Back to School

I was very poorly yesterday that I could hardly walk, but I am so glad and thankful that I am healthier today.

The reason being, I promised the boys that we would begin to look for their workbooks for next year.

I know, school holidays haven't begun yet, but this is really the best time to buy stuff for school as almost all the department stores and supermarkets are having their Back To School promotion.

Stationery, books, uniform, shoes and school bags are at least 10% to 20% cheaper than they normally are.

We went to Mydin USJ after Zuhr today to check out on their Back to School offering, and the place was chock full of people that I was practically claustrophobic.

We bought two sets of workbooks for each of them but since we still have plenty of stationery from this year's stock, we did not buy anything other than a couple of pencil cases and some exercise books for Sekolah Agama.

The prices were not much different from the usual Mydin bundled prices either.

Stocking up on stationery and art supplies is an important part of our Going Back to School annual ritual.

My sister is very particular about checking and comparing prices although that doesn't necessarily mean that she will only buy the cheapest because she believes in value for money.

For instance, she will only stock up on colorful Faber-Castell dust-free erasers because these erase cleanly and minimise tearing, colored pencils for everyday use are always Steadtler because their vibrant colors mean a little goes a long way, and sharpeners are usually the ones by Papermate as they last longer than the others we've tried even though they tend to be pricier than the rest.

However, besides Faber-Castell 2B pencils, she would also stock up on Tesco brand 2B pencils for everyday use as these are good enough for school even though the price is almost half of other brands.

Besides the set of 12 Steadtler colored pencils for schoolwork, we also stock up on some Stabilo jumbo colored pencils primarily for artwork, not only because of the vibrant colors, but the size of the pencils makes it easy for the boys to fill up the empty spaces with color.

Al has begun using oil pastels in DSV (Dunia Seni Visual - Visual Art World) classes, so we bought a few different brands to try out - Crayola, Pentel, Astar, Buncho - but settled on Buncho primarily because of the price, while the quality is good enough for primary school children's artwork.

I like drawing and doing artwork too, so I am a bit invested in the stocking up of oil pastels and colored pencils as I would sometimes "teach" Al on how to use blending techniques using his oil pastels, or show Deen on how to color his clouds using colored pencils.

I used to work with acrylic on canvas, but nowadays, drawing block paper, crayons, oil pastels and colored pencils are sufficient to make me a happy woman.