Ruby Loves Adventure

An exciting Saturday ahead! :) First I'm off to Bonifacio High Street for the Fully Booked Book Geek competition [oh my.. hopefully I answer some questions correctly] and off to Greenbelt in the evening for the Secondhand Serenade concert. wheee!

Finally... I got to update the blog. I've been extremely busy lately, it's crazy! I haven't also been able to watch all my telly shows. Hopefully this Sunday.

Whee :)

Book #3 for 2009 is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet"
I got this from bookmooch.com and am now offering it up for grabs in bookmooch for anyone who wants to read it :)



This was the debut novel of Arthur Conan Doyle, and the tale is told in the point of view of John Watson, a doctor, who also is Sherlock Holmes' roommate. It revolves around a mysterious death of Enoch Drebber, an American, who was found in an empty house in London.

What follows was a tale of revenge that started from the wastelands of Utah, Mormonism, travels from Continental US and through Europe, and eventually ending in London.

That's all I could pretty much say about the plot without revealing too much information.



Thoughts?

What made me pick up this book in the first place? Well, as I was walking out of Baker Street Underground station whilst I was in London, I saw a statue of Sherlock Holmes and immediately wanted to read one of his books. I was very, very curious on what he exactly did and why the cult following around him? I eventually made myself promise that I would read at least a few of his works when I get home so that if and when I do get back to London, I would appreciate the museum dedicated to him as well and eventually I did. An opportunity arose when the book was offered in bookmooch and I jumped at it, and the rest, as they say is history.

On to the book.

Well, the book was presented in such a manner that was unconventional for me -- it was presented in two parts: part one was told in John Watson's point of view, wherein he meets Sherlock Holmes for the first time and eventually finds out what he does, and eventually they both get involved in the investigation of the murder. Part One also concludes in the arrest of the suspect for killing Drebber, whilst Part Two starts with a back story of how the motive for killing Drebber was formed, and eventually concludes in how Sherlock Holmes caught the killer.

The language is a bit hard for me to understand, it is old English, but you'll get to pick it up and eventually understand it as you go along in the book. The book overall is very fascinating except for the part when I was nearly screaming at the end of Part One when I was like, "How did Sherlock Holmes do it? Why did the killer do it? What was his purpose?" -- blame my impatient self for that. Whenever I read mystery books, I tend to be very, very impatient as I also conclude and try to deduce who was the culprit. Another downside was the font in the book that I was reading -- it is a bit small so it gets pretty hard to read whenever I'm commuting.

Overall, the book did amuse me and I learned quite a bit from it. I'd give it a 3/5 stars.

And off to a friend's house tonight. Yay DSL! Hello long-delayed posts of videos on YouTube, reviews about events and photos.

Have a happy weekend everyone! :)

Latest hauls:
-- Taking 5 DVD [OMG been waiting SOOOOO long for this! Hello the Click Five!]
-- The Duchess and Carnivale [season 1 and 2 DVDs] --> is it just me or am I being biased to buying only period films?
-- Ronan Keating Live DVD [hurrah hurrah]
-- another copy of Boyzone: Back Again No Matter What Live 2008[because I'm scared the other one would be scratched the way I keep on playing it]

**Just wanted to post this --- OMG I shaked the hand of Joey Westwood. He's such a babe:**

Gawd.

My internet at home is such a hassle. I totally hate it. Dialup sucks, PLDT sucks because they don't have the necessary lines in my area. Ugh. I can't believe I'm stuck in the dinosaur age of dialup internet!

Anyway, moving on -- Last Friday, I got awesome VIP passes to the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus event in Market Market. Not only that, I got a chance to meet the band after the concert, the VIP pass comes with free meet & greets. Yaay!

The concert was good although in the first song, there was obviously some trouble with the microphone -- the intro and first two lines of the song "You Better Pray" were not heard by the people at the back. Tsk Tsk. I thought there was supposed to be a soundcheck to correct those kinds of issues.

