a long december

I haven't written anything here in a while because the country was marred by the recent and by far the strongest typhoon around the globe, typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan; international name). i was devastated when i saw the typhoon's wrath over local and international news. unbelievable. the strongest that hit the country in my lifetime. which made me wonder, why is the country so susceptible to all sorts of calamities there is until my sister showed me this video snippet about  america's alleged involvement to every disaster there was through project HAARP. 

according to rumors, HAARP is a form of warfare, a war mechanism sort of stuff that, instead of using amunitions, america will instead excite the ionosphere (a layer of earth’s athmosphere) to control weather conditions. this is a very evil form of defense against the enemy. if ever this is true, i am not happy because it's totally insane and a total act of cowardice. the thing is, anything man-made is expected to fire back, the question is WHEN. i thought, movies about the end of the world and stuff is too farfetched from reality but, after what i've seen and heard about HAARP, i don’t think it’ll be impossible. i can’t wrap my head around why these geniuses would rather embark on dangerous form of war experiments than find cure for cancer.

the year brought about a lot of pain to people not just here in the country but the rest of the world. i, personally lost my loving mom this year. cory monteith passed away and just recently one of my favourite hollywood actor paul walker due to a freak car crash during this benefit show he organized for the victims of typhoon yolanda. 

i can't wait to welcome the new year. i hope it'll be better than the last like this song by counting crows 'a long december.' my heart goes out to all the people who lost their loved ones this year. god has better plans for us.

blogspot, tumblr, IG, flea market etc!

i'm not a fan of tumblr except now after i realized how easy it was to share photos from instagram to tumblr to twitter. i love taking pictures thus i enjoy instagram a lot and that's the same reason why i've recently been fascinated with tumblr. before instagram, there's the now dormant flicker. after flicker there was photobucket. i guess this just proves how dinosaur i am lol.

i have not maintained my tumblr account until recently considering i made my account two years ago. i thought tumblr is kinda like a photoblog site, you share your photos at the same time write something about it.  we never had these social networking stuff when i was growing up? the advent of friendster™ gave birth to other social networking sites such as multiply, myspace, linkedin etcetera but only one remained unfazed by the rest and that' s facebook. i learned not so long ago that instagram happened to be siblings with facebook, they spawned from the same maker. 

going back, i tried moving my blogs from here (my blogspot account) to my tumblr but failed miserably because my recents blogs did not move. i don't understand why tumblr only absorbed the old blogs and left the new ones with blogspot? but then, i have no remorse against tumblr because i find blogspot challenging in terms of .xml files and stuff when changing my blog skins which is not present with tumblr. the later always have ready to use beta looking themes/skins. i love reading codes and i find it fascinating whenever you see the codes translated into themes in blogspot.  i feel like messing up with morse codes that a single mistake could ruin the whole look/interface of my blog lol. so, the move from blogspot to tumblr was partly unsuccessful but nevertheless i am still ok with blogspot as it is user friendly. 

change topic. zzZzZz.

i went to this local flea market and i saw tons of px goods such as chocolates, aerosols, toiletries, cosmetics, perfumes and so on and so forth. i love best buys so i think i will go back one of these days for some more shopping spree. i love my pocket size salvatore ferragamo incanto™ mini perfume and also the cadbury no matter how sinful it was for a dieter like me.

all is well

our cat is recuperating well so far after his return from the vet a couple of weeks ago and that's  definitely a good news. 

moving on, just to share my recent trip to the endocrinologist. he  prescribed this calcium supplement called Calvit™Gold to address my muscle cramps and it definitely worked wonders. my blood test showed i am now hypothyroid as a result of over medication for hyperthyroid when i was still with my previous endocrinologist. now, my new endocrinologist explained that my TSH level is still ok because it is still below the alarming level which is 30 so the half is 15 (mine is just at 12). if my TSH is 15 and above that will urgently call for medication. So, my endoc's conclusion is that i refrain from taking thyroid medicines for now and let the side effects from my previous meds (tapdin & inderal) subside while i continue taking my calcium supplement Calvit™Gold every Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays instead of the usual daily intake before dinner time. I was advised that, i come back by the end of October to see how it goes that, it's either i go back to being hyperthyroid; normal again not hyper OR be hypo for good and i fervently hope not because slow metabolism would mean difficulty losing weight. i wanna go back to wearing my old clothes again dear god :( anyways, like i have a choice as it is hereditary in my case so i guess i just have to deal with it and hope for the best. 

