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Moving Domains
Hello All, Just a quick note to say that I haven't been blogging here for a while because Peter and I decided to get our own doma...
Archive for October 2014
[Book Review] The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
It's so hard trying to think of a summary for this book without spoiling 13 Little Blue Envelopes sooo SPOILER ALERT.
Book starts when Ginny gets an unexpected message from London - her missing backpack & letters have been found!
She flies to London and it just so happens that the 13th Letter was another quest in itself. Back to London, Paris, and Amsterdam - but there's another destination - Ireland! Oh, and there's two new characters in the book!
Review:
I like books like these - books that revolve around quests and travelling to find yourself. It's like one of the best things! While it was not as adventurous as the first one (I feel like this book was rushed and some of the quests were just reused from the first book again), it still had its fair share of new places to see and explore, and realizations about life and all it's mysteries.
If I was a teenager and was still not traveling the world, I would be very interested to travel after reading this. After all, Ginny managed to do it, why can't I? (Of course she had her inheritance, but you can do it too - just need to work and save the money to make your dreams come true)
Sad that the series has come to an end - what will I read now? (Uhm seriously, I know there's plenty more books to read out there. It never ends)
If you want to see my review of 13 Little Blue Envelopes, click here
Overall, I'll give this book a 4/5
Book was borrowed from the Jacksonville Public Library
The 24 Hour Readathon - October 2014. Updates, and Everything Else
It's that time of the year again! A readathon. Woot Woot!
Normally, I spend my weekends traveling, but this weekend is an exception. I am staying in on Saturday (well, most of Saturday, anyway) and partaking in Dewey's 24 hour readathon.
The concept is simple: read as much as you can for 24 hours and partake in the community events.
I have been active a few years back, but actually stopped. And I'm back again! :)
This weekend, I'm going to be reading a lot of travel related books - mostly guidebooks for upcoming trips - which reminds me, I need to go to the library tomorrow morning to borrow more of them! I'm nearly done with one! And this year, well, looks like I'll just keep updating this post should I partake in the hourly updates.
Sooo..... welcome! And thank you for visiting my website!
Pages Read - Nearly the whole book of the Last Little Blue Envelope.
Think there's like less than 80 pages left.
Fell asleep and woke up after the challenge is over. Oh well. It was fun though, can't wait for the next one :)
Hour 16 Challenge: The Pet Parade
Thought it'll be good to share a photo of the baby bear (my dog). His real name is actually Goofy, but I call him Goofybear :)
Hour 12 Challenge:
Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now?
I'm reading "The Last Little Blue Envelope" by Maureen Johnson
0! LOL I'm a really, really slow reader.
Finishing the last 100 pages of "The Last Little Blue Envelope", oh and watching the last Harry Potter movie on abc family!
Yes! A lot! Well, I don't deal with them - I just get distracted very easily lol.
A lot of people all coming together to read, read, and read. This feels like such a big event now :)
Hour 5: An hour already????
Now that I am fully awake and the boyfriend is cooking lunch while I am trying to read and update & do challenges at once, I present my Hour 5 Challenge photo!
Book Staging
As you know, I am more of a traveler than a reader now and mostly read travel books for my leisure time.
Here's my entry - New Orleans. The beads, the jester, what more can you ask for?
Underneath that is the Lost Girls World - a travel memoir.. and beside it is Maureen Johnson's The Last Little Blue Envelope, two books which I'm reading alternately during the readathon.
Hour 4: Updates and Challenges
So I fell asleep between hour 3 and 4 and just woke up. I was happily reading my Cancun book when zzzzzz......
But now my boyfriend is back with the library books and I'm trying to catch up, reading The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson.
Hour 1: Meme Time.
So, a bit of an introduction - my name is Ruby and I'm reading from Jacksonville, Florida. I don't have a particular book in my stack to look forward to yet - as the library is still closed so I'm still reading guidebooks and Sophie Kinsella's Twenties Girl. I don't like snacking like reading!
A little bit about myself - I like to travel - as the blog shows. Once upon a time, when I was living in Manila, I had nothing much to do but read books so that's where my love of books comes from. Since moving to the UK and the US eventually, I find that I read a little less and explore a bit more so reading took a back seat.
I participated in a few other readathons - way back in Manila. One thing I'll do differently from this readathon is read more travel books or books that interest me more.
[Travel] Savannah, Georgia Itinerary & Photos
My mom wanted me to post more photos of my travels... so, in this blog, I'm gonna post Savannah!
We had a long weekend in April (Good Friday - Easter Sunday) and since we didn't get to book tickets to fly out, it's a staycation of sorts and decided we'll explore Savannah & Tybee Island in Georgia.
It's only two hours away from Jacksonville, FL (we drove) but seems completely far away from the world. We could have done separate day trips but I don't know what compelled us to stay longer.
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| Outside Fort Pulaski |
Hotel: Stayed at La Quinta in Pooler (around 10-15 minute drive from Savannah downtown).
Cost? Less than $100 per day with free breakfast. They have cozy rooms too.
Itinerary:
April 18th (Day 1) - We left Jacksonville late. Arrived in Pooler, checked in the hotel then ate lunch (at Wendy's in front of the hotel). Drove downtown. Went to the Railroad Museum. The museum had a bunch of historic carts & a steam engine train!
Walked around River Street but got drenched. Ate at Huey's for dinner. Not so expensive, and it was good, comfort food. Found the Savannah Bee Company and did a bit of window shopping. Decided to go back to the hotel and dry off. Early night for us.
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| At Fort Pulaski with a volunteer |
April 19th (Day 2)- Drove to Tybee Island. It is a separate island from Savannah, around a 30-45 minute drive. Also went to Fort Pulatski (the boyfriend loves his forts and would always make sure we stop at these historic site). It was free when we went (National Park Week's Opening weekend), but normally it's $5 per person.
In Tybee, we explored the Tybee Island Lighhouse & Museum. Paid a small amount to get to the top.
Ate at North Beach Bar & Grill and walked around the beach for a bit (it was a wee bit cold and balmy, after all) before heading trying to go to the pier. It was so traffic (there was an event on the other end of the island) that we decided to go back to Savannah.
Finally bought something from Savannah Bee Company in West Broughton Street as a souvenir. Then walked around the historic district and managed to go to the City Market and explored 10 squares. It was quite easy to get to the squares as the next one is always within two blocks of the other one. Even checked out the Colonial Park Cemetery.
After the 10th square, it was getting late so we called it a night and drove back to the hotel. How apt that they were showing Forrest Gump! It was my first time to watch that movie (albeit long)
After the 10th square, it was getting late so we called it a night and drove back to the hotel. How apt that they were showing Forrest Gump! It was my first time to watch that movie (albeit long)
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| On top of Tybee Island Lighthouse |
Went back to the historic district - to the Georgia Railroad Museum to ride the steam train and yay! We got a slot. That steam train was cool as hell. Note: if you pay the entrance fee to the museum, it's valid for a few days after your first purchase so you can keep coming back!
Also walked around some more squares and back to Broughton Street. Soon enough, it was time to go home! :(
Also walked around some more squares and back to Broughton Street. Soon enough, it was time to go home! :(
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| Bonaventure Cemetery |
That was our Savannah trip - it was a lot of fun and I recommend anyone to go there. Here's some more photos of me & some other interesting places we've seen in Savannah.
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| From one of Savannah's squares |
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| At the battle of Savannah battlefield |
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| The Nachez |
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| The waving girl statue |