The Sunday Currently (vol. 11)

After missing two weeks! I'm back with another The Sunday Currently! :D

Papemelroti

Currently

Reading
I finished reading Wonder by RJ Palacio (read my reaction here!) last week! I was supposed to read The Book Thief by Marckus Zusak next so I brought it in the office with me, unfortunately i never got the chance to read there and I forgot to take it home so when I finally had the chance to read, it's 8 kilometers away so today I'm reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman haha. More on re-reading actually cos i totally forgot what it's all about already.

Writing
Nothing! I'm starting to wonder that this 'Writing' is for haha.

Listening
to Us the Duo's No Matter Where You Are album! :D Catch them here in the Philippines! They had a concert last July 10 at Rockwell, but this weekend they're holding 2 free mini concerts at Robinsons Galleria (July 11) and Robinsons Magnolia (July 12), both at 4pm! <3 --- Oops, publishing late so sorry for the late news. XS

Thinking
About how to save properly and stop spending money I don't have yet! I've been borrowing from my emergency funds to cover for my cravings like eating out at Chili's or Army Navy thinking I can repay it naman when swelday comes and justifying the expense as an emergency cos i'll probably go crazy if I don't eat burrito right now. It's so wrong, I'm still trying to figure out a way around my cravings and food phases such that I don't get to touch any more of my supposed savings. huhu T__T

Smelling
Nothing! I have colds so yeah. -_-

Wishing
I had lots of money to spend on food, books, gadgets, and clothes. Don't we all?

Wearing
T-shirt and shorts!

Loving
That I've been getting good sleep lately because of the overcast weather. The day isn't bright and it's cold too (perfect bed weather!). But of course, I wouldn't trade it for a series of storms. We live near La Mesa dam and last Friday, the nearby communities were advised to "force" evacuate because the dam is near spilling level already. Of course, they weren't really forced... knowing the people, everything they hear from the authorities are mere suggestions. :\

I thank God we weren't that affected yet. We're literally surrounded by waterways. I hope the weather gets better, even though it would mean sleepless mornings for me. huhu

Wanting
1) A Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact! Haha! Whenever I go to the bookstore, I take pictures of books I would love to read, and it always gets me into a mental debate of whether to buy them all or just download ebooks. Most of the time ebooks win cos it's free, add to the fact that most of the time i'm broke so I figured I would need a tablet to better my ebook reading experience. So much for being broke no?

2) Google Cardboard! My officemate showed me a cardboard he bought online and I'm so bent on getting my own! Sucks that I already deleted most of my cardboard apps!

Needing
To find a way to avoid growing my eyebags worse over the night shift. They're so evidently black already I may have to spend for concealer na. huhu

Feeling
Blessed and excited for swelday to come cos I wanted to know how much I'll be actually earning extra by working the graveyard shift. To be honest, I think I already spent all of it. :\ HAHA So let's see. Bakit ba kasi ang gastos.

[Windows] How to open specific folders using the Run dialog

Here's a pretty neat trick I always do whenever I setup my desktop ANYWHERE. Like what I'm doing now since I just got a new PC at the office hehe.

I find it easier to just hit Win + R then type 'Yan' to access my personal folder located at 'My Documents'. Like so:

This

Opens my folder at My Documents:

So how do you do that? 

Simple! Create of shortcut of whatever folder you want at your personal Users directory

Where is that? Key in Win + R >> type '.' (a dot)
Usually it will take you 'C:\Users\<your username>'. If it doesn't, just navigate to where 'C:\Users\<your username>' is.

You know you're at the right place as the directory will contain your usual user folders like My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, etc.

Place your shortcut there! Just like what I did (right click >> new >> shortcut >> add your folder path) :D

The name of the shortcut link will be the name you have to type on the Run dialog. :D

And that's it! :) Anything you put in that directory can be opened directly on the Run dialog. And it's not case sensitive! Try 'My Documents'. :D

Hope this helps! I find this extremely useful as I didn't have to put desktop shortcuts anymore. I do the same for apps, I prefer opening them via run dialog cos it's faster and prevents me from cluttering my desktop or flooding my taskbar with pinned programs! hehe

This entry is for opening specific folders using the run dialog, if you want to open specific applications/programs, i have another tutorial for that here. :)

Just read: Wonder by RJ Palacio

This isn't a book review cos I don't know how that works. Maybe this is more of a reaction.

