bethgstories

After a few months of staring at my bookshelf wondering if it somehow just became a decoration in my room to make me feel and look smart, I finally finished reading a book! Apop has graciously provided us with books we can turn to when the whole world appears to be turning its back on us and we need to be reassured it's just a temporary thing. I'd normally shy away from non-fiction and self-help books but I realized I got to do what it takes to feel better in the middle of this worldwide mayhem. So I grabbed the whole set and set aside my scheduled Kdrama marathon weekend (Hospital Playlist 2) and read my first book from the bundle - Kim Dan 's  You Can Wind Down From Time to Time .   Can you tell me what am I going to read next based on what's on my bookshelf? The book is a compilation of snippets from our favorite kid stories, and essays on how they relate to the complicated part of our lives called adulting. Yes, I am an adult and I have no idea what I am doing most...

Here's to another Dori Sakurada drama review. We stan cute villain leads! After the cringe-y  Coffee and Vanilla  I wanted more of him to see when I'd finally stop drooling over him  if he's really a good actor because I'm not gonna lie, cringe-y or not, his acting in that drama was great, along with the other actors. Anyway, Perfect Crime made it up for the previous drama's lack of execution and logic and lived up to the expectations that Love Lasts Forever has set. Although it felt sad and I ached for some of the characters, I'm glad that I decided to watch it.  What's the story about Okay, this is such a tangled affair that I may need a diagram to explain it perfectly. While all of the characters are essential to the story, it starts with four people - Kaori Maejima (Reina Triendl), Haruto Shinonome (Dori Sakurada), Takuma Fuyuki (Hidekazu Mashima), and Miwa Fuyuki (Lee Ayumi).  Miwa started going out with Haruto, but in the middle of their relationship,...

Okay, I think I've seen this before, I told myself as I watch the cringe-y monologue of the female lead. Enter the mighty good-looking super young self-made CEO. Yes, I've seen this before, everything is oh-so-familiar. Then the first declaration of love happened before the first episode ends.  It clicked! It's the many Wattpad stories I've edited in the past. I stumbled upon a 60-second clip of this drama on Instagram, and that scene made me think maybe this is another professor-student romance akin to Do Min Joon and Cheon Song Yi's initial relationship, although the title makes me think of Christian and Anastasia. And because I love My Love From The Star to the moon and back, I decided maybe I also need to watch this. But no, Google tells me its premise is nothing near the story of the mysterious 400-year-old alien and his famous celebrity neighbor. Coffee and Vanilla is a cringe-worthy, toe-curling drama that kept me up the whole night. The cringe-worthy female ...

Reading for pleasure implies the existence of reading for pain, and I wonder if there's something in between. I have been reading books that are supposed to tell me how to do my job well, and they're teaching me a lot. And I've come to think of it, it's been so long since the last time a boss required me to read books that'd help me handle my job more efficiently (it was in a law firm during my college internship) and I think all bosses should do the same. I mean, jobs shouldn't only be just about work and earning money. It should also be about learning and getting all the support you need to become a better employee. And to become a better person.  I've finished reading one of the books before the weekend. It was awesome and the bosses answered all my questions about the things I didn't quite understand. There are two more but I plan to read something else in between. And it's not reading for pleasure or reading for pain. Just plain reading because ...

I wanted this month to be over and write an entry for August. I wanted to share something uplifting - perhaps a piece of good news or a new milestone. Except that I can’t think of any. I feel so tired and my back pains are killing me, hence the turmeric tea, the pain relief rub on my table, and some lo-fi version of Moonlight Densetsu to calm my senses. Oh and yeah, let me include the fairy LED lights on my mesh grid and the faint glowing lights of my keyboard, mouse, and headphones. My life’s looking bright, ain’t it? I discovered the wonders of turmeric tea when my sister-in-law made some, back when our entire household got flu. Its earthy-sweet flavor made it up for its pungent smell, an aroma that I’ve learned to appreciate as it became the smell of relief and answered prayers, much like the smell of hug, companionship, and clarity with coffee. That cup of hot tea took away my body aches and I sweated like I went to the sauna which made me feel a whole lot better afterwards. That e...

Captain Ri and Yoon Seri lied to all of us - freshly roasted coffee is not as delicious as they said it is. Roasted beans should be left to rest for up to 10 days at least to allow for its structure to form. Yes, structure. Coffee has structure and I've fully experienced this just recently after having claimed to be a coffee addict for several years now. Reading Megan Markle's The Tig, I'd say now I understand when she described the wine having arms and legs as she took a sip. Same for coffee. I took a sip and I was transported back to my Christmas mornings when there're chocolates and chestnuts and oranges and the cool breeze is too gentle it was too difficult to get off my pajamas. Nostalgia. Pure childhood umami.  The coffee workshop I attended was Sugar's birthday gift to me, a perfect complement to the giant boob mug I received for the same occasion. It taught me how to use v60 properly and allowed me to work on the intimidating espresso machine. Coffee is bes...

There might be spoilers ahead. It wasn't until I updated my Goodreads reading challenge that I realized it took me almost an entire month to finish reading this book. The Nakano Thrift Shop is a slow read, a book that I'd likely curl up with on a rainy Sunday afternoon, except it's dry season in the Philippines and there's hardly any rain. Anyway, if you are after the plot, there is none. It's a character-based story written from Hitomi's point of view, the girl that works behind the counter of the shop.  There are only four significant characters in the story. There's Hitomi. Then there's Takeo, who heavily reminded me of  Nakajima Yuto  in his drama Where Do I Came From , whose job is to go with the shop's owner Mr. Nakano in search of items to buy and sell. Then there's also Mr. Nakano's older sister, Masayo, an artist who eventually became Hitomi's closest friend.  The story imitates life too closely, and it's because the characte...