Being the loser that I am, I did not catch on the Twilight bandwagon early and instead decided to take my own pace as I try and read all the books in the Twilight Saga.

I've already reviewed New Moon in this blog, but I was at a loss to review the first book, Twilight.

Anyway, in the third installment of the series, it chronicles Bella as she tries to choose between Jacob and Edward on who should own her heart.

The first part of the tale also covers a back story on Edward, Jasper, and Rosalie, which was most interesting, and definitely worth pondering upon.

The latter part, ugh, it was one of the most excruciating reads of my life. It dragged on and on and on. I didn't want to know the full details of how Edward and Jacob were playing mind games just to win over Bella. Nor did I need to know how selfish Bella was when she was asking Edward to stay by her side.
Nor was I amused about how Bella started using "Please?" to get whatever she wanted from Edward.
Ugh. Pathetic.

To be honest the writing was definitely not something to be also amused about. I feel a fifth grader could write better plot lines and story twists than this.

Well, there was a bit of action in the book, maybe centered in one chapter. But most of it was "missed out" because the bulk of the action was handled by Edward's family & the wolf pack at some other clearing. It was narrated briefly through Edward's communication with the wolf pack through *gasp* his mind-reading skill.

I am a wee bit bored and tired from last night so I might as well lighten things up with a blog post to release some of the stress and tension from my little brain lol.

So, last Wednesday, my friend and I saw (500) Days of Summer in the cinema. It was shown a few months ago in the US and some other countries and I have no clue why it took so long to show it here in Manila.

It stars Joseph Gordon Levitt (I loooooved him in 3rd Rock from the Sun. It's one of the best telly shows in the 90s IMO) and Zooey Deschanel (who I think looks like Katy Perry and she turns out to be Emily Deschanel's little sister!)

Anyway, on to the story. It;s a story about Tom, and how he chronicles 500 days of knowing, dating, and getting over Summer, a girl whom he thinks is "The One" for him.

It's a typical chick flick, although presented in such a non-linear way [ie first scene may show day one, then the next would show day 100+ ] throughout the movie. I also loved that there were some scenes show in parallel -- ie the scene of what really happened & in half the screen, shows what Tom had pictured the scene to happen in his mind.

So, the readathon officially ended an hour and a half ago.

Now I'm trolling around the internet, trying to find something else to do. Lol. How pathetic am I? :P

It was my first time to do the readathon, and I was surprised it was so much fun! And here I thought it was going to be all stressful as I try to read page after page of books, and trying to "compete" with other readers in trying to read books but it didn't turn out that way at all.

I enjoyed being a cheerleader -- I managed to visit some websites that I didn't know about and also getting a peek in how other readers were progressing in the readathon. I managed to find out books that I had no clue existed in the first place, and also take a peek at some upcoming releases in the latter part of 2009 and in 2010. Amazing.

I also managed to take part in some of the mini-challenges. I love the way my heart thumps faster than normal as I try to post in my answers in the fastest time possible to get back to reader and/or cheerleading. It was fun stress! lol.

So, here are my final stats from the readathon. I'll look forward for the April leg, I just hope that I would be free on the day they schedule it.


Pages read - Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer - 36

Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone - JK Rowling - 124

Kissing Games of the World - Sandi Kahn Shelton - 6

Pride & Prejudice - 2

Total number of pages read - 168 [hmm... okay then. others have read 1000+ pages but to each their own. I am a really slow reader anyway]

Mini challenges completed - 14

Prize won - One! A random cheerlead prize. Wheeee!!! My first prize ever from the readathon -- and since I've started cheering as well! teehee.

Number of other sites visited/cheered on - 31, I think? I don't really remember since I've only kept track during the third hour! teehee. *blush*



Overall, the readathon has been a success for me. Wheeee!!!

It's nearing the last few hours of the readathon and I am now in the mood for some mini-challenges! :) Having done my errands for the night, I am free until 8PM Manila time to read like crazy [cramming] and also participating in last-minute mini-challenges.

This is hosted by Princess Bookie and I should jot down 8 of my favourite things. Here goes.