From Good Reads:

My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream. He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside.

But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go.

Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted - but can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all?

Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches forever, Wonder is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page. 

I consider it rare that I get to finish a book in less than a week! HAHA super slow reader lang #sorrynotsorry.

Anyway, I loved the book because it's very light to read, has a nice theme, and relatable in many aspects because it talks about something universal that most of us have probably gone through one way or another.. school. Even though there are cultural differences, I guess my "middle school" experience (which, for me, is high school) pretty much weighs in the same. There are stereotypes: the jocks, the popular kids (who are usually the bullies too), the nerds, the outcasts, etc.

I have been bullied when i was 12 and have experienced being mentally ganged up by a group of popular kids. To be honest, it doesn't get too messy in an all-girls Catholic school, no one ended up in a cat fight or with a bloody mouth, but I remember the fear. It's there, it's real. The feeling of being scared every day, of not wanting to go to school, it's all too real. And for a 12-year old, it can get really bad. It got me super stressed out. Even now, after more than decade, I can still remember how freaking awful it feels.

"When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind"

I all out agree that we need to learn to be kinder than is necessary, and this perhaps is one of the central messages of the book. To choose kind, in whatever situation you're faced with. But to choose kind, over being right? I don't completely agree. If we disregard the right thing, what do we need justice for? You cannot teach without being right about something, and you have to reason that out.

I guess the kind of 'kind' the book, or Mr. Browne (Auggie's English teacher), wishes to impart to his students is to choose kindness if you find you can't express your being right in a peaceful way. Or to choose being kind to anyone regardless of how they look like, or treat you, or give you bad vibes. Or to balance your position so that you appear more kind, than right. That's valid. I would always try to be kind to anyone, no matter my mood. Key word: try.

But then, you can always be kind while being right, I guess that's the best choice. There's nothing wrong with being right. Insisting the right thing doesn't make you unkind, and in the same way being kind doesn't mean you're giving up what you're fighting for. But yeah, in whatever you do, be kind. And honest. Okay.

I like Auggie, he's smart and witty and is really a wonder. I think even if he isn't suffering from a severe facial issue, he'd overall still be a great guy!

I enjoyed reading the book because it was very light to read, just like a blog! I honestly couldn't tell the difference with the different POVs cos they didn't seem to talk differently from each other. I was bothered by Justin's chapter though, I seriously freaked out when I saw the first sentence started in a lowercase. Then I realized it was supposed to be that way. It was odd seeing that. Is that how you feel with my blog? I don't capitalize you know. Even as I write this, I'm struggling. T__T; It kindof breaks my typing speed. HAHA

I should finish this, IT'S A MUST READ. It's fun, a light read, relatable, and morally uplifting. Makes you want to really start being kind to everyone! <3

Summer's not over at Alviera's Sandbox! :D

Sandbox Alviera is located at Porac, Pampanga, just a smooth 1.5 hours away from QC via NLEX - SCTEX - Porac exit. :D here's the location map!

What to expect:

• the place is scorching hot (well, esp if it's summer XD)
• the snack bar sells refreshments at lavish rates (bottled water - 35 pesos, bottle of C2 - 40 pesos). they also have burgers and hotdogs, which are all underwhelming, expensive, and magnet to flies. but who cares, you're probably gonna succumb to it amidst the heat and sweat. 
• the snack bar is home to a lot of flies. i almost thought they're selling shit. you will be annoyed. so be overly protective of your food.
• the packages allow you to have one pass at each of the rides. in short, you can only try the rides once... unless you pay for another try. :)

What to bring:

