[reaction] the fault in our stars by john green

oh i've finally finished reading. first of all i had quite a number of expectations because

1) a lot of my facebook friends are reading it, attempting to read it, or showing an interest with it
2) it looks like a chick flick (the cover at least), which i assume is easier to read and will not take up much of my time, plus i love reading flicks and finally
3) it's turning into a movie, so i guess it must be something, eh?

after 200 pages i told you how i felt about it, how i was about to cry at what i could be reading in the future. in short, it was that compelling. BUT eventually i got bored, confused and i felt anxious about these dying kids pretending to be deep when in fact they're as selfish as any non-sick kid out there. lol

it annoyed me how i cannot distinguish hazel from augustus, even though they're not alike in terms of character, because they talk alike and use the same level of english, same construction, and same playful use of adjectives. it seemed like i was reading a monologue most of the time. it's like i'm just reading off of the author's head and not of their 2 independent thought clusters. it's hard to follow who's talking when i'm faced with just a series of open-close quotes with no he-said she-said. urgh. van houten also follows closely in this list of overly contrived characters. i mean, i get it, i get the difference between the characters but that's only because it is described there that hazel is a girl, gus is a boy and van houten is an old fat guy. i had a hard time creating a mental profile of the characters based on how they converse. i hope you get my point.

i like discovering characters not as they are described narratively but rather as the author puts words into their mouths. and on that part, i was pretty disappointed.

i also didn't like that they made out. as sick dying teenagers i thought they had a much deeper appreciation of love making. it felt unromantic when they did that. then again, that's just my cultural point of view kicking in.

hmm, i'd say that for an attempt to turn a usually superficial first-person teenage flick about dying kids into a profound life-examining death rant, i'd give john green two thumbs up. except that i find it too trying-hard for 2 teenagers to talk too much metaphorical sense. i admire the overall thought of the book though, the depth in which it mirrors life and death in the tongues of 2 non-adults is impressive. plus, it's a funny book considering how sensitive the topic is.

and finally, this isn't a negative review (err maybe?)... more of a reaction against my preferences in plot+style balance. in any case this won't hinder me from reading more of green's works. hehe >:D

halfway through The Fault in our Stars by John Green

i'm halfway! i'm halfway! this is probably the farthest i've gone reading ever since i started working, and that's almost a year ago already (btw, i'm nearing my 1st year anniv as a working girl!). i'm even afraid to share it too early cos i feel like this blog curses my reading sessions whenever i share about em, making me not finish the book at all. anyway, the illustration above is really cute, right? >XD credits to whoever made it!

a lot of people have been raving about this, so i thought i'd download an ebook. and so far, so great! i thought it was just another flick but on the first few pages i already wanted to cry. not because of what i read but because of what i could be reading soon... say, a hundred pages from now. i have a tendency to predict flicks, but they don't necessarily make me expect anything. it's just that what i've predicted makes me want to read further and further until i give justice to my premature tears. okay, that's actually an expectation haha.

i'm a fan of tragedy, what can i do? not that i want it to be tragic, but that's how i imagined it to end anyway. hehe

246 pages more! >XD

alternative earphones for Lenovo mobile

for those looking for alternative earphones for Lenovo mobile, i have great news for you! i've just found out that Nokia earphones are compatible with lenovo... including the mic and the fm component. well, at least for the particular model below...

nokia WH-102 HS-125 stereo headset

this is because they share the same OMTP standard lol i dunno what i'm talking about haha so just refer to the picture below.

credits to EpsilonTheGreat from lenovo mobile forums

anyway! the nokia WH-102 HS-125 costs 500 pesos (original). tried and tested with a Lenovo P700i... and i might say, sound quality is good! even the mic and fm are working fine! i'd say this is much better than the original lenovo earphones haha

Fairmont Hotel Makati: our gym + pool experience

i think i mentioned before na while i was looking for good gym + pool facis around makati, one of the places i called was Fairmont. during that time, exclusive to guests pa lang ung gym + pool nila but they mentioned that they're opening it up for membership soon.

