2014 Book Challenge: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

I swear, the words "Don't you dare fall in love with me" is some kind of a reverse psychology technique. Sinabi yan ni Anne Curtis kay Derek Ramsay sa The Other Woman pero na-in love pa rin siya. And here in Jenny Han's latest release, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, the same happens in spite of the 'warning' given by one of the characters.

I never really thought of Jenny Han as one of my favorite authors. I thought The Summer I Turned Pretty was pretty lame that I almost didn't read the next two books of the series but it was a good thing I did because they turned to be waaaay much better than the first book. Deciding on what to read next is hard so I let my sister pick a number between 1 and 50 which led me to my 20th read for the year. I started reading without any expectations because Han, I think, is still a hit-or-miss type of author.

Lara Jean has a crush on her sister's boyfriend. At first I was thinking, "here she (Han) goes again with siblings fighting over the same person," and although I liked It's Not Summer Without You and We'll Always Have Summer, I still feel that it's SO WRONG to be the girlfriend of two brothers (somehow I knew Belly would end up with Conrad because she never did it with Jeremiah and in YA world, that sort of thing almost never happens and they were already in college at the time, soooo.. puede ;)). So anyway... Lara Jean claims that she liked Josh first, but when Josh and her sister Margot became girlfriend- boyfriend, she immediately wrote a goodbye letter to her crush which is also a farewell of sorts to the feeling. She does this letter-writing thing to banish any feelings of "love" for the guy she once liked. But these letters were never meant to be sent, so when Peter Kavinsky approached her asking her about a love letter she sent to him, she was mortified.

The thing is, not only Peter Kavinsky's got sent. Josh also got his. Lara Jean was doubly mortified but since she figured that the lesser of two evils is Peter, she got into a pretend relationship with him. The time was right since Peter just got dumped by his long-time girlfriend, Gen, and he wanted to make her jealous and then maybe, want him back. Peter and Lara Jean pretends they're a thing but I knew eventually they're going to like each other for real. They're so cute together and so wholesome. The Prude In Me approves. Haha.

this is exactly how i feel the whole time i was reading the book

In the end, Peter admits to liking Lara Jean for real and I want that to happen but seriously, what is going on with him and Gen? And that ending...

Dear Peter,

Oh come on, don't leave me hanging like this. And yes, Han is gonna milk it for what it's worth- there is a sequel to this. But I am not complaining. It's always good to have something to look forward to. Just don't make me wait too long.

Albeit starting the book a few days ago, I only got the time to really read it today. Technically there were things that needed to be done but after a few chapters into it, I reckon I could never put it down. I have Peter Kavinsky to blame for today's non-productivity. I give this book five stars because I really, really liked it and this one by Miss Han is a 'hit' with me.

What's Up, Doc?

♥ It's daddy's birthday today! We're celebrating later tonight with the cousins. It's pig out time again! Haha. Ayan naman kaya tumataba. Seriously, I need to lose a lot of weight. As in, A LOT. I gained ten pounds and I think this is the heaviest I've ever been. I feel like Totoro. Ha. Buti si Totoro, cute. I feel like a blob and a horrendous blob at that. Hindi cute. Kaya nga naman I'm bringing sexy back. Naks. Haha. My driver's license and vacation pictures were my wake up calls. Those and the fact that I can feel my back fats. Second day pa lang naman pero I did Zumba. Yay me! Hopefully I can do this everyday. Anak ng tinapa ang hirap ng no rice, no? So I'm going to post my progress in here. Sana nga lang may progress. Weight today: 140 lbs. *cringe*

♥ Going to rant here again about my favorite TV series. I am very very VERY disappointed that Suburgatory has been canceled. At least they gave me the ending that I want ☺ Now to the other shows... Watched Star-Crossed's and Bones's season finalés yesterday. Whattanending for both! Just as I'm beginning to get bored with Bones, they give me that nerve-wracking finalé. Yun lang ang alam ko eh Bones and Seeley live in an urban area meaning they have neighbors who could hear all those gunshots coming from high-powered guns so why didn't anyone alerted the police? Star-Crossed's ending? Mapapa-WTF ka talaga. Why'd you leave us hanging like that? Kasalanan yan lahat ni Emery. And on Hart of Dixie, it looks like we'll be back to Zoe + Wade. But first... seriously? Joel is perfectly fine when he hears Zoe profess undying love for Wade which means the whole time they were together she still loves or is hung up on Wade. And their break up was so recent. How can he not react violently to that? I'm still waiting for Jonah Breeland to come back, though. Anyway, have you heard? Rachel Bilson's expecting! She and Hayden Christensen are going to have a baby. I didn't even know they were still together. Ha.  

