Amana Waterpark Resort | Day Out with Work Friends

I have told you about my box theory before, and I think it is working. One box of my life is still clattered, but my "work friends" box is definitely in a good place right now :)

Ever since my first week in my new job, my officemates have been inviting me to join them in this day trip in Bulacan. On the original date of the trip, I had to back out (you could actually read what I did that weekend in this post). And believe it or not, they moved the date so I could join them! They're the sweetest because a normal set of colleagues won't do that considering that their other officemates (those that have resigned from the company already) is also clearing up their sched for this.

We ended up doing it last week (I had to edit photos and actually work before making a blog post, okay?). We had to meet early, like 6am early, at Cubao to get there early. Some were late, so we were complete by almost 7am. But an obstacle happened -- the person holding the vouchers (we availed Buy 1 Take 1 vouchers) could not be reached! No text from him and not even answering any calls. We waited for 2 hours, and I honestly thought we wouldn't push through. But some of us were already waiting at Bulacan... Luckily, one of my colleague's sister had the same vouchers as well that we could borrow for the mean time. So even if the sun was already shining brightly, we rode the first bus going there!

The first time I rode a bus to travel to somewhere was when I was in Bohol for my thesis field work back in college. I haven't rode a bus in Manila going to any province before! Heck, I don't even ride the bus to commute! But this was a nice experience for me -- it's the people who you are with that makes even a normal situation extra special and memorable :)

After a bus plus tricycle ride, we finally arrived at Amana Waterpark Resort!

 

We rented out a cabana, brought lunch and snacks, and ate and laughed together before deciding to have a dip in the pools. Funny story -- the guy from the cabana behind us was listening and laughing with our jokes!

The place was actually huge! There were lots of pools to go to - if I remember correctly, there were 5 open pools that time, but there were more that were temporarily closed.

We started at the wave pool,

tried out other pools,

took photos at Jurrasic World,

then came back to the wave pool.

It was a fun Saturday with work friends and new found friends :) I honestly couldn't describe the giddy feeling I got the whole time I was with them. It looked like we were friends forever when I just met them for around 8 weeks! I even got instant "twins" that day :))

Here are more photos:

 

One of the rare shots I'm in! :))

Eaten by a dinosaur??

My "twins" and our house :))

 

  

Crazy part? I was with my college friends that same night and went to my first college party! And yes, I have graduated college already. But my friends are still on their last semester, so I kinda count like a college student as well! :)) But that's another story (not) to tell ;)

PS. I'm not in most of the photos! But I did enjoy taking photos of my new friends :)

Book Review: Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

You reading this post right now proves that you're a netizen - that you have this virtual life where you're most likely a different person than who you are in "real" life. I'm not saying it's a bad thing; just like me, you could be more comfortable here. Just like Penny.

Personally, I think Penny and I have a lot in common: she's this regular, quiet, and clumsy teenager (might not pass the "teenager" category anymore but that's not the point here) who loves taking photos (definitely me) and embarrasses herself more than an average person does (holaaaa!). But unlike me, she has this growing blog called "Girl Online" where she stayed anonymous and expressed herself freely there. Most importantly, she has this panic attacks and anxiety problem which deprives her from a lot of opportunities - such as flying to New York for a very important business trip for her family.

It's hard to deny that her character is hugely inspired by the author's life herself. Zoe Sugg, better known as Zoella, is a blogger turned YouTuber with 9 Million+ subscribers (as of the time I posted this). Living the life of a blogger with anxiety issues has "Zoella" written all over it. This is what makes her relate-able to a lot of her readers. She shows the world that she's a person, too. That no matter hard it is to believe, she's not perfect. She breaks this distorted image that social media builds creating the illusion of a perfect life.

Okay, it's hard to deny that I'm a fan of Zoella. But I'll try to make my book review as objective as I could.

Speaking of, I haven't finished my short (?) description of the book yet...

With the help of her family and best friend, she overcomes her panic attacks. This leads her to meeting Noah. But what she doesn't know is that Noah has a secret life as well, just like how she's secretly "Girl Online".

I don't want to tell more because I might spill some of the twists of the story. But here's the summary at the back of the book (SPOILER ALERT!!!) :

Penny has a Secret.

