I Blog, Therefore I Am.: Books

In Book Sale, Books

POWERBOOKS ON SALE!

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, by Abbie

In Books, Harry Potter

HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HALLOWS TRAILER

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, by Abbie

In Abbie, Books

I was really fascinated by Time Magazine's Top 10 of Everything for 2008 and I think that it would be cool to do one for myself as a year-ender. "Ten of everything" would be too much for me so I am just limiting my list to my ultimate "tops" and favorite things.

TOP PEOPLE

Family
In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, until death do us part. Enough said.

Forces Girlfriends + Jako
We've been through a lot this year - travels, dinners, quarrels, success, misunderstandings, profound e-mails, unions, engagements, singleness, happiness and broken hearts. Despite everything we've gone through we realized that we all love each other at the end of the day! :)

My CLRD Angels
The year will not be as sweet if not for my dear Marj and Kathy. We worked very hard and delivered a lot of projects that helped build subscribers' loyalty. I'll miss you, girls! Thanks for all that has been and for all that will be!

Gabsters
Our fondness and support for GDM was the one that introduced us to each other; but we discovered along the way that we have loads in common other than our PBB obsessions. Our BBQ Boy dinners were always riot events!

Ros + John + Eric
A common tragic event early this year made us closer to each other. It was not a "good year" for us but we all believe that it's already time to move on (Binchy would want it that way).

TOP TRAVELS

Boracay Birthday
This is my most traveled year! I'm out each month except in January. The one that stood out is my 30th birthday celebration in Boracay. My friends Tin, Aileen, Charo and Jako went with me last 888 (August 8, 2008) and had the time of our lives. The highlight of the trip? The Paraw Sunset Sailing!

Viva Vigan
My friends and I had a memorable roadtrip to Vigan last May. Aside from the cobblestones, the picturesque Spanish houses, and the yummy delicacies (I'm still craving for Martha's Bibingka until now), the trip was one for the books because we were were stranded in La Union for hours because of Typhoon Cosme. Our trip back home was 17 hours long. Whew!

Beautiful Bohol
Our Team Celebration Program in Bohol last September was great because there were only four (4) of us on the trip and it was my first time in Bohol! I can't wait to go back for more! Bohol is truly a relaxation haven!

Travel To Meet Subs
A huge chunk of my work-related travel this year was because of one of our loyalty programs. I was able to meet various subscribers all over the nation through this activity. They were all fun and enriching events and it gave me also the opportunity to visit Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija and Balanga, Bataan for the first time. I also visited Cebu (twice), Davao (thrice), Baguio and Cagayan de Oro this year.

TOP EVENTS
(These are my non-travel events this year that are memorable. "Memorable" can either be happy or sad and a couple of entries here were unfortunately sad ones.)

My Pond's Beauty Blog
One of my non-work achievements of the year is winning the Pond's 7-day Beauty Blog. The "essay" (as my dad puts it) won me a new iPhone 3G and gift certificates.

Binchy's Passing
My good friend's unexpected death usually trumps the happy events of the year. We are still grieving but we know in our hearts that he's now in a happier place.

NatCon 2008
Customer Care's National Conference 2008 became a memorable one for me because of some unexpected twist of events. It still haunt me at times but I already learned from the experience. Things that doesn't kill you truly makes you stronger! :)

Vince & Eliza's Wedding
Ate finally tied the knot last November! The event was a joyous one and it gave me the opportunity to be reunited with my Real relatives whom some I haven't seen in years.

TOP GADGETS

Canon 1000D
Santa came this year and got me this! Eyeloveit! Definitely the gift of the year (or even the decade).

Nokia E71
Nokia did everything right with this phone. It's perfect (or perfect for me at least!). The slim design allows you to text using one hand, it has WiFi, cool interface, huge LCD screen and its HSDPA! Definitely one of the best Nokias in the market today.

iPhone 3G
Dubbed by most as The Gadget of the Year, it is not on top of my list because it's not the best - for me anyway. It has its greatness, ganda points, Internet anywhere and everywhere, and it's the best iPod ever...but it's far from perfect (jailbroken or otherwise). But I still love it to bits because it's "my trophy".

