Monday 22 December 2008

The Zahir and Book Worm Tag


The past few days have been chaotic, both at home and at work. I had to tie up loose strings at work so that the beginning of next year will be all sound and smooth while doing all my Christmas shopping and wrapping and planning for Christmas Eve dinner. Don’t get me wrong, I love it! Actually when honey and I bought some gifts from the toy shop, they offered to wrap all the toys for us but I told the kind sales lady to just give me the wrapping paper of my choice and I’ll wrap it myself. I don’t know what it is about wrapping gifts that soothes me, it makes giving a gift to someone more fun aside from the fact that I want to make the gifts under our tree look uniform. I have been wanting to post several entries the past couple of days but unfortunately I just couldn’t find the time. That is the reason why I love this tag from Niko . It gives me that added push to squeeze in an entry and an opportunity to share my views about this recent book that I’ve read.

Here are the mechanics of the tag: (modified the rules a bit coz I found it confusing)

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence starting from the first complete sentence of the page.
4. Post the fifth sentence.
5. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book or the intellectual one. Pick the closest.
6. Tag five people to do the same.

Good thing I haven’t brought this book back home, I left this book here in my office drawer after I’ve finished reading it on my way here. And the 5th sentence of page 56 reads:

“But the Zahir, about which I initially used to think with either irritation of affection, continued to grow in my soul”

This line is from Paulo Coelho’s The Zahir. This is the first book written by Paulo Coelho that I’ve read and I must say he is a great writer. I find his thoughts so profound and unconventional. I also feel that there is very less to be desired in his style of writing. One of my favorite dialogues in the book reads:

“Marie, let’s suppose that two firemen go into a forest to put out a small fire. Afterwards, when they emerge and go over to a stream, the face of one is all smeared with black, while the other man’s face is completely clean. My question is this: which of the two will wash his face.”
“That’s a silly question. The one with the dirty face of course.”
“No, the one with the dirty face will look at the other man and assume that he looks like him and vice-versa, the man with the clean face will see his colleague covered in grime and say to himself: I must be dirty too. I’d better have a wash.”


How brilliant is that! This book talks about true love but not in the mushy kind of way. To be honest, I’ve never seen love described in the same way it was written in the book. The only thing that I feel was off is how the novel ended. I just thought that after an entire novel of struggle and journey in search of the Zahir, to end up with nothing is not the way to go, but then that’s just me.

I am so looking forward to reading more of Paulo Coelho’s works, if this book is any indication of how brilliant his works are, I’m sure that it’s gonna be a blast.

Oh and by the way, as a tradition for tags in this blog, I would like to invite anyone reading who wants to join since this was quite a fun tag. BTW, don’t forget to tag back! Have Fun!

Monday 15 December 2008

Honey... Hubby... Honey... Hubby... Tag



Mush Alert!!! Please stop reading now if you don't want to be overwhelmed by cheesiness. Don't say I didn't warn you.... Niko must now know how mushy honey and I are and how I can't say no to any opportunity to show this mushiness so she asked me to drop by her other blog and grab this tag. The moment I read through the questions, I just couldn't resist answering them as I travel back through memory lane.

Can you remember the day you first met your hubby? Actually, we have never been formally introduced. We were both members of an organization and through various activities we just knew each other. Here's the complete story of how I started to get to know honey.

When was that? I was in first year college when I first saw him (when my friend who had a crush on him pointed him out to me while he was walking in the campus with his then girlfriend) so that would have to be in 1998.

First impression. About him or about his ex?!? hahaha.... Well like what i told my friend, he's cute but not my type.

Were you friends before he became your bf? yup we became very close friends since we had lots of same interests and hobbies.

What was the sweetest thing he did for you? when he got down on his knee, gave me a ring and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. i think it will be hard top that.

What are the things about him that you are thankful for? I'm thankful for his patience, for his kindness, for his humor, for his faith and above all for his love.


