Twilight

I'm kinda behind the raving coz I never really talked about the books in this blog. But I got hooked in the stories (Go Team Edward!!!). I finished reading all four books in record time! I even borrowed the last book from Papita even before he opened it and read it himself!

After reading the books though, I had terrible, bad dreams for weeks. Dreams that could make me scream in the middle of the night.

So Ane suggested I take all things Twilight off my mind and think happy thoughts, read other books. That I successfully did...

Until the Twilight fan in me resurrected upon reading other fans' blogs and after watching the film's trailer. The movie will be shown in Manila the same time as the world premier on 21 November. I'm begging, literally begging, Ane to watch it with me on the first showing in the morning (Nov. 21 is a Friday, and his day-off!!). He said I can watch it after two weeks when everyone else are done watching, so there will be less people and less chance for me to catch any virus. What's that about, eh? Talk about being paranoid, LOL (but that's what my OB wants as well, huhu)! But what about me? I only get to watch it after everyone else has spoilt the moment for me, eh? So I really have to beg, hehe. Wish me luck!

For now, I content myself by reading forums, blogs and Stephenie Meyer's website where I also got a pdf file of the draft of Midnight Sun (Twilight in Edward's point of view). I really wish the author will continue publishing it, even after getting pissed that the copy even leaked out.

image from http://www.trailer2008.com

Last 10 days in bullets

Only because I cannot compose a better entry and I don't wanna forget...

• Books read -- Stardust by Neil Gaiman; and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (review to follow)
• Movie watched -- Stardust (very timely when I finished the book)...review to follow, but let me just say that I loved both the movie and the book because there are details found in book that are not in the movie and there are things in the movie that made it, well, cinematic (for lack of better term)...and is Clare Dane's nose really that big (just that I only noticed this in the movie heheh)?
• Restaurants we ate in -- Max's because I was too lazy to prepare lunch; Haf Chang (spell check) along West Ave with MIL after we checked out the pick-up truck; Ysidro's in Guiguinto (yummy and cheap!) for dinner on Wednesday coz we wanted to listen to the new performers; Dampa Libis with the E's on Thursday night coz I was craving some chili crab and they were just to glad to meet-up; and then Lunch at Burgoo Promenade on Saturday.
• Purchases -- I am now a proud owner of Havaianas Alert, the model that almost never had my size (next target if the Silver Top Crystal!); some dibedi's from Metrowalk; computer ergonomic chair (a wheel of which is still unattached as of this time hehe).
• Disappointments -- Digital Scrapbooking Oct-Nov ish running out of stock even if I am subscribed.
• Health concerns -- terrible cramps during badminton games on Saturday (I was crying in pain when both of my butt muscles started to cramp after a bad fall) and Ane wasn't there to hug me. Early signs of colds that is now full-blown.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Got my copy. Found one among the badly organized shelves of Fully Booked in Promenade. Believe me, I had to check and look around almost all the shelves because even if the labels said "Fiction A-P", the books were not placed where they should be. Hhhhhmmmm.

Anyway, I started with it right away over a hot frothy chocolate drink from Xocolat, then later while eating Banana Jones from Cerealicious. Li'l bro and I were early in Greenhills so I had a lot of time to read before playing some badminton sets. Into Chapter 3 and I was already having goosebumps. I texted RA to thank her for the recommendation because "gripping" is such an understatement for this book. It's a pageturner that all you'll want is to read what happens next. Before the night ended, I was done with 3/4 of the book.

One of the things that struck me is when the boy asked his Baba about sins and his Baba said that the only sin one can commit in this world is "theft". He explained further that ,"When you kill a man, you steal a life...you steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness..." Makes perfect sense to me.

Some of the plots are shallow, something that one would not expect from a great writer only because it is way too common (i.e the main character's true relationship with his humble and loyal servant). Something that is common in our local telenovelas, I'd say. But then, as I went along, that seemingly shallow plot is just the tip of the iceberg. There's more to it in the story than the friendship that flourished between the two kids. The story, IMO, is actually about forgiveness and making up for a mistake, no matter how long it takes to realize that, yes there is a way to be good again.

I have a few pages left and I'll finish reading this tonight. When I finally close the book, I will sigh because a good experience would have ended. I will recommend this book to my sister, especially that the main character spent some good years in the Bay area -- San Jose, Fremont, SanFo, etc. It's all familiar. It's all good.

Books, books, books!

What am I doing blogging at 821 on a Saturday morning?! Oh you bet I wanna go back to sleep but I'll do that in a bit. I have a deadline, see.