♥ Stash. I've been spending on a lot of  "beauty" products lately. I'm very frustrated with my skin, my hair and my weight. Haha. But really, I must be depressed or something.

I was supposed to buy only the liquid liner but they were able to make me buy two more products that I didn't really need. Anak talaga ako ng nanay ko. In fair, they were on sale that day but still I spent more than I what I originally planned to spend. I don't use them that much now. Tsaka kakasabi ko lang na hindi muna ako bibili ng kahit anong pangkilay because I have enough to last me two more years. And I haven't even gotten my Anastasia stash I bought last December (but I'm going to get it soon, yay!). Okay no more pangkilay products na talaga. Sabi nga ni Bo Sanchez: Drink Now or Drink Forever? I choose Drink Forever. Next time I should remind myself that. 

Another impulse buy.

 But it was on sale...  and at that time we just came from the province and my face is super sunog and I have all these discoloration on my face. This product had me at "fade." 

And here's another:

The thing with Snoe products, not everything is effective. The first Snoe products I bought (Magic Apple Whitening S-rub, Star Night Star Bright Night Perfecting Toner and the Emu Cleanse), weren't too effective. Okay lang the toner and the emu cleanse albeit cannot be used as standalone cleansing products. I need to use another facial wash aside from Emu Cleanse and also another toner/astringent aside from the toner. But the whitening rub? Not effective at all. I still have it here. The next Snoe product  bought was the Outzit soap  and it was amazeballs! I had such a good experience with the Outzit soap that I decided to buy and try another one. The next one was the Awesome Poresome soap and it was quite a disappointment that even if I haven't used up the entire bar, I already bought another one. Barre Beauté Bee Happy soap. This one had me naman at "anti-aging." I feel I already look haggardo versoza so I wanted to use something to ward off signs of aging. So far, so good although still not as good as Outzit. Another Snoe product I bought was the Poudre Phenomenon Pore-Erasing HD Powder. In fair, I like it. 

Aside from the abovementioned, I also bought this new Safeguard facial soap for sensitive skin plus the kojic and oatmeal soaps I bought from a customer. I'm using everything all at once and I don't even know what's effective and what's not.

♥ It's summer in the country and there's no denying nor escaping the fact. Normally we don't use the A/C when an electric fan would suffice because aside from the fact that it's cheaper, we're also helping the Earth by not contributing to more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. 

But this time, I succumbed. Kahit mag-isa lang ako sa kwarto, mag-e-aircon ako! But man my electric bill sucks! Eto ang literal na sala sa init, sala sa lamig. During the rainy season, I  have leaking roofs and overflowing gutters to think about. In the summer, it's sky-high electric bills. I already miss January and February weather.

♥ Last but not the least, today on the internet...

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Y'all should see this list on Buzzfeed

Funny. 

And today's inspiration:

To Do Today: 1/turn my gratitude up, 2/watch for enchanted frogs, 3/search for the marvelous. That should keep me busy.
— Dr. SunWolf (@WordWhispers) February 1, 2014

Buh-bye. Gotta prepare for tonight's dinner. 

2014 Book Challenge: Bossypants

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Ten years ago when I watched Mean Girls in the cinema after that horrendous day at work, I didn't have any clue whatsoever that it was Tina Fey who wrote script. Ten years ago I didn't even know who Tina Fey is. So when I found out that it was her who wrote the script to one of my favorite movies, I knew I had to watch or read whatever this lady throws out there, although I never really tried watching SNL because I swear I do not get American humor. When Bossypants came out three years ago, I got hold of an audiobook but since I refused to get a decent stand-alone mp3 player and the player would jumble up the chapters, I just stopped reading listening. Note that this was pre-Kindle days.