TOP TV SHOWS

Grey's Anatomy
The plot with Denny coming back to life is beyond absurd and George may be resigning but I still love this show! Nothing can keep me away from it despite the cheesiness of Mer and Der. My only wish? End the dead guy story and let Izzie fall in love with Alex.

Gossip Girl
One of my Twitter buddies thought I was on my early twenties because of my great love for these Upper East Siders. Season 2 made me fall in like with Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass together with the teens and tweens of the world. I still love Serena and Lily but I just can't stand the Humphreys especially Dan, the over-analyzer.

The West Wing
It might have ended a couple of years ago but I am still on Season 3 of this great political drama. I am so fascinated with life at the White House and my week is not complete without hearing the "CJ! CJ! CJ!" of the reporters at the make-believe press room.

Brothers & Sisters
Who doesn't want to be part of the Walker family and their famous dinners? I've decided this season that Kevin is my favorite Walker (aside from Nora of course). Who's your favorite?

TOP MOVIES

Sex and The City Movie
Seeing Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte once again is beyond words! Watching it at Powerplant with great friends after Pepper Lunch was also great.

Twilight
Seeing Bela and The Cullens come to life is more than enough to land this movie on the list despite its crapiness. Sorry, Twitter movie fans.

TOP BOOKS

Twilight Series
It was the much-hyped launch of Breaking Dawn in August which prompted me to read the series. It somehow filled the void that Harry Potter left me. Stephanie's writing was so bad (grammar and punctuation errors, over-plot, under-plot) but her great storytelling skills compensated for it. My favorites are Breaking Dawn, Eclipse and Alice Cullen.

American Wife
Time Magazine agrees with me that this is one of the best reads of 2008. It's a story of a librarian turned First Lady of the United States of America (sounds familiar?).

Remember Me
Another chick-lit of Sophie Kinsella which was patterned after the humor and sweetness of tUndomestic Goddess and Can You Keep A Secret?.

TOP RESTAURANTS
(Funny that everything on this list is a destination restaurant.)

Bigby's
I fell in love with their Grilled Rodeo Chops and Iced Tea! I had it four times this year: Bigby's Davao, Bigby's LimKetKai, Bigby's SM Cebu and Bigby's Ayala Center Terraces. They will open a branch in Manila soon! Yey!

Cyma
This was my "supposed" 30th birthday dinner. The Cyma feast we had in Boracay was one of the best dinners that my friends and I had of late. Greek food is truly love! Best Moussaka I've ever had!

Breakfast at Antonio's
I came back this year to this beloved restaurant that hold so many wonderful memories of yesteryears. Their steak is still tender and I still love it! Yum!

TOP ON-LINE SITES

Twitter
I tried Plurk for a couple of months but I came back to Twitter. If I can't blog then I usually express myself via Twitter's 140 characters. According to TweetStat, my average tweet per day is 7.3 and I usually send them 8:00 pm onwards. My most replied twitter friends are taetin (Tin), rivengodwind (Rodge) and lilacstardust (Aileen), siaz (Mitzi) and charuzee (Charo). No surprises here since they are also my real-life best buds! Twitter is our cheesmux extension.

Facebook
I joined Facebook in mid-2007 but I only realized its full potential early this year. Everyone who's anyone is on Facebook; and it's the best Social Networking Site ever!

Multiply
This has always been my favorite repository site for photos, videos, blog entries and music. Add me up!

iGoogle
A customizable one-stop shop for everything Google (and some more). It's always a joy to see my e-mail, google search tabs, Remember The Milk tasks, Google Reader feeds and various news all in one place. Thanks to Marj for the tip!

Thanks to 2008 for being such a wonderful year!

Credits to Bordoy Viterbo, Charo, Aileen and Marj for the photos.