so, my sister and i resorted to dieting as usual and started climbing stairs as a form of work out. the good thing was the new flat we're renting happened to be closed to the grotto so we have this urge to climb up all the 250 stairs.

my sister and i recently found how enjoyable it is to buy stuff from the local wet market than shopping inside the confides of air-conditioned grocery stores because of how cost effective it was.  i despise going to wet markets before but after i realized how much of a big saving it was, i thought, a trip to the local wet market isn't bad.

since the local market is close to just about everything (transportation and restaurants), a place for chow time has never been this convenient. my sister and i often eat at the rainbow café  walking distance from the local wet market. we usually order their best seller called rainbow rice which is an amalgamation of white rice topped with sunny side up egg, tons of veggies (chopsuey), lechon cuts and steamed chicken for only 75php. you can either pair it with brewed coffee or hot cocoa for additional 20php. the place is nostalgic because my family used to eat there when i was young.

NEW READ:

Let's Pretend This Never Happened 

by Jenny Lawson

i've been reading quite a few pages and i've been laughing my heart out. i'll blog about the book when i'm done. au revoir for now.

what's up with all the jinx?

Atari with his own Elizabeth's collar

The weather gets really gloomy here up north because it's raining all the time. i am not a fan of rainy days/season because my medical condition is making me not very tolerant to the cold.  moving on, back to renting a flat again after my sister and i realized that the cost of gas is so much more pricey than paying the rent.  our new flat is cozy because t'was newly painted although it's an obvious old building. newly painted spaces look good as new most of the time. 

some jinx
just recently my sister was rushed to the ER (emergency room) because she slipped in the bathroom and hit her nose. it wasn't bad actually just a scratch although the bridge of her nose turned quite swollen because of the trauma after it hit the faucet. an x-ray was performed to make sure she did not break a single bone and all was well. few days prior, our cat atari was rushed to this 24hour veterinary clinic after he sustained serious wounds and his long tail is already being infested by maggots. we were told that he's been ran over by a car and he was lucky to be alive amidst the painful wounds he got from the accident except the vet needed to amputate his tail because it won't be of any use anymore. we we're a bit guilty because if we live together with our cat, we could've looked after him. he was confined for 2 days and was released soon. thank god. our mom must've sent him home inch by inch and is still around looking after us. our cat is recuperating well, he's been eating a lot, sleep a lot as usual, meows and purrs a lot.  i am hoping that everything will be normal again and brush off all the jinx there is. i am also praying that all the misfortunes will soon be replaced with positive vibes. 

Mesothelioma Awareness Day

Heather shoot me an email to share her story through my blog so I said sure why not I'd always be of help to anybody as long as its for a good cause.

So, here's her story:

Heather is a wife, mother, and a mesothelioma survivor. A rare form of cancer that is most commonly caused by exposure to asbestos.

When her daughter Lily was 3 ½ months old she was diagnosed with this rare and deadly cancer, was given 15 months to live. It’s been 7 years Heather since is cancer-free. let's help her promote awareness regarding mesothelioma and help inspire others who are battling with the same by sharing her story and also in honor of the upcoming Mesothelioma Awareness Day, this coming Thursday September 26, 2013. 

Heather also wishes to provide a sense of hope for others facing life’s difficult challenges. Let us help Heather spread awareness by sharing the campaign page on your blog or other social networking accounts you have per se. The goal is 7,200 social media shares! 