I always enjoy a moment of mushiness. Now for those of you who wants to share some cheesy moments with the rest of us, here are the rules:
1. Pick your sweetest picture when you were still friends and post it on top of the questions and answers. (as i didn't have any pics from when we were still friends saved in the my laptop, i opted to post a picture from our prenup pictures.)
2. Another pic now that you are together, post it after the questions.
3. Share to how many friends you like.
4. Enjoy doing it and let your hubby read it too! :D

Friday 12 December 2008

Return with a tag

My body finally gave in and I was down with cough and cold and muscle pains... name it, i've got it in the past two days. Thank God I feel much better now although my voice is still not the same and i still sneeze a lot. I guess its also the time of the year to catch a virus.

It's nice to go back to my blog and find a cute tag from Niko. It's quite simple actually, there are several questions and i have to answer them by searching through Google images and i have to choose an image on the first page of my search. Oh and of course tag other (7) bloggers to do the same.

1. The age of my next birthday


2. Place i would like to travel


3. My favorite place


4. A favorite thing


5. My favorite food



6. My favorite color


7. The city i reside now


8. The city i was born


9. My college major


10. Name of your first lover


11. A Bad habit


12. A hobby


13. My current wish lists ( Max of 3)




It was fun doing this tag. I am supposed to tag other bloggers to do the same and as I customarily do, I'd hate to limit the fun to just a few people, so instead of tagging bloggers in particular, I'm tagging everyone who wants to join in on the fun. Enjoy your weekend everyone.

From Dubai straight under the tree

When our friend S finally got his luggage, I was thrilled to receive these wonderfully wrapped gifts from Ate L, a very good friend of ours who resides in Dubai as well. The moment she heard that a friend will be visiting us for the holidays, she immediately grabbed something to send to us. Thanks for that Ate L. Your gifts are now sitting under our tree.

Our other loots from Dubai include this very chic bag from S’s girlfriend, a box of superb dates, boxes of ginseng coffee that Mama Lits endorses all the time, several ties, pants and polo shirts for honey from Mama Lits as well and my favorite of them all…. A great looking skirt and a very stylish blouse from Mama Lits. Its always a treat that my mom in law works for the fashion industry, she absolutely knows what kind of outfit would suit you best.

I’m so excited since these are the first surge of presents for honey and myself. Christmas is just around the corner. I really need to get cracking with wrapping the presents that we intend to give out as soon as I’m better from this cold, cough and flu.

Monday 8 December 2008

Finally I’ve seen Twilight


I had my mind set on watching Twilight the movie on the 4th of December, the moment I learned that that was when it’s going to be shown here in Amsterdam. However, since our visitor arrived on the same day, honey and I had to postpone it the following day. Came Friday, honey was coughing and sneezing like crazy so I asked him if he was still up for the movie, I told him we should do it another day when he’s all better. But honey knew how long I’ve waited to see the movie, he insisted that we go.

When we got inside the cinema, I was really surprised to see that there were barely ten people inside, initially I thought all the people waiting in the cinema lounge would be watching Twilight but as it turns out, they were there for another film. To think that it was Friday night 7pm, it seems that Twilight doesn’t have a big fan base here, from where I live anyway. Now what do I think of the film….

I really enjoyed the movie. I love Robert Pattinson as Edward, he was able to lend Edward’s character more depth and charisma, and of course needless to say, he was absolutely gorgeous! I had to stop myself from shrieking like an infatuated teenager the moment I saw him on the screen (no one squealed so it would have been soooo embarrassing… hehe). His facial expressions and tortured looks, I think, were spot on.

Kristen Stewart as Bella was also a great choice, she perfectly portrayed Bella’s character, she had a simple beauty and yet a sensual look about her. The clumsiness and awkwardness of Bella appeared so natural in the movie.

Jacob, I must say I imagined him to be cuter but I’ve seen other pictures of Taylor Lautner to know that the best is yet to come.

I would have to say, I didn’t picture Charlie like how he was portrayed. I don’t know why but while I was reading the book I always pictured Charlie as someone who would be played by John Goodman, I told you I don’t know why but I just thought that a chubby chief of police and a loving (in a not too obvious, kind of awkward way) father would be endearing and that is how I saw Charlie in the books. Although, I must say, Billy Burke didn’t disappoint. He was endearing and quite a character without being overly expressive.

