Part1. December Entry

Book title: If Only It Were True by: Marc Levy

Arthur really fell hard for Lauren. He was head over heels for her. No matter what consequences he might encounter and even though the stakes were high, they might get caught and accused for kidnapping, he might go behind bars but none of those mattered for him, all what mattered was for him to get Lauren out of the hospital and to take her to Arthur's old house where her late mother has lived. I also liked how Paul, Arthur's best friend, helped his crazy act (which they sneaked Lauren out of the Hospital) and still helping his best friend even though he really thought that Arthur was insane and just neet some time off. And added the fact that Paul cannot see, hear nor feel Lauren, he really think that it was a joke, that Arthur was just hallucinating. I also loved the mothers of both parties, Arthur's and Lauren's. You can really feel the genuine love of a mother towards their child. No matter how old you are as long as you still have your mother, they still look and treat you as their baby, their child. Arthur's past brought me to tears when he read his Mom's letters to him. They were really sentimental and full of love. You just can't explain how you feel towards those things.

I can really feel how they both felt towards their mothers. I really love my mother. I'm much closer to her than to my father, honestly. She's like my sister. And what really hit me is that even though I'm not as intelligent as my older brother, she still exerts too much effort for me. I mean, why would you exert effort to not so important things? But that's really what mothers do, right? That they would look fairly at their children and do their best to raise them.

I wonder why Paul still helped Arthur despite being doubtful of the whole story.

i think that after Arthur told Lauren on what happened to them when she was asleep, she would tell Arthur that she doesn't believe him plus the fact that she doesn't know him and would tell Arthur that she's heard enough and would like to take a rest. Then she would tell Arthur that maybe he'd just gone insane and leave her alone. Then Arthur would try attempts to convince her but Lauren still wouldn't believe him. Arhur gets drunk and drives his way to his mother but unfortunately meets and accident. Then he would be in come and.. Lauren will find Arthur's body inside her apartment.

Part 2.December Entry

Book title: If Only It Were True by: Marc Levy

I feel pity for both Lauren and Arthur in the story. They are sustaining Lauren's body in pursuit of their love and happiness but life isn't always how you want it to be. You just need to let go but in Arthur's case, there's no letting go. He find ways to avoid the doctors to cut Lauren's physical care. He made a crazy thing just to save Lauren because he know and he believed that Lauren will wake up from her coma and they will live happily in each other's TLC. I realized that even adults, make silly and crazy decisions. One quote i liked from a character goes like this "Being a friend is all about being willing to act crazy as the other guy, right?" Arthur's best friend said that. And it really came to a point that they made a crazy deed together. Paul didn't believe that Lauren existed and thought that Arthur was goig insane but still, as Arthur's best friend, he helped him all throughout the whole "kidnapping" process. Even though they were almost imprisoned because of what they did. It's always your best friend who you can do crazy things with, no matter what consequences it may reward you.


My favorite part in the novel I've read entitled If Only It Were True is the falling action and the ending. It was when Lauren, a comatose doctor, miraculously woke up from her coma and finally meets Arthur physically but unfortunately was unable to recognize him at all. In the early part of the story, Lauren was on her way to happiness, driving her way to the beach but unfortunately her steering wheel lost control and met an accident which her head was greatly affected and after that, she was in coma. Although I have already predicted while reading the earlier chapters of the novel that Lauren's body will surely wake up from it's coma and will meet Arthur physically, plus the idea that it is a fictitious novel.

 If Only It Were True is about a dilemma Arthur faces when he discovers Lauren in his San Francisco apartment (which happens to be Lauren's apartment before she was in her coma). He is the only person who can see her, hear her, talk to her; no ine else even senses her presence. So when doctors prepare to end Lauren's physical care -- and destroy the magical bond between she and Arthur share -- he must find a way to save her. For it is only her love that can save him in return.


Common prediction would be a happy ever after for both of them, since Arthur finally met Lauren personally although Lauren's memories when she was a ghost didn't synchronized to her mind and body when she woke up. So basically, it's back to start and getting-to-know-each-other phase. The first thing that that came into my mind is that Arthur would try to narrate everything that had happened between them when she was in her coma, telling her that he's the only one who can see and talk to her ghost and even feel her ghost, and telling her that he even dated and fell in love with her ghost. But Lauren couldn't take everything Arthur has said and couldn't believe it and would just ask Arthur to leave and let her recover first. And then Arthur would be depressed and will have an anxiety. He will get drunk and drive himself home late, but then he meets an accident and will be comatose and the story becomes upside down. Lauren will also meet Arthur's soul and would fall in love with him again.