• lots of water and a cooler full of ice
• a change of clothes
• sun shields - fan, cap, arm sleeves, shades, sunblock
• your own helmet IF you have a large head (no offense meant). i read somewhere that a guy was denied access to some attractions because no helmet would fit him, and it's a required gear in Aerial Walk and Adventure Tower. you're allowed to bring your own of course, i saw one who brought their own helmet with a GoPro carrier!
• pocket money in case you wanna buy something inside
• patience haha

What to wear:

• closed shoes - rubber shoes preferably esp if you're doing the Aerial Walk and Wall Climbing
• shorts and denims are okay :D
• long sleeves if you want to protect your arms from the sun

Rates and Schedule:

The place opens at 9am SO BE THERE EARLY cos the registration line can get pretty long as each person is required to sign a waiver.

longs lines at 9am

Parking:

There is parking space inside and outside of the complex. Of course, you would want to park inside which is closer to the park entrance. The guard would probably lead you to the parking slots outside (which happened to us) but you can always go inside naman hehe.

We were there as early as 9am and there are already quite a dozen families and barkadas lining up. So yeah, be there early!

What we did:

AERIAL WALK CHALLENGE

We decided to line up for this first because the turnover for the safety gears is darn long. each person probably takes around 30 minutes to finish the course so yeahh, prepare yourself for more than an hour of waiting! so there's your tip, DO THIS FIRST.

grabe this course is a freaking fitness test. it challenged my every core! my arms were super stressed and my balance was challenged in every way. it was scary and i was fearful of a lot of courses especially those which include suspended and wobbly steps, and freaking HEIGHTS! waaaahh!! the second challege, for me was the hardest, it's this one with the steps. huhu

holding for dear life

btw, i thought the carabiners they used were super cool, if i remember correctly they're called Smart Belay (actually i looked that up haha), and it's super safe. didn't stop me from freaking out though. haha! my friend says it's an improvement cos they used a different one the last time she went there. MAYBE THEY HAVE BIGGER HELMETS NOW? (don't worry so much about the helmet tip though! i bet they fit most heads now)

ADVENTURE TOWER

Rappel Wall

If you have fear of heights this will definitely help you overcome it. We lined up first for the Rappel Wall which is all sorts of scary AT FIRST. to be honest, the scariest part with rappelling is positioning yourself to face the edge of the wall, and letting go of the rope the first time. but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty exciting! i didn't, but it was still exciting. i pretty much just cautiously lowered myself to the ground without all the coolness of kicking at the wall haha. 

Wall Climbing

After rapelling we headed directly for Wall Climbing (we didn't have to line up again) because it uses the same harness. i knew i would fail at this because i'm freaking weak i couldn't carry myself (even if my life depended on it) so i just took a step and asked a friend to take a photo of me as an obligatory shot. haha

Free Fall
At a height of 49 feet about the ground, we are to take a big step of faith, lean forward, and trust the ropes as we fall. this was definitely one of the scariest stints we had to do in the park. and again, the hardest part was letting go. when you do though, it will be all sorts of relieving. in a blink of an eye you're down to the safety of the mattress. you won't even be able to finish screaming. and after the fall, you're gonna stand up stronger, armed with the thought that after all, it wasn't so hard! you're ready for the next ride! parang life lang?

just don't ask the ride attendant to push you if fear got the best of you, BECAUSE HE REALLY WILL AND YOU'LL CURSE HIM FOR IT... then thank him afterwards haha.

Avatar One

The country's first roller coaster zipline! This was super fun and exciting! Every drop is scary and painful (cos the harness has a tendency to tug sharply at your thighs). i was all "ARAY! ano ba yan!" every time i dip! but then again, it was an exciting experience! XD

GIANT SWING

The scariest of all! The entire ride lasts for about a minute only but grabee the thrill!!! hahaha i was screaming all the way, super OA but i had to let it out!! if you know me, you should know i get easily scared of stuff and i'm super magugulatin, so yeah i like to scream. lol if you're super duper afraid of heights you may ask not be lifted too high. haha since we're daring, of course let's do the highest! so we were lifted some 49 feet then dropped! you wouldn't even notice when they're letting you loose! haha nakakastress sya i was fighting the urge to just close my eyes the entire time pero KJ daw so uhm, K!

