Destiny's Haven

I finally was able to finish reading this e-book which I started reading last week. I accidentally found it when I was browsing through my mail and opened the newsletter I got from Fully Booked. The cover of the book got my attention so I read the book’s synopsis. After reading the synopsis, I just had this feeling that it would be another keeper for me so I decided to try Demonoid and see if they have an e-book copy of it. The book’s title is Graceling and it has a sequel entitled Fire.

“You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel as if you’ve lost a friend”

That’s the quote on my desktop wallpaper right now. I have to admit that that quote is really really true. Why? It’s because after I turned the last page I felt so sad. I didn’t want to let go of Katsa and Po’s story. I felt as if there was still so much more to it, that it’s not yet done. I want to pick up the sequel and start devouring it but school work’s just been too hectic that I know I won’t be able to concentrate on them if I start reading Fire and so I’ll leave it alone first until my school work won’t be as hectic.

Here’s the synopsis for the book, Graceling:
Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight – she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug. She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po. She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace – or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

Here are pictures of the book covers for both the US and UK versions:

This story actually reminds me of another story which I read before. It’s title is Poison Study followed by 2 sequels entitles Magic Study and Fire Study respectively.

If I have to rate Graceling, I’d give it a 4.5/5 stars The pacing was good and the characters had the right amount of flaw so as to make them appear somewhat real and not like gods who can do just about anything. They had their own share of doubts. I didn’t give this book a perfect 5/5 because I don’t know if it’s just me but when I stopped reading this book for 3 days then I resumed reading it.. I didn’t quite feel as connected to the story as I was before when I started reading it. Usually, for me, a 5/5 book should have a good story line, good character development and if I should decide to put the book down for a while due to unavoidable circumstances, when I pick it up again, I should feel as absorbed in the story as I was when I started it.

As for the title of this blog entry, I was listening to Jay Sean’s album while I was reading this book and one of the songs there just stuck in my head. It’s entitled Good Enough.

Here’s the link from YouTube in case you want to listen to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg1h__W0Mgw

If you want to learn more about Graceling and Fire, here’s the author, Kristin Cashore’s blog site: http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-books.html

Credits: I got the picture of the two book covers, as well as the synopsis from Amazon.com

Do any of you know the song It’s Over by Jesse McCartney? The one with the lyrics:

‘Cause I’m not comin’ back I’m closing the door
I used to be trippin’ over missin’ you but I’m not anymore

You might be wondering why I’m asking you about this, well.. it’s because this blog has something to do with the said lyrics. Yes, I’m saying that it’s over, that this is goodbye. No, I’m not in a relationship at the moment(never had been). I’m actually just saying goodbye to my crush for this certain person.

Since last summer, I’ve had a crush on this someone in my class. I was able to befriend him and we got along well. He’s really nice and easy to talk with. He makes me smile whenever I see him. I’ve went out with him and some of our friends and we always had a great time but when we went out again sometime just before the second semester of school started, I felt that something had changed.. I mean sure, I still had fun and all but I just got that feeling that something’s not the same anymore. Haven’t you had that feeling even once? The one where you can’t pinpoint exactly what changed but you just know that something did? That was the kind of feeling I had. When the second semester of school started, I had a hunch that my feelings for him had changed, I had a hunch that maybe I had outgrew my crush on him. That was just a speculation, I had no way of proving that. Well… no way until yesterday..

I was with two of my new friends who are also friends of his. One of them was talking about finding me a partner. I asked him “a partner? For what?” and then he proceeded by telling me that there seems to be a curse in their circle. It’s like every year someone gets involved with someone. This year, there hasn’t been one.. but my other friend suddenly said that there was one! Apparently my crush, who was in their circle, is courting someone. At first I didn’t understand what he meant, it was only later in the evening, as I was going home with Tiffy and her brother, that I understood what my friend said earlier. This is the part where I had my sudden realization. Normally, when you hear that your crush is courting someone, your reaction would be to find out who the person is, how long has it been going on and you try to see if you can match up to that person. Oddly enough, I didn’t feel any of those when I found out about it. I mean sure, I was surprised because I didn’t expect that but aside from that and the normal amount of curiosity, there was nothing. I was like “oh.” and then “ooohhh…”. That was it, that kind of sums up my reaction. My realization came from that moment. I realized that I don’t have a crush on him anymore, I’ve moved on. I’m pass my crush on him.