Let us use the social media sites to exist for a cause other than sharing each and every bit of our waking hours not helping others. Remember, it just takes a click of a finger to help one and it could go a long way! :)

Please also visit this link/page below for more details! 

www.mesothelioma.com/heather/awareness

hyperthyroid turning hypothyroid

I have been enduring a lot of muscle cramps, muscle twitches or whatever you call it since after i stopped taking inderal (its known side effect) for roughly less than a couple of months now because i am hyperthyroid. after reading articles online, i found that i may now be hypothyroid because hypothyroid patients endure so much more muscle pains than hyperthyroid people. when my hyperthyroidism started manifesting i've had palpitations, hand tremors and the worst of all thigh pains which made it too difficult for me to climb stairs because it felt like there's too much weight on my calves and the pain was unbearable every time i walk up the stairs. after the treatment, the hand tremors dissipated, my heart rate slowed down and i was fine again plus my heart seemed to enjoy the walking unlike before, i have to stop every time due to extreme tiredness especially walking uphill. however, i noticed that i'm starting to gain weight. at first, i was a little delighted that my eyes were no longer bulging, my cheeks looks fuller again, but then, i didn't like the fact that my weight gain would be alongside so many muscle twitches that i can no longer function normally. 

i can't do stretching like i used to nor exercise due to the unusual muscle pains. i am now looking to switch to another endocrinologist because i have a feeling that my overactive thyroid is now underactive because of my weight gain, extreme sensitivity to cold, constipation, sluggishness and the worst extreme muscle pains. i know i shouldn't assume but i learned from another hyperthyroid patient from work that once hyperthyroid, if not monitored by an endocrinologist, the patient has a tendency to become hypothyroid due to over medication. i hated my weight gain because it took me 2 years to lose weight.

in lieu of technology

Iinferno by dan brown

setting : italy

prof. robert langdon, who's impeccable knowledge on symbols and dante's writings (dante alighieri's, divine comedy) led to the unfolding of an already viral virus. langdon and the genius doctor sienna brooks became hand in hand in unravelling what the video message of zobrist (scientist & siena's ex, he made the virus) meant.  prof. langdon woke up at a hospital in italy. he was told he was shot whilst he was on a sabbatical.

the world health organization sent langdon on a mission to found out what the WHO can't in relation to zobrist's plans. his mission is to release a virus of some kind to ward off population explosion. he then commited suicide by jumping off a historic building afterwards scheduled the release of his video borrowing phrases from dante a. for the experts to figure. the WHO suspected langdon's loyalty and later on was on a hunt to find langdon as he might have taken on a new leaf and started working for the enemies. but, that was just an assumption on the WHO's end. langdon didn't know brooks got involved with zobrist and so on and so forth.  fast forward. langdon was made believe that people are after him. that, he was shot in the head and brooks was out to help him out of the situation just for him to find that she's not indeed an ally but someone after to propagate the virus made by zobrist which was again an assumption on langdon's and the WHO's end. the two traveled as far as turkey to prevent the virus from spreading just to find that they're too late. the virus already gone airbourne which inflicted tons of the population already. the virus was meant to avoid population growth thus will turn vast of the population infertile. the virus can no longer be reversed but there was no indication on the book that they will let it go on widespread unresolved. the book ended well, langdon now ok with the WHO, was again friends with sienna then went back to boston.

t'was  an exciting read although it took me long to finish it because i can't wrap my head around too many jargons used in the book and i'm not into science and stuff that much although i felt like i was running with robert langdon and sienna brooks in the streets of italy.

• out of the easy by ruta sepetys • 

setting : new orleans, La

i found the book very exciting to read. 

characters:

•josie moraine - main character; daughter of a prostitute.

•patrick - charlie's son; josie' s closest childhood friend

•charlie - patrick's dad, former writer and has turned looney, owner of a bookstore; gave josie a small space on the 2nd floor of the bookshop when she could live.

