Stop, Look and Capture #1

I have been doing a lot of street photography lately. Mesmerize by the beauty of simple things that are mostly neglected, where you can you just breathe and appreciate. Stop, look and capture. Nothing much to say. Let the photos do the talking. 😃

Currently Reading #5

Alienated (Alienated #1)

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them.

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara’s classmates get swept up by anti-L’eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn’t safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara’s locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she’s fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.

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I really don’t know what to expect here. I’m really not fond of Alien related stuff ’cause I had my own share of wachamacallit? Fed up moments? Well, aside from The Lux Series of course. I find the rundown and the title predictable, but I want to still give it a try and who knows? The book might surprise me. The book cover is gorgeous. Striking. Those kinds of covers that will let you linger for a moment when you’re browsing. Definitely worth the Go-Back-One-Page button when you have clicked the Next button too hasty.

Book Review: City Of Heavenly Fire (Final Book: The Mortal Instruments)

ΕRCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID.

“I am coming.”

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance? Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last installment of the Mortal Instruments series!

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I’m not pretty sure how to begin with this as I’m so overwhelmed about the idea of having a book review about City of Heavenly Fire. That familiar mixed emotions again. Sure, I’m so familiar with it, but still, heartbreaking. Heartbreaking that this would be the last book. Though I know there would be another series that Clare is doing and it’s like an extension of this; I can’t help to be woeful. On the other hand, I’m so happy that I’ve got to read the last installment of this series. Finally. As in, at last. I’m being bipolar again, I guess. Yeah. I know. Can’t help it.

I love how the book is written. It is not written as I expected for it is more fascinating. It feels like that you’ve been taken away to a dimension that’s so real. So real I forgot that it’s from a book. I love the Shadowhunter world. Every little details of it; that I want to have runes tattooed on me too. This series will always be an obsession to me. A favorite. I adore how Clare have written everything because the series is beyond amazing. Yeah, I have my own share of disappointments from the previous books, but this book have rubbed them out.

Waiting on Wednesday aka Tarrying Thursday #3

I’ve missed it yesterday. Again. I’ve been quite busy. I would do it today anyway, on a Thursday so I’ll call it Tarrying Thursday. Lame. Well Tarrying is synonymous to Waiting; that’s the best word I can racked my brain as of the moment so bear with me here. Unless you could give me suggestions on how I can call it. Spare me some until next Tuesday. Ha! Ha!

Anyway, I just stumbled upon this new book by Jennifer Armentrout and it really caught my attention.

The Return (Titan #1)

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It’s been a year since Seth made the deal with the gods that pledged his life to them. And so far, the jobs they’ve given him have been violent and bloody – which is kind of all right with him. But now Apollo has something else in mind for Seth. He’s got to play protector while keeping his hands and fingers off, and for someone who really has a problem with restraint, this new assignment might be the most challenging yet.

Josie has no idea what this crazy hot guy’s deal might be, but it’s a good bet that his arrival means the new life she started after leaving home is about to be thrown into an Olympian-sized blender turned up to “puree”. Either Josie is going insane or a nightmare straight out of an ancient myth is gunning for her.

But it might be the unlikely attraction simmering between her and the golden-eyed, secret-keeping Seth that may prove to be the most dangerous thing of all.

Book 1 in the new adult paranormal TITAN series, spin-off to the best selling COVENANT series.

Seth’s Story.

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I’m not pretty sure if you could be excited about this, if you haven’t read the Covenant Series.  At any rate, Jennifer confirmed that this can be a stand-alone series, not really an extension of the Covenant. Still, I suggest that you read the Covenant so you could relate to this giddy feeling in me just for the mention of Seth’s name. Seth’s not really a lovable character, but I have learned to love him eventually and learning that he has his own series sends blissful sparks in me.

Currently Reading #4

City Of Heavenly Fire (Final Book: The Mortal Instruments)

ΕRCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID.

“I am coming.”

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance? Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last installment of the Mortal Instruments series!

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At long last. Finally. Finalmente. Enfin. It is here. Ha! Ha! I’ve waited so long for this. So long that I nearly fainted when I got my hands on the book. Yeah. I’ve gone loony for this is my favorite series after Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. I can’t contain my happiness. Have I mentioned that I am super happy? Ha! Ha! This is madness at its finest! I think I’m already on the 8th chapter and I’m really loving every bit of it. In fact, I’ve never had an eight hours sleep from the day I started reading this and that’s how thrilled I am apparently. 😊

Book Review: Infinityglass (Hourglass #3)

The stakes have risen even higher in this third book in the Hourglass series.

The Hourglass is a secret organization focused on the study of manipulating time, and its members — many of them teenagers -­have uncanny abilities to make time work for them in mysterious ways. Inherent in these powers is a responsibility to take great care, because altering one small moment can have devastating consequences for the past, present, and future. But some time trav­elers are not exactly honorable, and sometimes unsavory deals must be struck to maintain order.

With the Infinityglass (central to understanding and harnessing the time gene) at large, the hunt is on to find it before someone else does.

But the Hourglass has an advantage. Lily, who has the ability to locate anything lost, has determined that the Infinityglass isn’t an object. It’s a person. And the Hourglass must find him or her first. But where do you start searching for the very key to time when every second could be the last?

