Book Hauls from National Bookstore

About a month ago, I got into the bandwagon and started to read The Game of Thrones. This is the first book in George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice Series. 

It wasn't exactly light reading for me for the first part of the book. While the characters were developed by the author, it took effort for me to keep track of the names of the characters and the "Seven Kingdoms". The good part for me started after reading about two thirds of the book and I was particularly drawn to the characters of Lord Eddard, Lady Catelyn, Bran and Arya. (This isn't an attempt to review the book and I'm not going to spoil it for you if you're about to read it, so let me leave it at that.)

From the recent Cut-Price Book Sale of National Bookstore, I  got the three other books to complete the series.

                                             The Song Of Fire and Ice Series: 

                                             Book 1 - Game of Thrones, 

                                             Book 2 - Clash of Kings, 

                                             Book 3 - A Storm of Swords, 

                                             Book 4 - A Feast For Crows

Each book was originally priced at Php 315 and marked down by 20%.

My total savings for the lot was P 189. (Yey!)

I scoured the bargain book racks and chanced upon a couple more books. 

I favor reading John Grisham novels mainly because it is light and easy reading for me. I grabbed this book as I don't remember reading it yet and it's something that I know (and hope) that HB would also like to read. This may have been a sample copy as the book was out of its plastic covering, so the cover was a bit dilapidated. Still, I thought it was a good buy for its price tag.

a bargain book indeed!

Another book I picked up still had its plastic wrap.

While I'm not into Clive Cussler, HB is quite a follower of the Dirk Pitt series so I did not hesitate to get the book. When I turned the book over to look at its sale price, it turned out to be my best bargain score for the whole lot!

 A brand new book for only 50 bucks!!

Now I've got a stash of books by our bedside table and I'm looking forward to just curl up in bed the whole day to finish these books. Must. Find. Some Time. Soon.

Yours Truly For ArtPetron

A few months back, I received an email inquiring about a photo that I shot on the Baguio-Aritao Road which was posted on my Flickr album.

Her name was Laica and she worked for Studio 5 Designs. She said that they were interested to use it for a project. When I asked her, she told me that they wanted to use my photo for a poster and application form for ArtPetron, a National Art Student Competition, sponsored by no less than Petron, one of our country's biggest player in the oil industry. 

From the contest's application form, I gathered this much:

Everyone’s Vision Petron is an exhibition and competition for all young and budding artists.   

... Petron believe(s) that free artistic expression remains intrinsic to nation-building. We support the Filipino artist’s unique vision and dynamic translations of Philippine culture through various forms of art that draw fellow Filipinos closer to their heritage and ultimately, to everyone. 

Petron believes that everyone has their own unique perspective on things and that this uniqueness can be expressed in so many different ways. That is why we created Everyone’s Vision Petron.

Everyone’s Vision Petron is a competition for photographers, painters, and designers. It is also a venue for filmmakers, musicians, performance artists, art enthusiasts, and all Filipinos to converge and be one through their shared love for Philippine art and culture.

To cut my story short, I sent my raw files to her. I was offered a "small token" but I honestly didn't know how much to ask (sheesh!), so I only asked for a photo credit (double sheesh!!) And then I didn't hear from her anymore and I was too shy to follow up on the mentioned token. 

About a week ago, HB randomly "googled" my name and there appeared a link to the application form of this year's ArtPetron contest. They used my photo after all!

my photo as it appeared on ArtPetron's Application Form 

Albeit, my name appears sooo small, I am honored to be credited for a picture that I shot doing one of the things I most love to do, which is travel. The photos I take during travel are aimed at capturing the glory of an experience or a moment that will be etched in my mind. This now prods me to explore and traverse more paths. More precious memories are yet to be made on my future journeys.

This honor is but an icing on the cake. 

Cebu For A Day (and A Promise Fulfilled)

This was the only photo proof that I was in Cebu for a day. 

I took this shot as I settled on my seat on my flight back to Manila.

July 28 proved to be quite a busy day for me. I (as in literally alone, by mysellf) flew to Cebu to attend to a couple of meetings for work and I had to rush back to Manila that same afternoon to catch the second leg of the Azkal's game vs. Kuwait as part of my promise to my girls to join them.

I took Philippine Airline's first flight out to Cebu at 6:00 am. I left home at 4:20 am and got to the Centennial Terminal's check-in counter barely a few minutes before it closed. I heaved a huge sigh of relief when I made it on time as I had a previous experience when I was five minutes late and the check-in counter had closed up on me and the airline staff wouldn't budge on my pleas. Since then, I have learned my lesson and feel so tense whenever traffic builds up in the roads leading up to the airport. I am never at ease until I get my boarding pass. Trust me, it is never a good feeling to be always running late. Still, waking up so early is such a daunting task for me and I always find myself making it to the counter with just a few minutes to spare.

Back to July 28. The plane touched down in Mactan after an hour and 10 minutes of flying time. I took a cab to Cebu City and was quite early for my first meeting. So I grabbed some breakfast which later on proved to be my only rice meal for the day. By 9 am, my first meeting was underway and it lasted for a couple of hours.

After the meeting, as a breather, I went to Banilad Town Center in the hope of getting a pack of Zubuchon to take back home. Alas, I was greatly disappointed to find that the stall had moved to another site near Fuente Osmena. As my next meeting was to be held near Banilad, I decided to simply cross my fingers that their stall inside the Mactan International Airport was still there. 

Chains inside Banilad Town Center
(this photo was taken November 2010)

I strolled around the little mall and hoped for some good buys. I went inside Chains, an assortment of bazaar like stalls selling just about anything, and headed straight to Isabela, a supplier of little girls' dresses for Rustan's back in Manila. Their prices were 50% cheaper. I grabbed a simple party dress for my littlest girl.

And then I was off for my next meeting which lasted for an hour. Next, I met up with one of our staff who was based in Cebu. Very quickly, I was given updates and then I was off again for the airport. I haven't eaten lunch  and decided to just get something to eat at the airport. Check in was a breeze and I was eager to catch my 5:35 pm Cebu Pacific flight back. I lounged at a restaurant to kill time. Then I went inside the waiting area and looked for the Zubuchon stall. 

Zubuchon stall inside waiting area
of Mactan International Airport

fresh and frozen lechon packs

(again, both photos were taken November 2010)

Luckily, it was there and I got Anthony Bourdain's raved lechon to take home.

I wasn't so lucky with my  flight back though. It was delayed for almost 30 minutes. The staff said something about a delayed turn-around time. I sulked in a corner and called my girls and told them of my fate. I could hear their excitement as they were already on their way to see the Azkal's game.

The plane landed in Manila at way past 7pm. I easily got into a cab outside NAIA 3, quite thankful there wasn't a line at all this time. As expected, traffic was bad. I got off in the vicinity of Century Park Hotel and brisk-walked all the way to the stadium. I could hear the watching crowd roar, the excitement was palpable, and I walked as fast as I could, unmindful of the dark and the fear of getting mugged. I literally short of ran all the way to Gate.

By the time I got inside the Rizal Stadium, "the goal that Schrock-ed the world" had happened. It was 10 minutes into the second half of the game. The Azkals may have lost the game to the better Kuwait team, but they surely won the hearts of many Filipinos, football fans or otherwise. Filipino pride shone through that night. 

I, on the other hand, prided myelf in having my "mission" in Cebu accomplished. But more importantly, I took pride as a mom who flew back on the same day to fulfill a promise and simply be with the family.