2009 Reading List

I'm not really and avid reader, but last year, I really committed myself to reading be it for leisure, for knowledge or even for the mere purpose of passing time time. Here are the ones that really got my attention.

Chick Lit, thanks to Sophie Kinsella's not-a-care-in-the-world characters both in the Shopaholic Series and Remember me.

Neil Gaiman Collection, which I started with his compilation of short stories, then The Graveyard Book and Startdust, which I read to see if it was anything better than the movie (yes it was). And Coraline, before I went to watch the movie.

The Twilight Series, because yes, it was in everybody's reading list. But also because it was juvenile (Twilight), heartbreaking (New Moon), fickle (Eclipse) and vindicating (Breaking Dawn).

I saw the trailer of Where the Wild Things Are and decided to read the book with my son, It was.....let's just say it's not one of those books that you read with your 5-year old son and forget about it one you reached the last page. There's just so many things to explain and so many things to process for me and my son to get the most out of it.

Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, whose reviews got into me. I might have ingested most parts of it as I could still hear parts of it wringing in my ears. Stories about the New York City police department, Paul Revere, mavens, connectors, the magic number and more. So when I saw that Malcolm Gladwell got a new book, The Outliers, I just couldn't pass on the chance of reading it. True enough it was as educating as Tipping Point was.

Then of course there is Freakonomics, which was written by an economist and everything that I didn't expect a book on economics could be. It was as informative as Gladwell's., its discussion on the applications of the game theory, asking questions about similar behaviors among sumo wrestlers and teachers, the economics of drug dealing, and how penalties distorts economic decision making. Super cool!

And later this year, I stumbled on TED and learned about Daniel Gilbert's book Stumbling on Happiness which doesn't talk about the perfect formula for happiness, but discusses how rational decisions can cause irrational unhappiness.

This year, I hope I'd do better, bringing more serious materials into my reading list . I'd definitely look forward to reading Superfreakonomics. And I'll try to finish whatever material I started to read (Still have 3 books hanging over my head). Good luck to me!

Felicia's Pastry Cafe

By chance I was able to land at Lori Baltazar's Food Blog Dessert Comes First and learned about this dessert haven in Bacolod called Felicia's. She wrote about her trip to the place with so much gusto that she had me redoing my whole Saturday to-do-list to squeeze in a "gotta taste it to believe moment."

We came by the Cafe at around 11:30am, quite an odd time to stop by for desserts. The moment we stepped into the cafe, my eyes were transfixed into the rows of assorted mini-cakes and pielets - mocha caramel mousse, banoffee, sugarfree apple pielets, pandan mousse, chocolate cakes and more! Overwhelmed, I actually forgot all about the sans rival which Ms. Baltazar referred to as phenomenal. Instead, we ordered what we wanted to eat at that very instant - pecan pie for the hubby, cookies and cream cheesecake for Koy and a blueberry french macaroon for me. The hubby was satisfied with his choice as the pie wasn't as sweet as they had it in Calea. Koy liked the cheesecake too, but didn't care to finish it (he's not so fond of cakes). He traded his cake for a few bites of my blueberry macaroon, which he liked better especially because it turned his tongue blue.

After exchanging views about our desserts and engaging our food server in a little chitchat, we learned that the Felicia's has been around for a long time already known to many for its sweet creations such as the Turron de Pili, Almondettes and Almond Crunch. It was only in October 2008, however, that the Pastry Cafe came into operation carrying cakes and pastries which eventually has gathered a following among the locals.

Before we knew it, we've already wiped clean our forks and satisfied our cravings for sweets. So much for desserts-before-lunch. To cap our Felicia's experience we bought ensaymada (or was it bibingka?) for our afternoon snack.

I didn't fall in love with Felicia's at first sight, but I'm pretty sure I'd like to go back and have some of those sans rival!

To know more about Felicia's you view their Facebook page here >>>.

Note: Digiscrap resources by Maya.

Wall-E Spotted

The workings of the trash compactor robot named Wall-e has been discovered near the peaceful Rolling Hills Memorial Chapel in Bacolod City. Is it not that it is supposed to start doing its work on 2105? Have we been fast-tracking our wasteful ways thereby laying the grounds for the establishment of a super-mega landfill that necessitates the abandonment of the earth we live in and the death of all life forms? Has doomsday come before Christmas?


