Before I start rambling, I will start off by now I know why Desaru is the cheapest land in the Monopoly "Malaysian Tourism Edition" board game. Looking back to the times when my sister and I were in our adolescence, we used to play this & we used to avoid buying Desaru unless we are nearing Bankrupt! Ha! Ha! Desaru & Morib to be precise! Now I know why Desaru is worthless in that piece of games and the game developer is NOT wrong in putting it there! Kudos to you for doing your research! Maybe the next time I choose to do a little Malaysian Touring, I should consult my old Monopoly board game to see which place is the most expansive! If I am not mistaken and my memory still serves me well, the most expansive place has got to be CAMERON HIGHLANDS!
Many years has passed since that silly board games, we all grown and have learned so much and even improved in stages of our lives! Sadly Desaru remains the same!
Hubby and I did a little road trip two days ago during the Hari Raya long weekend off, we didn't want to go far because we just came back from a long trip so we decided to do a day kind of thing! Where else? Desaru then! Ever since moving to Johor we have not been there before and to be a part of Johor and never been to Desaru is like being a part of a gym but never actually tried all the facilities in it! (Kinda!)
So we woke up early and got ready to hit the roads with our bear bear boys! After everyone were packed into "Starship" (We have names for our cars! Hubby's is called Superbass) we started our journey! Hubby suggested just having lunch there, so we ate our breakfast at home and since Desaru is only an hour drive from the city, we were alright, we didnt ate too much! The journey was alright because kudos to the new road "Senai-Desaru Highway" so it was a comfortable drive! Toll was RM16 for to and fro!
We are welcomed by rows of hotels, the only presentable hotel in Desaru is LOTUS Desaru! That is because they are quite new! From outside it looks nice but all the other hotels are either run down or abandon or halfway build! So much for a "tourist" spot!
Well after many years, my earliest memory of Desaru was like 15 years ago when my dad brought us there and nothing much has changed! The beach is still the same small dirty place with over-flowing rubbish bins and cloak drains and smelly rubbish strewn everywhere! We were there for less than 10 minutes so we decided to walk around and go search for food to eat! A few vendors were selling "tourist-types" stuff by the road side and bunch of ice-cream stalls were there to attract the pestering kids!
It was one big part of disappointment to see the condition of our beaches, deteriorating one by one! My friend once told me, "Malaysia nowadays do not have nice presentable public beaches anymore! The nicer ones are either ruin due to no preservation or an expansive resort has bought it over to make it private for their guests only!" Now looking at Desaru I can't agree with him more! That is just sad! Very Sad! To make it worst, there is a signboard suggesting another side of "Public Beach" so we drove all the way to the other side to find there is a long Q building up, so we waited to realize that the so called "Public Beach" needs an entrance and parking fee! Duh! Public you called it! So we U-turn and head back to ou mission of filling our stomach!
We drove around and ended at Sungai Renggit, the end of Desaru and the beginning of rows and rows of seafood restaurants! Well the area is overflowed with people - PEOPLE FROM SINGAPORE! They flood that area by tonnes and tonnes of cars, so the seafood area was packed and parking was an issue! Parking is always an issue here in Malaysia and with Singaporeans coming in to fight for our seafood and parking and space and not to say TOOTHPASTE, we are with more problem than ever! So we turn around the small seafood town and finally found a parking! Now we walk, to find that every seafood place was full with people standing and waiting and waiting!
We got a rule "NEVER Q FOR YOUR FOOD" but seems like we have to break the rule! So we picked one and started to "ACT MALAYSIAN" (How?! Stand by the side of the table of people that is about to finish and waited and waited till they are finished, then start putting our handbag and stuff on the chair before remnant of food were cleared away!) We choose this restaurant by the name of YOU KEES SEAFOOD RESTAURANT! Here we met the most arrogant bastardic business person EVER! After waiting for freaking one and half hours for our place, the moronic auntie came to us with the bastardic face and said "IF YOU WANT TO EAT YOU HAVE TO WAIT 2 HOURS FOR YOUR FOOD! WE GOT TOO MANY CUSTOMERS" and because hubby's Mandarin wasn't good he didn't catch her sentences and hubby told her to come take our order! She repeated LOUDLY AGAIN "I SAY YOU HAVE TO WAIT 2 HOURS FOR THE FOOD, YOU STILL WANT TO EAT! 2 HOURS YOU KNOW!!!" It is sort of telling us, you two person only, we are not serving you! We are only interested in serving more than 5 people in a table, other than that please blah! Well I guess we shouldn't break the rules we have for ourselves! NO queuing for our food no matter how hungry!
