Magic Tree House

Last Saturday, on our way to the mall, Aly and I were talking about William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I.  Yes, my seven-year old knows about Shakespeare.  Buti na lang we studied Shakespeare in high school!  Or else, wala akong maisasagot sa anak ko.  Haha!  Imagine that, she's only in grade two and she knows the stuff that I only learned about when I was in high school?!  Geez!

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Aly getting all cozy with her new book.

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She didn't learn about this in school, by the way.  She got this from the books that she's been reading.  At present, Aly is addicted to Magic Tree House books.  She can't stop reading them!  Which is really good.  She bought three new books last Saturday and she finished reading all three by Sunday!  Galing!

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Aly first discovered them in her school library; borrowing at least three books every week.  Then, she also started collecting her own.  I remember how excited she was when they had a book fair in school.  She spent all of her allowance on Magic Tree House books.  Since then, she would occasionally surprise me and Richard with bits and bobs of info that she has gathered from her books.  Like last Saturday, she told me, "Mom, did you know that Queen Elizabeth made a law that said girls are not allowed to join the play. So Annie (the character from Magic Tree House) had to pretend that she was a boy."  I was pleasantly surprised because she's right!  Thank goodness talaga for my high school English classes! 

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These Magic Tree House books rock!  Highly recommended and 100% domestic goddess approved :)

Fully Booked

I have two good reasons for my long absence: 1) Mom, dad and my sister were here a couple of weeks ago so I didn't have much time to go online, and 2) I was fully booked.

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aFrom top to bottom; left to right: Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour and Kitchen Confidential, Life With My Sister Madonna by Christopher Ciccone, Madonna Inspirations, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella.

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Yes, these books have kept me off the internet in the past couple of weeks. It was like I woke up one morning and had a huge craving for reading! I think I spent a total of three whole days hanging out in bookstores, browsing until I made my purchase. I didn't buy them all at the same time, by the way.
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To give you an idea about the books that I've been reading: In Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain tells us what inspired him to become a chef, how he rose from being a lowly dishwasher to executive chef, what exactly goes on inside the kitchen and other intriguing "adventures in the culinary underbelly". When I read this book, I fell in love with Tony all the more. He is so cool and I love that he's into rock and roll. Haha!
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This book brought me back to my Highlands days when certain assignments for the newletter and events would require me to visit the kitchen and hang out with the chefs. Aahhh, how I love those days...being in the kitchen with the chefs, watching them do their magic (I was lucky to get free tips and recipes from some of them!), admiring and lusting over the array of ingredients and equipment was truly the best part of my job in Highlands. My favorite part was doing the monthly feature on Bread and Cake of the Month, which would require me to visit the pastry chef and to take a photo of the food. The chef knows that I am a big fan of his work so he always lets me sample the food after the photoshoot. Wasn't that the best job or what? Anyway, I'm getting off topic here. Back to the book. So if you like watching Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen, you will probably like Kitchen Confidential as well.
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Remember Me? is about a girl who got amnesia from a car crash. The story revolves around her trying to remember the last three years of her life, how she went from a plain working girl to a corporate big shot with a trendy apartment, a closet full of designer clothes and a good-looking millionaire husband. It's delightful, yes, but it wasn't exactly memorable for me. You see, I've read the entire Shopaholic series of Sophie Kinsella. I loved it. It's funny, very entertaining, and I love that I was able to relate to it in some way. I was probably expecting the same from this book (not that I ever had amnesia or had been in a car crash), but I felt kinda bitin. But this won't stop me from reading the other books that she wrote. I still plan to complete my Sophie Kinsella collection in the future (two more books to go!).
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You might be wondering why I have a dictionary in the photo. I just bought it recently to help me with some of the words that I come across. I just figured that having one at arm's length while reading is a lot easier than having to look up the word on the internet!
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I will be talking about the Madonna books on a separate post :) Meanwhile, let me share with you the last book, the one that I am currently reading:
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What makes this book special is I had to search five different bookstores (Kinokuniya and Asia Books at Siam Paragon, Asia Books Warehouse at Erawan Plaza, Asia Books and B2S at Central World) for this baby. I was about to give up my search when I found one copy, in pristine condition (I'm OC so I like my books to look perfectly new with no creases on the cover and pages), at Kinokuniya Central World. If the book had a single crease on it, I would have had second thoughts about buying it, but it was perfect. Like it was just sitting there, waiting for me to bring it home (after paying, that is). I was floating on clouds and I declared it a good book shopping day.
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A Cook's Tour is about Tony going around the world and eating all sorts of stuff. This culinary tour is anything but conventional. I mean, would you count eating the beating heart of a live cobra the usual tourist foodfare? Intruiging, huh? Anyway, I haven't finished the book yet, but I'm loving it. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at Tony's wit and humor. After this book, I plan to read more of Bourdain's books. Hopefully they will not be hard to find.
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So there you have it, my latest literary adventure :) I'd like to know what you've been reading lately and if you have any book suggestions, do let me know.