I’m pretty sure that some of you would say that love is not just a feeling. I would agree with you. Love can’t just be a feeling because if it was, then it wouldn’t work out because feelings are fleeting, they come and go, they never really last. With that, I guess I can conclude that indeed, it was just a crush and nothing more. I’ll end this blog now with a quote I made last night. It goes something like this: “So this is how it ends… There’s no bitterness though, only acceptance that feeling is now gone..”

I know it’s been ages since I last made a blog entry. I guess with all that has been happening I just couldn’t allot some time to do this. Right now, I’m actually making paper stars while writing this blog entry xD

I’ll make this blog just a short one, to recap some of the exciting or memorable things that have happened

Things have been really hectic in school. I’m not even sure why because it’s not like I’m drowning under a huge pile of assignments and yet whenever I get home I feel really exhausted. My friends tell me that maybe it’s just the stress built-up since last semester and maybe it is. I just hope that it’ll wear itself out soon so that I can get back to doing stuff without feeling either really tired or sleepy.

Last Monday I had a small adventure with my two friends, Patty and Tiffy. Our class ended at 10:30 but all of us were going to attend meetings for our organizations at 4:30 so we decided to kill time by going to Gateway (a mall near our school) and watch 2012. Since none of us had a car, we decided to ride the LRT ( a train form of transportation here in the Philippines). We got to the mall at around 1:30 because we left the school at sometime close to 1pm. The movie was going to start at 1:40. It was supposed to be really easy to get a ticket because it was a weekday, most people would be in school… but no.. for some reason there were a lot of college students who went there to watch New Moon! The line was freakishly long that by 1:40 we still weren’t able to buy tickets.. since 2012 has a runtime of around 2 and a half hours we couldn’t watch the next showing because by then we have to be back in school all ready. Disappointed and frustrated with the long line for New Moon, we decided to go to the food court and eat there. I had my second disappointment of the day when I spent 99 php on food which, in my opinion, was not worth 99 php >_<. After eating, we still had around 2 hours to kill. I suggested we go to a parlor and have a make-over but I gave up the idea quickly because none of us were that kind of people. We decided to walk around the mall and try on some clothes. In the end, I was the only one who ended up trying the clothes. Tiffy and Patty told me that they won’t let me leave the mall until I try out some clothes. xD I tried clothes from two different stores and the prices of the clothes were miles apart. I remember that the jacket which I tried on in one store was worth 5,000 php! o_O Later on, when I got home I did something which I don’t think I’ve done for either a really long time or I’ve never done before.. I had my hair cut really short! I think a lot of people were surprised the next day when I came to school sporting that haircut xD

Yesterday, Stephen, Ela, Michy and I decided to play L4D 2 after Theology class. We were all really looking forward to it because well… it’s L4D 2! What other reason is needed? I have to say that that game was fail xD We died I think twice or thrice just on the first map! The hordes were bigger, they came at you faster plus they have more special zombies to throw at you every time the horde appeared. After the third time, we had Stephen change the map just so that we can play more and die less. xD We only planned on playing for one hour but because of the fail moments at the start of the game, we had our time extended to 2 hours. And yet, after 2 hours we weren’t able to finish the last level of the game. I think that every Friday will be our L4D 2 day until some torrent for the game will be uploaded. I have some business to finish with those zombies. They kept attacking my character.. and I don’t even know why o_O Next time, those zombies will pay! They’re going down! xD