•jessie - josie's love interest

•willie - owner of a brothel house where josie's mother works.

josie and her mom were settlers in new orleans. josie's mom is a prostitute but she described her not in a filthy way. she accept gifts from men and loves money more than her daughter. josie's mom was ambitious and once told her she was supposed to go to hollywood to pursue a career as an actress until she got pregnant with her. what kind of momma blames a daughter for her misfortunes? josie met a fine man named mr. hearne at the bookstore where she and patrick works, he said he's in new orleans to watch a game and drop by at the bookstore to find himself nice reads. he assumed josie's in college. josie was born out of wedlock so he once dreamt of having a father and the man was too fitting to be his father. josie dreamt about going to college  because she met charlotte, a girl who goes to school uptown. she goes to Smith where fine young girls goes to school. charlotte invited josie to apply to Smith. willie, owner of the brothel house where josie works as a cleaner, heard of josie's plan of going to smith so discouraged her to apply  and instead advised her to go for northampton. willie was supportive of josie's dreams despite her harshness towards her. josie once told willie that she's her fairy godmother.  mr. hearne died all of a sudden, someone slipped a drug on his drink at the bar. josie's mom was the suspect as she was last seen with him. her mom left new orleans with cincinnatti, a thief and and a dick who hurts her mother. her mother got away with her involvement with mr. hearne's death but josie was asked for 5 grand to pay off the group who covered up for her mom. willie helped josie. 

josie & patrick - the two kissed but their relationship never prospered because patrick said he liked josie as a friend because he's now with a girl named kitty. 

josie's mum along with her bf stole her college funds which was raised by cokie (works for willie and protects josie like a friend and father). josie was devastated. she failed Smith to aggravate the situation.  jessie became josie's crying shoulder.

willie had a heart attack after josie told her how her mother stole her money and ran off with cincinnatti. josie got willie's vacation home in shady grove. cokie and sadie (willie's trusted brothel house employees), all got their share as stated on willie's last will and testament. 

josie ended up with jessie and as the book ended she's headed to northampton to pursue college.

t'was enticing to read because of the swift turn of events. i didn't even notice i was down to the last few pages as i was expecting for more. but then, i couldn't think of a better ending for josie.  it is indeed a nice read. i was addicted at some point. sometimes i judge the book by it's cover and most of the time the cover tells so much about the book if you will just take notice. there's always a gem lurking in each and every book i guess. 

Farewell..Goodnight, So Long..Goodbye..

"Cast your burdens upon me, those who are heavily laden, come to Me all of you who are tired, of carrying heavy load.. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the burden is light.. come to Me, and I will give you rest.."

it took me a while to write again because i was consumed with so much grief due to my mom's passing. she was taken by our Lord last June 23 which was just roughly three weeks ago due to acute respiratory failure secondary to aspiration pneumonia. she was gone too soon at the age of 67.  

the only health condition we knew about her was hypertension (although we suspected other underlying illness/es). my mom hated to be taken cared of and she stressed that out so badly when she was still alive. she was the most altruistic person i've known in my entire life. a wonderful, loving mother. her permanent absence i will truly miss. 

it was dreadful which left me and my family  shocked for days. everything went on so fast. so surreal that i never had enough time to absorb and mused on what was going on.  

Death indeed is like a thief in the night...

later on my family learned that our grandma passed away June 24 (which year i never knew because i was still little back then.) i guess it' s really my mom's time to go. i think coincidence is not really a coincidence. i still have a hole in my heart up to now although my family and i already accepted the fact that she's gone.

 it's tough..it really is tough loving someone you know you'll never see ever in your lifetime. but then, i thank God for the memories that neither time will let pass. i will always love and remember her. i will always think about her and thank her for every lessons in life she taught me. i still feel stoic up until now but part of the wounds are healing although the void is still deep. i know i need to give myself a long time, enough time to heal. 

i don't have hard feelings towards the Almighty for my mom's untimely passing but questions lingered in my mind such as was it really her time to go? did she feel pain? or did she meet grandma on the afterlife?

i miss my mom. 

i hope she's with the rest of our reposed relatives on the other side. i will surely miss her homecooking and her chuckles whenever i come home.   but then i'm still happy having lived here up north and spent roughly two years seeing her during my days off from work after being away for many years due to work proximity down south, work loads and all that.