Echos lang! Been meaning to post this pictures online for the longest time ever! I've been passing by the shortcut road at 27th Lacson Street to evade the traffic at Crossing Ramos since time in immemorial. But I never really got excited about these pile of junks until Wall-E.

I love this movie, Koy loved it too. He was 4 when he first watched it and he was deeply moved (spoiler alert! read at your own risk, if you haven't seen the movie yet) during that scene when Eve didn't recognize Wall-E. It's a good movie to watch with children. It teaches kids about the environment, waste management, learning to cope with whatever blessings you have, resourcefulness and companionship.

Wall-E is now available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Order and own one now! >>>

Watch Slumdog Millionaire

Included in TIME's Top 10 Movies of 2008.

One young man, Jamal (Dev Patel), has miraculously, or suspiciously, spanned those two worlds. A tea server, or chai wallah, for a telephone marketing company, he has won a fortune on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The show's host (Anil Kapoor) is so skeptical of Jamal's ability to answer the questions that he has policemen try to torture the truth out of the lad. His explanations all relate to his hard life as a homeless orphan in the company of his brother Salim (Madhur Mittal) and, not often enough, with the winsome, consistently abused Latika (Freida Pinto). Salim is a type-A troublemaker, a fighter and conniver, restless and reckless, and thus the ideal complement to Jamal's caution, sensitivity and resilience. These flashbacks constitute the body of a sharp, teeming, dark, very romantic film. - www.time.com

This Indian movie deserved my Wow! I actually enjoyed that one! moment. The movie was charming, easy to follow and very much relatable (and it wasn't TH - trying hard, if I may add). It showed the conditions of the poor in India, organized crime, and crooks that ruled the streets. Yet, never dwelling too much to outshine the movie's plot. For instance, there was this scene of the women washing clothes on a murky brown water river. Also, the public toilets where the poop fall directly into the swamp. You watch scenes like that and you know they are serious societal conditions, but before you can even dwell on that thought, the movie takes you to more important development on the lives of the character that eventually lead you to put that thought on hold so you can concentrate on the story.

Watch the trailer here and go and watch the movie! go, go, go!



Digression: I've been entranced by Indian films since my melancholy nights in Dubai circa 1999. It kept me company during those times when I missed home, well, cable TV to be exact. Reminded me of summer afternoons and those films I watched on PPP (Piling-Piling Pelikula) . Those 70s and early 80s films featuring the likes of Rogelio dela Rosa, Charito Solis, Nida Blanca and Gloria Romero. The Indian movies that I saw, though, centered more on the bare-chested men than their damsels in distress. There were a lot of dancing too which required a lot of hip work and the songs, so LSS-ish!

Forest Park, Bacolod City

I didn't have any expectations of the place save for the animals, which I wanted my son to see (whatever they were). So when we got there I went, "Wow! this IS a park!"

It's an enclosed property (much like Eden Natural Park in Davao) only 30 times or so smaller. The greenery was a feast for the eyes. There were three playground sites complete with monkey bars, swings and see-saws for kids and feeling-kids. Lovers could take a stroll and settle on the many wooden benches around the park. We actually saw at least three pairs during our visit. Hmmmm, was that other girl still in her school uniform?

The lagoons and the bridges made a perfect site for the much needed emo moment. I made my mother pose in one of them, choreographed it even to make it more dramatic (echos!). Picnickers could bring their own food or order from the canteen located near the mini-zoo. We bumped into a few teenagers on the way to the cottage areas carrying bagfuls of junkies. I hope they know how to dispose of their garbage properly.

For the animal lovers, there were the rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, snake and monkeys in the cages and the kois in the ponds. One of the resident monkeys (lolo monkey, we called him) was a bit hostile though, banging on the cage and threatening to bite us. That's just because I touched the baby monkey's back a few times.

If action is your game, you can also check out the airsoft game site and ask around about memberhip.

Forest Park is located near St. Francis Village in Brgy. Taculing, Bacolod City. It is open from 7am-6pm daily.

Click to see more pictures >>>

The Lovely Bones (2002)

Written by: Alice Sebold

Plot Introduction provided in Wikipedia:

"In 1973, a 14-year-old girl named Susie Salmon is raped, murdered, and dismembered by a neighbor. Over the next few years she watches from a personalized heaven as her family and friends deal with their grief. She sometimes becomes angry and frustrated from the choices her family makes while looking over them."