So three weeks ago I decided to pick up and read this book again because I wanted to be well-rounded when it comes to the reading books. After a slew of YA books, I reckon it's time for other genres.

This book is genius. I admit I enjoyed listening to the audiobook more but nevertheless, this was one awesome read. There were a lot of topics with which I can relate to in spite of the age gap. Here are some snippets from the book (no copyright infringement intended, okay? I just want to share the good ☺ Who knows someone might buy this book because of it):

On her father...
"I only hope that one day I can frighten my daughter this much... How can I give her what Don Fey gave me? The gift of anxiety. The fear of getting in trouble. The knowledge that while you are loved, you are not above the law. The Worldwide Parental Anxiety System is failing if this many of us have made sex tapes."

On expectations...
"I think this is what Jesse Jackson calls the 'subtle genius of lowered expectations,' but I may be misquoting."

On feet exposure...
"I'm a firm believer in our constitutional right to wear shoes, and I believe more people should take advantage of it... I know what you're thinking and no, I don't have messed-up feet. Maybe my feet are so amazing that I want to shelter them so they can live a normal life. I don't want them to be the Suri Cruise of feet."

On getting her picture taken...
"Know your weaknesses. For example, I have what can be described as "dead shark eyes." But if I try too hard to look alert, I look batshit crazy, like the runaway bride. If a bout of "creepy face" sets in, the trick is to look away from the camera between shots and turn back only when necessary. This also limits how much of your soul the camera can steal."

On driving (and animals)...
"My husband drives the whole seven hours because I don't have a driver's license. It's just one of the many ways in which I am developmentally stunted. I don't drive.  I can't cook meat correctly. And I have no affinity for animals. I don't hate animals and I would never hurt an animal; I just don't actively care about them."

I so agree with the abovementioned and can identify with her although, unlike her, I do have messed-up feet and I just recently learned how to drive (although I still can't drive all by myself and still need to be accompanied by a driver). I love Tina Fey. I feel we could be BFFs. Ha.

Tagaytay: By Default

How many times have I been to Tagaytay to accompany baikbayans? Not a lot, actually. But you see, I've grown tired of it already. There's really nothing to do there but eat. If that's the case, then I should really be enjoying, right? Haha. Anyhoo.

Last May 7, took my aunt from Canada to Tagaytay. According to her, the last time she's been there was when she was still in college and boy, that's a looooong time ago.

Just discovered panoramic shot feature in my phone camera 

We left at 12 noon and took the C6 road going there. It was a scenic route along the Pasig River- Laguna de Bay. It was scenic alright, but I swear the river reeked big time. Note that we were inside a vehicle with air conditioning but we can still smell the unpleasant smell. And it took us three hours to reach Tagaytay. Feeling ko mas mabilis kung nag SLEX kami. That's what we get for listening to our rented driver service who was annoying and a know-it-all. But in fairness, if we didn't use C6, we wouldn't be able to buy melons and watermelons

We ate lunch at 3pm. Galit-galit muna dahil gutom na gutom na kami. We ate at Leslie's. Hindi daw masarap ang food sabi ni AD pero we were in a hurry to food in our tummies and settled for the first restaurant we saw. In fair naman, the view of the Taal volcano is right smack in the middle of the place. Even if it was a work week, I took 'Dorota' with us because it was her birthday and it is one of her dreams daw to go to Tagaytay and Baguio. I think I just helped her realize one of her dreams, haha. I am trying to win her loyalty some more and get her to stay with me forever. Bwahaha!

Leslie's was one of the first restaurants in Tagaytay so they have one of the best views of the volcano. Mega photo-op moment with everybody. Not that I did most of the picture taking because I am not too fond of having my picture taken. Mommy enjoyed the most, I think. Haha. Not sure if the huts were just a recent addition to the restaurant but anyway, I think it was a nice idea.

