Another ♥ good read.

This is similar to the other book I read and reviewed in this blog. About the female obsessed with a romance novel and such? Yeah. I can totally relate with these good finds.

Confessions of a Serial Kisser is written by Wendelin Van Draanen, author of Flipped which I have read and adored. And for that purpose did I decided to buy it. Yesterday, before we went to EK. So anyway, if I probably didn't know the author, I wouldn't have spent 514 on this book thinking it's just one of these shallow romance novels about catfights and stilettos. The excerpt on the cover of the book wasn't useful at all, describing about the 'pull of kiss' or such. Now that I've finished reading it taking about an hour yesterday at 3 am and the whole morning before lunch, I've decided I love this author and her books.

I love it.

It's about Evangeline, a 17 year old girl who got addicted to her mom's romance novel, Crimson Kiss, describing about a glorious, perfect kiss that would make her feel alive. So begins her quest. Add in the boy troubles because of her spontaneous kisses, her Dad's unfaithfulness which has led to divorce and now tries to rebuild their family again and soon after "friendship problems" cause Evangeline to just stop with the conquest and re-evaulate everything. With an open ended finale (similar to Flipped) and a winning last line, this book went to my favorites. Well, it gave me something to think about too.

I can't wait to tell my friends & classmates a.k.a. addicted romance readers as well.

Spoiler alert! The winning last line/s....

The crimson kiss isn't something you can chase, because it's more than just the passionate meeting of mouths. It's a confession.

It's the truth your lips whisper to someone you love.

That line won me over. :)

my poor, sore feet

We went to EK that afternoon. I spent almost the whole trip multitasking: sleeping and using my heavy head to push the car sun shield whilst listening to my iPod. My Lolo was crankin' up his old tunes in his cassette you see. So anywayz, we arrived at EK- which my adorable younger brother and cousin (both wearing matching shirts) believed to be Disneyland- 2 hours later. It was no surprise the line was long. So many families and barkadas out for the holidays as well. So while we waited in line, I munched on some Cheetos :) When we finally entered, the first ride we got on is: The Grand Carousel. It's a pity that it's the only ride my Lolo can go on (he opted for a 150 ticket, 120 really since there's a Senior Citizen discount) and he didn't want to ride. But it's okay. I managed to get his pic while he had my toki-doki slung over his shoulders. The next ride we went on is Wheel of Fate. The line was so long that it took us about and hour or more before we finally got on! We thought the fireworks would come at 7 then and we would see it whilst on the ride. Sadly, it came at around 10. And we were inside the Rialto theater (after about 2 hours of waiting in line and 2 sessions of 'fake snow')... and it wasn't even that good! By that time, my feet were killing me and my stomach was growling. My Tita went to buy some rice-in-a-box, sadly, they were out of rice. So we ate Pizza. I ate a slice, my younger cousin (about 3 years old) ate 2 slices and a half. My Tita claims he loves pizzas.

Finally, we went to Rio Grande Rapids. The highlight of this whole trip. Here's the breakdown:

• Long yet fast moving line
• Just me, Ally, Chuchi and Tita Cat [[Others went to ride the Carousel again. :P]]
• A discovery. A blackmail discovery with permanent proof for the whole EK to see. :)
• Chuchi's pregnancy look, courtesy of my toki-doki bag.
• The guy in the pink shirt's wet look. :))
• Me. Getting drenched because of the waterfall. Yet again. For the third time straight.

Then we had our little pictorial. We went home at closing time: 12 midnight. We stopped by McDo where there was an abundance of other EK goers, a shortage in chicken and an almost brawl between a guy (w/ Santa's stomach) and a feisty female. Oh the drama. And again, slept all the way home.

Oh. And BTW, I saw another mushy-sweet couple that day. They were on a trip. Remember that I wrote of a romance idea I thought of, with the guy getting sick and all that drama and I saw an opposite @ Church? Well, I imagined a trip for that made-up guy and girl in my head to spend his "last days."

Am I paranoid or what?

got magic? ♥

Merry Christmas!!!