So we ended up eating MarryBrown! The only fast food restaurant in the area! The Fast food chain is full with people, couples and I guess they suffered the same fate as us! Nobody wants to serve them! Because I overheard a conversation of a family of 4 in the table next to us "Better eat MarryBrown - No need to be shouted at and have to "see people face" (meaning letting people be mean and rude to us - Chinese direct translation), at least here we have air-con" I couldn't help but smile and nod in agreement with them ;)
As for the trip! I enjoyed my day out with hubby! BUT we are NEVER EVER going back to DESARU! Thank you very muchie!
DeSa What?! DESARU
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Joining The Hype.. The Royal Mommy
Most probably the picture above is already one of the most famous picture circulating in the media world. Everyone in the world would have somehow view this picture. It is the picture of the royal baby - Prince George Alexander Louis and his mommy and daddy.... As the world welcome him into the world and the royal family celebrates, it is always very heartwarming to see babies and what more a royal baby!
As everyone focuses on the little child whom will one day grow up to rule the country of Britain, I love to watch the royal mommy - The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton. As I just got off Googling about her and got to know that she is a year older than me! I admire her poise and her elegant! In this modern world, where we advances in many things, we certainly deteriorate in morality and examples -sadly. Therefore the world needs people like Kate to show the example. Instead of "hoo-haaing" over celebrities I look up to Kate, she is not much older than me but she certainly am much more a woman compare to me! I am still this awkward girl becoming into a woman, but Kate has somehow mature into this exquisite beautiful looking lady. If you are looking for someone elegant with high standard yet humble, Kate could be one of it. Victoria Beckam and Angelina Jolie in their Chanel, LV and Prada all fall short when they stood next to Kate!
I somehow think that she could never do anything wrong! That is the one thing that I told my husband when I read the news that she has given birth to a royal baby boy! This is why I said she is someone who has an A+ report card! She manage to mature and carry herself so well from the day Prince William announced their engagement and then during her wedding, she is nothing but beauty and iconic with her wonderful not too showy wedding gown and after marrying herself into the royal family, one would imagine the pressure that ensue! I know and I am only just a normal person and when I marry my husband who is somehow a senior management of a company, when I go out for functions with him, I will have to carry myself different and no longer pulling crazy jokes, I would have to stand and smile and stuff. Imagine Princess Kate?! When she attend all this official functions, she would have to learn up all the "royal social-ling" skill (I read Princess Diary! Ha! Ha! Entertaining book! I wonder did she went through Princess Lesson like Mia!) and still remain under control! And then her fashion sense - she always manage to put on something that is really nice and not too revealing! She is one classic example of you don't have to wear lesser to feel greater! She dress very nicely and I love it.
Then when the palace announced the princess is with child (Royal ya!), she somehow able to keep the whole thing under control and out of public eyes! Which is something that I admire! She kept public attention at minimum and we do not know until it was time to give birth! When she needed to go out during those pregnancy times, oh my her fashion is just immaculate! Love it! Plus she is so blessed to have tiny bump and to keep her figure as it is! When its time to give birth! She just did and bring forth a boy! (Another A+ moment) and then during discharging from hospital she still could look A+ for a lady who has just given birth 2 days ago! She is slim, pretty and her signature hair is in place! Prince William is such a lucky guy indeed, not to say being born a royal but also to get an immaculate high standard pretty wife! I seldom said I look up to someone but I definitely look-up to Kate Middleton who somehow manages all things with a SMILE!
I'm Still......
Yeah! I'm still a fan! Backstreet's back! Gosh! How much I have grown... I am no longer a teenager crushing on celeb! Happily married now but still count me in when it comes to BACKSTREET BOYS!
