A book fair is not a book fair if not for its sale and discounts.

The Manila International Book Fair is a chance for all the bookworms all over the country to gather with a mission and everyone's mission is to find their next great reads. I was skeptical when I first heard the book fair, I told my self that I will not miss this year's book fair. I had been very busy at school so I figured this book fair is a great way for me to unwind.

My mind is set, I'm going to go there and buy me some books. A friend told me that at the last day of the book fair, they give crazy discounts so my plan was to go there on the last day, which is on September 15. But yesterday, luck being with me, our professor didn't came to school. I was pissed at first I mean I woke up early just to get to school on time so I ended up riding a bus going to LRT/Beundia and the rest you can figure out. 

I have been reading books since I was a highschool student, it was my only form of entertainment. But living in a province where malls are 4 hours drive away I had to use ebooks. Ebooks are fine, they're easy to use, portable, and it's free! The downside is they are not forever. You can store ebooks on your phone or in your computer but we all know files on electronic devices don't last long, they can be deleted accidentally or virus can get to your files, either way, they are not ideal for forever. 

I still remember the first book that I got, it's a paperback of The Heroes Of Olympus. It's a spin off to the hit series Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I can't believe how happy I am that day. It was a gift, well half gift actually since I paid half of the price. Hard copies are so much better, I used to say back then. Because it's true! Reading from a real book, turning pages to and fro, and putting it on a bookshelf at your bedroom is something. It's like books are my prized possession. 

Going back to the book fair, it was Saturday when I went there. And to prove how excited I am, I went in to the wrong building. The book fair was being held at the SMX Convention at the SM Mall of Asia. And where did I go? I went to the MOA Arena by accident. I was in a hurry so my mind didn't got the chance to process my surroundings. The only thing that my mind is telling me "books!". I realized I was on the wrong side and not in the right place when I see people buying tickets, I think it was for the UAAP. I don't know, have I been living under a rock? No! I just don't know what's going on at the MOA Arena that day.

It was a long walk since the SMX Convention is at the other side of the mall. But I didn't cared. 

I was swept by a wave of people in a pool of books upon entering the convention center. Before going on a book fair, you should always ready yourself with a good pair of walking shoes since you'll be circling the whole place for books, a huge amount of money, and a list of things/books that you are going to buy.

My list includes:

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Trash by Andy Mulligan

Baby Jesus Pawnshop by Lucia Orth

Manila Noir by Jessica Hagedorn

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Mistress by James Patterson

The Ocean at the end of the of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

and some classics;

Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham

IQ84 by Haruki Murakami

I know that my list is long. And I know I can't buy them all since I'm low on budget but I just want to have options. The very first book that I went looking for was the Baby Jesus Pawn Shop, I want to know how controversial the book is but unfortunately I didn't find one. I went to the National Book Store and Fullybooked booth back and forth, I searched every shelves yet to no success. Good thing Manila Noir is easy to find. I found it at the Anvil Publishing booth thanks to a friend. Godd thing about book fair is that you'll get wide choices of books plus a discount! I got Manila Noir on a 20% off. How cool is that?

The next thing I got is The Time Traveler's Wife, It's not on my list since I already read that on ebook but the price tempted me. 99php only! The line at the cashier was super long and slow so you need to have a lot of patience. 

I didn't got the time to browse for other books because I need to be at Laguna that day. So I have to make sure that my 4 hour drive don't get compromised. What amazed me that day was the number of "OMG's" and "awe's" I heard that day. I remember this girl, I was looking at the fiction section at Fullybooked when she yelped OMG! when she found a book that she likes. It's amazing how books can do that to people. And what amazes me more is the amount of people who treats books more than just a book. You'll get what I mean if you value books like you value your love ones. I was hoping to meet a fellow bookworm of the same interest that day, but since I was in a hurry I didn't the chance to socialize. Haha! Oh also, there is a book signing at the book fair. From famous local writers. Like Ramon Bautista and the likes. I wish the book fair extends for a week, that'll be great!

my MIBF book haul!

Cyber watch: PKL4017

Before anything else, I would like to apologize for not posting anything this past few weeks. I just had a very busy schedule. I have now school from mondays to saturdays. Can you imagine that I still have classes even on weekends? I still like the schedule that I encoded tho.

One of the thing that I did was to make an article for my friend's newest blog project. I'm so very honored to be a part of her project, so Ate Mira I express my deepest gratitude Thank you so much! 