Last night, before going to bed, I decided to watch a movie. I sometimes do this when I’m not yet sleepy. I decided to watch Red Cliff. Watching the movie, I have to admit that I miss studying Chinese history in Chinese back when I was in high school. Why? It’s because the movie Red Cliff was about this war which happened in ancient China and after watching for a while, I realized that this movie was based on the war which we took up back in 2nd year high school! I only finished watching the movie this morning because I began dozing off last night. After watching the movie (which wasn’t done yet because there’s a part 2.. which I’m downloading right now), I wanted to look for my old notes and read about it again. Only, I remembered that my Chinese professor took my notes back then because she wanted to use them. So now I don’t have any notes to go back to. Oh well… I’ll just research on the war again

Anyway, that’s about it for now. I hope that I’ll be able to update this blog more often

A few days ago I visited my bestfriend, Tiffy’s blog. I saw that she made a bucket list and I’m not sure why but it made me want to make one of my own

Here’s my bucket list then

1. Finish college
2. Minor/Major in either History/Sociology and Anthropology/French/Chinese
3. Get a QPI of 3.6 and above
4. Get into the Dean’s List
5. Graduate college with honors
6. Experience a white Christmas
7. Survive and get a good grade from a terror prof
8. Get an 8 or 16 GB USB
9. Get an external hard drive of my own
10. 32/64 GB iPod Touch
11. Learn how to drive
12. Drive on my own
13. Visit a foreign country aside from China with friends
14. Get a Siberian Husky for my pet dog
15. Improve my basketball skills
16. Compete and win in a competition
17. Become an Executive Board officer in at least one org
18. Expand my collection of dangling earrings
19. Go on an outing with my blockmates
20. Go on an outing with my barkada (close circle of friends) Fontana!
21. Go Trick or Treating on Halloween (complete with costume and all)
22. Have a surprise birthday party
23. Be able to cook an entire meal on my own
24. Have a room of my own
25. A big stuffed white tiger Even though it’s small
26. Finish a 1000 piece puzzle on my own
27. Have a successful movie marathon
28. Meet in person and hopefully get an autograph from Cam Gigandet
29. Learn how to use Adobe Photoshop
30. Be surprised on Valentines’ Day
31. Comfy wedges
32. NOT end up as an old maid xD

Well… so far these are the only things that come to mind, if I remember something else I’ll just update this list

Yesterday morning, as soon as I woke up my mom told me the bad news.. just that morning, my grandmother passed away. No one knew the exact time but it was estimated to be around 3-5am. I didn’t know how to react, as you could probably imagine I was just sitting up with my hair in a huge mess when she told me that. It took a while before what she said registered in my head, but despite that I didn’t do anything. I tried to keep myself objective about it, I couldn’t succumb to my feelings yet because I still had to take one final exam. I couldn’t afford to get myself distracted, I needed to focus. That’s what I kept telling my self throughout the day.. I told myself, “Just this one last exam, after this I can let go and give in to my need to cry, just let me finish this exam..” Apparently, that was not meant to be because I gave in to my emotions while my blockmates and I were in SecLec B waiting for the Chemistry Problem Solving Session (which there never was). I admit that I did feel a bit better just like what Dana and Mich said. In a way, I’m glad I was able to cry it out while my friends were with me, I didn’t feel alone.

I guess that my consolation in all of these is that my grandmother is in a better place with my grandfather.. Oh, I forgot to tell you guys, yesterday was also the death anniversary of my grandfather. I’d like to think that he fetched my grandmother so that they’ll be together again, call me a romantic at heart but that interpretation makes her passing away a bit more acceptable (for lack of a better term).

I’ll always remember and love you ahmah (grandmother), no matter what. I hope you’re in a better place now with no worries to burden you. Thank you so much for all the love and care you’ve shown me ever since I was a little kid. I’m sorry that I never got the chance to say that I love you and how thankful I was for you but I hope that in your heart you know that I do. Farewell ahmah..

Yesterday was truly a bittersweet moment.

