From the Far Side of the World

This is great! I just got the book I ordered from BookDepository.com. I was drawn to try and purchase a book from the site as they were offering free worldwide shipping. Can you believe it? Free worldwide shipping! 


With regards to online shopping, Shipping Rates that I've seen before are prohibitively expensive and impractical. If you were ordering a book or DVD from Amazon for example to be delivered here (Manila, Philippines), Standard Shipping is almost as expensive as the item itself. If you try and go the expedited route, forget about it. Expedited Shipping rates would be more expensive than the item itself. It was just ridiculous. Buying something online in a situation like that simply wasn't an option. 


The prices I saw on the books are similar to Amazon.com. Prices are also competitive against Fully Booked (a local bookstore). In my particular case, I ordered a large format trade paperback of “Empire of Silver” by Conn Iggulden. This was not yet available in Fully Booked (apparently on the way according to the person I spoke to on the phone). They do have the Hardcover version of the book, priced at Php 1,092.00. I checked the same format on the BookdDepository.com and it’s priced at $19.50. At current exchange rates, that converts to Php 890.00. There was a 25% discount on that price, but books on the site usually have some sort of discount on them, usually around 10 to 15% it seems. Basically, prices are good, great if you get a book on a large discount.

Read or Die!

So how do you take your eggs? Scrambled, boiled, over easy, sunny side up or cancer free? How about your fried chicken? Original recipe or genetically modified? Genetically modified chickens - that reminds of the KFC hoax.

Okay, I myself think reading is important. I think that if our government worked to improve our educational system, we can be a great nation. People are our greatest resource; help them help themselves. Also, it doesn't seem like we're going to run out of people anytime soon. Oh yeah, back to my point - reading is important. Yep. But read or die? That's a bit extreme. Well, I guess there are situations where that can apply. If you miss a 'bridge under construction' or 'trespassers will be shot' sign for example. Anyway, it's a good cause and I'm passing the word. Remember, read or die! Here's a little something from their website:

RodCon 2007 is a two-day literary convention organized by Read or Die Inc. in partnership with Powerbooks. The convention seeks to bring together readers, writers, publishers, government and school organizations and book dealers to highlight the importance of reading and literacy in building an open world for every Filipino through books. All proceeds of the event will be donated to AHON Foundation. The event is supported by the National Book Development Board, the Department of Education and UNICEF. Find out more about the convention.

The event will take place on February 3 and February 4, 2007 at the Hotel Intercon (Ayala Avenue, Makati City). The convention will be open from 9AM to 8PM daily. For information about ticket prices and hotel reservations, please visit REGISTRATION.

Mindy Christmas and a Longish Post to Everyone

So the missus and I spent Christmas with my folks. She prepared samosas and pasta. Yummy! And somehow it has become tradition for several years now for my mom to cook beef casserole during Christmas, especially if I'm coming over. Shame that she only cooks it during Christmas dinners. But I guess that's what makes it special.

It was a very nice evening. Good food, good company. It would have been better to have my brothers and their families there but one's in the province and the other was with his wife's family. But we did meet a new friend: Mindy! She is a Yorkshire terrier puppy (I think), otherwise known as 'the cutest thing'. One of our guests brought her over. I would love to have one of these but they cost a few months pay so I'll settle for borrowing other people's dogs.

So, I took pictures of the food and the dog but forgot the people. Shows you where my attention was at :P If the missus is reading, I have a picture of you too!

By the way, if you didn't already know, the Internet is broken. I definitely noticed my connection at home slowed down. There were even a few sites I couldn't access.

I have finished reading Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice. Now comes the hard part, waiting for the sequels. I was surprised to find that the story was told in the first person perspective. That poses a lot more challenge to the author. Can you imagine? To speculate what might have been Jesus' thoughts? Anyway, I enjoyed it. The pace is slow, but the writing is good. It's like listening to your parents tell a story about their life. You're invested in it. Of course, hardcore Christians might want to stay away as they may find it blasphemous. Good thing they don't have the Inquisition no more :P

So now I'm moving to Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris. This is the story of Hannibal's childhood, his origin. I bought this during the month of the missus' birthday. Because she was a Powerbooks member, she gets 40% off on the month of her birthday, so I got me a present. Yup, I realize it was her birthday. Believe me, she took advantage of that 40% off. This will be the first book I read by Thomas Harris. I haven't read any of the Hannibal books but I have seen the movies. Thomas Harris fans might cringe at that. They've already started filming Hannibal Rising. This time Anthony Hopkins is out of the picture though.

***Geek Alert on the remaining paragraphs***

Microsoft is giving away Ferrari 1000s Laptops to bloggers as a marketing strategy in anticipation of the MS Vista launch next year. Hey! Where's mine? I'm a blogger! Some bloggers who received the gift are now questioning the ethics of it all. Well, all I can say is that it's a smart move. Judging from the list of bloggers who received the gift, they must have based it on the volume and return traffic these bloggers get. So basically these bloggers have a lot of loyal readers. As to the ethics questions, well, people who received the unit also got a note saying they are not required to blog about it. They can keep it either way, give it back if they choose, or even give it away on their site. So if you're conflicted, give it away - to me. This is called a "Win - Win" situation. You solve your moral dilemma, I get a new kick ass laptop. Of course, MS would never send me one :P I only get two or three hits a day on average, not to mention the rampant piracy over here. If you haven't been to Manila, we all greet each other with "Ahoy there matey!" and wear an eye patch. Shiver me timbers!


