Book 3 of 2013: Weedflower

There’s a special National Book Store branch in Forum Robinsons which almost always seem to have a sale on books. Their sale selections are decent compared to other NBS branches and I’ve even spotted a Murakami there once.

Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata tells the story of Sumiko, a Japanese girl raised on a flower farm and how her life changed after Pearl Harbor. We’re all familiar with how the Jews were treated during World War II but this is the first time I’ve read something about Japanese Americans in internment camps.

Overall, it was an easy read (because apparently it is classified as Juvenile Fiction) and it was a steal at Php 100. Here’s to more good x cheap book finds!

Singapore in Shaky HD

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Travel

A compilation of videos I took on our last trip to Singapore. The score is Sunset by Avalanche City.

 

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Book 2 of 2013: Para Kay B

I’m embarrassed that it has been more than 2 months since I finished my first book of 2013 and I’m just barely halfway through the fifth book in George R.R.Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. I have hit a reading slump. I didn’t imagine that I could read that slow, and I knew I had to take a break from the current book I was reading.

Buri Resort and Spa, Puerto Galera

Spent a weekend in Buri Resort and Spa in Puerto Galera. Buri Resort and Spa is consistently on the Top 5, Top 10 or Top 20 list of luxury resorts in the Philippines.

Mt. Batulao

It has been 5 years since the last time I was up a mountain. It was my first climb (the highest peak in Luzon at that), I was in college, I was relatively fitter, and the climb was for a documentary class. One day I woke up wanting to climb again so on a Saturday morning, me, my brothers, W and Tco drove to Batangas for some mountain loving.

Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

I’ve been planning to go to the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta for three years already. This year, I finally went to the opening of the weekend of everything that flies with W and Tco!

Book 1 of 2013: A Feast For Crows

This is my favorite book out of George R.R.Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series so far. The plot twists of A Feast For Crows had me SENDING VIOLENT MESSAGES LIKE THIS at the middle of the night to my friends who’ve finished reading the books. Spoiler alert: The ABC of my OMG-what-is-going-to-happen-they-don’t-have-chapters-anymore-in-this-book feelings – ARYA! BRIENNE! CERSEI!

I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to finish the fifth book in the series, A Dance With Dragons, before the third season of the TV series returns on 3.31.13. What sucks though is this note from George R.R. Martin at the end of A Feast For Crows, “I felt that the readers would be better served by a book that told all the story for half the characters, rather than half the story for all the characters.” This means that I have to wait for the sixth book (which will supposedly be published in 2014) before I find out what will happen to Arya, Brienne, and Cersei. Write faster, George!

What can you fit in one motorcycle?

Apparently, a lot. I did not expect Indonesia to have these many motorcycles (or motorbikes as they call it.) I’ve seen photos of motorcycles in the streets of Vietnam but apparently, Indonesia is now the biggest market for motorcycles in Southeast Asia.

Outside Pasar Kumbasari, one of the traditional markets in Denpasar.

Across the street that runs alongside Kuta Beach.

On Getting Ripped Off In Bali

We’ve come to accept getting ripped off as part of the experience when traveling, from cabbies in Bangkok telling us that the Grand Palace is closed to the fake immigration counters to Cambodia. However, we have not experienced getting ripped off on such a scale as in our latest trip to Bali, Indonesia.

Multi-millionaires in Indonesia where Php 1 is worth more than Rp. 200.

Windowsill Garden

I am turning into my mother, apparently I got her green thumb. The front space of our house is mostly covered in concrete but my mom has filled it with plants. The incredible thing about her gardening is that she doesn’t buy plants, she gets them from her friends or from our trips. We always joke about how my mom would spot a plant she likes by the side of the road, make my dad stop the car and tell my brother to go out and get some of the plant for her.