As I write this, I am currently moving my files from the digicam to the computer for backup -- which reminds me, I need to get myself a DVD-Writer to backup what's in my external HDs... I am a very OC girl who believes in backing up the backups :D

Just a while ago, I managed to catch U2 perform in Good Morning America. They have a new album out so they're promoting it.
Gawd. I never really realized how GOOD this band was until a few months ago.

I'm currently watching the MTV of "Elevation" -- one of my favourite U2 songs :P Even though some of the lyrics don't make sense -- "A mole, digging up a hole...." I still love it. =)

Gotta go get ready to meet my friends in Glorietta in a few mins. tah! :D

**apologies for the lack of photos -- my slow internet won't allow it! gah!

The Tudors is a telly series that is currently airing in HBO [in Asia, anyway, Showtime for other countries] that has been airing for 2 seasons.



It premiered last night on HBO much to my delight. See, I've been watching this telly series for the past month now, and have gone through the two season and I just can't get enough! :)

It's a historical-based telly series, starring Henry VIII, yes, the notorious English king who had 6 wives. He is played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers [gorgeous guy] and his portrayal is definitely something to watch. He is GOOD!

I have blogged about season 1 before but having recently finished season 2, I was totally blown away. I cannot wait for season 3, which should be showing abroad starting this year.

Do watch it on HBO every Mondays at 11 :)

*sigh*

On another note, yesterday, as I was browsing through National Bookstore, I found myself another historical novel to add to my collection of English history novels:



It's titled "The Sixth Wife" by Suzannah Dunn. It tells the story of Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VII and her life after Henry's death -- her love affair with Thomas Seymour, and how she looked after Elizabeth after her father's death.

I'll post reviews once I finish the book -- this recent haul is currently in the TBR pile.

Can't English history be more interesting???

Phew. I finally got the time to post another review. Have been absolutely busy for the past few days with training and with work.

So, I'm posting my review for Shopaholic Abroad by Sophie Kinsella.


It picks up where the previous book left off. Becky is now happily in a relationship with Luke Brandon [drool], but this time, Luke's going off to New York to expand his business and he's inviting Becky to go with him!

That means she'll have more shopping choices -- Barney's, Macy's, you name it! And just when you thought that she's trying to keep her finances in track.

Becky then goes back in her previous pattern of shopping excessively and thinking that the dollar is soo much smaller in value as compared to her pounds. She ends up in massive debt again and her relationship with Luke is on the rocks.

But all is fair in the end... I don't really want to post much on what happens in the book -- read it for yourself, I swear it is one great read [well, for me anyway] and it made me squeal in delight as I was reading the last parts of the book. *sigh*
Again, I want my own Luke Brandon.

Overall, I'll rate this book another 4/5. Biased again :P

My copy is a trade paperback which I've bought from Powerbooks some time ago. Definitely a keeper! :D

I haven't been updating much lately because I was extremely busy... have been on a training session [and still is at the moment] and it's approaching month-end so it's time to crunch the numbers once again.

For this lent, I will do a self-imposed book-buying ban.

For nearly 2 months, I shall do no book buying [still thinking if this will also include mooching] to at least trim down the Mount TBR pile.

Wish me luck! :)

Well, I wouldn't consider this book as part of my 2009 quantity challenge as I finished this when I was still in college -- sometime 2003 or early 2004. It did not have the cult chick-lit following way back then, but it certainly entertained me.


The first book in this review is the "Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella. It was first introduced to me by a high school friend and she said that it suited me well. At the time, I was a shopaholic and was deeply interested in finance. Talk about extremes.

It tells the tale of Rebecca Bloomwood, a financial journalist who just can't stop herself from shopping. She gets a thrill whenever she shops for stuff, and is so oblivious to the fact that her credit card debts are piling up and she is already running an overdraft with her bank.

Okay, very ironic, but Becky was younger, she thought that the credit card was some magical card where you just swipe it and poof! Your stuff is free.