at yun nga, one day they called me na open na raw sila and is offering me a free trial! yeheyy! so ako naman, kahit na during that time eh member na ko sa golds, go parin ng go para ma-checkitout ko rin yung place and malay nyo magustuhan ko hehe

so one sunday i brought my sister with me to makati! nga pala, raffles fairmont hotel is just beside landmark and across greenbelt 3. and their fitness center is located at the 4th floor. >:)

terai and i preparing to swim!

the first thing we did was swim! in fairness ang liit ng swimming pool nila but i love the water cos it doesn't reek strongly of chlorine like most pools. in fact mejo salty pa nga ung tubig hahaha.

the pool in different angles, mejo makulimlim hehe:

it's really small and what disappointed me pa is that ang babaw lang nya hahaha i guess the deepest is 5ft na hehe. nevertheless terai and i enjoyed our swim! as usual walang tao, di rin naman ganun karami guest ng fairmont at kung meron man, foreigner! haha

kung sa ambience eh ang masasabi ko lang eh maganda! maganda talaga! i mean, yeahhh. hahaha 

after swimming, gym naman! their lifeguard slash trainer accompanied us to the gym area for our free trial. at dun na nagsimula ang kalbaryo namin. haha i thought the free trial meant we're free to just try the place as we wish, yung pala kasama pa itong workout session na sobrang na-ubos energy ko! 

kuya bernny was the one who "trained" us for an hour. cardio muna, then squats, then weights, and weights, more weights and situps. mamatay matay na kami ng kapatid ko seryoso. di naman stressful, pero if you know us you'd probably realize how it's so hard for us to workout HAHAHA sobrang phyisically fit lang namin. nakakahiya na. hahaha

pictures! 

terai cardio-ing haha

free weights area

ang sosyal na bottled water

after workout. glad it's over haha

the truth is, we enjoyed it! kuya bernny's training method just goes to show na pag inaraw araw mo yung routines nya, papayat ka sigurado. but that's probably the same for any PT right? at madami akong natutunan sa kanya!

learnings from kuya bernny:

lesson 1: sabi nya, when a person loses weight, here's the order of "noticeability" haha kumbaga, pag pumayat ka eto yung unang lumiliit (in order!):

1. face

2. arms

3. thighs

4. belly

at! pag tumaba ka naman, unang lumalaki ang: belly, followed by thighs, arms then face. baliktad naman ngayon. kewl.

lesson 2: if you want to lose weight, you have to grow muscles because they burn fats.

lesson 3: para masaya, focus on the 3 biggest muscle areas in your body. the thighs, the flabs (i mean abs), and the back. 

lesson 4: a common misconception with women is that they should limit lifting weights when trying to lose weight para di mag mukhang body builder. sabi ni kuya, wala naman kaming testosterone so we're not going to buff up like those hardcore body builders. sa isip ko naman, di ba may testosterone parin ang babae? onti nga lang hehe. anyway, point is, lifting weights is important! haha

thank you kuya, because of you naging makabuluhan ang paghihirap namin!

summing it up, from a prospective member's point of view, eto mga masasabi ko sa fairmont:

PROS:

- the place is beautiful, the gym is big and has a lot of space

- the equipment are all new. in fact, halos TechnoGym lahat (same w/ fitness first pero mukang higher model na). sosyal!

- the showers are big and clean

- towels are provided

- the lockers are hightech na rin. no need for padlocks, parang vault type ganito o:

ang elibs na locker!

- the staff are all nice and friendly!

CONS:

- there are no installed shampoo/conditioner/bath gel dispensers in the showers so lalabas ka pa just to reach the tray of bath essentials. hassle kaya yon haha although i know they'll work it out somehow! hehe

- no enough space to dress up. malaki yung room pero malayo yung lockers sa area where you can put your bags down and dress comfortably.