Wow. This christmas was truly memorable. No, nothing remarkable happened such as win the lotto, a Euro-trip or a visit from St. Nicholas or such. It's memorable because my wish came true... you know, the Misa de Gallo wish... I wished for a very happy Christmas. And I was happy. Until I screwed everything myself, that is.

So here's the thing. December 24 was spent... as any other day. Lounging around in my pajamas, surfing the net, occasionally snacking and daydreaming. We were going to attend Mass that evening at St. Andrew's and about a month ago, I already had my 'Christmas attire' [[It's a Filipino thing I guess.]] ready... which was kind of unlike me. [[Bootleg jeans and a pink (yes, pink. I know, what was I thinking? Apparently, none.) blouse. No!]] But I felt comfortable in it. Which was weird, considering that I'm the kind of person who'd rather blend in the environment and remain unnoticed. [[Which is ironic considering my eccentricity.]] Well, I was still wearing my all-time favorite Chucks and watch (I guess) to still feel... me. Well, I have to deduce that my good mood must have been the afterglow of eating strawberries and cream. [[Made my day, and Christmas eve.]]

Putting aside my unusual clothing choices, [[my Lolo even commented on the color! My Lolo! A male! get it?!?]] we headed off to Church. We were surprised at the number of people in attendance. We had to sit separately then, Chuchi and I at the back, Ate Belle at the left on the row infront of us and the rest [[Mom, Dad, Bro, Ally and Ate Loi]] 2 rows infront of us. So what's with me mentioning the seating arrangements? Well, it's not that important. Just the couple sitting beside me, that's all. What's with this couple? I've been daydreaming about them. No, not in the stalkerish or deja vu kind of way, just... the idea. Their 'Flavor of Love' - Hana Yori Dango people. You see, for the past few days, I've been toying around the idea of a bittersweet kind of romance [[the product of romance stories @ Fictionpress and other stuff]] wherein the guy... dies at the end. Like "She's Dating the Gangster" except reverse. So anyway, the girl sitting next to me was... kind of pale and sickly [[opposite in my fantasy though]]. Almost the entire time she was sitting down. And almost the entire time, he held her hand.

That was such a cute scene! What a strange coincidence huh? Anway, the girl seemed nice. She stood up during the Lord's Prayer and held my hand. Which means, she is not a snob. Since no one rarely holds hands with strangers anymore, me included. -Sigh- They're such a cute couple. Looking at them is heartwarming and sweet. :) I hope they'll stay together forever.

Uh-oh, here comes the sap/romanticist in me.

Oh and by the way, the priest who celebrated the mass was Afro-American. I found it hard to understand his way of speaking. But nonetheless, I learned a lesson from him! "The Purpose of Christmas is to share the Love of Christ." ... or something like that.

Well, a downside that evening was my inability to stay awake till midnight. I owe Jom a 1 year supply of load after a stupid bet. But using the tricks up my sleeve, I'll give him 365 worth of load. 1 Peso per day. Hah! Take that Ruby Kuneho! =P

Oh, and I got a gift from Santa! Surprisingly. I got a book by Bo Sanchez entitled "How to be really really really happy!" My mother laid her claim as the next to read it soon after I tore the wrapper. I finished it earlier today. No surpise. I was reading Angels and Demons on Christmas day. Forgive me.

December 25

I ate a very very excellent ham for breakfast, with [[get this]] lechon-shaped bread from Julie's bakeshop. For lunch, I ate chicken from KFC, Lola's Kare-kare, rice [[duh]] and fruit salad - that's about half of what was served! For dinner, rice, chicken, sisig and leche flan for dessert. What I did? I slept. [[Hehehehe.]] And later that afternoon we went to Greenhills and then to Robinsons Galleria where I played babysitter. That night, I also spent gushing about Peanutz's new cellphone, which I claimed to be my soulmate considering that it's a.) flip open b.)ORANGE c.)Has lots of memory including bluetooth and d.) has a Panda chain. We ended up talking about our childhood experiences. Well, MY embarrassing childhood experiences that is.

Now that I've written it down. It seems so... normal and plain. But it's really a miracle and God's gift how I kept on smiling no matter how much I screwed up [[you know. My usual issues]].

Oops. It's past midnight!

