bookish me

I actually haven't been reading regularly, but when the mood hits me, reading becomes the highlight of my day.

Anyhoo, I just discovered that on days when I want to feel safe and normal, I read Agatha Christie, preferrably Hercule Poirot stories.

On ordinary days, I read my Young Adult books. I still prefer fantasy stories over the real-life kind. My fave fantasy authors--Diane Wynne Jones, Natalie Babbit, and Jonathan Stroud. When I feel like escaping reality into more reality, I'm most likely to be reading Jerry Spinelli and Cynthia Rylant.

On pensive days, I read Anne Tyler and Banana Yoshimoto. Their words just leap at me ever so unobtrusively. I know it sounds nerdish, but their words are so exact and palpable, I can taste them. And they're just what I'm hungry for at that particular moment.

saturday fun machine

My sugar-filled body is sluggish today. After eating roughly a big slice of choco cake (avoiding the sponge and relishing the icing) and several handfuls of M&M's, I am terribly bloated but too lazy (and weak?) to exercise on account of my snifflez.

Last night, availed of the manicure/pedicure GC i won at the company Christmas party. That was probably only my 4th time to have a pedicure, and the first for a manicure. Anyway, the girl asked which I wanted done first. Shrugged my shoulders and said, "Paa siguro." Halfway thru the process, I realized I should've let her do my hands first because it's virtually impossible to function (e.g. getting money from my wallet, searching for my carkeys in my mala-parachute maong bag) without getting my manicure ruined.

And true enough within seconds of exiting the salon, my manicure was ruined. So when I got home, I ruthlessly wiped the polish off my fingernails with acetone (buti na lang meron sa bahay). And it didn't bother me much because it was ickily bright red. I don't know why I chose that color in the first place.

It takes a whole of effort to be kikay.

not-so-bad sing

I just got back from a 3-day Singapore trip with my family. The tours were crazy (imagine, we were 10 in the family--a group tour within a group tour) and stressful, but it was nice to see the kiddies ooh-ing and aahi-ing over the animals at Night Safari, and the cable car ride and the giant fishies at Sentosa Island.

It was my third time to take these tours but I still enjoyed them. But what I enjoyed most what walking the Singa streets on my own, even at high noon. Though the weather was ultra sunny, and sometimes humid, the trees which trimmed the sidewalks provided ample shade and cool air.

I met up with my friend who was job-hunting , and we explored a few malls and eateries. It actually made me appreciate Singapore more. And well, I'd really like to explore more of it in the future. I wouldn't mind staying there for a week or more.

Though some people think it's a boring country with rigid rules and all buildings, I think it deserves more credit. Almost no crime and no extreme poverty scenes that hit you right in the gut. I was happy to see a lot of Pinays last Sunday (their day-off) converging in small groups, giggling and shopping.

Its high cost of living is a small price to pray for its pollution-free and efficient environment, I think.