Anyway, yesterday I was scheduled to take a commute going to the garden. My brother dropped me off on North Avenue. Before going to the fx terminal, I paid some bills and dropped by NBS to look for the book RA recommended, that one by Khaled Hosseini "The Kite Runner" but ended up buying his other book "A Thousand Splendid Suns". Now reading the reader reviews over at Amazon of this second book, I feel it is not a waste to buy it. I will drop by FullyBooked later to check for a copy of Kite Runner. Maybe I should read it first before I start with Splendid. I'll probably borrow from RA if I don't find the book by Wednesday.

And then I could not resist getting more books that I took and paid for three novels by Neil Gaiman (Stardust, American Gods and Neverwhere)! I've been hearing about this guy for a while now (He was in Manila last year?) but never got around to buying any of his stuff. Reading for me is a passion yet I am just beginning to broaden my choices. I am thankful that I am given the opportunity (and extra money) to buy books. Books for me are investments and am not so much of an e-book girl. I started with Stardust yesterday and I will just post insights about the books I listed once am done with them. ♥

Four books! And not done yet book shopping?!? You bet Ane almost had a heart attack when he learned about my latest purchases. He'll get over it, hehe.

Avenue Q, Amici, Three-day malling and a new book

The past few days found me sleeping early at around 1am (early pa yan!) and getting up later than usual (read: noon or later!). Is that being lazy or what? I dunno, I just feel that my body is tired. Yesterday, Ane was waking me up at 930am for our errand but since it was raining, he let me sleep until 10am. Later we had lunch at Jabi coz I as craving Chicken Joy which I did not finish. We got home around 2pm, with me planning to go to work, but I fell asleep again! Sheesshhh.

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Anyway, I have a lot to share. My weekend was packed as well as the days that followed. Think of it as having a very long weekend. And since I need to note it down for the sake of my memory, here goes (I will try to make it short and precise)...

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Saturday was Avenue Q day!!!! The show was at two pm but I have an appointment at 8am in Ortigas that day. My meeting ended just before noon. Mitch was there to ride with us to Makati. We did a short stop to Mercury Drug to get my vitamins/some meds. Lunch was at World Topps in RCBC Plaza where I had Thai Bagoong Rice (oh I missed this, since the place closed down in Greenhills...I was however disappointed with the smaller serving and miniscule amount of mango strips). Around 1pm, Ane stayed at RCBC to wait for the others (remember there were 16 of us) while Mitch and I took a trip to MMC ER (nothing serious!). We got back to RCBC just in time for Starbucks green tea frapuccino samples before the show.

We entered the C. Romulo Auditorium and the Balcony is literally up there! It got me nauseous, really. The show was excellent. I found myself singing along, I had to keep it down! Rachel Alejandro did a very good job playing Kate Monster and Lucy. Trekkie Monster was a R-I-O-T! Aiza as Gary Coleman was a revelation, at least for me, as it was the first time I saw her perform on stage. There was something lacking about Frenchy Dy's portrayal of Christmas Eve I cannot really pinpoint, but her voice is powerful (I like her wedding gown! Haha!). You know, listening to the songs have always been enough, but seeing the actor's facial expressions as well as the puppets' actions (again, Trekkie!!!) made it even more wonderful for me.

There was a short meet and greet after the show (aawww the pictures suck, I used my mobile phone):

And then there was a booth to buy the program, the button (Team Kate), and the pink shirt that says 'It sucks to be me'. Teehee. Mitch and I wore our shirts to the badminton later that night.

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Some of us braved the heavy traffic just to eat at Amici de Don Bosco in Makati. One question: Why didn't I discover this place earlier? I was missing a lot! I had an order of Lasagne (too rich but yummy yum yum!) and their thin crust pizzas are to die for (wow, exagg). Never too full, I had some mint chocolate chip gelato for dessert. I brought home some chocolate covered cream puffs, hihi.

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The next day, the brothers and I were in Glorietta after mass (ane had work). We had a little bit of weekend money to spare but for the first time, we did not splurge on food! We had a simple lunch at Kaya (beginning to be a fave!). We did buy a pair of Havaianas each (yay!), a CD for Li'l Bro, shirts for the two of them, and I got Ane and myself a book each. We capped the day off with Starbucks caffeine fix each, the usual thing we do before going home on days like that. We didn't go straight home, we delivered a Bizu cake to our wedidng Ninang in Greenmeadows because it was her birthday :) The brothers were supposed to bring me where I can ride an FX to work but since Ane was out at 6pm (ordinary time 830pm), I waited for him and we went to the garden together.