Bella’s friends, I could have never imagined Eric that way, while reading Twilight, I imagined him to be a nerd and goofy type but in the movie he was actually hip. Mike was cute very boy-next-door type, just as I imagined him, Angela and Jessica were also very well played.

The Cullens…. Ah the Cullens, love, love, love them especially Carlisle, he exuded a very fatherly image and he was so good looking! I love how they looked more alive in the film than they were in the book. When the book described them in Twilight it was like they don’t talk while in the cafeteria only staring on the walls, I love it when the movie showed them laughing and even having fun together.

Some of my favourite scenes: (Spoilers alert! Stop reading now if you haven’t seen the film!)

1) I love the scene when Edward rescued Bella in Port Angeles, when they were already in the car and Edward was so furious and asked Bella to distract him so that he will not go back and hunt the guys who almost attacked her and then suddenly he smiles when Bella says something funny.
2) I really liked the restaurant scene in Port Angeles, it was so funny when Edward was listening to the thoughts of the people around them. Money… Sex… Money… Sex… CAT!?! Money. Haha.
3) When Edward took Bella to see their home for the first time. The house was so beautiful and the Cullens were so endearing when they tried to cook Bella dinner.
4) The first time Edward kissed Bella, when he had to pull back, the pained look on his face was so real that I actually pitied him.
5) Every time Bella speaks to his mom, it’s funny and endearing at the same time, specially when she asked Bella “if she was being safe?” haha.
6) The baseball game! So fun, so refreshing and they looked cute on their outfits.
7) The scenes when Edward is in Bella’s room, so intimate… so sweet.
8) I like the fact that there was a fight scene between Edward and James unlike in the book where Bella just passed out and when she was awake it was over.
9) The prom night was dreamy!

The movie was absolutely entertaining, however, there were some parts of the movie that I didn’t like.

1) Most of the times that Jasper was shown in this movie, he had a funny look on his face. I know it was mentioned in the book that he was having difficulty being around Bella coz he’s new to this vegetarian thing but that look on his face is not unease it was funny really.
2) The way Bella and Edward fell in love, it wasn’t developed well, it was like one moment Edward was there then he was gone for a while after the Biology class and when he came back they were sort of falling in love already…. Parang pilit. Didn’t work for me.
3) I would have wanted to see more of Alice’s and Bella’s developing friendship, it seemed to be vital in the next books after all.


All in all, I really enjoyed this movie. The moment we got home from watching this film, I couldn’t help but browse through the pages of the Twilight book again. There was nothing spectacular about the movie but it delivered, I have to say, it was worth the wait.

photos from here

Friday 5 December 2008

In Transit

(photo from flickr)
When honey and I were on vacation in Manila about two years ago, we spotted this cutesy neon pink travelling bag, immediately I told him that we have to buy it! I was already thinking of the convenience it would bring each time we travel. You see, before that, all our travelling bags were mostly black and you can just imagine my frustration at the end of a long haul flight, tired and sleepy and excited to get out of the airport, when I struggle to find the luggage that is mine simply because it looks like everyone else’s. I was also thinking that having a travelling bag that is the same as everyone else increases the risk of me loosing my things because someone else might take my bag by mistake. And when you are travelling a long way, the last thing that you want is to be inconvenienced and loose all your things. So I was happy with my trusted neon pink luggage, no more difficulty identifying which is mine from then on, I recognize my bag the moment the conveyor belt spats it out and I was convinced that from then on no lost luggage for me, until yesterday.

