As many of you know already, I'm going away on vacation to visit family and friends back in India. I know it's not expected, but I do like to take my family little gifts from North America, however, it can be very hard knowing what to buy. Anyway, thanks to last month's "Pages" magazine I think I've found gifts for the literature lovers in my family.
Luminary Grapics has some great bags, cards, magnets, umbrellas, bookmarks etc. with caricatures of famous and well-known writers. I'm sure my aunt will love the bag with the women writers and my dad will not be able to resist the "Shakespeare" coffee mug. My sister, an aspiring writer, will be delighted with the writing journal and how could anyone resist those wonderful and useful bookmarks?
30 comments:
Those would make such neat gifts, Lotus! I love the bookmarks. The journal is pretty, too. I am sure your family will enjoy these thoughtful presents from you :)
Thanks, Bhaswati!
I think they will - the bookmarks are gorgeous, aren't they? I love the umbrellas too, but I think I would use them more for decorative purposes than for the sun or rain! ;)
I hope you have a great trip!
Lotus , I posted before but I do not know what happened to it. I wanted to tell you that the book that she wrote sounds very good and that I would pre-order it if it is on Amazon.com.
Remember my dear to tell me when you are leaving.
Thanks, Dorothy! I don't leave until after the first week of July, but activity on the blog might have to slow down while I prepare for our vacation.
Hello, Beloved!
Your comment wrt Laila Lalami's book did come through (sometimes blogger is a little slow). You can order her book via Amazon or even from her site, or I could send you my copy.
Thanks for sharing that link. I think I might need some new bookmarks soon, and even if I don't :)
Have a good trip!
what a great site but ... sadly, if you wish to buy something, they do not deliver to Malaysia. thanks for posting this.
Thanks, Stefanie and Aneeta, yes, those bookmarks are really nice.
As I said before, have a good trip.Say Hi to your Hubby and the rest of the family for me. Take care and good reading.
Wow, that stuff is really cool!
Your families going to love their gifts and seeing you. Have a great trip.
Thanks a lot for the wishes Grumpy, but I still have a couple more posts before I leave! :)
Hi, Angela and Booklogged!
And thanks! ;)
These are some great gift ideas! Hope you have a fantastic, safe journey - home and back!
Hello Lotus!
Hello, Susan!
I have missed you!
What a great idea, and things that are also inspired by your passion, reading. I usually give people food-related things.
What a cool link, Lotus. Thanks for sharing it! Enjoy the holiday.
Have a super vacation and thank you for visitng my blog
Sarah
Hi Lotus,
I think it's vital to say something important as regards to product delivery from anywhere in the world, to Malaysia.
Lest the quote above be understood as pertaining not to one individual company but an overall view, by readers who are not familiar with SE Asia.
So to expound on a bit of added clarity:
I grew up in Malaysia, (Kuala Lumpur) but have spent the last years travelling. As far as I know, I have always been able to receive parcels (way even before the Internet & handphones and all of the latest technology were discovered, say the 80's and my father in the 70s always ordered books from abroad and magazines and other ornaments from abroad..sometimes as presents from friends. And at that time too, we lived in a really small town called Klang.
We would get everything and in good time except that we may have had to pay a few ringgit at the local post office for tax. And the postman would always give us that orange welcoming card to collect a parcel. I once won a dress from New York and the dress itself was sent to me, with no problems. I was thrilled.
When we want to order something, we are asked in rare cases, by the companies abroad who advertise products, to either enquire separately for rates.
Otherwise, order forms are always made clear.
Europe rates, US rates and rest of the world rates (often extra postage). That's all it is. We also have the choice if we want something by air mail (very fast but a higher postage) or surface mail (slower but cheaper postage).
At Christmas especially Christian families in Malaysia used to send all kinds of parcels and even cakes to friends and relatives who had emigrated abroad and in turn, receive similiar presents back in time for the Christmas tree.
No problems that at all.
