading Corner. All photos copyright.

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia from The Printed Page where readers are to share the books that came into their house last week.

Here's what I received last week:

1) Magnolia Wednesdays by Wendy Wax (review copy)

What books came into your house last week?

Do you know what is the best thing about the bookblogging community? Aside from reading all the wonderful great reviews and books recommendations from fellow bookbloggers, it is the opportunity to meet them in person! How exciting is that?!

I had the pleasure of meeting Alice and Violet last Friday evening, and I have to say I had a great time chit-chatting and getting to know more about them! Details of our meeting will be posted here in the next few days, so keep a look out for it. :-)

(There wouldn't be too many pictures as my camera died on me halfway during my photoshooting. I should have brought along a spare battery, oh well...)

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser for today:

He looked down at the ghost, and at the same time the dead man lifted his head and his eyes rolled open. But where his eyes belonged was only a black scribble.

(Pg 61, Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill)

Available or single? Married
Best Friend? Jennifer T.
Cake or Pie? Cake. I'm a cake lover!
Drink of choice? Water and green tea
Essential item for every day use? Cell phone
Favorite color? Blue
Google? Google all the time
Hometown? Singapore
Indulgences? Books and handbags
January or February? Hmm... it makes no difference to me
Kids and their names? 2 daughters: Wei Lin and Kai Lin
Life is incomplete without…? a family
Marriage date? 15 May 2003
Number of siblings? One younger sister
Oranges or apples? Apples (wait... I love all fruit!)
Phobias and fears? Heights and lizards
Quote for the day? "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions." ~ Dalai Lama
Reason to smile? Family and anything that makes me happy!
Season? Autumn (I'm getting tired of summer all year around)
Tag 3 people?

Amy @ Amy Reads Good Books
Ceri @ Not in the Pink
Mari @ MariReads

And anyone else who would like to play!

Unknown fact about me? I'm a vegetarian (since two months ago)
Vegetable you hate? Beetroot
Worst habit? Procrastinate
X-rays you’ve had? Chest
Your fave food? Too many to list! (I love Subway's Veggie Delite - with lots of honey mustard sauce! Will have it at least twice a week!)
Zodiac sign? Sagittarius

Sandy from You've Gotta Read This! bestowed two awards on me lately and I cannot thank her enough for these! And I am also grateful and honoured that she read and comment on most of my posts.

Besides enjoying reading her reviews, interviews and musings, I am also drawn to Sandy's sunshine personality (she is friendly and easy-going) and to top it off, she has a great sense of humour too!

To spread the love, I shall award the "I Heart Your Blog" award to you (ALL my bookblogging friends!) because I just love reading your blog so do keep those book recommendations coming!!

As for the "Sisterhood Award", I want to take this opportunity to highlight the following people who have supported my blog and became great friends along the way through the years. They are (not in any order):

• Julia
• Alice
• Debi
• Nymeth
• Wendy
• Iliana
• and last but not least, Sandy (Back to you, my dear friend!)

I was tagged by Sandy for this Six Happy Things Meme. (Thanks, Sandy! This is fun and not to mention an easy one to play.)

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. List 6 things that make you happy.
3. Post the rules and tag six more people.
4. Let your tagger know when you have completed your mission.

So here are a few things that make me a very happy person:

• Spending time with my family
• Travelling
• Reading
• Blogging/Writing
• Shopping and visiting bookstores
• Getting mails from my best friend (or better still, to see her in person again! After all, she is living in PA! Too far away from Singapore!)

• Julia from Julia's Books Corner
• Nymeth from Things Mean A Lot
• Trish from Trish's Reading Nook
• Violet Crush
• Kristy from Just Another Blogger
• Dar from Peeking Between the Pages

... and anyone who is interested to play! Leave me a comment so I will come visit and read your answers! :-)

First, Nymeth sent me this lovely Christmas card and two beautiful handmade bookmarks she made for my daughters! Isn't she sweet and talented? I especially love the prints of her bookmarks; I love the brown elegant designs and the other is just adorable with little chicky prints and white polka dots!

I then received a very cute Christmas card by Wendy. I have to grin whenever I see the card because not only the penguin is adorable with its skiing gears but penguins happen to be one of my favourite animals too!

Follow up next is a book titled Gossamer by Lois Lowry and a beautiful Christmas card by Alice. What made this gift so special is, Alice gave it to me after she found out this is on my BookMooch wishlist! I was simply speechless after opening her mail and at the same time, I was also touched by her thoughtfulness.

I have another surprise when I received this beautiful glass of tulips from my best friend, Jennifer, for my birthday earlier! She had specially ordered it from a local florist although she is living all the way from Pennsylvania! I am so, so touched by her kind gesture! Thank you so much, Jen!! I miss you too!

First, I want to thank Alice for dedicating this orchid picture to me. Isn't it beautiful? Alice is a "photo-holic" and I always enjoy viewing her pictures... Thanks again, Alice! :-)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser sentences for today:

"I know what the once upon a time stories say, but they lie. That's what stories are, you know. Lies." ~ Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (Pg 55)

{{Hugs to All!}}
:-)