Remembering back in those days.. "My!" Its been ten years plus, when me and my best girlfriend will buy every magazines with them on it and not missing out every single one of their albums once it hit stores! Crazy as can be but still it was the best time in school. One of the many reasons we brushed up our English as well! My favorite is Brian coz he has always shown the example of a Christian celebrity in this crazy world of fame & my bestie loves Nick Carter no end! We both will be sitting at our places in between lessons listening and singing to them! (Maybe that is the reason we suck at Mathematics, Science, Geography.. Duh! Not that much! Ha! Ha!) Glad that Kevin is back with the group! Groups like this will not be the same if one member somehow left! So it is a happy backstreet moment when Kevin decided to come right back! Kevin was my 2nd favorite! He! He! But all of them makes the group dynamic!
Time really flies since the days of "We've got it going on" "Quit playing games with my heart" "As long as you love me" and so on! I got every single album that they came out with.. (Alright now where is Millennium! Gotta go search through my pile of CDs) As they grow we as their fans too! I couldn't stand music like LMFAO, Ke$ha and etc with their loud mumbling beat! Now its "In a world like this" "Never gone" and "Inconsolable"... I love it that way! I know 10 years down the road when I introduce them to my children they will make the same face as when my mom introduce The Carpenters and The Beatles to me.. "Eww! That's old" and I will tell them "At least it is in color unlike grandmere The Carpenters! That's just pure old!" ha! ha!
So enjoyzzz I am off to get their album...
My-wannabe-smart-QUOTE OF THE DAY #8
We all criticized Kim Kardashian for publicizing her life and making millions, called her all kinds of names BUT what about us "NORMAL" people who has 500 FB friends we probably don't know and non-stop posting of selfies, pictures of you eating, going to gym, dancing, meeting with friends, driving and updating your current locations for FREE! You're better than Kim coz that's charity?!
Group what?! Yeah its Group-ON AGAIN!
No! I did not buy anything from groupon again! Well like how people used to say "Once bitten, twice shy, twice bitten never TRY" I guess I am shy (seldom am like that) when it comes to Groupon! More to never try again (ever)! Groupon really fuck up (Sorry! I tried not to swear that often anymore) all the deals and proper business doing.
I am looking for a hotel to actually celebrate my FIL's (Father in Law) birthday. When I Google the hotels and famous restaurants info, I only come to realize that these outlets is or had advertised in Groupon and they are slashing price up to 50%! (Damn!)
Oh Yeah! I am pissy like the other Marshy boys & girls! But still try to be cool like the one on top coz its cute to be "cool headed"
From my past experiences of Groupon
- Tried buying an electronic gadget (check the hassle I been through in my old post)
- As a customer in one of my "normal hangout & meetup" place with my besties that was corrupted by them
- Just happen to (bad luck) walk into a restaurant running a deal with them on weekend
Through these experiences I will never book an outlet which is running a deal with Groupon! Reasons are those of below
- Bad service
- Been told "please wait for seating" because a lot of Groupon deals customers just showed up without booking! (Excuse me! We paid normal price still need to wait for our place along with the half price paying customers!!??!)
- Also most of the time I do not understand why! People from Groupon do not understand T&C like "call 3 days in advance to make reservation?!? Many a times we were told that people just show up creating a congestion in the makan place!
- Been asked to wait for half an hour because too many people from Groupon (although they eat the SET meals) and the chefs are unable to cater to so many people especially those who showed up without booking (My answer: Kick them back tell them to make booking lor! These deal hungry people will sure be back again one! After all you should give them "the service" not us NORMAL PAYING CUSTOMER)
- Usually the waiter/waitress are agitated due to the influx and also "not their father's business" why bother?! (Check out KFC fist-fighting "so good" due to Groupon deal .. you will know) So when you request for something (sitting together with the half paying Groupon buying people) they will snapped at you! (Well you can't blame them too! Blame their boss for throwing this extra load on them!)
- Terrible Food Quality
- Well being Malaysian or maybe Asian! We always talk about COST! Everything is COST! When you can slashed your price up to 50%, and all of a sudden 300 customers appear at your doorstep, do you think you can still afford to give us "the usual"? Certainly not! Therefore you resort to cheaper alternative and the difference is so obvious! It is really unfair actually to be treated like dirt in this case!
- Cold food! Very cold food! In order to serve up faster, they turn to pre-prepare their meals, therefore some dishes that coincide with the normal set they are offering are already cold (Bad Luck) if you happened to order it! Yucks! (Too bad!!!)
