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Hello All, Just a quick note to say that I haven't been blogging here for a while because Peter and I decided to get our own doma...

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Archive for June 2011

Leaving Manila for London

I guess it's time to explain why I haven't been updating much: Iwas busy trying to collate and pass all my papers to the UK embassy because I'm going to London :)

I'm flying off this Friday - a very early morning flight [1AM] so please don't expect any regular updates to the blog. I'm only bringing two books with me in my luggage - although I don't know if I'll be able to read a word or a sentence in any of them while I'm out.

This is a business trip,so on weekdays I'll most probably be busy with work, and on weekends busy with sightseeing and trying to explore everything that I can within the area and out of town as well. Might as well make the most of the opportunity.

Hopefully I get a chance to go to soe bookish evens whilst in London, but I'm not really sure where to find them so here! :)

If I get a chance to blog about my adventures/places I've visited, I'll probably share some of them here, but mostly will share them in my travel blog, so please follow if you're interested:
http://projectglobetrotter.blogspot.com

Ps-> The books I brought are "Ribblestrop" by Andy Mulligan and "Madame Tussaud" by Michelle Moran. Sure they're not connected at all to London or England, for that matter, but I've got excellent travel guides that I'll bring along with me!

[Review] The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

Summary from Goodreads: It is in this, the second Holmes novel, that the great detective comes fully to life - not only as a melancholic and an inscrutable master of deduction, but also as an incurable drug addict. "Which is it today?" Watson asks Holmes matter-of-factly on the opening page of the novel, "morphine or cocaine?" "It is cocaine," Holmes famously replies. "A seven-per-cent solution. Would you like to try it?" Mary Morstan comes to Holmes in the hope that he will be able to solve a mystery. Ten years earlier her father, Captain Arthur Morstan, had returned to London on leave from his regiment in India where it is said that he and one Thadeus Sholto, "came into possession of a considerable treasure." By the time his daughter arrived at his hotel, he had vanished without a trace. The Sign of Four remains a small masterpiece of suspense, and the novel has enjoyed a steady readership ever since its first publication in 1890.

Thoughts: Well now, I didn't expct any of the events to happen one after another: a young girl triggers Holmes and Watson to help her find out what had happened to her father, then they discover a death, a native, a man without a leg, and end up with a river chase in the Thames. Oooh. Heartpounding. The book has the same formula: Holmes will eventually apprehend the perpetrator, and the last chapter/few pages of the book would provide a back story on the perp. Which oerall, provides a great conclusion to the tale.

In this book, Holmes is getting even more addicted to drugs, and Watson gets to fall in love. They all get their insecurities and their problems, providing more of an insight in the main characters as compared to the first book, which was just an introduction to them.

Although some parts of the story can't be relatable now [well, we are so technologically advanced now, who would ever think of consulting the newspapers or using telegraph machines to convey messsages anymore?] Holmes and Watson will forever remain to be amazing characters, well, considering the number of movie and telly show adaptations that have already been out over the years.

Published: 1800s
Available From: everywhere!
Publisher: Don't know - i think this is now availabel for free since the 100 year license is up!
Book was: read using the 1001 Classic Novels iPod Application.
Rating: 3/5

[Review] The 39 Clues: Agent's Notebook

More of a notebook than an actual book [well duh, Ruby, the title suggests it otherwise], this "book" contains bits and pieces of information about the branches of the Cahill family, status of the agents, and other bits and information that you could infer/gather from reading all 11 books of the 39 clues.

I think this is more for the die-hards, as it is a terribly expensive notebook, if you'll ask me. Sure there's monograms of the various Cahill branches on the pages, but that sure isn't enough to convince me to get this book though!

I think it's targeted more for the younger audience - there's a number of codes at the back of the book where you could try and break the codes [a few hours of fun, if you ask me - perfect to bring on trips to keep the little ones busy], and also a summary of the first 9 books of the 39 Clues.

Would I say that this book/notebook is worth it? Erm... No. Not unless you're a really big fan of the series. If I didn't get a chance to borrow this from a friend I would never take a second look at this again, to be honest.

Published: 2008
Available From: everywhere!
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Book was: bought from a used bookstore
Rating: Great YA novel! It's different from some of the other ones i've read [4/5]

In the midst of travel

I was looking at my blog today and saw that i didnt update for bearly two weeks. Gasp! Well, ill tell the reason why: ive recently went on trips to baler, aurora and took a weeklong backpacking trup to cebu and bohol. As im typing this blog on my ever handy upod at thw hostel in cebu, i realuzed that i havenr blogged any reviews about recent books ive finished! I honestly dont know when ill have the time to do si, seeing as im getting ready for a 4 month business trip coming up in 2 weeks time.

Anyway, im going home from cebu and bohol wirh two new books in tow- i found two booksale branches in cebu: one in smabd thw other in robinsons and walked away woth baby prof by emily griffin and speak!! Of course u included going to the bookstores as part of my sightseeokg itinerary, it is compulsory even if u dont buy anytjing! (and i normally dont buy anything full priced)

Of course during my other trips, i eill still go to tje bookstores, and share what i get. Maybe through an in my mailbox post or through more infotmal blog posts such as this.

I cant help thibking that one f the main problems i also encoubter whenever j travel is what book am i going to bring wih me. Unlike what other travel blogs sau, to bring a book that you would swap or lwave behind, i normally brin books that are very special and important to me so it coukd share in the experience that i had and i woukd remember those exeriences just By looking st the book.

If you coykd count the number of typos i had in this podt then apologies- its really hard typing on a teeny tiny tiucj screen much like this
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