Special

Stop and Shop books, CDs, dinner sets etcetera…..

Remember the Movie "King and I"? Where the King used to say "Etcetera! Etcetera!! Etcetera!!!"? Well, after visiting Etcetera in Gulshan, I felt the same kind of amazement when I saw the variety of things available. Most people visiting the store would share a similar feeling. For obvious reasons, the first floor, which is the book section, caught most of my attention. The new arrivals in the diverse genres of fictions, non-fictions, travels, art, literature, cooking, health and kids section is awesome to say the least. You can get a lot of books from any of the above mentioned categories.

Besides the book section there is an well-organised CD section. The colourful walls with star-studded posters make you feel like going rock and roll instantly. The CD collection is also considerably good. The sections have been classified, just like in the book section and it is easy to collect what you are looking for. They have all the episodes of the popular sit-coms and dramas. The Walt Disney section for kids boasts of a nice collection of Disney movies and cartoons. Rock and roll, Alternative, Rap, Classical, Hindi and Pop are the CD classifications you can get in Etcetera. They organise weekend music fiestas where they have live performances and make small chitchat with the customers of Etcetera.

Now it is time to move ahead and take the stairs where it will lead you to the second floor, which is the household floor. They have wonderful kitchen utensils, dinner sets, tea sets, complete bar kit, garden chairs, and sofa. They also have decoration items such as flower vase, candle stands, wall hangings. The dinner sets come in attractive colours and designs, mostly in floral motifs. The kitchen utensils are very good in quality as well as attractive in design and style. The complete bar kit is a very beautiful item. You can either get a specific item or the complete set. This can be a very good gift for your husband or any man you want to please. They also have garden chairs and dining table sets available in remarkably low price.
Most of the Etcetera items are priced a bit high. But they are worth buying for their quality and style. You can bring a ravishing new look to your home and décor through these products. They can also be used as wonderful gifts for birthdays or anniversaries. Currently Etcetera is having a ball, since this is the official festive season with their second birthday, Christmas and New Year coming in the next few weeks. So, hope you have a nice time shopping as well as getting surprise gifts from Etcetera.

By Bohemian Soul

Cream Wafers
Do you love tasty cream wafers? Then don't hesitate to opt for Nutro Krisp. Manufactured by Strategic Food International Co. L.L.C., Dubai, UAE, these cream wafers are mouth watering. Made from wheat flour, sugar, skim milk powder, hydrogenated palm oil and numerous other ingredients, these wafers would certainly impress your child. Each large box contains 24 packets of wafers, and are obtainable in strawberry, chocolate flavour. Check out the renowned supermarkets, each large box will cost you around tk.105.

Strawberry Snack
Want to give something handy as snacks with your child to his/her school? Then opt for Arnott's Nyam Nyam; this is a product of Indonesia. Each plastic glass consists of stick biscuits on one side and yummy strawberry cream on the other. Prepared from wheat flour, sugar, palm oil, milk and many other ingredients, this is a snack that your school-going kid would simply love. Each pack of this snack is accompanied by a free funny tattoo inside. Nyam Nyam is available at tk.15 in most of the superstores of Dhaka.

Tiny writing pads
There are tiny writing pads available at PQS. These note pads would be really useful for you to jot down small notes. With flowers and cartoon character like Mickey Mouse pictured on top, these writing pads are really handy. Just keep a note pad like this in your tote to take down telephone numbers, email or residential addresses of your friends and family. These notebooks are available at only tk.6.

Korntos spicy corn snacks
Bangladeshi food producers now also prepare delightful snacks for their consumers. Korntos is a product of Bombay Sweets & Co. Ltd. Prepared from ingredients like corn, rice, vegetable oil, and spices and seasoning, each packet of Korntos is truly delicious. You can feast on this snack with a glass of your favorite beverage. The spicy taste makes it equally satisfying for young and old alike.

Nail polish from Revlon
The Uttara branch of PQS has recently added a collection of Revlon's nail polishes in awesome shades in its store. Available at tk.150, these smart nail polishes would make it possible for you to dazzle your friends with 10 attractive-looking fingers, painted gorgeously in eye-grabbing colors.

Star ship Mango Juice
Star ship mango juice is available in tetra packs in the superstores of the capital. You can also buy these tasty packs of mango juice from your local stores. Obtainable at tk.10, each 250-ml pack contains 165 calories and is rich in sugar, protein, sodium, iron, vitamin C and vitamin A. Star ship mango juice is prepared from super purified water, natural mango pulp, citric acid and vitamin C. Produced by Abul Khair Condensed Milk & beverage Ltd., this product would taste great with afternoon snacks. So, in order to enjoy the tang of mango throughout the year; you can opt for this appealing fruit juice.

New Year cards
Just a handful of days to go, and the entire world would stand ready to hail another brand new year. On the occasion of the coming New Year eve, give or send pleasing greeting cards to your near and dear ones. The Hallmark outlets have already brightened up their stores with quite a wide collection of New Year cards. Prices will vary according to the cards' size and loveliness but say, within tk.45 to tk.75 you can purchase one of these impressive cards to send your best wishes to your favorite one. So don not linger, but rush to the Hallmark outlets to pick the right greeting card for your loved one.

By Wara Karim

 

 

Essentials

Absence of fire escape
Notice how most of the buildings in Dhaka lack some very important safety facilities; a fire escape is one them. In all the incidents of fire in garment factories you will notice one common feature: the absence of a proper fire escape. It is an indispensable safety feature, but somehow this oversight fails to get our attention. It does not even interest the building inspectors, otherwise there would have been many more buildings with fire escapes.

Erecting walls on the roadside
Another commonly practised phenomenon during building construction is erecting walls on the roadside leaving no space for the roads and pavements. Building owners utilise every inch of their land for the building. Sometimes they even encroach. This results in the narrow alleys one finds in most residential areas. Some of them are so narrow that even two rickshaws cannot pass through side by side at a time. Landowners should leave enough space for the road when they undertake new constructions.

Same with balconies
The walls aren't the only structures made in an improper manner; the balconies follow the same trend. Balconies usually extend beyond the legal limits. It creates congestion and it is also against government rules. While building houses, owners are compelled by law to leave some space from their land. Concerned authorities have every right to bulldoze illegal balconies with prior notice.

Things are becoming worse
Experts have been talking about it for long, LS has been urging to follow the experts and the government has been raising hopes and making plans but we still don't see any positive move about it. We still don't see any multi-storeyed parking facilities in the busy areas of Dhaka. Something should be done and done fast. Things are getting worse day by day.

By Shahnaz Parveen

 

Erratum:

Last week's (2-12-2003) centre-page article " Curtains do make a difference" was written by Malina Islam Halim. The name had been omitted by mistake, and we regret the oversight.