- From past experience my favorite steamboat place used to offer crab, huge fresh Shitake mushroom, High grade prawn and fresh vegetable. After they run a crazy deal in Groupon (never gone back again after that) they scrapped out crab, packet Shitake, low quality prawn and limited choices of seafood and vegetable, to make it ridicules they charged for ice refill! Reason: Groupon people bring own chill water and ask for ice only! (Do you have to be cheap like that!)
- Congestion, Overcrowded and Parking issue
- I dunno but then this is a crazy issue in Malaysia itself, with everybody reaching 17 and have license and could afford a car. On top of that, cars as old as my grandpa time (RIP grandpa - I still miss you!) are still on the road! Geez! So when there is a Groupon thing going on things are bound to go wrong!
- Plus "what the hell" do I need to Q together with the Groupon people?!? Long Q by the way! So I decided not to! I am not one to Q for my food!
- Noise & environment deterioration
- Yeap I said that! Not a environmentalist but I prefer cleanliness above everything else! When there is a Groupon deal, people will multiple by 5 times and then imagine instead of 50 people it will be more like 250 people in the shop (especially weekend) and noise will be a problem and then garbage and stuff will be strewn or "accidentally" drop on the floor!
Book For Worms : Inkheart Trilogy
It surely felt good to be able to finish a book and not just a book but a trilogy with pages as thick as the encyclopedia. Well at least that is how I felt when I flipped the last page of my first borrowed book : INKHEART TRILOGY.
Title: Inkheart Trilogy
(Book consists of Inkheart, Inkspell & Inkdeath)
** Inkheart was made into a major motion picture starring Brendan Fraser **
** Inkheart was made into a major motion picture starring Brendan Fraser **
Author : Cornelia Funke
Rating: ★★★★
Inkheart trilogy is a wonderful book, in-spite being so so thick (Yeah! Over 2000 pages) it really does held my interest and kept me reading day and night! (Confession made: In fact at times I only started cooking dinner only at 7pm). There are many reviews about this book, for the realistic, this book will prove too much of a fantasy to them but for those like me who believes that fairytale do come true in little happenings of life this is indeed a good book. I was lost in it, nothing difficult to understand as all you need to do is use your imagination. (Although at times some of the happenings in the book is a bit too out of the world unrealistic! Like unicorns and coming back from death and fairies and bear as a pet and talking glassman! Oh I could go on and on!) I am not here to review the books and provide a synopsis, because if one needs to know the summary of this book there are a lot of sites that had done that. Just type in "Inkheart" in your Google search bar and you will land on many many websites that does the same thing, you can get most accurate interpretation from Wikipedia itself.
I am here to share with you some characters that I find interesting in this trilogy.
Mortimer Folchart - No story can be complete without our good old hero! (Portrayed by Branden Fraser in the motion picture and no he is not old! I am just speaking figuratively) A very protective father, a loving husband and a friend turned hero (Bluejay) in the last two books. He has the ability to read characters out of books, it is how the story started when he read 2 villains and 1 hero out of the book, Inkheart. Reading characters out of books came with a risk, it is that people around him will be drawn into the book as an exchange (that is how he lost his wife and two cats) I find him a little too brash and he tends to take a lot of risk that gives the story its excitement but at times land him in captivities of his hunters. It got me really annoyed halfway through the second book when he stubbornly wanted to stay in the Inkworld in spite persuasion from his wife and daughter to go back to the real world.
Maggie Folchart - The daughter of Mo. A very interesting character that found out soon enough that she can read characters out of books as well, she even read herself into books, in fact a skill she perfected better than her father (?!?) I find Maggie admirable, she is very brave and she stood up for what she always believe - her love for her father and her over protectiveness towards her mother.