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On Monday, we were up early again. We drove my FIL to his HQ in Libis. It was also important that we start the day early coz we had three banks to go to. It gets crazy every Monday not to mention that the 15th fell on a Saturday. After dropping FIL off, we grabbed some breakfast and our bank hunt started afterwards. We started along EDSA, then in Mandaluyong and finally finishing it off in Makati. We should have gone directly to Makati as the bank rows along JP Rizal are the ones that didn't have long lines. Sheesh. Then off we went to Mall of Asia to have Ivy, my laptop (yeah, I just gave it a name!) serviced at Lenovo. Just before we left for our vacation, I noticed an ugly vertical line on the monitor. I was resigned to it not being fixed anymore but Ane insisted that Ivy is still within the three-year warranty. I was corresponding with the technician last week and he assured me that if we go on Monday, the parts will be available. Why MOA, you ask? Well I already had a problem with the laptop six months after it was purchased and it was fixed in G3 but that outlet closed down this year and the person who fixed it is already assigned in MOA so obviously, we'd want him to take care of my problem once again. So anyway, Ivy now has a spankin' new monitor and am grinning from ear to ear :) The service and labor were free. To show our gratitude, we bought some coffee buns and cheeserolls from Delifrance :) I brought the boxes back to the store and it makes me happy to see people smile at me :)

Our MOA adventure didn't end there. It was still too early to go to Greenhills to fetch li'l bro. We grabbed some lunch at David's Tea House. The food seemed expensive but since the servings were big, it was alright. We weren't able to finish everything, so the food was wrapped and later was on the hands of the sampaguita boy (who has no feet and has only one arm, no kidding!) on the intersection of Ortigas and Granada. I swear, he smiled! My heart ♥ goes to him. :) We didn't leave MOA right away, as there was a lot of time to spare strolling. And stroll we did. We were looking for a sturdy table to place our CPU on (so it doesn't sit under the table) but in vain. But my Ane bought me a collapsible study table (so I can use Ivy beside our bed)and a table lamp (so I can use the desktop even if Ane is already asleep at night).

I was supposed to play that night but my legs were about to give up on me after two days in the mall! (Hi Donna! You weren't jinxed, dear, heheh, hope to play with you next monday!) Ane still played and he brought me Buco juice that night :)

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Can you believe that on Tuesday, we were at the mall again?!? This time, it was SM North/The Block. We finally found a nice table (and within budget, hah!) and later we did some grocery shopping for the garden. I went to work while Ane went to his Badminton Training. :)

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The book that I got on Sunday is the book the my sister recommended. It is The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. It talks about a Bengali couple who migrated to the United States and their two children were born there. It talks about the struggles they had to go through and teaching their children the Bengali culture even if they are half a world away from their roots. But it proved to be hard for Ashima and Ashoke since their children grew up in the harsh realities of their surroundings. The story focuses on Gogol, their first child, who felt imprisoned by his own name. It is a good read. I'd recommend it as well. I finished reading it on Tuesday evening.

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There, if you got this far, I salute you! My eyes are hurting and I am hungry. Hehe. TTFN!

Blankets

I bought a book, a graphic novel (a first!), after a friend recommended it. She said the reviews are great and that it will remind you of childhood. It did. I was with hubby that Monday afternoon when we visited Powerbooks and saw a copy of the said book. But, I wasn't planning on buying an expensive book (Php1500+).

The reviews printed on the back cover, however, gave me goosebumps when it said something like "...brutalities parents give the children...". No I wasn't a battered child at all, but that phrase somehow made a homerun. I was mainly looking for my memories of childhood and of first love. And there I found it. My Ane bought me the book and I was engaged on reading for a few hours. I finished it, all 600 pages, after about 7hours. The book is currently with Mitch who promised to cover it after Lara finished with it too. I haven't brought it home yet.

The book reminded me of childhood -- the times when my siblings and I shared the same bed (accidental pees!), when we fought (brother hitting me with a small glass bowl when I was sick!) and even the time I almost cut my left pointing finger. It was also true for me that the book reminded me of my first love as I narrated briefly in my other blog. Go check it out :)

My loot.

Last week, I was wondering why my Digital Scrapbooking Magazine August - September issue isn't delivered yet. So we sent a message and we were informed that my subscription will start with the October - November ish. I asked Ane if it's okay to buy the missed ish instead and he gladly said yes. Yey!

Yesterday, I received THESE from the courier:

I bought these (online! hehehe first time!) using some of my earnings from blogging. Imagine Ane's surprise when he saw the thick bubble envelope thinking that I only bought a magazine. Hehe. Of course he can't do anything about it anymore especially that I didn't use his credit card to pay for those. And he'd probably roll his eyes once he finds out that I bought these kits too:

Impulse! But my purchases are yummy looking. I haven't been scrapping but I figured purchased kits will inspire me. Hehehe. And the books? I can keep them anyway. I love books. However, I should really stop myself from buying online impulsively, no matter how 'addicting' it could get. I should save the money for a new camera. Teehee. ;)

Hungry for more of Harry Potter!

