Welcome back Anna!

I was browsing through the Notable Deaths of 2007 article in IHT and found this.

Poor Anna. Apparently, she hasn’t done anything to merit her fame.

I bought the book Loved Walked In by Marisa de los Santos for three reasons: 1) to support the author who’s of Filipino descent, 2) because it made the NY Times Bestseller’s List (#17 or #19 Trade Paperback category), and 3) because several reviewers said it was chick lit of the non-nauseating variety. I searched every single bookstore in the Pasig/QC/Makati area for about a month. I shouldn’t have bothered. The fact that I’m writing a book review is a testament to how much I didn’t like this book. If, after reading this paragraph, you still want to pick up your own copy, then you should stop reading now. There are spoilers ahead.

The book has two main characters, Cornelia and Clare. The author does the whole back-and-forth switch between their two points of view (i.e. Chapter 1 is about Cornelia, Chapter 2 is about Clare, and so on). Cornelia is a thirty-something cafe manager and Clare is an 11-year old girl. Of the two, it was Cornelia’s narrative which drove me insane. It felt over the top, with the character using every single metaphor imaginable. Cornelia also had this nasty habit of repeating words in one sentence and “talking” directly to the reader. For example:

“And the things he felt he shouldn’t like but secretly did: sports cars, those chalky orange circus peanuts….and the Jerry Lewis film Cinderfella. (I know, pretty tame as far as guilty pleasures go. You were were expecting monster trucks and Japanimation?)”

“Martin patted my head. OK, he didn’t pat my head. A stroke is not a pat, and it was a stroke–two strokes actually…”

Clare’s story, however, was well-written. In fact, she sounded more mature than Cornelia. I think I was only able to finish this book because I wanted to find out how everything was going to work out for Clare.

The first half was actually bearable but the author introduced some ridiculous plot twists in the middle that she didn’t really manage to untangle effortlessly, or successfully, in the end. This book does have one saving grace though. In chapter 21, Cornelia (who’s about 5ft. tall) is having a conversation with her childhood friend Mateo. In this conversation, he gives her what is possibly the best compliment a woman can ever hope to get. (This is not how it was written in the book obviously.)

T: You know, I don’t think of you as short.
C: You don’t? What do you think of me as?
T: Essential.
Cornelia laughs.
T: I mean, if you gave some guy the assignment of creating a woman using as little material as possible but without cutting any corners, he’d make you.

Isn’t that the sweetest thing?

PS: I sincerely hope I’m not violating any copyright rules here.

One of the few things I look forward to each year is the annual Kumon Santolan Christmas Party. Since the 2006 party was kind of a downer (my cousin was buried on the day of the party AND the manager at KFC Eastwood sc@mmed me!), I really wanted this year to be extra special.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle the hosting and the kids at the same time, so I got my wonderwoman/super-wedding-planner friend Tenten to help me out. As expected, she was spectacular! A natural host, she kept the party moving at a lively pace and kept all of us organized. We opened with a short song number (Christmas In Our Hearts) from my 3-year old student Louise, accompanied by Paolo on “lead guitar.” She was shy at first, but when I gave her a loot bag, she started singing. I think she was just shocked to see so many people looking at her. Afterwards, we commenced with the parlor games for the kids. We stuck with traditional games like The Boat Is Sinking, Newspaper Dance, Bring Me, Trip to Jerusalem, and Longest Line. There were a few scary moments (kids fighting to win) but all in all, I think both the children and their parents had fun. We ended the festivities with the awarding of Advance Student Honor Roll medals.

This was, by far, the best Christmas party ever. Something to add to my treasure chest of Kumon memories.

PS: Thanks to my sisters, Sheryll and Issa, for helping out. You rock!

Paolo and I first saw this chapel a few months ago. It was night-time and we were on our way home after our usual Wednesday night movie (I think) when we just happened to pass by this quaint, little church. I kind of fell in love with the look of the chapel from the moment I laid eyes on it, but Paolo, ever the realist, told me to wait until we could see it in the daylight before I set my heart on anything. This afternoon, we finally got our chance.

There was a wedding about to start but we managed to sneak inside and take a quick peek.

It was just what I wanted! Small, airconditioned, and vintage-y! The aisle was the right amount of short for me. I don’t want a long, melodramatic walk to the altar.

We may have a winner here. I can already hear Tenten saying, “Let’s start planning your wedding!” Haha!