Theresa Folchart (Resa) - The wife of Mo and mother of Maggie. She appear on the second half of the story of Inkheart and read back to real life by Darius (another character who can read characters out of book BUT he stammers hence reading the characters with extreme flaws out - Resa was read out by him without her voice!) She works as a maid in the villains castle before being found out by Mo and rescued nearing the end of the first book. She is a brave women who goes to the extreme to save her husband by transforming into a bird, I was half scare for her when she flew from one place to another in search of her husband that was held capture in the Castle by the lake. (Oh my! You gotta read it to know what I mean! The reading got my heart pumping, hoping that she is safe)
Elinor Loredon - One of my favorite character! (Played by Helen Mirren in the motion pictures), she has an inexhaustible wealth that she spend all on books! Rows and rows, rooms and rooms of books, from rare to common books! My goodness, I imagined what it feels like to be taking a tour around her house. She has no children and was never married, so all she has is her books that she called her children, keeping her company! It was sad in the middle of the story when the villains tried to get back on her for helping Mo escaped by burning all her books in the garden of her mansion! (But no worries : She replaced all the books 3 months later!) The reason I like her is that she is such a character! Nobody crosses Elinor Loredon without getting it back in return. Every chapter in which she appears, I somehow felt that things can NEVER go wrong because somehow lucky enough or by simple wits Elinor will overcome them! Nothing absolutely nothing will hinder her! I just love this character! ;)
Dustfinger - Initially I hated him but I had a change of heart when I continued reading! At first I was like, "If Dustfinger does not appear! Mo and Maggie will be safe and sound in their little cottage! It was him who betrayed them and brought the villains to Folchart's door" but then at the end I realized that he does that because he loved his wife and children a lot and wanted to get back into Inkworld , in exchange he has to get Mo to the villains. I like Dustfingers too because he is sort of a hero, daredevil type! Another character that gave me the comfort, if he is around he will be able to walk out of the trouble without any problem at all. (Provided if his pet Gwin the Marten does not screw things up for him! But Gwin is an adorable character like any pets would...) Back in the Inkworld, people called him "Fire Dancer" because he can make fire obeyed him and perform all kinds of tricks with fire. At the end, especially after he came back from the world of the dead, he can make amazing fire shows (eg. he makes spiders out of fire that crawls the entire castle by the lake to save Mo. or he mastered the skill of letting his soul slip out of his body to appear dead!) There are 101 things I can write about Dustfinger but one word sums it all! He is AMAZING!
Black Prince - With his pet bear! Gosh! I love the fact that one can make a bear a pet! Black Prince is a hero of the wayward minstrels in Inkworld. Minstrels are considered outcast in Inkworld, therefore they are to live out of sight in the forest and only performs when they are sought to do so! Black Prince later teamed up with Bluejay (Mo) to save the Inkworld! One word to describe him! HERO
Violante - "Her Ugliness" The widow of Cosimo the fair. I find her likable She was only 9 when she marries Cosimo, she was never loved by her father - The Adderhead, and not respected by his son Jacopo! She gotten her name Her Ugliness because she has a very big mark on her face and since birth everyone known her for that. She loves to read and somehow develop a crush for Bluejay! In the end she helped Bluejay to kill her father who never loved her and plan evil against her! At the last chapter after Adder's death she is known as "Her Kindliness" and she rules the kingdom with equality and kindness. Yeah the black big mark on her face faded away when Fegnolio (Writer of Inkworld) wrote it off.
Villains:
Capricorn - The evil guy in the first book. Just one word sums him HATEFUL! He came out of the book and now he has the intention of conquering the world - our world btw! So he schemed to capture Mo and had him read his meanest killing machine - THE SHADOW out of the book to take over the world by fear! Of course he did not suceed at the end and was killed by Maggie. How? Capricorn came to life by mere words therefore he die by words. (Maggie read death upon him)
Basta - Somehow Capricorn right hand man live a little longer than him (Alright so much longer than him. Capricorn was slain in the first book but Basta lived up to the third book and was later resurrected by Orpheus in the form of a nightmare - a ghost like creature that killed to survive) This man is tough and no nonsense type loyal to Capricorn like a dog to his master! Everything that Capricorn asked him to do, he will make sure it gets done! He is good in a bad term!
Orpheus - Fat, greedy, arrogant and evil! That is all that summed up Orpheus, last person that can read characters in and out of books without someone missing from this world. He read himself into Inkworld and somehow wreck havoc in it, as he not only read but he could write using the Inkheart book as a reference and simply by mix and matching, he read riches - untold reaches for himself and then linked himself with the ultimate evil, cold and heartless character to kill Mo. I felt like reaching my hands into the book and giving him three tight slaps! It is a pity that he did not die a tragic death but somehow escaped into the forest at the end of the story! (Geez Cornelia this guy should have die! You should have wrote him off!)