The funniest part of the tale is whenever she gets her bills -- oh yes, there are lots and lots of them, and tries to hide them or "accidentally-on-purpose" loses them. Imagine, her biggest fantasy was that her credit card bill would be sent to someone by mistake and her bills would immediately be paid off! :P

Anyway, the part I loved the most about the book is Luke Brandon. Hmmmm.... for me, he is the quintessential British guy, the guy I tend to be attracted to the most. As I was reading the tale, I was like, "I want my own Luke Brandon." Okay. So he is just a character, but having a real-life boyfriend like that would surely make me so happy!

I'll still give the novel a 4.5/5. Okay. I might have been a wee bit impartial in giving out my overall rating because the Luke Brandon character added a bit to it and of course, it's set in London. Apologies, but I do am partial to novels written or is set in London. I just adore that place and well, I could deffo picture the stores that Sophie Kinsella was stating, even down to the tube lines :P

I'm going to watch the movie tonight, so expect some spoilers when I blog the differences and similarities of both movies! :)

Will post another review for Shopaholic Abroad soon!

My copy: a trade paperback novel bought from Powerbooks circa 2003 which I'm definitely keeping :) Oh yes, I have the British version. Hurrah!

So yesterday, I was in Greenbelt 5 at lunch time and saw that Hobbes & Landes was on sale.


I remember two weeks ago, we bought a going-away present for a colleague of ours at Hobbes and Landes and I saw this 1000 piece Tower Bridge Puzzle. I wanted to buy it badly at the time but it was out of my budget so I decided to return once there was a sale.

So, on my return yesterday, lo and behold, it was 10% off! I got this puzzle for only P630 :)

I then laid it out on the floor in my bedroom last night and my head had started spinning.

There were so many pieces, I didn't know where to start!

I found myself contented to just build the bridge together first, then the River Thames, then the skyline, and eventually the surrounding buildings/background.

As I blog this, I haven't had any significant progress yet!

Hopefully I'll get to finish it this weekend.

My Book # 2 for 2009 is Cirque du Freak book 1 by Darren Shan.


It chronicles the story of Darren Shan, a normal boy, who by a sudden twist of fate, gets an extra ticket to a freak show called Cirque du Freak. He attends the show with his best friend, Steve, not knowing that his life would change forever.

From the circus, he would cross paths with an exotic spider whose bite is so deadly it could kill people, a vampire named Mr. Creepsley and eventually, he would become a half-vampire himself.

The book is quite good, not as scary and dark as I thought it would be, but quite entertaining. I like the way the author had deviated from the vampire myths -- that they are afraid of garlic, they are immortal, and that they are afraid of crosses and holy water. Very unlike Twilight :P

The character of Darren is very strong, at a very young age, he is able to face all the things that life and his decisions throw at him.. very mature.

Since this book is part of the series, it left me wanting more. Only problem is, having 12 books in the series, looking for all the books is a wee bit difficult.

So hence, I am now on the lookout for book 2. But for the meanwhile, I shall have to make do with some of the other books from Mt TBR to be read whilst I look for it in second hand shops.

Over all, I'll give this novel a 3.5/5. It is a very entertaining and light read [well, light for those who have time to read :P ] and is worth your time.

My copy: Mass-market paperback mooched from BM.

**********************************
I've seen the rain fall in Africa
I've touched the snow of Alaska
I've felt the mist of Niagara
And now I believe.... in you....
*********************************
How far we've come
And how far to go
Rain does not fall
On one roof alone
To a different beat.
*********************************

***will post my reviews of the FOB concert & Cirque du Freak book 1 when I'm in a not-so scatterbrain mood.

Might be off to watch Fall Out Boy in a few hours. I say "might" because the tickets are still not with me yet -- they're with my friend and I'm waiting for his text message come 5pm when he leaves the office.

Have a happy hearts day & a great weekend tomorrow!

I'm off to read more, walk and play with Goofy the doggie and watch DVDs.

Tah!