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, by Abbie

In Abbie, Books

HAPPY LEAP DAY!

It is a once-in-four-years Leap Day and it’s nice to blog because February 29 will only be seen again in 2012 and who knows if I will still be alive by then. It’s also the last day of the month so it’s good to recap and reminisce what happened this February.

If I have to put three words for February 2008 it will definitely be tragic, emotional and friendship. This is of course greatly attributed to the passing away of my dear friend Binchy and the good lessons he left us. I still think of him a lot and I know that this is one of the things that I wouldn’t be able to move on from easily. Death of a loved one is something that we just get used to and not something we get over with.

Since I am low on updates in the last few weeks, here’s a summary of what I’ve been up to.

POLITICS

I will not have a reaction on today’s Interfaith Rally that calls for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at Ayala Ave. (unlike the other rally weeks ago) for the sole reason that I was not in our office in Makati when it happened. Nevertheless, I am not fully SOLVED on the issues YET. I’ve had enough of People Power in the Philippines and its after-maths. If Gloria resigns...then what? BUT the evil biatch is really something, huh? I will not be surprised if we wake up one day to another Martial Law. More on this next time – I am not yet “in the heat” to discuss the government brouhaha that the we are currently facing.

WORK

The reason why I was not in Makati today was because of our department’s first Strategic Planning for the year. We were cooped at The Heritage Hotel for two whole days for the assembly. The activity and sessions were informative and engaging. It was different from the previous we had and it quite rocked us a bit. Nonetheless, the brainstorming were great (lots of terrific ideas), the presentations were instructive, but the food definitely sucks. I am not really a fan of Heritage Hotel when it comes to their dishes. I always end up eating at nearby SM Mall of Asia after a day’s food at Heritage. It's all blah.

We are really busy at work lately. I have to manage daily office grind with preparations for upcoming department events and activities. We even had an AVP shoot the other day for a major event next month. I was so used to being an organizer for such so it was fun being one of the “talents” for a change. Here's a couple of photos:

NO, it's not my regular attire.
I was actually wearing a maroon Muslim outfit and was making a bow.

Team BSD at the AVP shoot

BOOKS

I finally got hold of the book I’ve been obsessing since December. I went to Fully Booked SM Mall of Asia and they finally have a copy of Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris. I first chance upon this book when I was reading a 2007 year-ender feature of TIME Magazine. TIME named the book as one of the best in 2007 and the New York Times gave it glowing reports and reviews.

Then We Came To An End is a critically acclaimed novel that relays the story of a Chicago-based advertising agency as they face downsizing and lay-offs at the end of the 90’s boom. The novel is not for everyone but it can be one of your fast-read-while-waiting books. It’s light, comedic and was written in a third person narrative. It’s too early to give it a review (I am still on page 43) but it looks promising.

The next book on my list is Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella. It’s another fun book from one of my favorite chick-lit authors. I just re-read recently Undomestic Goddess and I cannot wait for more of her works. I also wish to finish reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love In The Time of Cholera. It was such a very heavy and emotion-filled book so I’ve already put it down several times.

TRAVEL

I went to Davao two weeks ago before Valentine’s Day! It was just a quick trip where I presented to our Mindanao leaders our group’s plans and strategies for this quarter and next. I really really really love Davao. It’s so divine yet simple! I often tell friends that Davao is the place to be if you are tired of good ol’ Manila. Too bad my stay was only less than 24 hours. It’s almost five years since the last time I visited Davao and I vow to make another trip to go and visit Pearl Farm and Samal Island.

I forgot to bring my camera so I don’t have photos of the nice sights I saw and the people I spent time with. I also took the opportunity to meet and dine with my friends in Davao like Koleen, Jesselou, Beam and Bianca. We had dinner at Penong’s near Royal Mandaya Hotel (where I stayed) and it was oh-so delicious. I love the BBQs and only-in-Davao restos like Penong’s!