Under the alias Girl Online, Penny blogs her hidden feelings about friendship, boys, high school drama, her quirky family, and the panic attacks that have begun to take over her life, When things go from bad to worse at school, her parents accept an opportunity to whisk the family away for Christmas at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. There, Penny meets Noah, a gorgeous, guitar-strumming American. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment she spends with "Brooklyn Boy" on her blog. 

But Noah has a secret, too, one that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever. 

An instant New York Times bestseller in hardcover, this heart-felt coming-of-age novel perfectly captures the highs and lows of first love, friendship, and growing up in the digital age. 

So the summary spilled a lot more details than I did. But it's better that they did instead of me, right?

WHY I BOUGHT THE BOOK
To be completely honest, I bought it because of Zoella. I watch her vlogs almost everyday and I keep on hearing about her first novel and I was pretty excited to get my hands on one. Sadly, I got a copy days before she released the second book. So every one else in the world has read it already when I got my hands on it. I got the paperback, and I was honestly disappointed at first because I want the hardcover so bad (mainly because it's like a "collectible" for Zoella items). But the thought of finally being able to read the first book was more overwhelming and important. :)

WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE STORY
I love Zoella, but I think it's predictable. Well, not so predictable that I already know what will happen step by step in the story, but in a way that I already have an idea on how the story will end - that Penny and Noah will still be together despite the circumstances (major spoiler). I'm sorry, but I think the story follows this overused formula/stages - (1) girl goes through a lot, (2) girl meets boy, (3) they are initially happy, (4) something threatens their relationship (most likely to be a someone or a secret), (5) fights, (6) then gets back together by this grand gesture you see in the movies.

But, this doesn't discourage me to finish the book. It still gives me that giggly feeling because Noah + Penny's adventures still put a smile on my face. The story still makes me grip the book and read faster to know what happens next. It's a nice breath of sunshine that puts me to sleep with a smile on my face. :)

Also, I love how this book is so now. It discusses issues about living in the internet - how it could make you happy and make new friends, but also how it could isolate yourself from people in your "real" life and the effects of cyber bullying. Most importantly, it gives people who experience panic attacks or anxiety an idea on how to handle it, and it teaches people how to help them. Also, Penny will show her readers how to handle cyber bullying especially when it has already affected your "real" life.

But please don't hate me for saying this -- I think Zoe could have done a better job in discussing panic attacks, especially that she experiences this herself. Don't get me wrong -- I still learned a lot about this in her book. But it seems to me like she just inserted the panic attacks in some chapters and you'll completely forget about it when she's with Noah. But maybe that's the point, that people close to you could help you overcome anxiety.

I also had a hard time wrapping my head around the concept that her family is flawless. Let's be real here: no family is perfect. There was no point in the book where any of her family members argued. It just feels so good to be true, that it's not relateable in that level anymore. I have a complete family and I love all of them, but there are times where we argue but we still know that we love each other.

WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE BOOK (CONSTRUCTION, MARKETING, ETC)
Considering that this is Zoe's first book, I have to praise her for doing a good job. But as a reader, I wasn't transported to Penny's world that effectively. For me, her description of the characters' surroundings and emotions lacks a little bit.

For the book cover, this might be the best cover in all the books that I have in my shelf so far! I really screams "ZOE" to me whenever I look at it. It really feels like a peg for a blog design for me. And being a story about a blogger, it makes sense.

I am not doubting Zoe's skills and I believe that she deserves all the recognition her book gathered - but let's admit that she being the author gave her an instant market.

Despite all of this, I am looking forward to her next book; Girl Online: On Tour. For one, I am curious how "Girl Online" (blog) will be in jeopardy while she's on tour with Noah. Second, I honestly want to see Zoe's improvement as an author.

WOULD I RECOMMEND THE BOOK?
If you want a fun, light story to put a smile on your face, then yes!

I'm not just saying this because I'm a fan of Zoella, but because the book actually gave me good vibes for the whole 5 days I was reading it. I read the book every night after work, and it gave me something to get me through the day.

Most importantly, it discusses the unique issues of growing in this digital age. I know there are a lot of victims of cyber bullying, and Penny here will show you how to stand against it. So if you are or was a victim, then do grab yourself a copy.


DISCLAIMER:
All that I have written are my opinion (except for the summary written at the back of the book, ofcourse). This is not a sponsored post (no matter how cool that would've been!). I tried to make this post as objective as I could (though I must admit that there's a bit of bias here). I have written this to help other readers to get an idea what to read next. I am in no way a professional book critic (but who knows? maybe one day...).