1. My mum <3
2. Goofy, my little doggie, whom I treat like my own baby
3. Money, money, money, and lots of money.
4. My house. I <3 it. I grew up in it, and houses all my stuff, my mum, and my baby Goofy as well.
5. Our car. It's old now, but I still <3 it.
6. Travelling. [Not a thing? Hmm... maybe different countries then?]
7. Concerts and events. I really, really love them.
8. My laptop! What else? :)

** Could the list go infinitely? I would put in my mobile phone, dvds, music, and so much more ***

READATHON DAY 2                                              

** my other blog is getting long so I decided to create another one for this occassion.

First off, if you want to win a book, please comment on this link below:
http://rubylovesadventure.blogspot.com/2009/10/book-giveaway-kissing-games-of-world.html

Click on the read more link below to see all the contents!

PRE-READATHON POST:                                              

Gah.

My internet is such a pain right now. It keeps on disconnecting for some reason or another! Othertimes, its dialup speed slow. Ugh.

Anyhow, I'm posting this in preparation for the 24hour readathon tonight [its nearly 3pm here in Manila so 5 more hours to go before the readathon]

I'm well rested [sort of] and ready to go. My book list is ready as well.

Will edit this post with every hour that I am in the readathon. :D

Oh by the way, if you happen to pass by my blog, you live in the US and want to win a FREE book, please do so by leaving a comment here:
http://rubylovesadventure.blogspot.com/2009/10/book-giveaway-kissing-games-of-world.html

THE READATHON                                                                           

***CLICK ON THE READ MORE TO SEE THE POST...***
~This is a long, comprehensive post of all the hours I'd stayed up for the readathon~

So, last Sunday, October 18th, I went to SM North Edsa's The Block atrium to catch a show by a new British band called Raygun.

Well, I don't really know them much, except that a good friend of mine is totally addicted to them [esp the bassist] and begged me to come. Well, since I had nothing to do that Sunday afternoon and I'm curious to see if this band is cute good, I am happy to oblige with her request.

I arrived at SM North around 4:15pm -- the show was at 5pm and I'm not really expecting it to start on time given that no one really follows the exact time here in the Philippines.

Calallilly [sp?] started the set by singing a few songs [not a big fan of them, sorry, don't know any of their song titles] followed by Raygun.

Raygun setlist [many thanks Dez!]

1. Can't say no
2. Rocketblast
3. Waiting in Line
4. Just Because
5. Lord forgive me
6. See you later

Just bloody 6 songs? Come on! The event was only around 30-40 minutes long!
Meanwhile, enjoy some photos I shot at the event. There's probably gonna be more uploads once I have the time to upload them.

Forgive my lack of updates recently. I've been ill last Friday and I've had a really packed weekend!

First off, this Saturday, I went with a good friend of mine to watch the Spring Awakening musical here in Manila, held at the RCBC theatre.

We're lucky enough to get good loge seats, and our view was excellent!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this theatre production, Spring Awakening is a play first done in 1891 by Frank Wedekind. It was initially banned for show in Germany due to controversial topics [more about that later]. It tells the tale of a group of teenagers, mainly Melchior Gabor, the "perfect" student -- always getting good grades and is a role model to his peers, Moritz - the goof, he's tagged as a failure, and is very curious about women, Wendla - an innocent girl who eventually falls for Melchior, and Ilsa - she's the "rebel" -- she is living in the streets.




I loved this musical! It is absolutely fantastic -- the music was so good [it was written by Duncan Sheik], it had me singing the lines "blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah" after we have already left the theatre and was on our way to a second-hand bookstore. This soundtrack is currently on queue on my download list. The performances were great, but there were some downsides:
1. There are some scenes that got me all confused -- some characters did not have the proper closure that I expected [ie Ilsa and Melchior]; also the adult parts got me confused as well. Who's the parent of whom? If only one actor plays one female adult and one male adult, and you would only have one costume the whole play, wouldn't you get confused as well?
2. Not enough props -- there was a part where Melchior was supposed to be in a graveyard and there were tubes everywhere, but uh.. the Manila production didn't even have fake tombstones in the area.

Guess those are the downsides and ups for now.