It really feels good that Daday and Mitch are done reading Book 7. At least now, I can freely discuss it (and understand it more). Oh well, I also enjoy telling the story to my brothers who would rather read it later on...after they lost interest due to the spoilers! And I cannot talk about it at home because Ane simply refuse to listen, hihihi.

Anyway, D popped me a message this afternoon. And it started a little discussion and a lot of realization..and then later more questions to answer about the whole HP series. It is fun talking about Harry and I found myself really hungry for more. Especially when D sent me this link, where JK Rowling is being interviewed. If you are also done with the book (otherwise, don't dare go there:)), go on and click the link. It's like the transcription of the interview shown in the Today show. You'll be surprised at the additional information JK shared that is not in the book! Plus other links in that page :)

Oh my, I wish Rowling will really publish a some kind of Harry Potter encyclopedia! And I also hope we can someday visit the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando which will open in 2009! :)

Spoilers are Losers!

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Monday at 3am. At the rate that I went, that was still kinda slow. Hehe. I got the book around 7am on Saturday and started reading around 8am at Kopi Roti in Katipunan (we dropped li'l big bro in Ateneo and killed time in the coffee shop waiting for the Greenhills shops to open so Ane can have his racket re-strung). But got distracted, every now and then and I had to sleep, too. Anyway, at least I was able to finish it. I'd say that the book is brilliant and I will not say anything more.

But I'd just like to share that after reading, I asked my bro G for the link of the supposed spoilers sent to him on Thursday. If you are curious, go Google encyclopedia dramatica and search within the site for Harry Potter and it will lead you to pictures that wormed the net even before the book was released. Now the people who do this are losers. They are not readers at all and are sadistic! How can they spoil everything for those who waited to read this amazing story?!? There are even youtube videos that show spoilers being painted on cars and the cars being driven where people are waiting to get their copies. Sigh. That makes me really angry.

I was paying for my copy on Saturday and there came a group of teenage girls who squealed in delight after seeing the books near the cashier. And guess what they did after that? They got too excited, jumped up and down while shouting, "Look at the ending! Look at the ending!". Gosh. I almost screamed at them to stop doing that because they are spoiling the moment, my moment.

I couldn't help but be emotional about this. Maybe it's just me ;)

My love for books

I don't remember when exactly it happened but I realized I love to read. My friends would tease me, that I read so slowly. But I enjoy it. It is in reading that I widened my vocabulary. It is in reading that I improved my grammar. My parents would tell us never to scrimp on books (and food!), and we never did. My dream house, in fact should have a mini-library. I have been collecting books and I can say I already have a lot. But I have yet to discover other great writers because I feel that some of my choices are juvenile, hehe.

Can't wait for tomorrow.

Harry Potter book 7 (Deathly Hallows) is finally out tomorrow! I called Fully Booked Promenade (where I made my reservation in February!) this morning and I was told that they will open at 7am tomorrow!! Yay! I'll probably miss the Saturday Badminton EB because I'll be busy reading. Last night, my li'l big bro sent me an SMS saying that someone sent him a link to some spoilers of the book. Oh well, he read the supposed spoiler and I didn't let him go further than saying he did that. Ang loko, naghahanap lang pala ng mapapagbawian, sus. My ears and eyes are closed to anything that will spoil everything for me. I wasn't able to re-read the past books but am still excited to read this new one.

Anyway, I am loving the new layout of this blog. I love that the post area is so wide :) I know I have a lot more to do (like the banner!), I need to tweak some settings and change some of the colors. Am done with the color pink...am kinda tired of orange too, but this will do for now. And that avatar? Ages ago! It needs to go :) I have a lot of figuring out to do with that other webhouse, too. I am super thankful that Amor is patiently helping me and teaching me stuff so alien to me.

Another thing to look forward to is the group study in Basic Photography of some Bebots initiated by Abie. Our first assigment is on White Balance and I can't wait to do the assignment this weekend (Oh I still need to study the camera's icons!!!). My output will be posted in the other blog since I figured I can use that space to share all my attempts at creativity. There's the clue :) My new webhouse is going to be my Playground where I can showcase my creative side (or lack thereof :))

Whew! TGIF! Have a nice weekend everyone! (gotta end this now, Rotary meeting in a while...my weekend is about to start!)

ps. I am also looking forward to receiving my copy of the August/September issue of Digital Scrapbooking Magazine, that I subscribed to. I know it is already available as I saw a copy at Fully Booked at The Block. I am excited! :)