We Love Books!

There are days when we would just hang out in a bookstore all day. Our favorite: Kinokuniya at Siam Paragon. Once we enter, we all go our separate ways; Aly will go directly to the children's section, while Richard will browse through the business and non-fiction area. And where will you find me? In the cookbook section, of course!

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During one of our trips, Kinokuniya was having a sale. I bought these:
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Four hardbound books for only Thb600!! The two on top cost Thb200, while the ones at the bottom were only Thb100. I probably saved around Thb1,000. I first saw the Party Confidential book at National Bookstore back home. It was around Php1,200. Buti na lang hindi ko sya binili noon, or else ang laki ng pagsisisi ko. A great find, indeed!
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Richard always tells me that there are two things that we should never cut back on: food and books. This rule has done well for our little girl because she really loves to read! In this day and age of computers, ipods and all things digital, we are proud that Aly loves books and reading. Sometimes, she would just sit in one corner and read one of her books. Ugh, I dread the day when she will be hooked on video games and computers, but I know it's inevitable! I once received a comment from her teacher saying that Aly favors reading over other school activities. Her reading has really improved! She can now read the subtitles when we watch DVD's on our movie nights. Yey! Daddy Richard deserves a pat on the back for teaching Aly how to read and for making it a habit to read her a bedtime story every single night! Yey for the daddy!
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Anyway, back to our topic. We consider our book collection as an investment, and we plan to build a small library in our dream house. But the dream house will have to wait. For the meantime, this is where we keep our books.
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Our book cabinet.
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The top shelf. These are the books that we have amassed in the past year. Richard and Aly's books outnumber mine. I think I only have two here -- Shopaholic series pa!
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aThe bottom shelf, however, is all MINE! Nyahaha! All magazines! My treasured Yummy Magazine collection (Most of them I bought from the Philippines. I had them shipped here because I thought I was going to be bored. I'm planning to ship them again when we move back. Some were pasalubong from friends and family who came over), Instyle Magazine + Vogue (which I plan to dispose someday), and at the back I also have Cosmo (which I will dispose as well -- luma na kasi!), Good Housekeeping and Better Homes and Gardens.
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I also dream of having a cookbook collection which I will proudly display in my dream kitchen :) But I'm still waiting for my husband to buy me my first Jamie Oliver cookbook to start off my collection. *Hint*Hint*
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Now that I have shared our collection, it's your turn :) What are your treasured collections?

Loving the Weekend Market

We've been spending several Saturdays at the weekend market lately and I must say it's starting to grow on me. I used to hate going to Chatuchak because it's hot as hell, the toilets are dreadful and it's always cramped with so many people making "rubbing elbows" a very unpleasant experience because you are most likely to rub into someone's sweaty and sticky elbow. Sure there are lots of stuff that you can find there, if you know were to go. Looking for a good buy is like digging for the Yamashita Treasure because Chatuchak is huge and hard to navigate especially if it's your first time. So the trick is, if you see something that you really like, buy it right away but don't forget to haggle like there's no tomorrow. Don't even think about looking for another store that sells it for a lower price because chances are, you might not find the first store if you want to go back. This happened to me several times so I would end up going home tired, frustrated and without any purchases.

Well, I've learned my lesson and that's why I'm beginning to love Chatuchak. Here are some of the stuff that I have accumulated from my weekend market trips.

Green Ikea coffee mugs for only THB15 each.

Tray, THB150; roses in small pots, THB90 each; candles, two for THB100.

Whimsical candles, three for THB100. Notice the pink and violet theme? It's for Alyannah's bathroom.

Coffee-scented floating candles (great for eliminating kitchen odors!), three for THB100; glass container, THB10 each.

Oil burner, THB80; candles, THB90 + 45.

Wine glass, THB50 each.

Dansk serving bowls (same color as Ikea mug), THB15 each.

And for our latest discovery, the book ukay-ukay!

For Richard - current issues of Newseek, Forbes, Time, Fortune Magazine + two hardbound books, all for THB200.

For me - back issues of InStyle and Vogue Magazine, all for only THB160. I even spotted current issues of Vogue for only THB150 but that will be for our next visit.

Laundry hamper for Alyannah's bathroom, THB280.

Decorative wicker balls, THB20 each.

I simply can't get enough of the inexpensive home decor at Chatuchak! Richard loves the books that he found that are good-as-new at rock-bottom prices! We will definitely be coming back to the weekend market for more fabulous finds and cheap thrills.