Now, for those of you who are going to watch [in other countries, or for the next run of this play in Manila, whenever that may be], here's some things you have to prepare yourself for: *a bit of spoilers. Skip this part if you want to be totally surprised*
1.  There's some instances of masturbation that were shown in the play. It's not the explicit kind, of course, but still, don't be shocked.
2. There's some breast & butt exposure [but I heard that there was nudity in the other country's version? can anyone verify this? I am off to surf reviews from other countries after I post this]
3. Suicide is tackled
4. They talk about sex
5. Male kissing is also included [yes, the homo kind, not the bromance kind]
6. Abortion

Overall, the play is very good, its worth my time and money. It's one of those plays that made the hairs at the back of my neck stand up. Good, good, good. Actors were also awesome [Joaquin Valdez is good as Melchior, but the dude that played Moritz? Hats off to you, you were also good as well], the venue is in the Central district as well so it is very accessible!

I think the last run of the play here in Manila was last Sunday, October 18th, but hey, here's wishing to another run!

After the concert, we went off to a secondhand bookstore, and I snagged myself a copy of "The Duchess" by Amanda Foreman. Whee!

Finally! This post was going to be posted a few days ago but I was having difficulty editing my blogger post!

After my last depressing blog entry, I decided to post a more happier one -- The 24 hour readathon! It's going to be next Saturday, from 24th of October 8pm Manila time till the 25th of October, 8pm.

I will be reading from 8pm-12mn [possibly even 1am], then from 9am till the evening. [minus a few other personal time as well]

Below is a list of books I hope to be reading during the whole readathon:

1. Cleopatra's Daughter - Michelle Moran
2. Angels & Demons - Dan Brown
3. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer

My backup pile:
1. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone - JK Rowling
2. Me & Mr Darcy - Alexandra Potter

It is quite a short list, given that I read very, very slow.

I will be posting updates through my blog or through my twitter account @rubyreads every hour, will be joining the mini-challenges & also cheering the other readers on *phew*

That's it for now! :)

Not a book nor a travel related post. This is something more personal and maybe, music related.

I just need an outlet to post my thoughts and feelings about this issue so bear with me.

I got a text from one of my closest friends last Sunday, saying that Stephen Gately of Boyzone just died.

At first I was doubtful that this was true. Boyzone's manager was undeniably the greatest tabloid story maker of all time, going to lengths of exaggerating stories about the artists he manages.

But this time, the stories were true. He did indeed die tragically whilst on holiday in Majorca, Spain. Cause of death was still unknown.

Since I don't have any bookish related things to share, and since a friend of mine wanted me to blog about some of my travels, I might as well start off with a long overdue post from a trip to the UK last June-July 2008.

After a long plane ride from Manila to Dubai and finally to London, I landed on June 1st, Saturday, around 8AM.
[More info in another blog post]

After resting in my apartment in Smithfield, unpacking and cooking my lunch, it was time to go sightseeing with my friends!

First up was North Greenwich.

One of the classic books from Jane Austen. The last time I actually read this book was in high school, for a book report from school.

And so I took out my old book from the shelf at the basement, and decided to re-read it for the October book discussion of my book club [well, the book discussion was postponed until November until further notice]

The basic plot of the book is simple: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl rejects boy because she thinks him to be a pompous man, girl then thinks that rejecting boy was stupid, boy does everything to make it right for girl, girl realizes she loves boy, boy and girl meet again, confess their true feelings and live happily ever after.

Such is the story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth is the second of five children, all girls, whom their mother has no real dreams but to have all five of them entered in suitable marriages with husbands that are rich, or have enough money on them. Mr. Darcy is born in high society, Elizabeth was just a simple girl who believes in falling in love before getting married. See the prejudice in the two different circles where Elizabeth and Darcy belong to.

RandomHouse has been kind enough to provide 3 copies of Kissing Games of the World by Sandi Kahn Shelton. This book will be released on your bookstores by November 11th, 2009! [of course, that's the US release date.] Please read on below for the book summary and the giveaway information! So excited to read this book!

Book Summary:

If there’s one point that Jamie McClintock and Nate Goddard can agree upon, it’s that love is overrated. Jamie doesn’t have time for it. Nate doesn’t need it. And they certainly don’t want it from each other.