The boys went around the place and they saw a big spider~

I think Jacob touched it. Joaquim didn't even bother going near it. I only went near to take a picture. Ayoko ngang hawakan. But I was really amazed as it was the first time I got to see spider that big.

After lunch (that ended at 4pm in the afternoon), we went horseback riding for the boys then to another Tagaytay default- Sonya's Garden

hey there, weird fruit, we meet again

Siempre nag-miron lang kami as always. For the nth time I went there, I haven't actually been inside to eat or have a massage. Maybe that's why they limited the areas accessible to those who aren't checked in or at least to those who are there to enjoy their services, to ward off the likes of me. Haha. But hey, we bought pandesal and some stuff from their store.

Our plan was to have coffee in Bag of Beans but since Auntie was in a hurry and it's already 6 pm and she still has to pack her bags. We just ordered to go. I had my Bag of Beans usual- Caramel Macchiato. Sayang lang that we didn't get to stay longer in there because the place is beautiful at night time

and my phone cam wasn't able to capture how nice this is. bah.

On our way home, we saw this view~

again, my phone cam didn't do justice to how beautiful this scene was

They made me get off the van and cross the road just to take this picture. Usually, I am content with the images my phone cam was able to take but I realized at the moment I was taking this picture that it's times like this that DSLR cameras are for. Notice that the sun was right in the middle of the two slopes.

The trip home was three hours long. Feeling ko lang hindi short cut ang dinaanan namin. And with that, I am going to end this post with another #shoeselfie. I just found out there's a term for what I've been doing for so many years now (not because I want to show off my shoes because they're not even nice enough nor expensive to show off to other people, I just think my feet is nicer than my face haha).

i bid you adieu ♥

All Good Things Must Come To An End: Suburgatory

Found out last Monday through this article that ABC is canceling Suburgatory which means this is their last season and

very much.

I really feel that the universe is conspiring against me and my beloved TV series that most of them end prematurely. I actually should be grateful that Suburgatory has seen the light of its third season unlike Emily Owens and Star Crossed. Well, with Star Crossed I'm only watching because of the cuties but as for my other beloved series who have gone to TV series heaven, I just can't frickin' believe that they were canceled cos seriously they're sooooo good.

Suburgatory has been my pick-me-upper for three years already. If I feel bad and need some cheering up, I'd just watch an episode and I instantly feel better. I don't know why people do not like this because it is uber funny. I just hope that they end it well and looks to me that they're starting to tie loose ends.

OKAY WAIT I JUST FOUND OUT THAT TODAY'S EPISODE IS ACTUALLY THEIR SEASON FINALE. WTF. SERIOUSLY, I WAS CAUGHT OFF GUARD HA. AND JUST WHEN I SAID THAT THEY'RE STARTING TO TIE LOOSE ENDS, WALA NA PALANG SUSUNOD NA EPISODE. I AM NOT AMUSED. LOOSE PA RIN AND ENDS. WELL, YOU DON'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT. 

I am still in disbelief. Haaaay. Still can't get over that there won't be any new episodes of the show next week, but at least I got my wish~

And here's the final scene:

I got my happy ending for Tessa and Ryan Shay! Hooray! But alas, I wish I could say the same for George and Dallas. But really, I am just glad that these two ↑ ended up together and looks like Sheila Shay doesn't object. Man, I'm gonna miss this show so bad.

P.S. According to Wikipedia, the series is being shopped to other networks. Someone please be my hero and pick it up ☺

Tocino All The Way: From Roxas City to Boracay

And because ze internet is back... it's update time!

Mommy, daddy. AC, AD and family and I went to the province for Auntie T's golden wedding anniversary. In this day and age, very rare do we see marriages last so it is a big deal when two people celebrate 50 years married to one another.

TOUCHDOWN

It's a big family event. All of my dad's siblings from Canada and the US came home for that. Our parents flew to Capiz a day ahead of us. We flew in April 22, just in time for a lunch salu-salo. Lechon. Yum. It was fun catching up with uncles and aunties and cousins. You know what I love about vacations? The food. And literally, we were full to the brim from eating virtually every freaking moment we were there. The pictures would attest to that. Head and shoulders lang ang peg ko.