- the pool is small and shallow

- no hair dryer! big deal to sakin seriously hahaha

- and finally, it's super duper mahal. nasa 90k ang annual fee keri nyo ba yon? ako hindi eh. luho na yung ganyang rate sakin. daig ang annual rate ng Makati Shang! haha

anyway, it wouldn't hurt to give it a try! i'll give them 8.5 out of 10 stars! >:D thank you so much for the experience fairmont! >:D

for more details you may reach their fitness club at the following contact numbers:

Raffles Fairmont Makati

Willow Stream Fitness Club

tel: (+632) 555 9777

fax: (+632) 555 9799

the EASIEST way to turn your paypal funds to cash (PH residents only)

nako i'm telling you, you will love this solution specially if you're from the philippines haha
given that you have a verified paypal account already but doesn't want to be bothered by the tedious steps and the loooong wait to get your money at the comfort of your atm account...

i highly recommend, PesoExchanger!!!

it's very simple really, you send your paypal funds to them, and they deposit your funds to your bank account! simple diba?

eto yung service na matagal ko nang hinahanap dahil nag-close na yung EON account ko (inactive haha), tinatamad na ko magopen ng bagong account, magbayad ng 300+ annual fee, 10 pesos withdrawal charge, at maghintay ng halos isang linggo para magcredit yung paypal funds ko sa atm. so i looked around the net kung meron bang tao na nag-ooffer ng ganitong service. and voila! PesoExchanger ranked on the search pages haha

to know more about their services, just go to their website (linked above), or contact them via facebook. mabilis sila magreply and are very professional.

to share my experience ganto yun:



1. thursday morning (may 9) i applied for online verification from their website. this is the first step you need to do in order to request for an exchange. i think they do this mainly to identify you as isang mabuting nilalang na hindi sila lolokohin at legal ang source ng income online. hahaha

2. that morning before lunch, i got scheduled for a verification session on 1:30pm. live pala nila itong ginagawa. what they do is chat with you on facebook, ask you questions, and access your PC via a remote software.

teka wait, ACCESS MY PC?! katakot ba? natakot din ako nung simula bilang alam kong delikado yung remote access. pero you can watch them naman while they surf your PAYPAL account. at pwede mo paring ng gulu-guluhin yung mouse hahaha

teka wiat, THEY WILL OPEN MY PAYPAL ACCOUNT? oo teh. bali ikaw naman-maglologin pero sila yung magb-browse browse. basically jyza (their staff) just ran through my transactions to validate my source of income. and to check if totoo yung pangalan na nasa account ko.

3. after the remote session, she continued to ask me questions about my paypal transactions. although yung iba feeling ko alam naman nya yung sagot kasi nasa details naman nung mga pinagb-bukas nyang page, i thought maybe naninigurado lang din sila. haha

4. after i passed the verification process (which i only need to do once, yeheyy!), i can now proceed to request for an exchange. here you'll tell them na how much you'll send them and the bank account you want your funds sent to. they'll also give you their paypal email address. hehe

5. i gave them my account details and they said na they have to register it first as a 3rd party account. i know this process kaya alam kong legit haha. 1 business day pa ang aabutin so pray pray lang din ako HAHA

6. KINABUKASAN mga 9am ata they told me na ready na yung account ko for transfer so blah blah blah kinakabahan pa ko mag-send ng paypal funds sa kanila.. malay ko ba? madaming beses na kong na-scam eh! anyway, i searched DTI naman and their name appeared so after sending some 3K nagreply naman naman sila agad..

7. after an hour, my money was transferred to my BPI account na!

hooray!

see that? this is much faster that applying for a new EON altogether... and partida, naka-upo ka lang. hahaha tumayo lang ako nung iwi-withdraw ko na.

thank you PesoExchanger for this awesome experience! till our next deal (pagnagka-project ulit ako haha tumal eh)

hotel intercontinental makati: gym + pool

i've been meaning to kwento my experience looking for a substitute gym for fitness first kasi di na kaya ng budget ko hahaha i looked around ayala ave and found a lot of gyms pero wala akong nagustuhan given na naghahanap nga ako ng mura at may swimming pool at malapit sa office.

anyway, i found Gold's Gym at Intercon at natuwa ako kasi eto na yata yung pinaka-murang gym with pool na nakita ko around makati hahaha >XD

kung swimming lang naman talaga habol mo pwede ka na dito sa intercon! :)

3-9ft ang lalim! sarap!

as for the rates, i joined their april promo and was able to get exclusive limited visits with pool access for 12,500. that's 96 visits sa intercon + 12 complimentary visits to centris/glorieta/binondo good for one year. para sakin okay na rin sya. hahaha

eh dahil pool lang naman talaga ang habol ko, di ko na pinansin yung gym. sawa na rin naman ako sa gym. but then... objectively, eto pros and cons if you workout at intercon.