Jamie, a struggling free-spirited artist, is a devoted single mother who hasn’t been in a serious relationship since her boyfriend abandoned her after their son was born. Nate, a charismatic jet-setting salesman, is widowed and estranged from his father and five-year-old son, Christopher. Jamie would rather glue glitter to pinecones than go out on a date. Nate spends most of his nights wooing his clients. Then one afternoon Nate’s father drops dead of a heart attack. In that moment, their highly guarded worlds collide.

When Nate shows up at his childhood home to settle the estate and reclaim his son, he discovers that Jamie has been living in the Connecticut farmhouse as his father’s roommate. Mistrustful of each other’s motives, Nate and Jamie bicker about everything from children’s nicknames to Jamie’s fashion choices to Nate’s home renovation methods. It doesn’t help that Christopher prefers Jamie to his absentee father.

But after the funeral, Nate and Jamie begin to see each other in a more forgiving light. Nate, traveling to sales conferences all over the country with a sullen Christopher in tow, learns he can’t breeze his way through single parenthood. Jamie, who has moved back in with her sister, wonders at the wisdom of her unconventional choices as a woman with a child to support. And both begin to realize they don’t know as much about love as they thought. Still wounded by past heartbreak and sorrow, can they learn to trust each other and open their hearts?

Giveaway Info:

Sorry guys, but this is open only for US addresses only. For those overseas, you may enter if you have a friend or a relative with a US address who can send the book for you.

Giveway will end on November 10th, 2009, 11pm Manila time, [11AM EST] where I'll draw the entry and post the three winners in this blog! Fair chances of winning, right? Good luck everyone :D

To enter:

- For 1 entry, please comment below with your email address so I can contact you.

- For an additional entry, become a follower of my blog. If you're a previous follower, please let me know in the comments and you'll get the point

- For another additional entry, post this giveaway on your twitter, blog, forum, or as a sidebar. Please also let me know the site where you've posted the entry to :)

Three entries per person! What are you waiting for? :)

The mosque during my trip last month. Good times.

So I found out about the 24 hour readathon sometime early this year, but due to my excessively hectic schedule early this year, I decided to forego it. Lo and behold, they are having another readathon this October 24th!

It starts at 8pm here in Manila, and will end on October 25th, 8pm as well.

Now, I'm not much of a reader. In all honesty I prefer to watch telly shows, movies, and chatting, but then again when I look at the vast collection of unread books at home I realized that now's the time to actually participate and dwindle down some of the unread books I have.

I signed up for both a reader and a cheerleader. I read fairly slow so being a cheerleader will give me a much needed break to just surf and discover new blogs and hopefully new books to read as well.

Do I have a shortlist of books to read during this readathon? Well, I've got a few books that I've read a few pages of that would give me a chance to finish, hopefully.

Of course I wouldn't commit to the whole 24 hours. I need my 9 hours of sleep [its a weekend and I need to get much needed rest for a very busy weekday ahead], 2 hours for Church, 1 hour for lunch and dinner, and 1 hour for doing personal stuff.

So I could only commit 11 hours to the readathon but never mind, it's the thought that counts.

Do wish me luck!

To sign up for the readathon, go to: http://www.24hourreadathon.com/

I encourage you guys to sign up as readers or maybe even as cheerleaders as well. As the post states, you don't really have to commit the whole 24 hours to the event =)

Figured I'd take a break from publishing a backlog of book reviews & travel updates to come up with a little meme!

**some of my makeup stash**

First off, I love, love, love, love to travel. Yes, I love to travel even more than I love books! My dream destinations are the UK [again] and Italy. One of my dreams is to go on a Eurotrip for at least 2 months, trying to explore every city I go along =) That will make me so happy! I LOVE Europe!

Another love -- stuffed animals and makeup. They make me so happy!

I also love concerts, music, theatre & events. Nothing like being invited in an event. Text or ring me up a day or two before an event and I'd definitely confirm!

**red panda from Ocean Park, Hong Kong**

Next. I love tv shows & movies. Equally as much as I love books! My favourites at the moment are True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and the Tudors. Maybe a bit of Gossip Girl as well.