I went to one of my best friends (Danelle)’s house blessing. It felt really good to be able to see my circle of best friends. We all went to different universities and because of that we have different schedules and so we rarely see each other anymore.  I found out then that it’s only when you see them again do you realize how much time has passed and how many events in their lives you’ve missed. Danelle’s brother goes to the same school as Tiffany, Joan and me. There’s supposed to be a bonfire event in order to celebrate our school’s winning back to back championships. At first, I told my college friends that I wouldn’t be able to go because I’m prioritizing my best friends but it turns out that Danelle’s brother was also going to the bonfire. We all agreed that we’ll just go to the bonfire after dinner.

Before we left for the bonfire, I got a text message from one of my blockmates. He told me that he saw my crush. I told him (jokingly) that he should keep an eye on my crush since I’m on my way to school now. After a while he texted me saying that he lost sight of my crush! I texted him (jokingly again) saying how could he lose track of my crush? A few minutes after he texted again saying that he found my crush again. That was the most hilarious text message conversation! xD

When my friends and I got to school, we were surprised by the sheer number of cars parked. It was like the whole school grounds was turned into a huge parking lot! O_O Danelle’s brother had no choice but to park in one of the farthest parking slots. We don’t mind walking though since the night air was cool.

When we got to the bonfire, I saw some of my college friends there. It was a really great evening even though we didn’t get to do much aside from being vain and taking a lot of pictures. xD

Proof:

So far, everything seems to sound good so you might be asking why I entitled this entry as ‘bittersweet”.. read on to find out

Remember that I had people who were texting me, telling me that my crush was somewhere in the school grounds? Well.. I saw him when I got there. I was even able to say “hi” to him. I didn’t act differently, I just continued being myself and joked around with friends. After a while, I decided to look for him so that I could have my picture taken with him. After walking around for a few minutes and not seeing even a trace of him I decided to text him and ask him if he was still in school. It took him a while to reply to my text. He told me that he had already left and asked me what was up. I replied by saying that I wanted to have my picture taken with him but since he had already left, we’ll just have our picture taken some other time. He replied saying that sure, he was okay with that. He apologized that he already left and that since he was just riding with his friend he didn’t have any control as to what time they were going to leave school. I replied that it was all right and that I’m pretty sure that there will be other times. He replied that it was still too bad (that we couldn’t have our picture taken) because last night’s bonfire could be his last. That’s when it dawned on me that yeah.. he’s right.. That’s why my bonfire night was a bittersweet one.

I was actually surprised when he brought up that it’s too bad we couldn’t have our picture taken and how this could be his last bonfire.. he sounded sentimental, I can’t explain how.. he just did. Maybe it’s because since the time I met him I’ve never heard him say those kinds of words and he’s usually a happy-go-lucky, cheery type of guy.

There you have it, that’s my story. I’m sure you guys also had some of your bittersweet moments, please share yours. I’m pretty sure it would make people feel “awww…” (in a good way), and maybe even you, when you recount those events in your life. Don’t be shy and share here

Today is the first day when my mom actually allowed me to go to my first UAAP game. Yes, you heard me right my friends, it’s my first time to watch a UAAP game live. For those who don’t know what UAAP means, it’s University Athletics Association of the Philippines which handles teams competing for sports.

Anyway, the day started out with my arriving at school and after a few minutes there was a brownout (kind of like a blackout) Just my luck.. I went on ahead to my org room to find only one person there. It was weird since the room is usually filled with people. As I was about to take a sit I saw a cellphone on the sofa. I was about to dismiss it when I had the feeling that I’ve seen that model before. I took another look and asked my orgmate Dave, if he knew who owned the phone. I told him that it looked like Dre(brother of my friend Mich and also my orgmate)’s phone. He told me that it might be because Dre was there just a few moments ago. I was also able to find a one peso coin which apparently belonged to Dre too xD

Next was Chemistry Lab. We were given our current class standing. I was disappointed with myself when I found out that I only got a B but it turns out that if we take the optional LT (long test), we can still raise our grades. The good news? The exam is risk-free meaning we can only raise our grade, not lower it. The other good news? If I get an A on that exam, I can boost my grade to an A!

After attending the earlier Physio Psych class, I went with Marky and Todd (Ryan and Marky’s friend) to Libis so that Marky can have his haircut. Rich person had a haircut which cost 300 php o_O We had some funny moments going to and leaving the place. We were laughing about the windshield wiper of the taxi we rode to Libis because it was making this sound which sounded kind of like “Ayoko na, ayoko na” (I’ve had enough, I’ve had enough) and then we had to walk to Eastwood just to get a cab back to Ateneo. Oh! I almost forgot to mention the fact that there was another brownout moment while Marky was having his haircut? xDD

After his haircut, Marky and I rode the LRT to Araneta to watch the game live. We sat beside Mich and Dre. It was a really intense game and I loved every moment of it. The cheering and ambiance was great! You could feel that everyone from our side were intent on winning back to back championships. There were some really bad calls during the game which made you want to throw a potato (as Todd was suggesting earlier) at the referees but everything ended with our side winning back to back championships Btw, for some reason 2 things which don’t normally happen when Mich and others watch a game happened today. For one, the air coming from the air conditioner was cold. The stadium was cold Second, I was able to bring my water jug inside the stadium when I was told by the others that we were actually not allowed to bring those in and instead were supposed to leave them outside at a deposit area.

FUNNY EVENTS DURING THE GAME;
1.) Both Ateneo and UE sides were trashtalking each other using signs they made xD
2.) Both Ateneo and UE sides were trashtalking each other with cheers xD
3.) There were a lot of cheesy moments going on in the court.
4.) Mich was stepping on Dre xD
5.) Picture taking/vain moment by Mich, Marky and I xD

Today was overall a great day because it seemed that everything went as they should be. Also, after today I can say that I had a great time watching a first live game I hope that Ateneo can gun for a 3-peat championship next year!

P.S. Pics will follow as soon as Marky uploads them from his camera

When you dream, what kind of dreams do you usually have? Are they the kind which features clouds, rainbows and unicorns or do they resemble real life? I usually have either the resemble-real-life kind of dreams or I don’t remember my dream at all.. the latter was probably because I dreamt during stage 3 or 4.. (sorry, I’m still studying for my exam tomorrow on Sleep and Reproductive Behavior =P ) Anyway, I’d like to share with you guys this vivid dream which I had just before I woke up this morning.

I’m not exactly sure now how it all started, I just remember that I was in my grandparents’ house with my cousins and I think I was watching television then.. Out of nowhere enters my blockmate, Dan. I have to say that I was seriously surprised and of course I expressed my being surprised. xD Oh! Wait.. I’m not sure how this happened but I think my other friend, Marky, was also in my dream.. (This must have something to do with what he told me last night..) Anyway, Dan and I were talking about the person you like, how you act around him/her and how does he/she see/respond to you and if he/she knows that you like him/her (wow.. that was a lot of pronouns! xD). He was telling me that He and his crush were good, they were friends and he thinks that she doesn’t know that he has a crush on him, which was okay with him because this way they can be close without the awkwardness attributed to knowing that someone has a crush on you. I shall even quote what he said in the dream, “We’re okay, I don’t think she even sees me as a man.” (Awww.. that’s so emooooo!!) After that I remember that I was pointing at Marky who was sitting outside talking to his crush. I told Dan that it was good that he and his crush were okay. I told him that Marky wasn’t as lucky as him and that I’m sorry that Marky isn’t as close to his crush because he doesn’t know what to do. After a while Dan called Marky over and tried to help him out. His first advice to Marky was for the latter to gain some weight because he’s too thin (Kinda true.. if you guys look at his picture in the previous post you could see that he is thin for a guy =P). So what we did was to have Marky eat a lot and then.. that’s it. o_O

Cliffhanger? I agree.. I woke up right after that.. rawr.. I wished I could have woken up later so that I could have found out what other advice Dan would give Marky. Oh well.. I can’t say that I’m surprised that this dream was a cliffhanger. It seems that all of my dreams are cliffhangers. They never show me the end of my dream. I can only keep on hoping that I would be able to see my next dream to the end.

Okay guys, it’s your turn! Do you have any interesting dreams? If you do then please share them here. I would love to hear from you as well!

Yesterday was my second day to help out at Ateneo for the relief operations to help the victims of Typhoon Onday. I have to say that it was a really funny because Marky, one of my friends, went to help out. Compared to the first day, Tiffy, Marky and I went from one station to another. First we helped out in the clothes section where we helped gather clothes for one family and then we moved on to the medicine sorting section, helped load the truck and then package food. The funny part in all of this was when Marky, holding one of the plastic bags, kept trying to put the plastic bag over my head! He said that I should be bagged and then shipped over to Montalban Rizal.. o_O Although I ended up bagging him instead when he wasn’t looking! Hihihihi ) Tiffy and I got home at around 9+ so I had a late dinner. I didn’t mind having a late dinner because 1.) It felt good to have been able to help in even a small way 2.) Dinner was really yummy. Mom cooked her 3 cups chicken and it was THE BEST! I swear that when you taste it, you won’t be able to stop craving for it again Later that night, I tried to finish downloading an anime series which a friend of mine recommended while I played L4D. Gaaaahhh.. I still need more practice ) I was only able to kill uh.. around 30 zombies? >_< Anyway, here’s the single pic Marky and I had while we were helping out, Tiffy wasn’t in it because she was tying up some bags when this was taken

me and Marky

Today, Tiffy and I went to Meggy’s house for her belated birthday party. I was amazed by sheer size and beauty of her house! I definitely want a house like hers sometime (but I have a feeling that it’s going to be a really long time before I’ll be able to get one xD)

We spent the afternoon watching Game 1 of the Ateneo vs UE. This was my first time to watch the game with friends because I usually just watch at home. It was really fun because you’re not the only one screaming and cheering ) During the game I was also harassed by 3 people.. namely Tiff, Brad and Andre. I swear that it’s a curse for one to be as ticklish as me o_O I also can’t believe that I’m being matched with Andre >_< Goodness! I’m not saying that he’s bad looking or anything but my gosh.. that was just sooo wrong because 1.) he’s younger 2.) he’s the brother of one of my close friends 3.) I only see him as a friend 4.) he’s YOUNGER! )

After the game, which by the way we (Ateneo) won by 7 points, we all went down to the kitchen to eat! But before everything else, we played a mini Truth or Dare game. It was really funny especially when the others kind of pressured Migz to say that BJ’s the hottest guy in his opinion. Everyone kept on teasing him about it ) For dinner, we had spaghetti (whose sauce was if I’m not mistaken spiked with vodka) and a 32-inch pizza from Shakey’s the spaghetti was really yummy while the pizza arrived late xD

After devouring the spaghetti and pizza, we played this board game where you use little piggies which squeak and produce air to play a game which resembled table tennis. It was really funny and I kept laughing because for some reason the paper ball kept coming toward me so everyone was rushing at me =))

As soon as we finished the game, Retcher suggested that we play Taboo, the only difference was that for this game, we’re supposed to use sexual terms in order to describe the word. I had an uh-oh moment because I’m really bad at sexual stuff )

It wasn’t long before Tiffy and I had to leave the party which kind of made me sad because I wanted to stay longer. Too bad we didn’t have another ride home. I hope that next time we can stay longer because it really was a great party!

Btw, I’d like to share with you guys the funny quote of the day care of Retcher:

*Retcher enters Meggy’s living room and sees me*

Retcher: Oh s**t! Nandito ka pala! (Oh s**t! You’re here!)
Me: Hahahaha )

Reason: He was supposed to lend me his Big Bang Theory CDs but whenever we meet it’s always unexpected so he ends up not bringing the CDs xD

Anyway, this is all for now! Until next time!