PROS:
- mejo mura compared iba, considering the pool access
- malinis yung pool, araw araw tine-treat the chlorine
- wala masyadong nagsswiming, kung meron, madalas foreigner
- til 12mn ang gym pag weekdays, til 9 pag sat/sun
- they offer group exercises such as yogilates, zumba, bellydance, streetdance, etc.

CONS:
- hanggang 8pm lang yung pool
- maliit yung gym
- they only have 4 shower stalls + 2 toilets
- onti yung lockers and bring your own padlock pa
- on peak days madalas puno lalo pag may group exercise
- anliit din nung group exercise room
- ANLIIT NUNG BUONG GYM

ayon. if you wanna try Gold's, don't go exclusive on Intercon unless you're just into the pool like i am. try their Elite membership na lang, there are much bigger and better branches out there. haha

UPDATE:
Hotel Intercon has closed

Kettle Korn: Poppin’ Fun All The Time!

if you were to star in your own movie, what would your story be?

that's a question that made me recall all of the many many stories i've plotted in my head before back when my mind was still full of imagination hahaha. if i were to star in my own movie, i wouldn't turn it into some kind of autobiography of how awesome i am. surely, my life as it is would barely generate a decent script. instead i'll brew it into some kind of a twisted (or tragic?) romance comedy that goes like this (note that this is entirely fictional and has nothing to do with my real life hahaha either way, ako bida!) ...

meet grace, a very smart and hard working university student, struggling to get a degree in chemistry. she's often told to quit being so buried in her books and for once, get a life, hang out with a few friends and meet someone. but she just won't. people wouldn't normally come to her because most of them think she's crazy. she herself admits to being detached to the real world, but that's only because she prefers to live that way. 

until she met daniel, a good looking, happy-go-lucky fellow student who wouldn't leave her alone for who knows what reason. turns out he's in one of her classes and is showing some kind of interest in her. eventually, he got into her. they became good friends and did a lot of fun things together. he taught her how to loosen up, and she welcomed him in her world, influencing her in a way she hasn't felt before. for the first time in her life, she's in love. 

to make the long story short, they both fell for each other. but even though a lot has changed about her lifestyle, it seems like there's still something lacking. no one seems to notice. one day she brought daniel up to her parents' house to introduce him, and this is where the conflict arises.

"honey, we don't see anyone." her mom said. walking up to her, brows knit in worried confusion. 
"but ma, he's here!" grace insisted, "tell them, daniel!" tugging on his shirt. her mother who was beside her heaved a nervous sigh as she sees her daughter getting frustrated over something... unseen. 

she was immediately discharged from school and was taken into rehab. her designated psychiatrist would do rounds of interviews about her relationship with daniel. during these times, they never saw each other, and  grace would get bad headaches contemplating which part of her life is real and which is not. but even so, grace would write to daniel every week through mail. holding on to that hope that they'll still see each other after everything is over. but two years has passed and she never got a reply. 

after a lot of conditioning with the doctors, her parents and herself, it was time for her to decide if she wanted to let go of his memories and live a normal life.

so what do you think, will she? if you were in grace's position, and you found out that half the life you're happily living is brought about by a mental disorder, would you still want to let go?

hirap ba? popcorn ka muna. try mo mag-kettle korn, yung cheese. siguradong mae-enjoy mo magmuni-muni. sa sobrang sarap baka mapa-isip ka pa nga kung totoo ba yang popcorn na kinakain mo? o bunga lang ng imahinasyon mo? pero yung totoo, tunay yan. sarap no? :)