MINI GOLF

I thought this was going to be boring but i had awesome company so we enjoyed it a lot!

All in all, Sandbox is a great place for bonding and team building! I do hope they add fans though! IT'S SO FRKN HOT!

After Sandbox, we drove to this eatery called Aling Lucing, featured in various TV shows and famed for its original sisig. to be honest, it was expensive and underwhelming, and almost disappointing. i've had better sisig! anyway, it wasn't that bad! we were all hungry anyway! haha

There you go! I hope Sandbox improves its facilities somehow and develop the park as a permanent attraction. Right now it seems like they can pull out anytime and the developers are just trying to make use of the land while it's under development. hehe did you know that their attractions do not require electricity (except for the giant swing which uses a generator to lift the seats up)? :D

Group exercises you can join at Quezon City Memorial Circle

have you ever wondered what group classes you can join at Circle?! I did! and i searched all over the web for schedules and stuff but found none. so this morning, i braved a serious case of tamaditis and went to inquire at Circle about whatever group classes they have there. i know they have one, because my parents used to always go there to join aerobics. sometimes they take my sister and i with them, and we'll bike around while they dance, then afterwards we'll eat lugaw and buko juice and go home sweaty and filled! happy times :D

so here you go, in total they have 3 classes operating regularly (as far as i have asked) and i went to each of them to inquire:

1. Zumba

Location: People's Hall
Rate: P50/hr
Schedule: Mondays -Thursdays (7am, 8am - that's 1 session per hour), Saturdays and Sundays (7am, 8am, 9am).

i'm actually excited to try everything HAHA. i'm curious about the different types of zumba you know. i mean there's zumba gold (is this for oldies?), fitness, sentao, and toning. XD shocks, naexcite ako bigla. HAHA

there are chairs on the side you can use to put your things on. :)

2. Aerobics Forever

Location: Planas Garden

Rate: FREE

Schedule: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays (TThSSun) - 6am

This is probably the least attended one even though it's free, maybe because it's not covered (apparently, it just rained). one of the sweet girls there told me they have color codes per day and today is purple day. XD they do accept donations too, but of course it's all optional. then again, there must be a cost to running this thing, especially that they seem to intend to do this forever! :D

there are tents on the side with a few chairs, and there's a small roofed stage at the front of the garden. you may leave your things there, in case you're wondering where to put your stuff.

3. Aero Sport

hey peepers

Location: Basketball Court

Rate: P20/session

Schedule: Daily at 6am

I think this is where most people go. the place is big, the music is lively and so are the steps! i can't wait to try this too! :D

--

so far that's what they have! let's push this! i wanted to get in shape so bad because night shift's a bitch, when i'm up all day i'm eating almost 5 meals a day. CRAAAAP! huhu

What's in my Notebook? (vol. 2)

channeling my inner Abbey Sy with a wrongfully scaled word.

Hooray for WIN volume 2! i have to say, this is where it probably ends. haha. i haven't been doodling a lot last week cos i was so immersed with reading Almost Heaven by Judith McNaught! chos. i finished the book in tears two days ago and i plan on moving to my next reading material because it's already more than half the year and i'm all about beating my GoodReads 2015 Reading Challenge! haha any reading suggestions? i'm a sucker for period romance and flicks haha.

anyway, back to my notebook:

i don't remember where i copied the 'Practice' type but i will try to look it out okay. then i'll update this. :D  Here you go: https://instagram.com/p/yI0CtlkjUi/ :D

since were on the topic of art:

on The ABCs of Hand Lettering by Abbey Sy

 i just recently bought The ABCs of Hand Lettering by Abbey Sy (after reserving a copy at NBS Greenbelt) i was so keen on getting the book early i had to sacrifice hours of sleep just to wait for the mall to open! HAHA kalurks talaga.