And finally, books! My preferences are:

1. Books set in England, most specially in London!! There's nothing like imagining what's happening in the book & mixing it up with my own memories.
2.Historical fiction about royalty - Kings, queens, prince and princesses. oh my! The scandal and society!
3. Other historical fiction - what's it like living back then? But I mostly prefer European historical fiction [again, the bias for European stuff]
4. Paranormal - vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters. :D Immortals intrigue me.
5. Fantasy - a whole new world, anyone?
6. Autobiography/biographies - partial to british royalty, personalities, singers & artists. Mostly of the European kind too [except for Nick Carter]
7. Mystery - who killed whom? what's the backstory? I loved Nancy Drew when I was a kid and it passed on until now!

Lexi Smart was just an ordinary girl. She's 25, not that pretty, lives in a small flat, and has a loser boyfriend. Until one day, she wakes up, she's 28. She's had an accident and realizes her life is everything she's ever dreamed of: her handbag is Louis Vuitton, has a gorgeous, [not to mention, rich] husband, and is the boss in her department.

Just a catch though. She can't remember what had happened in the last three years of her life: how she met her husband, how she reached the top ranks of her firm. Nothing!

Until a scruffy architect shows up, and turns her world upside down!

Guess that's all the summary I could give without giving away too much spoilers :)

Thoughts:

I initially borrowed this book from a colleague of mine from work. I am a huge Kinsella fan [ie Shopaholic series] and I am determined to read all of Kinsella's works because they are sooo hilarious and fun! Plus, a good dose of chick lit can definitely make your day! But honestly, this book didn't really make me laugh out loud [unlike Shopaholic] nor make me think "awwww....." as I was reading through the book. Jon definitely was an "awwww...." moment but that's it, nothing else.

I loved Eric's character -- he seems like THE perfect guy -- rich, with utterly gorgeous looks, successful. Turns out he has a bit of a square personality so moving on....

Apparently smell triggers a person's memory best! I totally agree with this.

Read this book if:
- You're in a good mood for some light, chick lit reads
- You love Sophie Kinsella and would just devour anything by her
- If you are in a mood to dream and wish what it's like to be one of the ultra fab people
- You're in a mood for a love triangle romance :D

I rate this book 4/5 -- definitely worth the time in reading it!

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to write a quick note because I saw that Esme posted about our current situation in the Philippines on her blog: http://chocolateandcroissants.blogspot.com/

Okay, just an update for those living outside the Philippines:
Last Saturday, our country was hit by a typhoon [a hurricane to those who live in the US]. We normally have five categories for storms:
Signal # 1-5, which ranges from the wind speed brought about by the typhoon.

Manila was tagged under Signal # 1 last Saturday.

So to residents, it wasn't much of a big deal. We experience typhoons from June till September so it wasn't really that much of a big deal. Until the rains poured in.
It started raining Friday afternoon, and it didn't stop until Sunday morning.

Apparently in a span of hours, the typhoon Ketsana dumped more rain in Manila than Hurricane Katrina & low-lying areas were immediately flooded.

What's scary was that the flood just came out of nowhere. Areas that never experienced flooding before were suddenly filled with water. Water levels rushed up quite quickly, it caught everyone by surprise.

Thankfully we're still okay. Our kitchen got flooded because the grounds outside cannot take the water in anymore, but we managed to get the water out of our house by Saturday evening. The outside of our village was knee-deep in water, and we never experienced that kind of flooding before.

Some friends got stranded, others tried their best to save what they had.

It was a good thing we had supplies of food. We lost electricity for a few hours but it was turned on again, which prompted us to charge our mobile phones and batteries for flashlights.

At the moment, there is another super typhoon that is headed to the Philippines, it will hit the Northern part of Luzon but it is expected to bring rainfall again. And to think that other areas still have floodwaters in the area.

I guess I could say that I am quite lucky. There isn't much damage to our house [except for a door that expanded with the flood water and can't be closed anymore], as compared to what my fellow Filipinos have suffered.

But like everything, we will rebuild and we are thankful that most of us are still alive.

Haven't been reading much books lately, so updates and/or reviews would be posted as soon as I can.

Thank you so much for all your overwhelming messages!