We were late for the wedding ceremony. At least, we're consistent. Haha. It was a nice ceremony although I feel the priest who officiated (my uncle!) could have made his homily more personal. I have been to weddings where the priest wasn't even related to the couple yet he was able to deliver a very personal homily.

It was a nice reception party as well. There were lots of dancing care of our senior citizens.

In fairness to our oldies, lahat itim pa ang buhok

It was fun watching them dance to Achy Breaky Heart. Very throwback Thursday. Hindi ko lang masyado feel ang line-up ng songs nila. Auntie T delivered  a nice message addressed to all the people who became part of their lives. My aunt did all the talking in behalf of her better half (su media naranja) because I think uncle isn't as sharp anymore. Na-special mention pa ako sa speech niya albeit anonymously- only persons privy to my past would know.

What a happy event for us all. I wish we will be celebrating more golden anniversaries. My parents' are only eight years away. I wish people who were in my aunt's wedding anniversary would all be at my parents' 50th.

By default, we stay in Auntie T's home but since all her children were home and they're busy preparing for the wedding, we stayed at San Antonio Resort in Roxas City. Nothing too fancy but it has TV (got to watch Star-Crossed!) and a nice bathroom WITH BIDET. The rooms were comfortable. Although service was okay, still not at par with hotel standards. Mabait naman sila pero siempre dapat professional pa rin. The best thing about San Antonio is its proximity to the beach. Baybay beach was walking distance so it was easy to take Cio to walks at the beach.

Our last day at Roxas City before we take off for Boracay, our cousins treated us to lunch at Anot's Galley Grill and Restaurant.

Reconstruction still  ongoing 

In fair to the local government of Roxas City, it wasn't obvious that the province was devastated by Typhoon Yolanda just five months ago. After lunch, we took a trip to the newly-opened mall, Robinson's, for merienda, then our cousin took us to this place on top of a hill and the view is amazing.

They're developing the city further and hopefully, the view from this place would remain like this. Sana hindi ma-clutter ng buildings, villages and malls. I find the view very calming. I wish I have this view from my bedroom.

Obligatory shot of my feet. I love the effect of the setting sun.

Just an appeal to Roxas City government officials- why can't you make you seafood a whole lotta cheaper than how much they're sold here in Manila? What's the use of claiming that you're the country's "Seafood Capital" when you can't pig out on seafood because they're still expensive?

We set off for Boracay on the 25th. A four-hour land trip to Caticlan. I read my Kindle the entire duration of the trip. It was hard toting all our bags with us and that is why I am not too fond of traveling. Thank God for kargadors who do the heavy-lifting. Hehe.

Our last trip to Boracay was last 2010. I am not a beach person but I still enjoyed going to these beaches because of the company. We were super tired from all the traveling so we were already too pooped to go swimming in the beach at three in the afternoon. AC and I stayed in bed until around five in the afternoon, then we went out to have fruit shake at Jonah's. Sarap! But I must say, very expensive. More expensive than a venti mocha frap, but still worth having once in a while.

Pampang byootis kami for the day- just walking along the beach until we reached Jonah's. I love love love taking pictures and thank God for phone cameras because they're so handy and today's camera phones already take very nice pictures.

Headed back to Hey Jude where we stayed for three days. Also comfortable but they don't have water heaters and no bidet. And this is Boracay. How could you claim you're world-class when you don't even have bidet?!?

Dinner at Thai Basil. AD and D's treat because it's their yaya's birthday. Siempre na-excite ako since I 'ship Thai food. We had tom yum goong, pad thai, pork and chicken curry and fresh spring rolls. Everything's delicious but their tom yum's a little watered-down (?)

Enjoyed the food but I think it was pretty expensive. Well everything costs more expensive in Boracay. Sabi nga ni AC, bawat kembot may bayad. After dinner, AC, AD and I had a massage at Palassa Spa. I opted for a Shiatsu ("pindot" masssage, hindi "himas" Har har), and it's so much relaxing when you are not sun burnt (like the last time I had a massage in Boracay).