My trip to Davao was so close to Binchy’s death and I was still wary on being alone at that time so it was really nice when Koleen and her cousin Bianca accompanied me at the hotel. They also met with me again (together with the others) after my meeting to kill time before my flight back to Manila. They took me to SM Davao and I bought Durian candies and some el cheapo frozen tunas from General Santos. It was generally a fun trip albeit a short one. The flight home was delayed so I was glad I had my laptop with me to amuse and entertain myself on the long wait. Beam’s two Pomelo fruit gifts were also the best! Thanks, thanks, Beam!

Davao, I’ll be back!

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, by Abbie

In Abbie, Books

ALL ROADS LEAD TO SUBIC

I am here at Subic, Zambales to attend the 20th Philippine Advertising Congress. This is only the 2nd time I will be attending the biggest advertising industry gathering here in the Philippines. The first one was back in 1997 at AdAsia Manila which was actually the Asian Advertising Congress held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). I was able to attend that event because several classmates and I were student volunteers together with other Communication students from other universities. It was one of those first fine moments when I had a glimpse of my future career.

20th Philippine Advertising Congress Logo

The mega-event started tonight with a Keynote Speech from John Gokongwei but we were not able to see it since we left the office at 7:00 pm. He talked about his riches-to rag-to riches success and the companies and product he built and introduced like Cebu Pacific and Universal Robina Corporation's C2 Juice Drink, which changed the landscape and perceptions of consumers and how we do business.

The business session starts tomorrow with best-selling author and celebrity speaker Neil Gaiman leading the pack. He will be talking about "Imagination and Creativity in The Contemporary World". I am truly looking forward to his speech. I haven't read any of his books but I definitely know him and his best-sellers. My ex was the one who actually introduced me to him through his book American Gods. Then there were also Neverwhere and Stardust which was turned into a film recently.

The theme for this year's AdCon is "The New Order". The congress will discuss the collaboration and competition between traditional marketing/advertising and new-age technology. It will set to understand how one complements and compete with the other. The sessions are divided into four phases: imagination and creativity, marketing and media, creativity, and going digital. Focused topics on emerging mobile and Internet marketing trends will also be discussed with SMART's very own Bong Mojica to talk about Mobile Advertising.

Speaking of SMART.

This is one of those moments when I am very happy and truly proud to be a SMARTee. We are just mere presentors and merchandising sponsors for the event yet our hardworking Event Team did one helluva job in dressing up Subic. The very long road stretch from the San Fernando Interchange all the way to Subic was filled with our streamers, banners and merchandising floaters and inflatables. It's "Power To Lead" literally and figuratively. This is truly bad for our competitor who gamely claimed that they are the event's "official telecom provider". Duh? It doesn't look like they are. [EDIT: read this guy's post of Smart's good branding at AdCon]

The AdCon will end by Saturday night with the ala-Famas Araw Awards as culminating event. I will be missing it since I have to be back in Makati on Saturday morning for a Finance For Non-Finance class with my team. I am staying at The Camayan Beach Resort (near Ocean's Adventure) with Jenny and Diane who are also from my department. The resort is really nice, the beach is very inviting and the rooms are very cozy. It would have been perfect if it's not 30 minutes away from the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center where the AdCon and all the evening parties are. We were late in the registration so our marketing team was not able to book all 25 of us in a nearer hotel. But no complaints since these are all free. :)

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, by Abbie

In Beauty, Books

HERE COMES THE CAROLS

Carols. As in Christmas Carols.

It's now the ninth month of the year and the advent of the "BER" months. As expected Christmas Carols are already being played on the radio, at the malls, and even the recessional hymn at Church tonight was "O Holy Night". We are now in the midst of ushering the most magical time of the year - Christmas (here in the Philippines, anyway)!

I had a fairly good and less strenuous week compared to last week. I was dead tired the week before since we were on Strategic Planning session for two whole days and I was the one who compiled and made our presentation. It turned out fairly well. I am really proud of what we did.