ABAKADA, Ina

Abakada, Ina (FILM)

Abakada, Ina is a Filipino film fixated on how women strive hard to be the best for their children. The story is mainly about an illiterate woman named Estella who tries to cope with her mother-in-law, who’s doing her responsibility as a mother in Estella’s stead. Her husband Daniel, works far away from home and he is the breadwinner for the family. Matilda, Estella’s mother-in-law and Daniel’s mother, took care and taught the children every possible thing a human being could and should learn most especially education. She puts a lot of effort raising the children to grow as an literate citizens unlike Estella. That leaves Estella no choice and sells “kakanin” in the market instead.

I felt pity for Estella for her illiteracy. I mean, is it a fault if you’re unschooled? Just because there are really certain things that are not reachable at that time. I felt pity for Estella, for having a miserable life during the time when they transferred to Manila. Manila is a busy place, no time for learning and you should really immediately start working to live. They were culture shocked and their life was at stake. Her 2 older daughters were on the top of the class when they were in their province but when they were in the city, an unfamiliar and new place for them, they were nobodies. Estella also met a hostess. I really thought she would invite Estella on her job and would show her wicked intentions but she was actually a nice person. She even helped Estella to send her youngest daughter to kindergarten. There was one time when it rained hard and her youngest daughter just came home from school, she was shivering and soaking wet. She had a fever and Estella panicked. She looked for the medicine Matilda told her to bring. Being illiterate, she didn’t know which was the right medicine to give because there were two medicines, the one that she was allergic of and the one which she used to take when she’s sick. So she just eenie meenied the medicine and let her daughter drink it. Unfortunately, she’d given the wrong medicine and sent her daughter to the hospital. Daniel came wrathful and blamed Estella for being gullible and illiterate.

When Estella and Daniel realized that they were not suitable to live in an urban place, they went home to Matilda. Not to mention that Estella and Daniel were always fighting. There came a point when both of them separated. In the end, Lorna re conciliated with Matilda and she came back to her daughters but I was not sure if she and Daniel were still together. What I was certain about is that, their life started to work out and they were gradually picking up the broken pieces and building a new life together.


I can actually relate on how one of her daughters behave. Like, the grandparent’s favorite. My sister is actually like that, and she has also this tantrums and has an attitude.I was just wondering if what happened to Estella’s daughter, the Lola’s favorite? Will she learn to respect her Mom and treat Estella as her real Mom or she’ll ignore her Mom more for coming back to school as an elementary student? And will Estella graduate? Will she get a degree after sometime?I think that sooner or later when all of them will graduate, they’ll go back to the city and leave the province. Everyone wants a better life, isn’t it?

Reading Log November Entry

PART 1
Book title: Looking for Alaska by: John Green

I certainly feel like I have just been brought back to my high school and childhood days. I felt nostalgic in reading this novel. I partly felt how Miles felt in the story. When he entered high school and didn't know anyone and didn't know who to be friends with. It was really overwhelming to know that even in just a few months of spending time together with his friends, he was really attached to them, to Coronel like he was already a brother to him, and to Alaska that he fell in love at first sight but he can't even put a finger on (at first) because Alaska told him that she had a boyfriend and she loves him, so they just hang out and having lots of fun. What is more fascinating is that although they have vices at their young age (although people at that age in the United States have that kind of culture)  they all have their individual capabilities. Coronel is good in memorizing countries and their capitals, Miles is good in memorizing the last words of authors since he likes to read autobiographies of authors and Alaska likes Algebra. I was also moved when Miles was invited to Coronel's "home" to celebrate his Thanksgiving with Coronel's mother. It made me realize that there are 2 kinds of dreamers: 1. the "for myself" dreamers and 2. the "for my loved ones" dreamers. The  "just for myself" dreamers are those common people who wants to leave their poor past and live more comfortably without having ambitions for others, they just think for themselves.  Coronel's ambition was just to buy his Mom a real house because they lived in a house truck but never really asked to have his own car, his own land nor his own company, he prioritized his Mom over his ambitions and that is a very noble act as a son. In the end, I felt pity for all of them. Losing someone like Alaska was really a big loss from the entire campus, even the Eagle was sad when he heard the news. Miles' world drowned into the deep shallow corners of darkness and emptiness. I felt sympathy towards him. Poor Miles, he didn't even get the chance to confess thoughtfully to Alaska. The funny thing there was Miles will have to add another line in his list of "last words" he'd read. Alaska's last words were "to be continued". Alaska finally got out of the labyrinth. Maybe that was her answer.

I found out what liquors tasted like when I was in elementary but I never went drunk. It's really fun drinking especially when you're with your close friends or cousins but I never found it addictive like I would really ditch my parents or teachers just to get to taste a drop of liquor. And I've also tried doing pranks with my cousins when I was young and when I was in high school, we really did some pranks and crazy things that we were even called to the office and went to detention THAT WAS we washed the dirty curtains from our library. We ditched classes just to eat or rest some place cozy. We ditched class just to curl our hairs and use other subjects as an excuse. We ditched our computer classes, so when our classmates were still having their class at the computer lab, we went straight to our classroom's restroom and wait for our classmates to go back to our classroom. We used our phones and turned the music up and danced like there's no tomorrow inside the restroom. I felt really nostalgic while reading this novel since it is also narrating about the fun side of being a student.