When I travelled, I often sent pressies to friends everywhere. Lots of times to Malaysia, sometimes to Australia and also Singapore.
I had no problems sending anything at all from Rome to malaysia. No problems sending anything, from London to Malaysia, Sydney to Malaysia, Melbourne to Malaysia, Tonga to Malaysia, East Africa to Malaysia, Jordan to Malaysia...oh, and I can't even remember what else.
Places like London, Africa, Europe and Australia, they ask you...first-class, second-class etc. depending on postage and arrival speed.
So Malaysia is not in the dark ages. I cannot believe that any company in this day and age will unless they are so careless about sales, disregard us. You write in for a personal rate, including postage to cover everything and I'm they would consider. Otherwise, any profit-making venture would be a right fool. So far, I haven't come across any company in the world who has refused us anything by post. And here we are, talking about 2006 to top it all.
love as always,
aneeta - i think the problem is not with delivery but with the fact that malaysian credit cards are often not accepted
if you want to buy contact the company direct and ask them if there are other ways to pay (e.g. by paypal which has v. recently started to accept malaysian cards)
lotus reads - thanks for letting us know of such a lovely website ...
sharon: what I know about Pay Pal is this - they've always accepted a malaysian credit card if you want to buy. I'm not sure if what you mean is that they now accept a Malaysian credit card if you want to sell as well.
It made me go and do some research and the position has remained the same.
If you want to sell using PayPal, here’s the comment on the PayPal site:
Users in these countries cannot withdraw funds to their local bank account electronically or by paper check. They can withdraw funds to a U.S. bank account.
And, one of them is Malaysia.
Here’s the link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-approved-signup-countries-outside.
hi, Susan (Italy)
Yes, it's true, isn't it, you want to be able to give people a gift you like, or atleast that's very true for me. Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks, Jude!
I'm stopping in London for a couple of days on my way to India. Would love the names of nice second-hand bookshops. Can you think of something> I'll probably be in the Marble Arch area. Thanks.
Hello, Sarah! Thank you for your return visit! ;)
hi, Susan! Gosh, yes, receiving something from abroad was always such a thrill, no? I grew up in India and while it was not impossible to receive stuff from abroad by mail, the postal system wasn't always reliable, so we were on tenterhooks until the stuff arrived! If I remember correctly, I don't think we could use credit cards to pay for stuff we wanted - it always had to be ordered by family abroad and then mailed to us. Those were the good old days, huh? I love that you won a dress from New York, it must have been such a thrilling moment to receive it in the mail from 1000's of miles away!!! :)
Hi, Sharon!
You're quite welcome! I'm just glad to have found something unique to take back to my folks. Thank you for stopping by.
Hi, Aneeta!
You know what? I've never used Paypal. So many times I've been tempted to order stuff on eBay but have had to stop myself because they want a paypal account in most cases. Maybe it's time for me to look into having one. Thanks.
Delcious gifts ... I do wish I was family :)
Which part of India is home? Curious I am.
Love this link. I have added it to my favorites. Thanks
Ahh...yes, Lotus, the curse of technology.
And how quickly we forget the universal classic of the humble banker's draft...so applicable in my dad's time and just as valid today all over the world today. lol
love
Awww, thanks wandering woman! :) I grew up in Bombay, but ever since my parents moved to Bangalore, I call that city home. Have you visited India?
Thanks, Framed. They are nice, aren't they?
Gee, Susan, I clean forgot about the humble bank draft...thanks for the reminder! (and to think my father was a banker, he'll be most disappointed with me!) :)
Shame on you, Lotus. Shame on you indeed. I've so enjoyed this. Ha-Ha!
going to check out dj now.
love
i couldn't pay by penpal on a website aneeta and wrote to the company and asked why
they said they did not accept malaysian credit cards
then i heard from someone else that they had just started accepting malaysian cards
and that's all i know about it
a bank draft cuts out the nonsense though, doesn't it
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