The highlight of my week was the issuance of two checks that served as my last pay from my previous company. Whew! I was not expecting it so it was truly a welcome surprise. Since there were a lot of pains and hurts associated with them, I decided to invest most of the money rather than spend it. The long nights, the lost friendships and relationships, the chaotic life, my absence in family and friends' get-together, the work stress, and the more than 10 lbs. I gained from the experience can never be returned back to me (well, I can lose the weight!) so I feel that there will be no fulfillment or gratification in spending them. It was a very very hard and challenging two years and I can fully say that I am indeed in a better place now. My deposition, my outlook in life, and the even the relationship I am having with my friends and family now is truly way way better. When I look back at the time spent there I cannot help but ask myself: "what was I thinking?". I am not bitter and I definitely moved on from it already. It was just a very disappointing phase in my life which is hard to forget.

Moving on to lighter topics, my teammates and I celebrated our groupmate's Maffin's birthday last Wednesday. We had lunch at Recipe's in Greenbelt 3 (always a yummy!) and had some cakes in the afternoon. Here are some snaps:

Maffin's Angels at Recipe's Greenbelt

Speaking of desserts, I spent a good quality of my time last Friday at the lounge of the Smart Bro Internet Zone which is at the Ground Floor of our building to wait for the rain to stop. I read some magazines, updated my calendar with meeting schedules next week, and had a taste of Nescafe Point's winning chocolate cake called Chocolate Café Single. It's oh-so rich and sinful! The caramel glazed on top of the cake is the best!

My week ended with a stroll at the nearby mall where I had my nails done at Laxare Nail Spa for two friggin' hours. I almost fell asleep in the comfortable lounge chair with the length of the service (which is actually good). It was truly a money well spent. I would've probably stayed longer if I opted for the Foot Spa. Laxare is really a good place for pampering services. They also offer superb Thai/Swedish Massages which is not as expensive like the ones offered at The Spa or Urban Spa. Laxare Nail Spa is located at the 3rd Level of Festival Mall in Filinvest.

I also went to Powerbooks and contemplated on buying three books. I have this crazy rule that I will not buy any book if I still have unread books at home. I also make it a point to buy just one book at a time. I had this "gluttony book" thing since I can remember so I imposed book rules upon myself to save my bank account. The three books I grabbed were The Apple Way and two chick-lits. I forgot the title of the other chick lit but the other one is The Blonde Theory by Kristin Harmel which I ended buying.

The Apple Way was written by Jeffrey Cruikshank and it discussed the management lessons of the world's most innovative company today. I am interested in reading the book since I know that I would learn a lot from it which I can readily apply to my work – since my company is also at the forefront of innovations. I browsed the first few pages of the book and its an interesting read. I'll probably get a copy next week. Here are some of the wonderful insights which we can get from it: make the customer and the product king, balance manufacturing with delivery logistics, motivate and inspire people outside the company to do your marketing and PR (blog I say more?), invent new distribution channels, decide on your company image and stick to your guns, leapfrog the competition and learn from both success and missteps.

The book which I actually bought, The Blonde Theory, is your usual chick-lit. I finished it in two sittings. It basically told the story of Harper Roberts, a 30-something lawyer who cannot keep a relationship because men are intimidated by her intelligence and success in her career. To prove that it's not really her but her career that drives men out, she went out with different males and pretended that she's a dumb blonde instead of the hotshot attorney that she is. The men all fell for it/her. Duh! It's actually a silly book but it entertained me for some hours so no complaints here.

Have a good week ahead!

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, by Abbie

In Books, Harry Potter

TODAY IS P-DAY

*Careful! This contains some Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows spoilers!

July 21, 2007 is known worldwide as Harry Potter Day or P-Day. The final and seventh book of the Harry Potter epic was unveiled today at 12:01 am at the United Kingdom (7:01 am, Manila Time). I have mixed emotions on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows like most Potter fans. First, I am happy because it's finally here! The sixth book, Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, was released in July 16, 2005 and all the fans are dying to know what happens next after its unexpected twist and ending. I am also sad since this is the FINAL book. There will be no other Harry Potter books after this. It's like parting ways and saying goodbye to my childhood; even if I was already 23 years old when I first read HP Book 1.