Even though I'm still new at writing you still trusted me. Haha. I'm being melodramatic. 

I'm really not keen on writing for someone or something, I get that pressured feeling. Minsan feeling ko ung ginagawa ko or yung sinusulat ko ay hindi papasa sa standards. How do I explain this? Ahhhhh what I'm trying to say is I have this feeling that my work is not good enough. To make it short I don't trust my self. I get self conscious. I get insecure. Well that's me. I have no experience on writing an article for a big project so this one is a first for me.

I'm not here to explain and detail out my experience. Dahil most of the time na nagsusulat ako ay I'm blocked, writer's block kumbaga. I'm writing this para ipromote yung project ng kaibigan ko.

You can visit her blog by clicking on the link below.

About

If you want to know what the fuzz is all about, if you're curios as to what the blog/project, you can read it there. Please take time to read. You'll enjoy pkl4017. So now I'm going to show you my part. Drum roll please! 

There goes my name! Wohooo! And there is my work, I'm so glad that I get to help a friend. Kahit na ang gulo nung work ko, mejo naliligaw on some parts, na mejo hindi siya blog worthy. Dinodown ko lang sarili ko. Haha! Joke pero seriously, you guys should visit and read this cool blog. Share it to your friends too. This is the first issue so please stay tuned for more. That's it for today. Don't forget to check out pkl4017.blogspot.com! Please and thank you! 

Making love with the camera tutorial.

So I have decided to teach you some few tips I know on how to end up with a really good picture.
Most of the times I just use the camera's self-timer when taking self shots and if you're going to ask me what camera I'm using, well I have my cheap android tablet's front facing camera (which is a 2.0MP btw, pretty low quality I know) and a Fujifilm digicam. I like to think that I'm a model and a photographer in one.
There are some cases that only me can understand things, especially the camera angles, photo shoot theme, the model's pose, the styling, and etc. So if anyone doesn't get what I have in mind then that's the time I work alone.

Anyways before going into action I'm going to first tell you the secret on how to look good at pictures.

1. Think of the location or the venue where you're going to spend some time. If it's an open ground you should keep in mind what time you're going to have your shoot, pick between mornings or before sundown. Mahirap magconduct ng shoot kung maaraw, well there is an advantage though. You'll get enough sunlight that you wouldn't even need to use your lightings, less hassle diba? Kaso you'll get sunburn naman. Wear something comfortable if ikaw ang photog. Yung makakagalaw ka ng ayos and yung presko. And if your location is just your room and you just converted it as a mini studio, know how to maximize your surroundings. Make that little space, huge! 
2. Look at the mirror first before you make love to the camera. Check kung oily yung skin, kung kailangan pa magretouch, kung may dumi sa muka, or etc. It's a waste of time kung after makuha yung shot eh may madedetect na something sa muka tapos it turns out that shot would have been perfect kung hindi nga lang sa something na iyon. You can't have the same perfect shot twice. Kaya wala ka dapat sinasayang na frame or shot and besides siguro naman ayaw mong maging kahihiyan right? Hehe!
3. Make faces. Well depending on your theme. But seriously, modeling isn't always about having a serious face. Sabi nga ni Tyra Banks, "Smize with your eyes.". Minsan kailangan din nating magloosen up. Mahirap kung puro same set of face mood lang ang ibibigay mo, you should give different variety of faces, be versatile. Lalo na paglimited lang yung time. I personally like yung candid shots, for example habang nakikipagusap ka kung kanino, natawa, nakain, something na stolen moment. Minsan kasi mas genuine yung shot pagstolen, so nasasayo nadin kung ikaw yung photographer kung kukuhanan mo siya ng candid shots.

That's it I guess. I mean I have told everything i know, I think I may have forgotten something but I'll just make another blog post. And btw, those 3 tips I gave is meant for both model and photographer in one like me. But it'll help you anyways. I'm just an aspiring one so don't expect too much from me. I haven't got some high fashion shots yet since my DSLR was stolen a year ago. It sucks bigtime but for the mean time I'll just have to stick with what I have. Honestly, this post was supposed to be a joke. The title suggests it but since school starts tomorrow I have to make this one pretty decent since I'm guessing that I'm going to be pretty busy now. This is the picture that I took earlier I had fun playing with gradients.

Candid shot of mine. I have a good set of teeth, Hehe!!

 Keep in mind that a good photo should have a good lighting,

well depending on the type of shoot of 

course.

 Me trying to seduce the camera!lol!