i remember how my mom always say that she's tired. we never knew what she meant by that until that very day she left us. i guess she's been enduring a lot of health issues long before which we were never aware about. we never failed pleading for her to visit the doctor although we knew she  hated it. i understand that because when people get old they hate trips to the doctor because they know for sure something is wrong. but then, my advise to our folks not getting any younger, GO see a doctor whenever you feel that something is wrong to prevent further health constraints. seeing the doctor won't hurt. that's part of life..people grow old, get sick and turn fragile. we are not invincible because that's what we humans are made--to be vurnerable to what life is there to offer may it be pain, sorrow and what have you.

let's always remember to treat each day as the last and express how we truly love the people who matter to us every day because we never really know what lies ahead.We will never know. only God can tell when your time is up.  

why do good peoole die early? i always wonder although the answer is obvious--they have fulfilled their mission in this world so their time is up so soon. sometimes, it's hard to wrap your head around it but let's never question God's will. everything happens for a reason. the reason i guess is CHANGE. for situations, relationship beween people or people habits perhaps, to change for the better. 

i always believe that whenever something wonderful is bound to happen comes tragedy. i was diagnosed with graves disease (hyperthyroidism) three months ago thus explained my sudden weightloss and also learned that t'was hereditary and affects women in my clan during their 30' s thus explains how i acquired it. a cousion of mine had it and so as my niece. i never thought that my constant leg pain was part of it. my mom was devastated because i've never been truly sick although i was a functional individual because my illness did not deter me from going to work has the leg pains. i was ok but not my parents about my health condition. i went to see a doctor and was prescribed tapdin for my thyroid while inderal for my palpitations/increased heart rate, shaky hands.

 i am well by far and gained a little weight. the last time i saw my mom almost a month ago she was happy that i was kinda back in shape. i can say that in lieu of my betterness God has laid my mom to rest possibly to tell her that i am ok and she can finally go so i always assure my mom whenever i pray at night that i am ok. by the way, i got my love for writing from my mom so there goes this journal.

i was hurt but i know too much grief won't help whilst i'm on medication so i will try my best to be happy that my mom is finally free from all the hardships of this world.

books & make up

I  love my new Revlon perfecting primer. I purchased  one few days back  because i've been yearning to have a primer so that my make up would last all day long. I have been using this tinted moisturizer in a while, the only problem was, the texture appeared  'cakey' every time i look at myself in the mirror.  Moving on, Revlon's perfecting primer was great and dries pretty fast so you can apply your foundation fast enough so you have enough time to do the rest of your make-up.

By the way, I bought new e-books from this e-book shop on Instagram called @shop4ebooks and got this another talked about book by Dan Brown entitled 'Inferno.' I'll blog about it once done reading so i can share my thoughts about it.  You know, sometimes reading a book yourself changes each and every rumor about it. To read is to believe. 

beautiful disaster

beautiful disaster 

by jamie mcguire

it took me a while to finish the book because i was busy again with tons of things such as preparing for my sister and i's birthday (hotel reservations, buying stuff for the trip etc.) so, finally, i finished the darn book with a rock on cover. i never thought t'was a love story.

characters: 

• travis maddox--fell madly in love with abby/pigeon
• abby abernathy--the virginal love interest of travis
• america--abby's bestfriend
• shepley--travis' cousin and america's bf

travis and abby met at eastern university. travis join fights to raise money for himself thus spends them lavishly. when i say 'fights' imagine robert downey jr. in sherlock holmes, that kind. travis and abby made a bet on one of travis' fights, eventually the later won. abby, as a result of losing the bet was left with no choice but live on travis' condo, same room, same bed to abby's dismay. travis & abby's love story was exhausting to read: lots of fighting, travis stalking abby, abby holding back but in the end was not able to fully ignore travis. love is a strong force eh? the two went back together, amend their differences, kissed and made out. happy ending amidst the two's prolonged enforced agony. they got married and abby had a tattoo (not to mention travis was a tattoed bloke himself.)

--the end

i am a fan of suspense thrillers so beautiful disaster isn't really my kind of book but whaddaheck i enjoyed reading it and at one point got engrossed with it for some reason lol. love is an element in every book the readers cannot find not interesting no  matter how cheesy the story is. next read---infinite sky by c.j flood :)

Cuz Itz Mah Birthday.

Staycation at the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn & Suites...

Every year my sister and I go somewhere special for our birthday, anywhere far from home preferably. We started traveling to celebrate our birthday back in 2008. First to Sagada with our parents, then the city of Pines the year after, on our own to Vigan the next (2010) then Singapore (2011) which was the farthest we've travelled alone. We're not new with travelling since we grew up travelling with our family a lot to mostly out of town trips. We enjoyed all the experiences we gained from travelling on our own though, the pain of raising money to further the trip down to all the getting lost here and there trying to find this and that place. Nevertheless, the memories you gained from those trips, priceless.

Crown Plaza Manila Galleria, our home
for couple of days...

Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Ortigas

We weren't able to spend our birthday anywhere far last year because of our move to the north and all. The new job compelled us to spend our birthday in the office due to training and stuff. We both hate spending our birthday at work, the most annoying thing but we never had a choice anyways. So, this time around we decided to come back down to Manila, our hometown to spend our birthday there at one of those fancy hotels where we could use our employee discounts for.  We tagged our other sibling along so she could experience the perks of working for the hotel industry.

We left the north early because it'd be a seven hour trip then as soon as we reached Ortigas we took a cab to Robinson's Galleria then took the elevator to reach the wing attached to the Crowne Plaza. It was such a pain commuting with our luggage bags and all, it was such a hassle. We loved the Crowne Plaza, it looked kind of old but It was cozy. We were assigned a room on the 17th floor overlooking the Highway. A birthday cake was delivered to our room the day of our Birthday with notes from hotel staff, how cool. We enjoyed the complimentary hotel amenities although we craved for some donuts came night time. I love hotels attached to malls, everything is just right around the corner. We spent a couple of days at the Crowne Plaza then hotel hopped to our new hotel in Makati, the Holiday Inn and Suites. Again, we took a cab from Ortigas to Makati and it was a hefty fare of course because of the traffic.

Holiday Inn & Suites Makati

The Holiday Inn in Makati is not so easy to find compared to Crowne Plaza although it's attached to Glorietta. I guess because it's within Makati's outskirts. The staff seemed very busy for some reason when we arrived. I don't know what's the fuss about but they seemed understaff the day my sisters and I got there, barely anyone at the front desk. It was different at the Holiday Inn Makati, you have to use your key card to reach your floor as oppose to the basic press the button scenario at the elevator whilst at the Crowne Plaza,  the old school way. I hated that because getting to your floor made it quite confusing. I don't despise change but at a little help would

Holiday Inn and Suites Makati

be better. We were assigned a room on 12th floor as far as I can remember and the room was nice except it was a little small. The fixtures were obviously spanking new because It was a brand new hotel what to expect. I enjoyed the free wifi by the way which the Crowne Plaza doesn't offer yet. We spent one night there and off we go the next day, back to homey! Where to next? Hoping for an out of the country trip next year! Hopefully...we're crossing our fingers. It's been a while since our passports were stamped. Had a great birthday though despite all the inconvenience commuting.

chicken soup for dieter's soul..

it's all about dieting baby! seriously, the book is a compilation of success stories of people who went from plus size to happy and fit! i was able to relate to majority of them because i used to be overweight and unhappy with how i looked before. being fit is not just about losing those extra pounds but it' s also about veering away from health constraints as a result of obesity.

weight watchers-- this is a points based system of dieting..you eat more calories the harder you need to work out to be exact. i hope i learn how it fully works so i can put in to use and incorporate it on my diet. over all..it's an inspiring book for those who are battling with health issues intertwined with being severely overweight. it takes one step at a time.

this and that.

i guess no one is immune to sickness..i thought i'd ever be except two days ago. i am currently enduring and mending a cold as i write this blog. i hate getting sick 'cuz instead of spending some time reading i need to sleep after taking meds arrgh! anyways, i haven't been sick since last year so i still have a strong immune system.

moving on, been spending time shopping online. my sister and i bought this 10 set blusher and 80 matte palettes through instagram. few weeks ago i got myself this purple wristwatch and i love it. shopping online is such a breeze.

i have tons of ebooks to read in between work loads and all. i' m currently looking forward to add some more e-books to my ibook library but finding time to read is such a pain at the moment. as of right now, i am currently multitasking reading chicken soup for the dieter's soul and 50 shades of lexi maxwell. 

shadows on the moon - zoe marriott

i finished reading the book last week and it was worth reading. i was enthused to read it because i found the book cover interesting.

setting : “Moonlit Land, or Tsuki no Hikari no Kuni.”

suzume, the main character of the book witnessed the death of her father and cousin. her father was accused of treachery towards the moon prince. suzume and her cousin ran for their lives but only suzume got lucky because this old man named youta weaved shadows around her so she would be invisible to the soldiers. suzume's mother went out searching for her and eventually found her, surprised and was happy to see her alive amidst the dreadful death of her father and cousin. youta and suzume became friends and he gave her a new name 'Rin.'

i'll fast forward a little: suzume found out that her mom is getting married to her father's closest friends just few days after her father's death. suzume was devastated. youta found out that suzume has a gift--she can weave shadows like him. i know it's a jargon so lemme explain..she can weave shadow to make herself invisible and appear differently such look flawless etc. suzume was oblivious of what she can do, so, youta trained to use her 'gift.' one day, her stepfather invited folks from various countries known to be good friends with the moon prince so he could obtain influence. otieno, a son of one of the men, became suzume's love interest. suzumi's mother gave birth to twins. on that same eve her lunatic stepdad wanted to kill her. suzume ran away out of horror the turned homeless and got locked up in prison after she was acused of being a thief. she met akira in prison and she learned she's a skilled shadow weaver. the two escaped. akira gave suzume her third name 'Yue.' akira taught everything she knew about weaving shadows. she also told suzume that she was once a shadow bride. once a shadow bride a woman could ask anything from the moon prince. a shadow bride will earn so much power. suzume was amazed and wanted to be a shadow bride herself because she wanted to avenge her father and cousin as well as revenge against her own mother. akira and suzume succeeded with their shadow bride mission. suzume was a perfect match and eventually became one. oriento and suzume ended up together. that's about it.

the end.

my take on the book--t'was interesting really. reading its first few pages made me think of those typical japanese classic flicks...cherry blossoms, kimono, women with their chalk white faces, geisha etcetera etcetera. the killing of suzume's father and cousin was grotesque--there goes my favorite word again lol. my only concern was, some terms were in japanese so i guess it wouldn't hurt for footnotes. another thing was, i never thought that the author was british! the way the book was written made me think that the person who wrote it was probably japanese. i even thought that it was a book originally written by a japanese author and possibly was translated in english as in the case of the girl with a dragon tattoo originally written in swedish. well anyways, it's a nice read. i recommend that you guys read it and see for yourselves. i liked it because it's not your typical love story. love maybe typical i know but suzume's story isn't. 

find a new book!

nowadays it's such a pain finding your fave ebook because it's either you have to pay for it or you need to scour the whole wide cyberspace for free ones haha! i thought, ebooks could be as pricey as paperbacks just to found myself wrong.

i have no time to shop via multiply or ebay anymore cuz i just don't have the patience like my sister who would take some time shopping online from stem to stern! she'll usually take her pick from the variety of items online and she'll ask which one i'll buy then wallah, she'll go through all the hassles of processing the payments & wait for her items to be shipped and notify me once they're there. but then, apart from liking the photos on instagram, i found that it has became an avenue for online sellers as well, unlike photobucket, you only get to store your photos.

so, i found that ebooks are for sale on instagram and i was truly delighted because they're electronically paid and sent thru your email addy it's such a time saver compared to ordering paperbacks online and wait for them to be shipped. imagine how easy it is today? unlike before i need to take a trip to a local bookstore and rummage through the shelves to find a nice read! the whole thing makes me happy and the advent of instagram can be truly amazing. so it'll e such a breeze shopping for ebooks. by the way i got them for P10 a piece!

nweiz, since i'd be happy reading my newly ordered ebooks in a few i just wanna share that i also recently had my lash extension and it' s another amazing thing about living in this era. no surgery needed to lengthen those lashes!

ebooks and stuff

i just finished reading the infamous novel by john green 'the fault in our stars.' all i can say is..t'was rueful. the book was about gus waters and hazel's love story amidst having cancer.

the two met at this cancer support group which aims to help kids dealing with the illness. hazel happened to be attending the group on a regular basis while gus just recently joined in. gus told hazel that he was a cancer survivor but his leg was amputated as a result of his battle. hazel and gus fell in love to make the long story short. the two travelled to amsterdam to meet the writer of the book hazel fell in love with and was too squeamish to know what concludes the book. van houten was a total disappointment but in the long run hazel learned the reason for his pessimism.

the sad thing was, gus eventually died because his cancer went from bad to worst leaving hazel grieving.

during gus' wake hazel learned that van houten's daughter died thus explains his bitterness. the writer attended gus' funeral. hazel eventually forgave the van houten and moved on. hazel found a letter written by gus to van houten. he wrote that hazel is a hero.

the end.

to be honest, i didn't really like it because maybe am just not a fan of books with tragic endings. but, other than that it was a nice read as it opens your mind to a whole lot of things about life and living.

the book made me think how precious life is and some people are just lucky to be alive while some are yearning to live longer but they can't.

sucking the marrow out of life

before i got myself busy,
had a dose first of Italian
white hat yogurt!

It's been a while since i wrote something cuz I was pretty busy with tons of stuff: reading e-books one after another..after another..after another...feeling like this energizer bunny ad on tv, work, instagram yadda yadda.

it's been really cold where i live lately. it's true, the first quarter of the year gets even more colder than usual. sometimes, it would come to the point i get nosebleeds. i know it's not severe though, but t it gets really scary at times because i'm from down south all my life so my body is kind of accustomed to living in humid to way hot temperatures yet never had nosebleeds? well, i guess, somehow my body is made for the heat but not that much for the cold!

i've been busy with e-books by john green i kind of rummaged online. i'm currently reading 'the fault in our stars' then i'll move on to the next 'will grayson.' i'm kind of reaaally itching to book hop but i don't want to cuz that'll ruin my being faithful to one book. that'll make me sad. i don't wanna book hop like i job hop ha ha!

i'm so happy that my sister and i just got our orders through e-bay today and i'm sooo thrilled to see some new stuff!

my song of the day --- monsters by band of horses ;)

i hope you have a great day like i do...it's freakin' payday and i lahvet. i'm considering having false eyelashes...maybe one of these days.

2013 - Year of the Water Snake!

first of, happy new year! it's 2013, another year has gone by sooo quick! hoping for a peaceful and joyous year. wow, time flies as usual. i'm getting even more older geesh haha!

anyways, my sister and i spent our New year's eve here in our flat 'cuz by jinx i need to come to work new year's day! my twin sister or should i say 'twinnie' bought home some fried chicken bucket and spaghetti for media noche. this is how filipinos celebrate NYE as we call it: eating, drinking, partying, family reunions an so on and so forth.

i spent my pre NYE in my parents house last December 26-30th. my brother from down south paid a visit and made chicken macaroni for us. twinnie and i by the way decided to include one of tea house's tasteful cake called yema caramel and yup t'was good. we trust tea house when it comes to delicious cakes 'cuz pretty much they're the best here upnorth.

it took us almost a week to finally consume all the leftovers from NYE. it's such a festive season! but then, ill go back to my usual routine after all this gastronomic feasts--DIET!

just an excerpt:

Welcome to Year of the Water Snake! Snake is the Yin to last year's Dragon Yang. That said, Snake does not settle for mediocrity, either. We're likely to see significant developments in the area of science and technology this year. Research and development are apt to flourish. This is a Water year as well, the element most closely associated with education and research, making 2013 a very special year for scientists and scholars. Snake is a great sign, a positive one, with energy that can help us face all of the challenges ahead of us. Let's take advantage of this vibrant influence to improve our lives -- and our world!

Once again...have a blessed one! :)