I republished the above photos in honor of this great day!
Photos were taken in June 21, 2003 and July 16, 2005 on the books' launch dates.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows
21 July 2007

Author Joanne Rowling made a definite period and said that this will be her last for the series despite the growing numbers of pleas and petitions from fans and publishers. You will truly know that this is indeed the ending since there is even an Epilogue chapter in the book (yeah, I accidentally read this part in the table of contents while I was reading the dedication page, damn!). Though she did say in an interview that there's still a small window to write about it some more. But I highly doubt it if there will be a next book.

I got my book today before closing at Powerbooks Greenbelt. I was not planning to wake up early and queue at 7:01 am to get a copy but I was planning to go to the 3:00 pm festivities at Powerbooks. Unfortunately, work and e-mails got in the way and I was able to leave the house after dinner. Good thing Powerbooks closes at 10:00 pm.

There will be long HP nights this week!

Even my cute niece, Gabbie, was not spared from the Harry Potter hoopla

I Heart Harry!
Happy Reading Potter Fans!

Powerbooks really went all out on the preparations for this last installment launch of HP. They recreated the Great Hall at their activity area at the 2nd floor and even had a snake on glass display. Potter activities and Powerbook's version of the Triwizard Tournament was also held earlier in the day. I also scored another Harry Potter box but they are now charging 10 bucks for it. Anyway, I am glad I got my book today.

Here are some snaps at Powerbooks:

The book has no synopsis as an added mystery. I was very very very careful not to read the titles of the chapters to avoid spoilers (except the one mentioned above). My brother was pestering me the whole evening and was trying to read the ending parts of the epilogue out loud! Argh! #%$@&! The theme of the book is obviously 'death'. There were even two passages in the beginning about it. If you're a reader and doesn't have a copy yet, go and grab one now! My friends who are fast reading said that it is really really great and is living up to the hype and hoopla it created. I am done with Chapter 1 and is taking my own sweet time in reading it. I think that I would be able to finish by next Saturday (or earlier if it is really really exciting!).

Long Live Harry Potter!

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, by Abbie

In Books, Harry Potter

BOOK-A-THON

I love books. I enjoy reading. I read everything that I can put my hands on. I found this book survey at Ida's Multiply site weeks ago and I decided to try it and share my answers with you. Tag to my dear friends Aileen, Charo, Tin and Mitz! Thanks to all the wonderful books you lent me through the years. Do try this!

One book that changed your life.
I have two answers. First are the Sweet Valley Twins books by Francine Pascal. They are the very first books that I've read. I think I was only in 4th Grade when I started reading them. Second is the He's Just Not That Into You book by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo (I hate self-help books but this one is just great). I was able to read it in 2005 and it made me think really hard. It helped me assess and do something about in my then relationship.

One book you have read more than once.
Plenty!
Harry Potter 1 to 6 (I read some of them more than twice) by J. K. Rowling
Something Borrowed and Something Blue both by Emily Giffin
Doctors and The Class by Erich Segal
Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught (one of the best love stories ever)
Sidney Sheldon, John Grisham and Sophie Kinsella books

One book you would want on a desert island.
Tough choice. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown or Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.

One book that made you laugh.
Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

One book that made you cry.
I remember that I cried really hard at the ending chapters of The Chamber by John Grisham (weird, huh?)

One book you wish had been written.
Harry Potter 8, 9, 10, 11, 12... (there's still hope depending on Book 7, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, to be released on July 21st this year)

One book you wish had never been written.
Self-help books that earns a lot of money for the authors but gives little to me.

One book you are currently reading.
I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. It's such a different kind of book! Very very well written.

One book you have been meaning to read.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez