Looking for Alaska

I'm so glad I finally decided to pick up this John Green book!

Looking for Alaska is so compelling for me that it made me want to read through the pages really, really fast just so I can figure out if they were able to find Alaska (or when I was still on the early pages, so I can know what exactly happened that made them go looking for her in the first place).

I liked the concept of having a Before and After part, which totally leaves the part between still as enigmatic as Alaska Young, which, I believe, is the whole point of it.

All the questions left unanswered after Alaska's death has me completely racking my brains out, too, along with Pudge and the Colonel. I wanted to understand, too, because personally, I live for stories that recount details of someone's life, of events that had happened to them. Things that would make it all make sense. Because when you get to that point where all of it just clicks, it feels astoundingly wonderful.

But there was one question that I had my own answer to:

"How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?"

Thinking of life as labyrinth/maze is a fascinating idea, because I presume that at some point in every person's life, one gets that nagging feeling of being stuck. He goes on figuring why or how or when or what he did exactly to arrive at that circumstance. And then, there'd be moments when he'd think he'd gotten out because everything suddenly feels fine, that he is in this great place right now. Of course, it's only temporary relief until he makes a wrong turn once more. And repeat.

Finally, somewhere down the line, he is finally lead onto the end of the maze, onto the way out. At last, freedom! That's when he realizes that every single event he had encountered inside the labyrinth had made him who he is, that it had all been significant to his life, whether good or bad. And this is usually when it is time to go...

So if you ask me, I would not want to get out of the labyrinth until it is time for me to do so. In accordance to my faith in God, I continue to believe in the philosophy that everything happens for a reason.

Alas, trying to look for Alaska has led me to looking for answers to questions I have long before answered. It's the kind of read that will continue to stay with you for a long time. I can't wait until I shake this feeling off and incidentally stumble upon this book once more and end up just repeating the process.

(5 out of 5 stars)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Last Thursday was the first time this semester that I went out with my college friends to a movie. We had classes until 6 PM so we had to check the showtimes at SM malls near our vicinity. We ended up going to SM Manila to see the new Transformers film in 3D. The movie was very long (2 hrs 30 mins) but it was definitely worth the time. It was also a bit pricey but we did get some freebies so it was all good. There were free snacks and candy and we also got this nice Transformers mask, which they give for every 5 tickets bought.

Spot the four-eyed decepticon!
We wanted the autobot mask but I think this was the only one they had in stock.

I really enjoyed watching the movie and understood why it had to be that long because they simply can't give us a really good film without build up. There were a lot of action, as expected, some important twists and also, funny bits here and there which kept us entertained all throughout the duration of the movie.

One standout from the new Transformers was definitely Sam's (Shia Labeouf) new leading lady, Carly, played by Victoria's Secret model, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. I don't why they had her wear white in the whole film but she looked gorgeous in each outfit nevertheless. I mean, she's a model, why wouldn't she look good in any clothes, right? And she's also very pretty, too.

What's funny is that there was this whole fight scene going on between the autobots and the deceptecons and Carly was standing there in the center looking all modelesque inspite of all the commotion going on behind and around her. Also, I noticed how she and her white clothes didn't even end up with smears and smudges of dirt/blood! She still looked flawless while Sam's face had cuts and bruises. I guess they had to preserve the pretty.

Overall, I give this movie 4.5/5 stars and I definitely recommend that you go and see this with your friends/family! You'll definitely enjoy it especially if you've been a Transformers fan since the beginning.

Say It Like You Eat It!

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is everything I thought it would be and more. I definitely picked up some good advice from Liz that I can apply in my personal life. I love how she has a natural sense of humor that definitely came across in some parts of the book that I caught myself literally laughing out loud at her witty banters. Eat, Pray, Love definitely has that balance between pleasure and spirituality. Thumbs up!



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A few of my favorite quotes from the book:

"Tis' better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else's perfectly."

"When you're lost in those woods, it sometimes takes you a while to realize that you are lost. For the longest time, you can convince yourself that you've just wandered off the path, that you'll find your way back to the trailhead any moment now. Then night falls again and again, and you still have no idea where you are, and its time to admit that you have bewildered yourself so far off the path that you don't even know from which direction the sun rises anymore."

 "Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it."

"This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something."

Despicable Me

Today my friends and I went to see Despicable Me in 3D. The day was so much fun because we only had one class and then we attended the first Friday mass at school and after that, we went straight to the mall to see the movie.

It was really worth watching in 3D, worth the money spent, too, because it was 95 minutes filled with laughter and utter cuteness. It has a really good storyline, too, which I loved that it almost made me cry. (Yes, yes, I know I'm such a Sensitive Sally.)

I absolutely adored the little girl Agnes, she is simply the cutest and sweetest thing in the world. Of course, I already loved her from the moment I saw the trailer with her uberly cute reaction to the stuffed unicorn at the carnival ("He's so fluffy I'm gonna dieeeee!"). But you just can't help but adore her more when you see the movie cause there's absolutely more where that came from. I just wanna grab her and pinch her cheeks! And then there was Gru. As much as he wanted to be the super villain of all time, he was already too lovestruck with the kids that he couldn't be without them. His character just shows that no matter how bad or awful or negative you project yourself to be, there's still a part of you that wants to be good. All it takes is a saving grace and in Gru's case, his are the girls. :)

Lastly, there were the minions!! I love their character! They are absolutely hilarious. My favorites parts of them were when one minion shook the other so he would light like a glow stick (really funny!) and when Gru was telling them and the kids that playtime is over, one of the minions was like, "WHAAAAAT", which is actually the only line from them that I understood. LOL. I want my own minion to keep me company!

Of course we took pictures with them outside the cinema. :) (Even though the photo was kind of a fail because the minions kept on falling.) I wanted to steal those standees so bad! Hahaha.

Rating: 8/10