and so, it started with a book

i've always liked this series of books
under the collective name of "editions de paris" (e.d.p)
which contains mainly pictures of parisians' everyday lives
& their homes.
chanced upon my first of this series in osaka
didn't understand a word of it because it's written in japanese
but the scores of images it contained
made those words meaningless to me
and these images are really insipring
flipping through them will magically stir up inspiring thots in my mind

i used to finger these books longingly at kino
but couldn't bear to buy them
(they cost $40 apiece for an A5 sized book, less than a cm thick)
i would check up their website and dream of owning every series of it...

one day shoutmate told me: "you should check out the chinese section of kino, a same book in chinese print will cost less than a jap edition"
& so i ventured and found - a copy of "e.d.p" printed in chinese
at less than half it would normally cost! ($15 only!)

and so, whilst holidaying in taipei recently
we had to venture into pageone of course
and *!!!* i spotted on the "recommended shelf" an "e.d.p"!!!
so i asked the hubby, to please check w the staff
where's the shelf that contained this book,
so i could check out if they had all the other series too,
so i could buy all of them! muahahaha

and the hubby found more than just e shelf...
these taiwanese, they are ever so helpful
when the hubby asked the pg1 lady where he could find more of such books in pg1
she brought him to the shelf (where i found and bought 4 more e.d.p)
she then passed him this brochure and told him we could go look for
THE PUBLISHER [田园城市] of these books, which is in taipei, and they would probably have more of such books.
omg i nearly fainted.

and guess what?
the publisher was just a few streets away from our hotel! hahaha...
ok, not exactly just next door, but abt 10min walk away,
within the precinct of zhongshan
and this precinct was such an oasis for us
there were the type of shops that we really love -
ppaper - sells the type of stuffl like the defunct asylum;
de stijl - sells vintage jewelry which i can ill afford but i soaked it all up in my head and heart, i'll be back one day to buy something from there;
le bouquet - a very pretty bakery & yummy macaroons;
dandy hotel - a really funky hotel w whimsical windows,
really wished we had stay there;
and loads of other cafes, quaint shops and eateries



somehow we are always drawn to such places
the romanticizing of coffee & cakes, books, alleys, sidewalks, cafes, bookstores, jewelry, & designer shops which are like the brains of creative individuals that one can walk into, explore, prod...
these are really the fodder for our minds, & e fuel for inspiration