Adderhead - He is the king on the other side of Inkworld! Inkworld is divided into two, one Ombra Kingdom ruled by Laughing Prince, father of Cosimo the Fair (dead twice) who turn to Prince of Sigh at the death of his son and the other one by The Adderhead - The Silver Prince name Argenta! Who lived in the Castle of Night! All he wanted is to live forever, to be immortal! His fear has drawn him to kill, steal and destroy like the "D" himself! He even took bath in fairy bloods in order to be alive! (Duh!) He did gain immortality but only for a while. How? When Mo make him a book of 500 pages with Adder's name written on it! With that book Adder will be alive forever unless someone wrote three words into it! It will instantly end the Adder's life! What are those three powerful words?! You will find out later!
Magpie - Capricorn's mother that outlived his son till the third book, she is an evil woman during the lifetime of her son but once her son was "killed" by Maggie, she only breathe each day to avenge her son death and to make sure the whole entire Folchart family suffer and dies! She is the one that formulated through black magic to swallow seeds that transforms one into a bird! At the end Magpie was killed by Orpheus' nightmare!
Somehow prominent characters that I find annoying
Farid - A character that Mo read out from Ali Baba & Forty Thieves! He is there from the first book until the last page! He is a loyal companion to Dustfinger (In fact Dustfinger died because of him and was later brought back to life by Mo), Maggie's love interest and a damn good fire dancer (He is Dustfinger apprentice) He is strong, mature for a 16 years old and witty! He is ok but somehow he never really stick to me too well! I don't quite like him at times and I find his fear of spirit and darkness a little too much, plus his obsession for Dustinger crazily overwhelming)
Fegnolio - Well, supposed the writer of Inkworld and he is like "god" there if he got his act together! After "god of inkworld" found his world upside down and out of his control, he did not do anything to rectify it or set things right, in fact he thrown himself into alcohol and drown himself in sorrow and disappointment! He even created a mess when he wrote Mo into a "supposed hero" of the book "Bluejay" (a Robin Hood kind of guy!) Fegnolio is another one that I would most likely slap and tell him to get up and write something! Thank God for Elinor! She did that for me! She arrived in Inkworld 20 chapters too late and found Fegnolio and slapped the reality out of him (Well in inkworld you slapped by using words!) He managed to get his act together and start writing bits and pieces here and there! (One notable one is when the Milksop - Adder's brother in law that was placed as puppet governor caught up to the black prince and his people, Fegnolio wrote a giant to save them! Another one was when Mo was injured and at the brink of death, Fegnolio wrote words of healing to make him feel better and to turn his fate around)
Jacopo - The son of Violante and Cosimo the fair. He is a brat! This small boy deserve some ass whopping from his mother. His character is a copy of his grandpa - The Adder but he has the smashing good look of his father Cosimo! Good looks doesn't really made you pleasant, especially you have a terrible character! In the end he is the one that retrieve the book for Mo to write the three words that pronounced the death or Adder! So that makes him OK! Hope he gets better when he grows up!
All wells ends well in this story! The bad guys die and the good guy lives! In spite of the fights and struggles, everything was set right once again and the Folcharts (Including new edition - a baby boy), Elinor, Darius, Fegnolio decided to stay in the Inkworld. So it was a happy read! I was satisfied with how the story is wrapped up when I flipped the book closed! Yay! And what is the three words that have so much power? Power to bring life and death in the Inkworld?
I am here to share with you some characters that I find interesting in this trilogy.
Mortimer Folchart - No story can be complete without our good old hero! (Portrayed by Branden Fraser in the motion picture and no he is not old! I am just speaking figuratively) A very protective father, a loving husband and a friend turned hero (Bluejay) in the last two books. He has the ability to read characters out of books, it is how the story started when he read 2 villains and 1 hero out of the book, Inkheart. Reading characters out of books came with a risk, it is that people around him will be drawn into the book as an exchange (that is how he lost his wife and two cats) I find him a little too brash and he tends to take a lot of risk that gives the story its excitement but at times land him in captivities of his hunters. It got me really annoyed halfway through the second book when he stubbornly wanted to stay in the Inkworld in spite persuasion from his wife and daughter to go back to the real world.
Maggie Folchart - The daughter of Mo. A very interesting character that found out soon enough that she can read characters out of books as well, she even read herself into books, in fact a skill she perfected better than her father (?!?) I find Maggie admirable, she is very brave and she stood up for what she always believe - her love for her father and her over protectiveness towards her mother.