I wonder what were Alaska's last thoughts. Was she really drunk or sober when she drove her way to her mother's grave? 

If Alaska didn't died in the story, maybe she would try to broke up with her boyfriend and would get beaten up by her boyfriend and then when Pudge founds out, he would fight back against Alaska's boyfriend but not through fist but through showing him that he is way too much better for Alaska and they would have romantic moments together and maybe the "to be continued" thing will be really be continued when Alaska and Miles will be officially dating.And in the end, Miles would try to bring Alaska to his hometown to let her meet his parents/

PART 2

Book title: Looking for Alaska by: John Green

Well, in John Green’s novel, Looking for Alaska, my questions would be the following: What exactly happened to Alaska that night before she got into that accident? What was on her mind? She might have been very drunk that time but I still bet that she has a purpose why she just ran away and just died like that. According to Miles and Colonel, with the help of Lara, Takumi, the police who was hit by Alaska, she was drunk and she just hit the police’s cruiser. She didn't turn, she didn't break, just hit it and she just simply lost her precious life like that. She left so many questions unanswered. I wonder what kind of person Alaska was, if how would I have actually felt if I met her and then hang out with her and eventually she just dies like that without proper goodbyes and without even giving signs that she would be leaving, not for the mean time but eternally. I also wondered if that was a suicide of accident. Miles stated that she was too sober she even kissed him that night before she left. No, not just kissing but they were playing Truth or Dare. It was Miles’ turn, when he chose dare, it was quick. Miles laughed, got nervous and they end up hooking up. After that short scene, they fell asleep but moments later, Alaska just got up and said she needs to go and she needs Miles and Colonel’s help. They both distracted the Eagle while she drove fast. The boys just let her go despite knowing that she was drunk. And then, that was the last of her. And then the next day, it was announced. The Eagle called everyone for an assembly and told everyone that Alaska was gone. They didn't see that coming. Everyone’s mind went blank. They were too devastated to speak. Even fakers tried to cry for Alaska’s death. Alaska’s friends were in deep grief in her loss. That made me wonder if how it feels to be one of Alaska’s friends. The tragedy was mind blowing, especially to Miles and Colonel, who she was with before it all happened.

Days after that, they still haven’t move on and so many questions forming inside their minds. They went investigating. They even tried to repeat the same way what Alaska did before she drove and got hit. But all of their investigation still left them with so many questions. Although they still found out an answer like: she brought white tulips with her in that accident and they assumed that it was for her Mom since that day was her Mom’s death anniversary. More days after the tragedy, they were starting to get back to reality that Alaska was gone and they have to continue living. That’s how life just how it should be. Losing someone, grieving for some time but keep moving forward. “There comes a time when we realize that our parents cannot save themselves or save us, that everyone who wades through time eventually gets dragged out to the sea by the undertow – that in short, we are all going..” I think it actually describes Alaska’s death. It was a line from Miles.

Well if I was one of the characters in the story, more specifically one of Alaska’s friends, maybe I would really be crying for weeks. If Alaska was my best friend, I would be crying for weeks. It was really surprising that after all Alaska shared a part of her life to Miles, she just simply goes like that? I really thought that she was going to realize that she already fell in love with Miles and maybe she found out that there were really something between them, that maybe they can work out more that her relationship with Jake. But it didn't, it just didn't. Everything was over after that kiss and line “to be continued?” .I really thought, and I sometimes wished that the body who was found dead was not Alaska, that it was mistaken identity. Or maybe Alaska had a long lost sister that almost looks like her.

I have an experience almost similar to Miles situation. I have a friend in elementary, we weren't close but I found out that she knows some of my relatives in Tupi because she sometimes lives there with her family too. I was happy to hear that because, me as a child that time, wouldn't have thought that I have a classmate who would actually know my relatives. She told me that the following year she would be transferring in a public school at Tupi. So as happy as her to hear that, I told her “Promise me you’ll meet me there this summer, okay?” and she gave me a pinky promise. But who would have thought that the following year, the New Year to be exact, she’ll be going? They met an accident along the highway when there were on their way to Davao with her older sister, who supposedly have to go to Cebu to take her license exam, her sister’s classmate and her Mom, when the taxi they were riding on fell on a cliff. Not to mention that the driver and their mother were the ones survived. The news said that it was raining hard and the driver was sleepy. So they just fell. She just left without keeping her promise. So when I heard about the news, I was shocked and asked myself “How about our promises, _____?” .In the end, we really met in Tupi, but I never have imagined that I would meet her there when she was already 6 feet below the ground, that I would visit her grave not her home.