We're going to EK tommorrow... err, later.

BTW, the title of this post came from a guy's statement shirt I saw during the evening mass. I want that shirt.

The irony and summary

It's been a while...

About a month and more. My last post was just after sembreak... ta-da! It's already half of the Christmas break. Well, I've been busy. Yes, really busy. If not, I've been too much of a worrywart to get my thoughts straight or a procrastinator to write a single word. A lot has happened. A lot. Let's make a list of the memorable ones shall we... [[FYI This blog is turning out to be journal.]]

Let's start with something... academically related... something about my future after highschool... whatever that future might be. I'm talking about... The Ateneo Junior Summer Camp. [[Or something within those words.]] What's that? Not only does it boosts my confidence because I realized that I was told I am part of the top 5 of my batch [[top 4 to be exact]], but also, this campt thingy is a great, big, awesome, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for moi. To keep it short, here's the deal: Top 5 of selected schools in the country take an exam. Only the top 70 students can partake in the summer camp designed to train us for college life. And get this: once you get in, there is no need for an entrance exam for the said school. How frickin' awesome is that? :) But with the way things are going on for me right now... I have lots of doubts... school-related doubts. I know. What a nerd. Can I help it? [[Random: Chris Tiu!]]

Next on the list is the intramurals. Or the somehow intramurals. Aside from the fact that Charlotte is the muse of our batch [[that's my friend! woohoo~! :)]] and that it was the first time I got really excited for the intrams, to put it bluntly, it sucked. Carllyn and I and the others were not really able to participate in the activities because we became school representatives on some IT contest [[which sucked too.]] . And also not forgetting the fact that our batch... well, we were losers, literally. The only games we won were indoor games. So we're intellectually competent, nice. Well anyway, I really felt bad during the intrams, especially during the IT thing... I was sorry for my Ate C. She wanted to play so badly... I tried to sympathize since... well, I'm not an athletic person and so it does not have some big importance to me other than supporting my batchmates. This 'thing' fueled me to do my best during the IT contest... I wanted to win so that my Ate's efforts are not lost, or a waste to leave the intramurals. But it turned out very differently. I was depressed, and even as I recount it now, I still do.

Another thing to mention would probably the Kris Kringle. Our codenames were boys' names, my name was my brother's: Andre :) Anyway, funny that the secrecy and thrill was lost just a few days. My baby turned out to be my seatmate, Patitay. How she found out? She went to my house and saw the chocolates I gave her earlier that day. And on the same day did I found out who my mommy was: Jenina. Our conversation at the bathroom was hilarious! It turned out like this:

J: Annick, kilala mo na ba baby mo?
A: Oo. Ikaw?
J: Hindi eh. Kilala mo ba kung sino si Andre?
A: O.o -insert pause- :)) hahahahahahaha!

Our wishlists are cool too: we had so many similar wants! Revelations by Melissa dela Cruz [[speaking of which, I haven't bought one.]], a t-shirt from Artwork [[passed on to my 'family tree' during the revelations]], blank notebook from Fully Booked and a Little Miss Rosena t-shirt. :)

During the Christmas party, we had another flour fight. BTW, the theme was statement shirts and colored jeans. I had a trouble finding colored jeans [[I was supposed to wear white but it was banned! I bought a brown one.]] but I loved my statement shirt, though I would've prefered a custom one or from artwork or from David and Goliath: Save the earth! Eat animals! But I love my RED shirt! It said: Every child is an artist. :)

Oh, and for the first time ever, I've decided to attend the Misa de Gallo [[with my Dad and Tita Liz]] and guess what... I might be able to complete it! Tomorrow's the last day! :) A wish come true? I hope so! But which wish...

Other discoveries:

• Martinsays.com - I've found out Martin Johnson is a regular blogger, maybe even a techie, a humorous and insightful writer and a YouTube lurker! =))
• Tamora Pierce - I've just started reading her books [[e-books]] yesterday and I was hooked! Unfortunately, I read a spoiler about the ending of her quartet and you know happy endings are my pet peeve, especially if it concerns a couple... gah! I'm getting pissed again!
• Some epiphanies... mostly not so good.