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I didn’t realize that this would be the last book of the series. It’s either I enjoyed reading it and still can’t get enough of the book or I’m looking for something that the book came short of. I still can’t decide which of those really explain how I’m feeling for InfinityGlass. I adored the first two books especially Timepiece because I love Kaleb and Lily, but this book? I’m not so certain. Hallie and Dune were not compelling enough to end the series in a remarkable way.

I can’t say I’m disappointed entirely, a little I may say. I like the book. There are chapters that kept me reading it and really thrilled me. Some pages made me even feel that I can’t stop reading. I love how the setting is depicted, which is in New Orleans. I like the twists, how the story has ended and how things turned up, but there are some things that bothered me.

Mahogany Market’s Bulalo : Birthday Trip III

We left Sonya’s Garden with hungry tummies so as we’ve initially planned, we’ll indulge to the most famous dish in town. Yes to Bulalo (Beef Shanks or Bone Marrow Soup)! It’s a Filipino dish wherein beef shanks and marrow bones are boiled until the fat has melted into the clear broth or soup. Not healthy eh? Trying sinful food once in while won’t hurt. 😉

Again. We really didn’t have an idea where to get the best one so with the help of locals, we decided to check out Mahogany Market. At first, we considered trying Leslie’s since that’s a known place for trying out Bulalo in Tagaytay, but I’ve read blogs that it tends to be pricey and there were a lot of places where you could get the same taste for a much affordable price.

From Sonya’s we took a jeepney ride to Tagaytay’s Rotunda, only to find out that we should’ve taken the jeepneys taking left from Sky Ranch so it was like we have gone in circles. By the time we’ve found Mahogany Market, we were already famished. We’ve squeezed ourselves through the throng of people shopping and just plainly strolling around. Since it is literally a market, a lot of people were to be expected. The market was lined with stalls to try Bulalo, but I’m looking for a specific stall which I’ve read from a blog (reading blogs is so useful! 😊)

It is not your usual fine dining so don’t expect much. It is situated in front of a parking lot, tables and chairs were strategically placed in front of each stall so it is not on an air conditioned place. Good thing is, there were girls who attended to our needs when we were already seated.

Sonya’s Garden, Tagaytay : Birthday Trip II

This is just a continuation of our little birthday trip in Tagaytay. Our 2nd stop was the famous Sonya’s Garden. Were clueless on how to get there so we have sought help from security officers at the Sky Ranch. They’re so accommodating and there’s this certain security officer who have gone an extra mile and called their headquarters for directions. She was so nice! Too bad I didn’t get her name.

So, we took a jeepney ride bound to Nasugbu, Batangas from Sky Ranch to Sonya’s Garden. That was a long drive. I thought it was just nearby so I was little surprised. I think it took us fifteen minutes when the driver finally called our attention that we have arrived on our destination. He told us that we still need to take a tricycle and they would drop us off in front of the garden. It was Php30 fare for both us. We have noticed that only a few tricycle were passing by on that specific street so we settled to talk to the driver and have him pick us up after an hour.

We were a little curious as to why the parking lot was packed with awesome cars and there’s even a Ferrari parked nearby. A lot of people were engaged in conversation and it’s pretty obvious that everybody knows everyone. Then, I came to check the garden’s signage and there’s the answer to my puzzled thoughts. There’s a wedding that will be held inside later that afternoon. At first, we were reluctant to push through with exploring it, thinking that the entire place would be exclusively for the guests, but still decided to carry on with it. We found out that half of the place was restricted for all those who were not invited so there were limited spots to explore, but still we were thrilled.

Tagaytay’s Sky Ranch : Birthday Trip I

I have ditched books for the meantime, geared in with my camera and explored the beautiful city of Tagaytay for our birthday. Yes, our birthday. Mint and I shares the same birth date so celebrating it every year makes it extra special. It’s like we were twins from different moms. Destiny huh? 😊 Anyway, our friends were supposed to come along with us, but due to recent unfortunate events they weren’t able to so only Mint and I prepared for our little adventure.

Since we haven’t been to Tagaytay, planning our itinerary is quite thrilling. I have searched blogs to have an effective one and really hoping we could make it possible. We only planned to spend an entire day so we would want to go as many places as we could. Luckily, I stumbled upon LakadPilipinas‘s blog and got myself an idea on where to go. We were so excited about the trip we only slept a couple of hours before we left home early in the morning avoiding rush hour. Took a bus from Coastal Mall to Tagaytay City’s proper and rode a jeepney to our first stop.

Our first stop: Sky Ranch 😊

Sky Ranch is a mini amusement park and like any other, they have rides like Ferris Wheel, Merry-Go-Round, Nessi Coaster, etc. They also have horseback riding and zip line to complete the adventure. It’s a five hectare property beside Taal Vista Hotel along Aguinaldo Highway in Tagaytay.

Waiting on Wednesday #2

I’ve skipped a post for Waiting on Wednesday last week so that’s really lame. Anyway, this week’s post for my WoW would be that book I’m having mixed emotions with. Last book on the series. Who would want to end a freaking fascinating book? Who? Holy Daemon babies!

Opposition (Lux #5)