I've always wanted a tree house. But here in the Philippines, it's not really a common thing to have, especially when you live in the city. The closest I've come to a tree house is in our province in Pangasinan. The old house of my uncle was a typical bahay kubo where the first floor was open space where you can keep your chickens and other stuff.

A typical Bahay Kubo in the Philippines

I loved that house. It was cool, airy, and it was shaded with trees. The floors were made of bamboo slats from which you can see the open first floor. I remember many days with my cousins when we used to scrounge for pukak (for the life of me, I don't know what this fruit seed really is called, I just know this is what we call it) seeds and my auntie would roast them while we wait on the dining table. Good times. Happy good times.

Anyway, going back to tree houses. This one I found on the Internet takes the cake. It's not just a tree house you play in with friends. It can totally be a real house - just up in the trees. It's really idyllic and I can see myself reading a gazillion books and writing novels and drinking coffee and doing crafts and baking...yeah, all those homey things I like to do but don't have the time for.

This makes me wish we had a big tree and space in our yard...

From Apartment Therapy

I was able to watch a movie again last Friday and was happy to have that mini-break I wanted. And I was glad to find out that both SM and Trinoma were still showing Underworld: Awakening, as that was really what I wanted to watch. I punched out of work as soon as I can so I can catch the 6:20 PM showing at SM. I thought I was going to miss the beginning, but luckily I got there just as the screen turned to the first shot. Whew, talk about cutting it close.

So, I sat there thinking of all the good stuff I've heard and read about the movie and at the back of my mind I was thinking that this couldn't be as good as the first one. Sequels most often pale in comparison to the original. But IMHO, the movie did remarkably well of continuing the story of Selene and put another spin on it. The action was great and didn't lack the usual gore and blood that all Underworld movies before it had. The fight scenes were well choreographed and Selene's walk-then-fly-off-walls maneuver was like an acrobatic ballet. I liked it. Selene kicked ass and she did it all while wearing her signature tight leather/ rubber outfit. I think even walking in it is a feat in itself.

Some of the things I didn't like about the movie though, were the fact that Michael was not played by Scott Speedman. Selene's make-up is ugh! Her lipstick was like a frosted pink color that none of the other vampires had. A simple nude or pale pink lipstick would've worked if the goal was to make her look pale. Also, I didn't like that Eve looked more like Sadako than a hybrid. It was weird. Whenever I see her I had to remind myself that I'm not watching a horror movie.

All in all, Underworld: Awakening was a very good movie and one that I will watch again and again on DVD. Good thing the ending hinted of a possible 5th installment of the Underworld series. And I will definitely not miss it. I just hope they get back Scott Speedman for that.

Well, I'm on a roll here. I finished another book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, last weekend. It was an audiobook actually. I find that it's really hard to read on a moving train and that it makes me sleepy. So, I opted for the audio version of the book, which is a good thing as I could never have pronounced the names of people and places in the story correctly.

Anyhoo, I think the book is good. It's just a bit long-winded for me. There were too many characters and background info about them. I was already halfway through the book before the 2 protagonists met. I guess the good thing about having so many back stories about the characters is that you get to know them more, and thus, might endear them to you. Or something like that.

I do admit that I did feel that I needed to finish the book as soon as I could, and couldn't wait to get back to the story wheneve I needed to stop. But that only happened when Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist met and were tackling the mysterious disappearance/ death of Harriet Vanger together. Before that, I felt like skipping some parts of the book.

Although I didn't dislike the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I don't know if I want to read the rest of the Millenium Trilogy (as the 3 books in the series are called collectively). I guess, I'll just have to wait until the mood strikes me. For now, I think I'll watch the movie.