Eat Pray Love

My book and my bookmark :)

So cute right? I used the Polaroid app, thanks to my sister for introducing it to me. Now I want a vintage polaroid. Too bad they killed it already. :(

I finally finished Eat Pray Love two days ago. I could've finished earlier except for the fact that I didn't want to end it. I hate finishing books sometimes, its like parting with a friend.

Anyways, I love this book. No regrets on buying it. Well, the book is about this writer, Liz, and how she was able to get through a divorce and an obsessive affair by living in Italy, India, and Bali. In Italy, she worked on experiencing pleasure on her own, through food. Then in India she meditated and experienced God. In Bali, she found the balance between pleasure and spirituality and she also found love again, the right way.

The book makes me feel so refreshed and I just want to travel like Liz. I love traveling, I wish I had a lot of money so I could travel all the time.

From Eat Pray Love:

"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.

A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.

A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master..."



"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."

"You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That's the only thing you should be trying to control."

"eventually, everything goes away."

Bread Pudding

This is the easiest thing you can bake. And you don't even need a mixer! I made this yesterday because we had so much bread and no was eating it so my mom said to just make it into bread pudding. It's really good! :)

Ingridients:
6 eggs
1 big can evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 or more cups of minced bread.

First mix the eggs, milk and sugar. Then mix the bread, you can add as much bread as you want, as long as it gets completely wet. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Once its baked you can sprinkle cheese on top! :)

Shopping in Jeddah! :)

Let me tell you about our Jeddah trip last weekend. Jeddah is a 3 hour drive away from our city. It's about 1 millon times bigger than Yanbu and 1 million times more fun. I love all the shopping malls and how stuff are somewhat cheaper than in Manila.
Well anyways here are my favorite places there (in no particular order):

Ikea

I just love Ikea. I love their model rooms and houses. I love all the beautiful furniture they sell. It's just too bad they don't have an Ikea Warehouse in Manila. :( Here are a few shots of their models:

I love this bed. <3

Mall of Arabia
Next up is Mall of Arabia. I really love this mall because they have everything. They have Forever21, H&M, New Look, etc. I love buying clothes here, although the down side of shopping in Saudi is you're not allowed to try the clothes on. Their Forever21 is smaller than the one in Megamall, Manila but they have a lot of stuff on sale.

Corniche Commercial Center

If you're looking for a place to get good bargains on cellphones, perfumes, watches, accesories and shoes, this is the place to go. You can bargain with the shop keepers on the lowest price. Also there's this resto where they server really good Filipino food.

Gold Souk in Balad

Just a few blocks from the Corniche is the gold souk in Balad. Saudi Arabia is known for really good quality gold. The gold souk in Balad is a really good place to buy it. Here you will find lots and lots of gold and silver shops with windows that are decorated with beautiful gold pieces. 

This concludes my favorite places in Jeddah.

'Till next time. Ciao! :)

ang mga kaibigan ni mama susan

This is the second book written by Bob Ong that I've read. I bought this book because it's by Bob Ong and it's cheap! Only 150 pesos. When I saw it National Bookstore I just grabbed it even though I didn't know what the book was about. Well, I knew it was gonna be scary but other than that nothing else.

The book is in journal form. It is about Galo and his college life and all the challenges he faces. The beginning of the book was a bit bland; it was just about normal things that happen during college and his problems with his "family". The book gets really interesting when Galo goes back to the province to be with his dying grandmother. His old house has changed and weird creepy things start happening to him. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll leave that.

When I finished reading the book I was stunned and scared. I just sat there staring at the ceiling for like 3 minutes trying to figure out what I just read. It shock me up, because the book really is scary. I would recommend this book to those people who are not easily scared, cause for me it was really scary. :)

I've only read about 3 books by Filipino authors but I really like reading Tagalog books. I find the characters more real than books who are written by foreign authors. This is probably because I feel like the characters in these book could be the person beside me in the LRT or MRT. I actually feel that the characters are real. I would love to read more books by Filipino authors but I don't know any good ones. Got any to recommend?

Prisoner.

I was initially going to write a review on Ang mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan by Bob Ong. But then things happened that I can't help but write about, to be able to free my mind so I will put that for later.

Do you know that feeling when you lose something you've had for years? You've had it for so long that you feel like it's a part of you already. Or you know when you were a child and you had this favorite toy and you've had it since forever and it's kept you company for so long, it's been there for you to talk to and everything, and then you lose it, or worst some one takes it because they think it's no good anymore? Well, that how I feel right now..

Ohhh, and you know that feeling when you have no voice. I want to say so much but you can't because you just can't. It's only going to make things worst if you do.

And also, that feeling when you just want to give up. You're so tired of everything that's been happening you just want to disappear.


Ok, end of post.

Charlie

Charlie is my little siamese cat. I got him September, 2010, he's turning 2 sometime Julyy. I got him from this pet shop in Cartimar. I bought him because he was so cute and super hyper, he was hanging off the sides of the cage he was in. When I saw him and held him I just fell in love and plus, I've always wanted a cat. Here's the little bitty kitten version of him:

Kitten

I love how his tail looks like it was cut short, it's so unique.

Charlie has become my companion since there are lots of times that I practically live alone. He sleeps beside me and is always there me where ever I go. He cheers me up and makes me angry at the same time. He's also very very helpful (in his own way), whenever I'm cleaning or cooking or whatever, he's always there as if he's supervising whatever I'm doing. One more thing that I really love about him is his silliness, he just loves to sleep at the funniest place and it's really cute.

He loves to sleep in tiny boxes, where he barely fits.

I really miss this little guy! I can't wait to see him this June, when I go back to Manila! <3

Thoughts on Saudi Arabia

I moved to Yanbu,Saudi Arabia when I was 9 years old, because my dad worked here. I went to school in an international school. I really liked Yanbu when I first got here, i thought the place was super comfortable since our house was fully furnished and air-conditioned. I also enjoyed the school because I met alot of new people from different places and school was fun.

Then it seems like as I grew older I started to dislike Yanbu, because it was boring. There was nothing to do, and there was no where to go. My life revolved around school and home.

I left Yanbu after 10th grade and moved back to the Philippines to continue my studies. I missed Yanbu, because in the Philippines life was so busy. I missed not having to deal with heavy traffic and all the comforts such as not having to ride public transpo. But I got used to it and I loved my busy life in Manila.

Now, I'm back in Yanbu for a 3 and half month vacation before I start to work. I guess it's boring but I guess I need a break before diving back into the very busy Manila life.

Here are a few pictures of Yanbu:

Yanbu International School

The Corniche in the morning

My very first blog entry.

First things first, let me introduce myself. Hi! My name is Grace. I am 21 years old. I went to De La Salle University-Manila, and I took up BS Computer Science major in Software Technology. At the moment I am unemployed, because I am currently taking a vacation in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia where my parents live.

I want to make a blog because at the moment I have so much freetime in my hands, and I get bored all the time. And I also want to write about things that I love, like make up, clothes, cats, and traveling. This is all for now, feel free to ask me questions either here, on facebook or my formspring. Ta-ta for now. <3