Roadtrip to Sydney (Part 8) : Souvenirs

I went all out and spend during this trip. Although from time to time I do keep track of how I am spending and what I am spending on, but when it comes down to it, I spent a lot. I know. I did a count. But all in all, it was a well-deserved retail therapy, and I was glad to have someone 'experienced' in the shopping department to help me out.

There is a nice little tea shop in Newtown called T2. The shop itself is lovely enough with the hugest variety of tea, each in an individual shelf that stands from floor to ceiling. They have those cupboards alike to those Chinese medicine stores. The teapots are arranged stack on top of one another and slant left and right. And the aroma in the shop is just fabulous. I just felt like I have died and gone to tea heaven.

Although the tea is quite costly in this shop, but I guess it is all worthwhile. There are just a few things in life you should splurge for yourself, and this is definitely one of them on my list. I have always wanted a kind of tea to drink before I go to bed, or to help me with my sleep. It is just not healthy drinking vodka almost night to go to sleep, you know. So, the salesperson introduced "Sleep tight" and "Relax". I took the former, the latter is a birthday gift for a friend who loves tea as much as I do.

So far, I have yet to see clear result that it helps me with my sleep. Sometimes it seems like it helps me sleep better, other times not really. But nonetheless, it smells wonderful while taking sips in between reading a book or watching a TV show before bedtime.

Holding true to my decision to buy a souvenir for myself in every state I visit in Australia, I decided to buy this. It is so cute, a paperweight shaped as a balled music score. I admit I spent a little too much for something like this, but well, it is pretty. Heh.

It is from the Museum of Art and the store is in the Queen Victoria Building. It comes in other designs too, such as a crumpled legal paper. Quite nice. But do be prepare for the price you are about to pay.

While going through custom on my flight back to Brisbane, I had a little problem because of it. The custom guy decided he would like to pry it open and see what is inside, and got all pissy when I said it is designed that way and you cannot pry it open. A lady nearby perked up and said, "Hey I saw that paperweight!" And when I told her the custom guy is going to pry it open, she got a little sad. But in the end, the guy merely ran it through the X-ray scan again, and hands it back to me. Without an apology. But a mere forced smile. That was the last time, probably not the first, that I decided that the people in Sydney are not very friendly.

I have been looking for a nice little pouch for my cell phone. When I saw what Ye Shan has for hers, I decided it is good enough. The pouch is from kikki.K and it is actually intended for an iPod instead.

kikki.K is yet another stationary store with the cutest things. I would buy the entire store if I could, but then again, I would not know what to do with the things I buy. University days are almost over and why would I need fancy files and notepads and the likes for.

It turns out there is an outlet in the heart of the Brisbane city, tucked in a secluded corner of a shopping mall out of sight.

A gift for Ee Ling. She likes flowery designs and the bag reminds me of her. I would have bought something for myself too, but there is nothing quite to my liking.

It is from the Original Shuk Koncepts and the designer has her own stall in a flea market. She has got quite good bag designs and I will give her credit for that. The cloth textures for the bags are quite flimsy, but smooth to the touch. I would not recommend heavy stuffs in the bag though. But. Beautiful choice of cloth designs and textures. Definitely a decent gift for a girl friend or girlfriend or girlfriends.

Other than these little knick knacks, I have also done some shopping for clothes. I would put pictures of them here, but I do not want to be anymore of a camera whore as someone would like to believe. They are just some new clothes for school, nothing fashionable about that.