Theresa Folchart (Resa) - The wife of Mo and mother of Maggie. She appear on the second half of the story of Inkheart and read back to real life by Darius (another character who can read characters out of book BUT he stammers hence reading the characters with extreme flaws out - Resa was read out by him without her voice!) She works as a maid in the villains castle before being found out by Mo and rescued nearing the end of the first book. She is a brave women who goes to the extreme to save her husband by transforming into a bird, I was half scare for her when she flew from one place to another in search of her husband that was held capture in the Castle by the lake. (Oh my! You gotta read it to know what I mean! The reading got my heart pumping, hoping that she is safe)
Elinor Loredon - One of my favorite character! (Played by Helen Mirren in the motion pictures), she has an inexhaustible wealth that she spend all on books! Rows and rows, rooms and rooms of books, from rare to common books! My goodness, I imagined what it feels like to be taking a tour around her house. She has no children and was never married, so all she has is her books that she called her children, keeping her company! It was sad in the middle of the story when the villains tried to get back on her for helping Mo escaped by burning all her books in the garden of her mansion! (But no worries : She replaced all the books 3 months later!) The reason I like her is that she is such a character! Nobody crosses Elinor Loredon without getting it back in return. Every chapter in which she appears, I somehow felt that things can NEVER go wrong because somehow lucky enough or by simple wits Elinor will overcome them! Nothing absolutely nothing will hinder her! I just love this character! ;)
Dustfinger - Initially I hated him but I had a change of heart when I continued reading! At first I was like, "If Dustfinger does not appear! Mo and Maggie will be safe and sound in their little cottage! It was him who betrayed them and brought the villains to Folchart's door" but then at the end I realized that he does that because he loved his wife and children a lot and wanted to get back into Inkworld , in exchange he has to get Mo to the villains. I like Dustfingers too because he is sort of a hero, daredevil type! Another character that gave me the comfort, if he is around he will be able to walk out of the trouble without any problem at all. (Provided if his pet Gwin the Marten does not screw things up for him! But Gwin is an adorable character like any pets would...) Back in the Inkworld, people called him "Fire Dancer" because he can make fire obeyed him and perform all kinds of tricks with fire. At the end, especially after he came back from the world of the dead, he can make amazing fire shows (eg. he makes spiders out of fire that crawls the entire castle by the lake to save Mo. or he mastered the skill of letting his soul slip out of his body to appear dead!) There are 101 things I can write about Dustfinger but one word sums it all! He is AMAZING!
Black Prince - With his pet bear! Gosh! I love the fact that one can make a bear a pet! Black Prince is a hero of the wayward minstrels in Inkworld. Minstrels are considered outcast in Inkworld, therefore they are to live out of sight in the forest and only performs when they are sought to do so! Black Prince later teamed up with Bluejay (Mo) to save the Inkworld! One word to describe him! HERO
Violante - "Her Ugliness" The widow of Cosimo the fair. I find her likable She was only 9 when she marries Cosimo, she was never loved by her father - The Adderhead, and not respected by his son Jacopo! She gotten her name Her Ugliness because she has a very big mark on her face and since birth everyone known her for that. She loves to read and somehow develop a crush for Bluejay! In the end she helped Bluejay to kill her father who never loved her and plan evil against her! At the last chapter after Adder's death she is known as "Her Kindliness" and she rules the kingdom with equality and kindness. Yeah the black big mark on her face faded away when Fegnolio (Writer of Inkworld) wrote it off.
Villains:
Capricorn - The evil guy in the first book. Just one word sums him HATEFUL! He came out of the book and now he has the intention of conquering the world - our world btw! So he schemed to capture Mo and had him read his meanest killing machine - THE SHADOW out of the book to take over the world by fear! Of course he did not suceed at the end and was killed by Maggie. How? Capricorn came to life by mere words therefore he die by words. (Maggie read death upon him)
Basta - Somehow Capricorn right hand man live a little longer than him (Alright so much longer than him. Capricorn was slain in the first book but Basta lived up to the third book and was later resurrected by Orpheus in the form of a nightmare - a ghost like creature that killed to survive) This man is tough and no nonsense type loyal to Capricorn like a dog to his master! Everything that Capricorn asked him to do, he will make sure it gets done! He is good in a bad term!
