Book Review: Love & Gravity

It is a love story that transcends time. A young Andrea is playing the cello when a wall in her room suddenly cracks open to reveal a young boy from another time. She tries recreating this moment several times after that (sometimes successfully, sometimes not), to the point where she questions her sanity. It is only years later when she discovers that the young boy she saw was Isaac Newton – yes, that Newton who discovered the laws of gravity. She then starts to receive letters from Newton, which eventually guides her to more encounters with Newton, which led to her being transported in time to be with Newton himself. 

Cover credit: Penguin Random House

Wanted: Cheap Small Air Conditioner

(Reposting an older entry from an earlier version of my blog because someone has been looking for this!)

The holidays are over and summer is just around the corner. I promised myself over the holidays that I would buy a window type air conditioner for my room that the kids can use for the summer when the heat gets unbearable.

Last month I went on the lookout for a cheap, small air conditioner that I could buy. I had a feeling that air conditioning units would be expensive during the summer season so I decided to buy one over the cold holiday season. That decision paid off when I found a .6 HP window type air conditioner from GE. It cost less than P8,000.00!

The AC I bought post-installation. I think I need some paint for those edges.

Money Saver: Kindle Freebies

I’ve loved reading books for as long as I can remember. Even as a child I loved sitting in a corner and reading until the sun went down. My paternal grandmother would have to turn on the lights for me as I struggled to read with what little light was left from the window in the afternoons. I was that hooked to reading. It can be an expensive hobby/interest, but it is worth it.

When e-books became a thing, I wasn’t sure if it was something that I would be interested in. After all, part of reading the book was the experience of having one. The feel of the pages on your fingers, the smell of a new book, the creases that develop from a well-read one…it’s just a different experience from the eyestrain and the need for gadget charging that is involved with e-books. I remember owning an early-era Kindle, which I eventually bequeathed to my niece when I discovered that I could install Kindle on my phone, along with other apps where I could acquire e-books from. 

The Trike Experience

It’s been years since I moved from Metro Manila to the rural setting that I am based in nowhere in the province. It has been a big change, but I have adjusted to it fairly well. In fact, I have gotten to the point where if given the opportunity, I would turn down a good job in the city if it meant leaving home and the province that I have become so used to. Life here is simpler, quieter,, and peaceful…plus the traffic in our neck of the woods is virtually non-existent.  Who would want to give that up? 

One of the things that changed the way I live my life here in the province is my mode of transportation. Back when I was living and working in the city, I was used to taking buses and cabs to go all over the place. Now I take a tricycle to get around town because it takes me to my destination directly compared to a jeepney and it is much more practical to take instead of bringing your own vehicle to and from anywhere around here. Don’t get me wrong, there are still times when you do need to take your own car, ride a bus or a jeepney but those are for longer trips to other cities or municipalities in the province. But for where I’m from, the tricycle will do just fine. 

My Guilty Pleasure: Twinings Tea

Most of the people who know me would be aware that I am every bit of a coffee girl. I love coffee, mostly when there is no cream on it and just a little bit of sugar. Not having one cup daily is a challenge for me because it feels like the one thing that gives me energy and wakes me up in the morning so that I can start my day right.

Someone once asked me if I would ever switch to tea in the morning instead of coffee. I said no. For me, tea is equated to times when I don’t feel well and my father would make me drink it to help me feel better. I also tend to think of those diet/laxative types of drinks when I think of tea. It’s a weird thought to have but it’s what made me avoid tea for some time. I always thought of tea as just one flavor: the lemon-ish Lipton kind. I wasn’t aware of the other variants/flavors until I had a panic attack and someone brought me some Chamomile Tea.

My Love for Peanuts Characters

One of my favorite McDonalds memories was when they came out with some Peanuts character merchandise as part of their Happy Meal. I remember pre-ordering the entire set to make sure that I could have all the characters. I’m always on the lookout for where to buy Snoopy stuff (hopefully the affordable kind) so this was something I had to grab while I could. I remember that my sister was so amused at how happy I was that I had the entire set when we picked it up. I know it’s weird and maybe slightly immature for someone my age, but I can’t help it!

Peanuts Collection from the McDonald's Happy Meal

Custom Cakes from Karenina's

When most people are thinking about custom cakes online or birthday cakes to order or for delivery, several TV shows come to mind. Ace of Cakes, Cake Wars, Cake Boss…all these shows that feature custom cakes that you once thought would be impossible but end up getting made as cakes. 

For me, when I think about custom cakes, I think about my cousin Karen, who has her business called Karenina’s Cakes. 

A Wedding Cake from Karenina's Cakes

My Attempt at Eggs in Hell

Whenever I poke around on Pinterest I can't help but pay extra attention to recipes that I would like to try. One of those recipes that I saved and tried was Mario Batali's Eggs in Hell.

Eggs in Hell is an egg and vegetable recipe that is based on the North African and Arab meal called Shakshouka. An Arabic word that means mixture, Shakshouka/Eggs in Hell is a mix of eggs cooked in tomato sauce, chili peppers, and onions. 

Mario Batali is an American chef (who has had his share of sexual misconduct allegations recently) who shared this recipe on the TV show The Chew. 

The recipe he shared serves four but it can serve more than that since it does include 8 eggs. Here are the ingredients and instructions as shared by Batali (with some changes I made on it):

My Not So Perfect Life (A Review)

I know it’s an old saying but I think more than ever, this is something that applies: Don’t judge a book by its cover. Back in the day this would refer to us not negatively judging someone because of their appearance but today I think it should be the opposite. We shouldn’t accept the beautiful, bright, and shiny at face value because, in this age of social media, these perfect lives are not so perfect. This is what Sophie Kinsella’s book, My Not So Perfect Life, is all about.

Cover credit: Penguin Random House

Living the Hypothyroid Life

It all started when I was in a bathroom at a restaurant when my cousin commented that there seemed to be something protruding from my throat. I didn't notice it before but when I was staring at it in the mirror it did seem that there was a small lump. My mother told me to go and see a doctor, which I did. 

I found out that I was hyperthyroid and the lump on my throat was possibly nodules due to the disease. I took the required tests (T3, T4, TSH) and I took medication that the doctor prescribed until the tests resulted in normal thyroid levels, otherwise known as euthyroid. My doctor then told me that I would be fine.

A cousin of mine told me that thyroid disease is something that you live with for life and that my doctor (an ENT) was wrong about me not having follow-up appointments. She recommended her doctor, an endocrinologist who upon seeing my latest tests told me that I didn't have any thyroid disease since my levels were normal.