The fault in our stars(or at least in mine, hobby wise)

This isn't some profound analysis of the book, nope. I think I am way behind my literature stock and my writing practice to do that. Nope, this is about me(well sorry to be blunt about it- this is, after all, my blog) and my somehow "lost" lust for reading.

I cannot specifically remember when I realized it but before I graduated from high school, I was addicted to reading. I somehow managed to buy most of the Sweet Valley books that were on sale in National bookstore, I've borrowed one too many Love Stories, I've read Noli Me Tangere before school started(yup, that geeky), and I was hooked to Harry Potter. This might be social suicide, but I did enjoy them Tagalog pocketbooks too. Ahahaha!

Teenage years' memories included a loooot of these :)

It continued until College and even until I started working- I remembered promising myself that my first paycheck would include a book purchase and it did- I think I bought a Paulo Coelho book. But somehow, life happened. Shit happened. I started getting into hiking, into trying out new restos- all those phony things that yuppies do- drink expensive coffee, watch movies a lot, travel, buy too many clothes and shoes and gadgets and what nots that they don't actually need. So to cut the story short, reading material became way way low on my budget priority- and the most I did was buy magazines from time to time.

But every so often I would chance upon a book I like and buy it. I did buy my Harry Potter 6, hard bound for some 1,+++ pesos. I did buy Confessions of a Shopaholic and felt that it was worth every penny. I did buy other books and magazines in between and somehow I feel okay with that, even though I bought very little reading material to what I expected before I got a job. Somehow I didnt consider this as a loss but rather freeing myself from what I used to think was reading lust

Because I realize that to truly enjoy something, you must not be captive to that thing. You must be able to jump back to reality anytime you wanted, anytime you needed to.You must be able to define priorities, real ones at that and not just reading lists and read a book when you truly have the time. So I came to terms with the fact that I cannot buy books on a regular basis and at most times have to do with free e-books or lent paper backs. I came to terms with it because it meant that I get to spend time with my family, go hiking, go grocery shopping, plant on a virtual farm on Facebook and stalk a few people's pages(aha!)

Must. have. more. croooooooops :P

So if you, dear reader somehow scold yourself for finding excuses not to do the things you want to, remember, that as John Green said in the book, some infinities are bigger than others. Maybe the other infinity you're attending too means more. Or maybe you just havent hit that perfect spot yet to give focus to this other one. The epiphany, the time, the resources, whatever it is that you need, I hope, will come to you, one way or another :)

Pepper Lunch Express' disappointing serving

I think my "loser level" will go up one notch after I tell you that it was my first time to eat at Pepper Lunch yesterday. I've always wanted to try it but somehow never ended up doing so before. Luckily, ze sister went shopping in Trinoma yesterday and she treated me to dinner so I was able to try it.

We milled around the food court looking for cheaper options but as sister pointed out, the other stalls did not have a line whilst Pepperlunch had a long line and it might be a good sign. Our order was ready within 10 minutes and truly, the taste did not disappointed but the serving did.

The bits of meat were randomly spread on the bowl and though it looks as if there is more because of that, there was no denying that there were very few pieces. The bowl looked very sad and here's how it looked like after I put the pieces much closer to one another, as shown in their picture.

Notice that less than half of the circumference is filled with beef

There were more chicken bits compared to the beef but there were still very few pieces

I guess it was disappointing because even though the price of 150 is already a bit high for fastfood standards, we would have been willing to pay more so as not to get very little food. Funny thing is, they do have the "upsize" and "jumbo" option, but I believe this initial size should be removed altogether and just peg their starter meal at 199 to avoid unsatisfied and only "partially full" customers like us.

So yes, the meal tasted good, yes the sauce was delicious and yes, the concept is catchy but the serving was way way way(can I add "way" one more time?) behind.