It's another death story told in a rather creative way (If you've read Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven you'de know what I mean). It's actually a poignant recount of the events that follow the death of a daughter/sister/friend/crush/schoolmate.

The story of a brutal death does not end when a body is found or a murderer served with a sentence. It lingers. Like the wringing sound of a pulled spring. Each reverberation echoes the pain felt by family members, friends, relatives and the whole community touched by the deceased.

Death means something to the dead as it does to the living. The letting go part is never easy. Painful, especially when death comes in a rather unexpected and brutal way. The father, not willingto move on, consumed by anger. The other daughter who just wanted to be seen for who she is and not whose sister she was. The younger brother who barely new what gone even meant. The mother, struggling and finally giving up on family life.

If I were to dream of my own heaven it would contain a placid lake with me floating on it. The wind caressing my cheeks giving me a little push while I move past beds of lilies and lotus. It would be eternally misty, as in early morning.

City of Friendship: Tagbilaran City, Bohol

Finally, Bohol! glad the office picked this venue for our national convention. The team is pretty organized this time, even integrated a tour of the island into our itinerary.

What I enjoyed most:

The serenity of the place, sunset at Bohol Tropics, this wooden bridge at the Tarsier viewing area, the port fronting Baclayon Church and the Tagbilaran Pier at dusk.

Bohol's finest.

Loboc Children's Choir. We were fortunate to have been serenaded by the famous Loboc Children's Choir. It was like listening to angels sing. They recently bagged awards during their stint in Spain and even the Vienna Boy's Choir gaped in awe with their performance. Cesar Montano once commissioned them to "harana" his then girlfriend Sunshine Cruz when he proposed marriage to her. I bet she got carried away with the background music, hence she said yes!

The Tarsiers! History books tell us a lot about them. I'm glad the trip set a few things straight and factual. For one, they are not monkeys and they are not the smallest of their kind. They're not endemic to Bohol alone but they are territorial and afraid of cats.

Loboc River. Until today, I've never seen a river so deep in color and so clean even with the commercial activities in the area. As in, wow! and it's really so placid! I haven't watched Panaghoy sa Suba but I bet it's immortalization is as good as the real thing!

The Chocolate Hills. Now here's another fact I learned during my trip. The soil in these hills are salty hence no trees would grow in them. The hills are at their glorious during summer months when they look like mounds of chocolate kisses. There are two viewing areas, one in Carmen, which is really accessible to tourists and the other in Sakbayan which is still about 45 mins away (please don't trust my estimate, I was asleep during the transfer, hehehehehhe).

Things I Brought Home with Me

Loads of Pasalubong. Like any other trip, I was prepared to buy stuff for the folks back home. Of course I bought some tarsier key chains, ref. magnets, Bohol shirts for the hubby, mother and the two chuwariwaps, chunkie nuts instead of the usual peanut kisses which are readily available almost everywhere . I also bought baked polvoron, some cookies, ubi polvoron and ubi jam.

The Ubi Story. We learned from our tour guide that Boholanos take the planting of ubi rather seriously with a ritual which involve women with naturally big "bumpers". The planters hire these women (preferrably married) to do the planting in July during the full moon. Bare naked, they chant "mu daku ka ing ani, mu crack ka ing ani" or something like that while planting. The guys in our bus had a few laughs about it, "wala bang demo?"

How do tarsiers mate? During the mating season, female tarsierspee on a tree branch or something to advertise that she is "searching" for a mate. The male tarsiers then search for the pee scent that they like and they leave their saliva on them. The female then surveys her pees for her perfect match and then the mating. The actual mating thing happens in just a few seconds. (Daw si Flash ba!)

Some quips from HIM:

• Never ASSUME, for it will make an ASS out of U and ME
• Murphy's Law. If something goes wrong, it will.

Mixed Feelings.
Bohol brought those who were close, closer and rifters far more apart. It brought me sad news about the hubby's friend taking his own life and my son almost sticking a pencil through the househelp's eye. It brought me feelings of frustration for the lack of affirmation from HIM about our work and the hubby not happy about my buying him the wrong sandals. The negative feelings lingered quit a while but when I look back, I can't help but laugh at all those jumpshots and hilarious photo ops we brought ourselves to do. After all the hardwork and low morale that we've put ourselves into, we deserved all the fun. Thanks to our ever humble servant-leader who never fails to look after our best interests, life is still a beautiful thing!