We swam the next day but only for a wee bit. The sun was scorching hot and my dark patches are darkening further. I don't really mind kung iitim ako, it's just that I have these dry, dark patches at the sides of my mouth and nose and they can get really ugly. So to avoid further sun damage, I kept my beach swimming at a minimum and spent more time taking pictures.

Early morning beach stroll. Habang tulog pa ang
karamihan ng nightlife-loving Boracay peeps

pampang byootis once again. tried to do a cartwheel at the beach but
getting  a decent action shot was hard. when we finally got one, it got
erased due to system glitch. dammit.

CONGESTED.
The nightlife-loving peeps are all awake.

Our activity for the night was watching the Century Tuna Superbods and to make abang John Lloyd on stage. Haha. Pero FAIL. After waiting for almost two long hours, wala akong nakita. Frakking monopods.

Sunday was our last day at the beach. After having my fifth tocino breakfast, we went to church to hear mass. Sabi nung babae sa front desk, may mass daw ng 8:30 at 9:30 am. We arrived at the Church around 9 am and the mass is already halfway done. Feel ko lang ibig sabihin ni ate sa may front desk ay 8:30 to 9:30 ang mass. But it's the thought that counts, right?

I only noticed that this is a mosaic of Jesus Christ
when we were already back in Manila

Went straight to the beach and swam right after mass. Last dip before we leave. Lunch was sponsored by daddy and mommy- paluto. Super bochog. Since we already checked out, we waited at the front desk/ waiting area for our sundo to bring us to the port for our boat ride to Caticlan. At dahil super mega init, we decided to have ice cream for dessert.

craving for this right now

First time to try this soft-serve ice cream with cornflakes and diced fresh fruits at Halowich. Yummeh in my tummeh! Since getting my Halowich fix right now is impossible and improbable, I am actually thinking of making my own which is more probable because mommy just bought a soft-serve ice cream machine. Hmm... I think I am gonna do just that ☺

Kendall the Kindle's trip to the beach

The boat trip back to Caticlan port.
Buh-bye, Boracay!

Just exited the port.
Two more hours til we reach Kalibo Airport.

So we spent two more hours inside a van to reach Kalibo Airport. The entire time I was busy finishing my summer read, On The Island, which was actually a bad idea since I was about to board a plane (it was about a plane crash). We arrived Kalibo airport around 4:30 in the afternoon. Mommy and daddy left us as they were headed back to Roxas City. Our flight was at 7-something pm. Our flight was delayed. The waiting area was packed. Lahat ata ng nag-Boracay pauwi nung araw na yun.

We waited for HOURS! We boarded our plane at 10pm. We should consider ourselves lucky since we boarded our plane and left ahead the flight that was scheduled before us. But you know, I'd take a delayed flight any day than ride a plane with engine problems.

AT LAST!

AC and I were seated beside one of the Century Tuna Superbods contestants but we were actually super tired to care :P I just Googled it and I think this is him

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or him. I am not so sure.

Sayang. Haha. Sana chinika na namin ever at Filipino- Spanish siya. That could've been the perfect opportunity to put my Spanish-speaking chops to use. Sabi nga ni AD, after disembarkation, dapat daw tinanong ko kung nag-aaral pa siya tapos sabihin ko paaaralin ko siya. Haha. Ahjumma.

Home sweet home after six days! Who needs a hotel room when I have everything I need right here- heated shower and bidet! Har dee har har. Pero sabi nga ni AD, this is the vacation that didn't feel like a vacation. But still enjoyed hanging out with my sisters and parents. And Cio, of course.

Hello Again Procrastination!

image credits

After five looooooooong weeks, our internet connection is back! HUZZAH!

But actually, I could live without internet if it weren't for my orders. Of course it's still better if you're connected to the world wide web and have access to almost everything but then again I would be too distracted again to focus on what should be done.

Worth the wait, I tell you. Cos now we have faster internet speed. In less than an hour, I could catch up with all the Hart of Dixie episodes I missed. Weeeee!

Inez.

