Birth-date!

Today was fun! Tiring but fun! We celebrated my boyfriend's birthday (which was, technically, yesterday). I came by their house first so that the four of us, namely, me, my boyfriend (Nikko), Nikko's older sister (Ate Nikki), and Nikko's younger sister (Nikka) will go to Makati together.

The plan was that Nikko and I will eat lunch at Cafe 1228 at New World Makati and the sisters will eat someplace else. Then after lunch, the four of us will watch Transformers: Age of Extinction. Unfortunately, the day didn't go as planned. I was supposed to be home by 5:30 pm (daddy said so!) so that was a major factor as to why the plans were changed. Most of the movie tickets at Glorietta and Greenbelt were sold out (even 22 Jump Street!) and we're left with the last full show tickets. So that left us no choice but to not watch a movie anymore! :(  Instead, after eating lunch at Cafe 1228, which left our tummies really happy and full, we roamed around the Ayala malls and hung out at Cafe Ti-Amo for a while and ate gelato before going home. By that time, we were already tired. But then we had to face the grueling and exhausting mode of transportation in the form of the MRT. We had to squeeze and bump our bodies with other people and survive the heat. That is surely one of the worst things you could ever experience in your whole life. Fortunately, we arrived at our destination alive. Haha! 

After I got my things at their house and bought daddy dinner, Nikko and I went to our place and ate dinner and shared stories with my dad. It was an absolute delight to see your dad and your boyfriend sharing stories and laughs like they've known each other for years! But like any other day, the day has got to reach its finality no matter how much we don't want it to end.

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak

Book review:

Rating: 2/5 stars

To be completely honest, I only got curious as to what this book will deliver because it's B.J. Novak. I adored him in The Office and Saving Mr. Banks which led me to actually reading his book. This book contained different stories. Some connected. Most are not. Some pretty long. Some really short. But if you'll ask me about the whole experience, I didn't particularly enjoy it. Some stories are a bit dragging. There are a few stories that I liked. A few lines that i remember but that's it. Nothing really special about this book, to be honest.

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

Book review:

Rating: 5/5 stars

This book is captivating and honest from the very start. This book opened my mind to how OCD and having cerebral palsy truly feels like. It's tough but seeing how the characters try hard to go beyond their sickness is inspiring. It's both excruciating and fun to watch Amy and Matthew not admit to each other, at first, how they feel about each other. The ways they show how they like each other is gratifying! They're both willing to go beyond what they're going through and beyond themselves because they're starting to like each other. They're both different and the same. 

"That's the whole point. If you want to get better, you don't make the easy choice; you make the hard one."

I admire Amy's strength and determination. She genuinely wants to help Matthew get better. She helped Matthew realize that he really has a problem and needs help. Acceptance is hard for someone who tried hard to keep everything a secret. Progress was slow for Matthew but Amy helped him. There may have been rough roads in their relationship, it's really inspiring to see two different (and the same), people struggle in such a cruel world but struggle together. 

"If you care what they think, they have all the power."

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Book review:

Rating: 4/5 stars

This book is captivating and honest from the very start. This book opened my mind to how OCD and having cerebral palsy truly feels like. It's tough but seeing how the characters try hard to go beyond their sickness is inspiring. It's both excruciating and fun to watch Amy and Matthew not admit to each other, at first, how they feel about each other. The ways they show how they like each other is gratifying! They're both willing to go beyond what they're going through and beyond themselves because they're starting to like each other. They're both different and the same. 

"That's the whole point. If you want to get better, you don't make the easy choice; you make the hard one."

I admire Amy's strength and determination. She genuinely wants to help Matthew get better. She helped Matthew realize that he really has a problem and needs help. Acceptance is hard for someone who tried hard to keep everything a secret. Progress was slow for Matthew but Amy helped him. There may have been rough roads in their relationship, it's really inspiring to see two different (and the same), people struggle in such a cruel world but struggle together. 

"If you care what they think, they have all the power."

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Book review:

Rating: 4/5 stars

"The fantasy never got beyond that -- I didn't let it -- and though the tears rolled down my face, I wasn't sobbing or out of control. I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, to drive off to wherever it wad I was supposed to be."

Review: The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



(2014 re-read review)

The first time I read TFIOS, I cried buckets of tears. I fell in love with the characters and their story and the book, in general. The second time I read it, I just can't. I haven't completely moved on from it ever since the first time I read it and I dunno if I will ever move on. I don't mind getting my heart broken by this book again and again. It's TFIOS for God's sake!

(2012 review)

This is certainly one of the best books I've ever read. And this is one of the books that made me cry (in a good way). There is just enough love story. It is absolutely not dragging. John Green wrote it beautifully. A must-read!



View all my reviews

Review: The Fortunes of Indigo Skye

The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



"This is not just a simple story of Money can't buy happiness. Or maybe that's just what it is. And if it is, why shouldn't it be? Because if it is something we are already supposed to know, then why don't we know it? Why do we chase and scrabble and fight for things to flaunt, why? Why do we reach for power over other people, and through the thin superiority of our possessions, believe we have it? Why do we let money make people bigger, and allow those without it to be made smaller? How did we lose the truth in the frantic, tribal drumbeat of more, more, more?"



View all my reviews