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the moral lesson to its corresponding fable, or participated in the Origami challenge to create fable story characters. “Scouting Stories”, an augmented reality quest, was available at all seven POPULAR’s Mega Stores across the island state. Participants could watch characters come to life on their phones and answer simple quizzes to redeem gifts. What is a vacation without photographs as keepsakes? At our “Photo Corner”, our customers could strike a pose for an impromptu photoshoot and get a free printout with any purchase. The “Photo Corner” proved popular, especially since our customers could upload their photo on Instagram directly for fun, and by adding the official hashtags they stood to win a Canon photo printer worth $199! In the well-received “Art for Everyone Contest”, children competed in colouring contests while the adults got to do hand-lettering and calligraphy. The activities continued in the digital realm with BookFest@Singapore’s signature literary and family events taking place via Facebook Live. As 2021 marked the 10th anniversary of the POPULAR Readers’ Choice Awards, it was a momentous milestone in Popular Singapore’s history of promoting local authors and literary works. To celebrate the occasion, the Prize Presentation Ceremony was made available online and our customers also get to enjoy 20% off all nominated titles from 2011 to 2021. Even without travelling overseas, visitors to BookFest@Singapore 2021 were still able to meet their favourite overseas authors online. Hong Kong’s most sought-after writer Blue Godzi and famed Taiwanese novelist Giddens Ko met with their fans via livestreaming to share the inspiration behind their works. In line with the theme inspired by Aesop’s Fables, “Online Storytelling Sessions with Fable Times” provided some educational entertainment for our younger customers. Continuing to delight the visitors to BookFest@Singapore 2021 were the traditional BookFest@Singapore events like “Crazy Auction” and the highly anticipated “WIN-WIN Lucky Draw” that gave away up to $10,000 in cash, as well as the Grand Draw that gave away up to $10,000 worth of gold! There were also plenty of online resources created to provide a more comprehensive shopping experience for our customers, like recorded audio clips of fables, origami videos, and even a WhatsApp sticker pack featuring the adorable characters expressing a myriad of emotions, to enhance the entertainment factor of BookFest@Singapore 2021. Experiencing New Worlds: Manga Mania Reading a book is a wonderful way of transporting ourselves to different worlds, and that could not be truer at BookFest@ Singapore 2021. Many shelves on the fourth level of POP@Central were lined with the latest releases from widely-acclaimed manga series such as Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen in both English and Chinese editions, along with other popular titles like Mob Psycho 100, Your Name, Weathering With You, and Haikyu!!. There was also character- themed merchandise for fans including the Demon Slayer Correction Tape and Pokémon UHU Glue Stick. Illustration enthusiasts also had their pick of titles by renowned artists like Naoko Takagi and Yoshitomo Nara, evoking memories of one’s past visits to Akihabara. Of course, there were also plenty of new releases and evergreen English and Chinese titles for readers of all ages. Massive discounts were also offered on box sets such as the Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl series. Witnessing the Zeitgeist: Gadgets & Gizmos Travellers interested in opening their minds and their world view could find the most comprehensive range of gadgets, gizmos, and tech products on Level 2 of POP@ Central. Our intrepid travellers also got to experience the thrill and adrenaline rush of burning tires on the tracks with the Logitech Trueforce Race Car Simulator. The rise of e-sports has thrown gaming into the spotlight in recent years, and newbies to POP@Central got a makeover with décor designed in accordance with the theme, Going Places with Stories POP@Central随着主题“阅·遨游”换新装 6 -p 6 po - o p pu ul l a a r r n n e e w w s s 1 1 3 3 7 7