You know what else I miss? Tumblr. I just realized that now. Haha. I wish someone would pay me to be on Tumblr eight hours a day. Hahaha. Wala lang. I just feel like reminiscing about my love for the website. I think it helped me through the "dark ages" with the all the encouragement and positive shizz I can find in it. I am not really in a rut right now, well, not like the way it was eight to ten years ago. Wow, that was a long time ago na pala.

I've been seeing this quote (words of wisdom? affirmation?) quite often recently.

image source

Maybe it's a reminder that I should keep it positive always. Well, I try to be but sometimes people or situations get me down. So maybe I should add this to my daily mantras, put the law of attraction into use. I hear people say Life is hard or life is complicated, but I want to think otherwise and believe that life is simple. Sabi ko nga tao lang naman nagpapakumplika ng buhay. Is it really necessary to make things difficult? Kailangan ba talagang paghirapan ang mga bagay-bagay? I'm not saying that things should just fall on our laps. I'm just saying that maybe we could find ways to make things simpler, easier, free from complicated cheche boreche at kuskos balungos (this sentiment is inspired by the Philippine government). 

Sooooo... 

2014 Book Challenge: On The Island

Ohmagaaaahd. I haven't written anything for a month now and that is we don't have Internet for four weeks now (and counting). Now I'm back to broadband sticks and prepaid cards with no wi-fi features. Ze horror! But seriously, I think I can do without the Internet if not for my weekly TV series and the emails and social networking sites I maintain for my business. PLDT owes me at least a month's worth of free service fee in addition to the rebate they should be giving us. Hay. 

Anyhoo, this is a book (non)review about my latest read- On The Island by Tracey Garvis Graves. Well, my April book theme is books that has 'summer' on its title and I have read four (Jenny Han's It's Not Summer Without You and We'll Always Have Summer, Leah Rae Miller's The Summer I Became a Nerd and Emery Lord's Open Road Summer). For the last week of April, I meant to read Dessen's That Summer, but I guess it was a very slow start and I'm trying to pick up pace here and I can't be with a book I'm struggling to finish. Maybe next time. So this was my pick because at the time of selection, we were Boracay-bound ;) 

School's out and it's summer vacation for Anna Emerson. Needing to sort out personal issues and also some time away from long-time boyfriend, John. The opportunity presented itself when she lands a job tutoring TJ Callahan. In Maldives. On a private seaplane en route to the family's summer rental, the pilot suffers a heart attack and the plane crashes on sea. Anna and TJ survive the crash and make it to a deserted island.

My thoughts:

• It was a very good read (although I should have picked another better time, not when I'm just a few days away from boarding an airplane) and very much a page-turner. It was interesting to know how they were able to make it, to survive without even the barest of essentials. For two city-dwellers, I give them props for surviving three years. Who knew breadfruit was edible? 
• One man's misery is another man's gain. If it not for the 2006 tsunami, Anna and TJ would have not been saved from that island. Even if thousands suffered and died from the tragedy, it was what, technically, saved them from being trapped in a deserted island. 
• After being saved from the island, people gave them flak, most especially Anna, for being in a relationship with someone ten years her junior. Some say there was some sort of sexual harassment that happened as Anna, being older and TJ's teacher/tutor, she has moral ascendancy over him. But you see, this was bound to happen. Kung sa PBB House nga, nagkakadevelopan ang mga housemates after one or two weeks, what more in an island with only that one person? Either you kill each other or you 'do' each other. Haha. I'm even surprised that it didn't happen sooner. I guess the author purposely made it so to avoid legal issues. And actually, it was TJ who already had the hots for Anna even before they were stranded in an island. 
• Good karma. Well, Anna (and TJ) is already lucky to begin with for surviving the plane crash. And in addition to that, after being rescued, Anna received a hefty sum from TJ's parents then a from a settlement case that she didn't need to work another day in her life. But if it were up to her, she still wants to teach but because of accusations of sexual harassment (and, maybe, insinuations of statutory rape), no school would want to hire her. 

Love love love this book. I totally get this book and I understand the bond between Anna and TJ. After being through so much, it's just understandable that these two have bonded so well. I think I gave it five stars. Although I don't think TJ belongs to the best book boyfriend category. Ha. 

This review sucks. Haha.