Cath Kidston

Not all of you might be familiar with the name. And so was I until Anita stumbled across some of their products while shopping at The Curve. It was from one of the stalls on the Sunday Market and it was a fake. Surfing the Net, Anita later found out that it was really a real brand, and she quickly fallen in love with it. I have to confess that it was not my cup of tea, but knowing Anita, she really liked the flowery stuff, so she insisted on me giving the main store a visit when I was in London. We later found out that the main branch was in Covent Garden, and courtesy of Google Map, I found the place. Damn you Google!

The shop was not very big, but oh my God, it was crowded. It was pretty clear that the brand had built up a big following especially amongst the Asian crowd. More than half the crowd in the shop that day were from Asia as far I could tell. Cath Kidston does many things and the shop has dresses - flowery ones of course - to bags, notepads, cups and mugs, books, and wallpapers even. After a 30 minute squeeze and a couple of phone calls to Malaysia, I managed to get what she wanted. And yes, Anita was happy with what I got for her.

There was also another Cath Kidston boutique at Heathrow Terminal 4 - where I got a bag for my Mum, but since I wanted to pack everything into the main luggage bag and travel light in the cabin, I decided to buy everything before I reached the airport. We have yet to find one of their outlets in Malaysia. I pray that one would be coming soon as I couldn't really afford regular trips abroad just to get their products for Anita!

Apple Store

As I mentioned earlier, I achieved one of my personal goal, which was to shop at an actual Apple Store. We were not talking about a local dealer a la Machines in KL or the lot, but an actual Apple Retail Store. Since the recent facelift, all the terminals came with an iPad for information of the product, answering all your query. Failing that, you just had to press a button, and one of the genius would come right over.

It was a Friday evening and I entered the store about 30 minutes before closing. The place was full and abuzz. The store I went to was the flagship for London. A two story, very posh outlet just outside Oxford Circus tube station, right along Regent Street, a quarter of the way down to Piccadilly.

Anita wanted me to buy her cases for her iPhone, and wanted it specifically made by Cath Kidston. I got her a couple although I was disappointed that the selection were limited as far as iPhone 4 was concerned. There were a few more to choose from if you have the older generation phones.

The important thing was, I actually visited a retail Apple Store, got the bills, and the carrier bag to go with it. I was content!