what i liked:

- it's an awesome visual treat

- Abbey's tips are very personal and not very technical which is cool because it only shows how she's willing to help others improve with the craft!

what i want added/removed:

- add blank pages for exercises? i dunno but i plan on abusing the book and the paper seems so doodle friendly haha i wouldn't mind a blank page or two! hehe

- less pages for the featured artists? it occupied almost half the book kasi haha. i honestly prefer a simple grid of their works instead of reading stuff about them. haha anyway, i could always look at their instagram accounts hehe.

till the next WIN!

by the way, feel free to do your own WIN series if you feel like showcasing what's in your notebook on your blog. and let me know too so that we could, uhm, WIN together? chos. XD

waddup wednesdays

:D

• it's officially a week since i started taking the night shift and boy was it really detrimental to the health! my paranoia wasn't for nothing. i seem to have colds almost daily, monday is truly the hardest, and i'm finding the lack of greens in my meals a painful chip off my lifespan.

• i sold the xiaomi redmi 1s phone i won over from googlygooeys because my dad requested for a different gift. haha. in fairness to the redmi, a day after posting i got a total of 9 inquiries, and 2 sure buyers. the next day and it's off to its new owner.

• i earned some unsolicited drama while selling because i reserved the item to someone else, then backed off when someone offered to get the item sooner and at a more convenient place, that is during my shift and where i work. to be fair, i asked the first buyer if he could beat the other buyer's offer because honestly i didn't want to meet up in the middle of my supposed sleep, and it's already a blessing that someone agreed to get the phone under my meetup terms so it's really hard to pass on that, specially when you're dying from lack of sleep. i was called a bogus for it, but oh well. at least i informed him about it!

• as if the universe wanted to get back at me from losing a bit of my integrity from that deal, when i got home this morning and sprawled to claim my most coveted undisturbed sleep, i was awoken some five times by some frkn number who kept calling me throughout the day about a book i was selling for 50 pesos. i emphasized in my ads that i only accept TEXT messages but the frkn guy still kept calling anyway. it's really stupid. i was so angry. i reminded him not to call, and replied morosely to his questions. but he continued being a prick by calling me seven times more, all of which i rejected because it's a matic thing (at least for me) to shut off any form of disturbance esp when i'm in the REM stage. grrr. in the end we agreed to meet up within my shift at the office, and i apologized for being so masungit. well, there goes extra money for a coffee shake and banana.

• btw, i dreamt of david guison earlier and we were chatting about stuff. he asked me for my real name cos he recalled it was a beautiful name so i showed him my ID. HA. idk #majorcrush problems. my officemate (hi marck!) was also there and i kept on glancing at him trying to kindof pour my kilig cos it's over the brim already. ano ba yan. david mentioned he's doing a TVC for Tide detergent though! is this prophetic? HAHA. 

• shipping problems. it just occured to me that it's gonna be hard to ship items from now on because there's no courier that picks up parcels at 3am! huhu fortunately, Xend (my favorite courier) has partnered with a couple of 7-Eleven stores to accept items for pickup. yehey for that genius. unfortunately for me, there's no nearby 7-Eleven store from where i work which accepts Xend stuff. huhu HELP?

• tomorrow's daytime agenda is to comb Greenbelt (or Megamall?) for Abbey Sy's book "The ABCs of Hand Lettering" because i really really really really really really want it! That, and decide whether or not to attend Type Lab Manila because i'm afraid i'll be too sleepy for it. huhu but i really want to attend! T___T also, i want to get a haircut and a haircolor tomorrow. haha

• i randomly ran across useful tips to improve focus and creativity and one of them suggested listening to BINAURAL BEATS. i just read about it today, it claims to put the brain into a certain state of consciousness by making you listen to specific frequencies that simulate brainwaves. listen to it here: http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/pureBinauralBrainwaveGenerator.php 
  
  you can also try adding www.rainymood.com to it! makes for a good mind de-stresser. SO AMAZING!

:D