Posted here is an excerpt of the going out of beta Blogger announcement. I've never played Warcraft but I love the Battlestar Galactica metaphor. Yes yes, it's geeky. If only my high school english teacher came up with this kind of examples during the figures of speech lessons, I would have done a lot better.

Bailing Out of the Vellum

*sigh* I didn't want to do it but I stopped reading Vellum midway. It's the ultimate offense you can ever do to a book, and I've only ever done it a handful of times. But it's been more than two weeks since I started reading Vellum and I'm lost and uninterested in the story. I guess it's just not for me. Well, to be honest, I just couldn't keep up with the multiple story lines, different realities, and flashbacks. It's just too much for my feeble mind. Might be a good movie though :P

But every book deserves a good home. So I'm putting Vellum up for adoption. If you're interested, you can read about the book here. But don't bother if think you'll get it for half the price, I've offended the book once, I won't do it again :P

So after that experience, I'm gonna have to go back to one of the heavy hitters. Next on deck is Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice.

Who's the Bitter Blogger?

Miss IMSHO, I'm putting you front and center :)

imnsho said...

ei mr. sandcastle (hehehe syempre referred to you in online name),

i keep forgetting to buzz you, that you remind me of Zach na TJ sa 5Takes... hehehe sa Discovery Travel and Living... but off the record you are a better blogger than he is.. hehehehe =)

You know, that sounds really weird. Mr. Sandcastle, nah, that simply doesn't work. Sounds really wimpy. Wow, and I have been using it for a while now. I think I'll just start using my nickname for my display name :P I wanted some element of anonymity, but my pic does appear in this blog, so I guess I'm not fooling anyone :P

I checked out the site you linked to. All I can say is I hate them. I hate them because they have my dream job. To be able to travel and then report about it. I hate them. I'm so bitter you can use me as fish cracker dip. But as you say, I'm a better blogger that he is, so there. The world will probably disagree. All I can say is they can kiss my...cute and lovable little puppy...if I ever get one :)

Acquisitions this week:

Vellum: The Book of All Hours
By Hal Duncan

This book has one hell of a good blurb on it. I'm crossing my fingers that the book lives up to it. Ayyyyyeee! Just saw the three star rating on Amazon when I was linking to it. Shucks, I didn't want any preconceptions about the book before reading it. Well, I have loved books that weren't popular with critics before. Hopefully, this is one of those.

Oh yeah, I just finished reading Manfredi's Empire of Dragons. As usual, Manfredi does not disappoint. Loved it. Whenever I get tired or bored reading, I pick up a Manfredi book. Depending on how much I like a book, I can take a few days or a a few months to finish one. Empire of Dragons I finished in a week (a busy work week!). I was also able to finish Alan Moore's The Watchmen during the weekend. I wish I had read it 10 years ago. Too many people have 'borrowed' his idea since then, and having seen those second hand interpretations first, the story no longer had the same effect on me. *sigh* But still, I enjoyed reading it.

Working Late

I gotta learn my lesson. Never utter the sentence "looks like it's going to be a slow week" in reference to work. It always comes back to bite you in the ass.

We were finally able to do a team activity. For a while there it seemed like fortuitous events were conspiring to stop us from having any kind of team activity. But we kinda snuck this activity in. Didn't really announce it to everyone, just went "let's go!" and we did. Went and had ice cream crepes at Crepes and Cream, what rebels we are!

So, one of the project groups has 5,000 hours worth of work to complete in one month. Wow. And I was complaining about 1,400 hours worth work to be completed in two and half months. Well, stock up on the coffee and red bull people, long nights ahead.

Acquisition this week:
The Tower - Valerio Massimo Manfredi

Well actually, I didn't buy it myself. It was a gift from the missus for our 2nd anniversary. That makes the gift almost a month overdue :P But I love it, she really thought about this one.

First Entry

Ei! My first blogger entry :)

Nothing really to write about except to share my Booksale acquisitions this week:

- Wolfskin by Juliet Marillier
- Christ the Lord by Anne Rice
- Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell

Two hardbound books and one paperback book, all under 700 Php. Not too bad in my book, pun intended. The Wolfskin book is in really good condition, like new! The Anne Rice book has a bad damage on the spine, but pages are clean and you hardly notice it with the dust jacket on. It's a fourth of the price in Powerbooks so it's not too bad. Stonehenge book is really worn and a few pages are folded, but still, it's pretty cheap (70 Php!).

Looking forward to reading them :) Still finishing up my Viriconium book. Started out really strong, got through the first half of the book pretty quick. The middle sags a bit, and I'm lagging in my reading. Hopefully it finishes strong :) Somebody lending me five seasons of Smallvile and first season of Supernatural didn't help my reading either :P

A Little something about my profile pic. This was taken by a friend on mine on a visit to the Grand Canyon. I was standing on a ledge so that I could take a good picture of the canyon. I was checking the shot I took on my cam. This was a memorable visit. Drove all the way from Colorado Springs to the Grand Canyon. That's 620 miles, about a 14 hour drive. On the way there I drove half and stopped over in New Mexico to sleep. On the way back, I drove in one go, 13 hours straight. Never been so tired in my life. Except when I drove the following weekend from Salt Lake City to Colorado Springs, a 10 hour drive. But this time a speeding ticket and a blizzard was involved :P