Honey picked up a friend from the airport last night who is visiting us for a couple of weeks. As I heard them enter the door, I immediately rushed to welcome our visitor. I was surprised that all he had with him is a back pack that is not even full, after all he’s staying with us until new year. That is when they told me that his luggage was lost. It is so inconvenient for him especially he is visiting at the full swing of winter and all his winter clothes are in the bag. And guess what all they gave him for this huge annoying incident is an emergency pack that contains what? A toothbrush, a toothpaste, and some other toiletries. Hello! Can these toiletries give him warmth as he steps outside where its 1 degree Celsius. I told him that he should have demanded that they at least buy him a winter jacket or gave him at least a change of clothes. So far, we still don’t know when his luggage will resurface. I really do hope that airlines, who charge you an arm and a leg by the way, would have a more sensible and concrete response to cases like this and not think that giving a customer an “emergency kit” is enough compensation for the inconvenience of a lost luggage.

This only goes to show that one can only be so cautious, there are several things that might happen that is way beyond our control. Thank God this has never happened to us before, and hopefully not in the future. I’m hoping that my cutesy neon pink bag is not only convenient when collecting our luggage at the conveyor belt but also a lucky bag that will not get lost. :-)

Wednesday 3 December 2008

Sun kissed

I love it when we get a sunny day during winter. It doesn’t mean that it’s warmer but at least it’s bright and lively. Such is the case today and it perked up the start of my day instantly. I didn’t thought it would be coz it was raining last night and when I left this morning to go to the gym, I had to be very cautious as I walk coz some parts of the pavement were covered with ice and it was very slippery. Oh well, that’s typical Dutch weather.

While I was walking through the hall in the office, I couldn’t help but stare out the window, it was really beautiful out there, the sun was reflecting on the pond that was just outside, the trees were golden brown as the light trickles through the branches. As I look at the trees lined outside, I can’t help but be amazed, just a couple of weeks ago, all these trees were teeming with leaves but today, not one of them is left. I wonder how much longer we have to wait to see the pond turn into to ice this year.


We don’t get a lot of days like this during this time of the year in this part of the world, so I’m really very thankful for moments like this when the weather is lovely and I’m inspired to take a moment and appreciate the beauty that is around me.

Tuesday 2 December 2008

Caught by Surprise

I was tagged by Niko yesterday however, the moment I arrived in the office, my phone died on me so I cannot do the tag and I completely forgot about it by the end of the day... Sorry! I only remembered it this morning right after I went to the gym and about to call honey. The tag says that I have to take a picture of myself at the moment I received the tag, (no changing of clothes, no fixing of hair and post the picture without editing). So I immediately took my picture right then and there, inside the locker of our office gym hehe. I hoped for a better backdrop but hey I didn’t want to cheat.



Apologies for the blurry quality of the photo, i was running late and besides I'm not sure if I'm allowed to take another shot.

I'm supposed to tag other people to do this as well, but hey why set a limit. If anyone of you, upon reading this post, wants to take the challenge and post a sponteneous photo of yourself... please do so. Oh, and don't forget to link back here.

Monday 1 December 2008

Then comes Christmas


(photo from Flickr)

As everyone keeps on saying, it’s that time of the year. The breeze is getting colder, homes are prettifying their trees, everyone is wrapping presents, people crowd the shopping malls (or in our case shopping streets) to grab those items in their list. I really love this season, I just feel that this time of the year people are nicer, warmer, more patient with one another, more loving. It’s nice to see people go out of their normal, busy lives to think of little tokens and give to other people. Tis the season when I see a lot more people becoming more generous to others, sans whatever economic conditions there may be.

Twenty four days to go before Christmas and I’m really excited to spend this season with family and friends (although, I’ll miss most of my family who’s not here to spend Christmas with us). I'm so looking forward to the busy holiday season and let me be the first to greet you all. Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!

Oh, BTW, I have never in my life created a wish list but this year, I have a couple of things in mind. I am wishing for a Canon EOS 450D, Kitchen Aid Mixer, a nice cake plate (you will be amazed at how difficult it is for me to find a decent cake plate, where I can serve the fruits on my labour on the dining table), Wilton’s 52 piece cake decorating set, WII Sport and DVD of great movies (like the entire collection of the James Bond films).

You can never say… a generous Santa might be around the corner waiting to make my wishes come true!