Orpheus - Fat, greedy, arrogant and evil! That is all that summed up Orpheus, last person that can read characters in and out of books without someone missing from this world. He read himself into Inkworld and somehow wreck havoc in it, as he not only read but he could write using the Inkheart book as a reference and simply by mix and matching, he read riches - untold reaches for himself and then linked himself with the ultimate evil, cold and heartless character to kill Mo. I felt like reaching my hands into the book and giving him three tight slaps! It is a pity that he did not die a tragic death but somehow escaped into the forest at the end of the story! (Geez Cornelia this guy should have die! You should have wrote him off!)
Adderhead - He is the king on the other side of Inkworld! Inkworld is divided into two, one Ombra Kingdom ruled by Laughing Prince, father of Cosimo the Fair (dead twice) who turn to Prince of Sigh at the death of his son and the other one by The Adderhead - The Silver Prince name Argenta! Who lived in the Castle of Night! All he wanted is to live forever, to be immortal! His fear has drawn him to kill, steal and destroy like the "D" himself! He even took bath in fairy bloods in order to be alive! (Duh!) He did gain immortality but only for a while. How? When Mo make him a book of 500 pages with Adder's name written on it! With that book Adder will be alive forever unless someone wrote three words into it! It will instantly end the Adder's life! What are those three powerful words?! You will find out later!
Magpie - Capricorn's mother that outlived his son till the third book, she is an evil woman during the lifetime of her son but once her son was "killed" by Maggie, she only breathe each day to avenge her son death and to make sure the whole entire Folchart family suffer and dies! She is the one that formulated through black magic to swallow seeds that transforms one into a bird! At the end Magpie was killed by Orpheus' nightmare!
Somehow prominent characters that I find annoying
Farid - A character that Mo read out from Ali Baba & Forty Thieves! He is there from the first book until the last page! He is a loyal companion to Dustfinger (In fact Dustfinger died because of him and was later brought back to life by Mo), Maggie's love interest and a damn good fire dancer (He is Dustfinger apprentice) He is strong, mature for a 16 years old and witty! He is ok but somehow he never really stick to me too well! I don't quite like him at times and I find his fear of spirit and darkness a little too much, plus his obsession for Dustinger crazily overwhelming)
Fegnolio - Well, supposed the writer of Inkworld and he is like "god" there if he got his act together! After "god of inkworld" found his world upside down and out of his control, he did not do anything to rectify it or set things right, in fact he thrown himself into alcohol and drown himself in sorrow and disappointment! He even created a mess when he wrote Mo into a "supposed hero" of the book "Bluejay" (a Robin Hood kind of guy!) Fegnolio is another one that I would most likely slap and tell him to get up and write something! Thank God for Elinor! She did that for me! She arrived in Inkworld 20 chapters too late and found Fegnolio and slapped the reality out of him (Well in inkworld you slapped by using words!) He managed to get his act together and start writing bits and pieces here and there! (One notable one is when the Milksop - Adder's brother in law that was placed as puppet governor caught up to the black prince and his people, Fegnolio wrote a giant to save them! Another one was when Mo was injured and at the brink of death, Fegnolio wrote words of healing to make him feel better and to turn his fate around)
Jacopo - The son of Violante and Cosimo the fair. He is a brat! This small boy deserve some ass whopping from his mother. His character is a copy of his grandpa - The Adder but he has the smashing good look of his father Cosimo! Good looks doesn't really made you pleasant, especially you have a terrible character! In the end he is the one that retrieve the book for Mo to write the three words that pronounced the death or Adder! So that makes him OK! Hope he gets better when he grows up!
All wells ends well in this story! The bad guys die and the good guy lives! In spite of the fights and struggles, everything was set right once again and the Folcharts (Including new edition - a baby boy), Elinor, Darius, Fegnolio decided to stay in the Inkworld. So it was a happy read! I was satisfied with how the story is wrapped up when I flipped the book closed! Yay! And what is the three words that have so much power? Power to bring life and death in the Inkworld?
Heart, Spell, Death!
The Bookworm In Me
When it comes to reading, I am not really a fan of autobiography coz its someone else's journey and usually famous people who made it! What about thousands even millions others who had the same dream but not the 'luck' or opportunity? Autobiographies are a bore to me unless maybe with the exception for interesting people like Abraham Lincoln, the man who brought new American Era with the Emancipation Proclamation or maybe Martin Luther King just for his speech 'I have a dream' or maybe one of the Pharaohs like King Tut or Ramesses II - given my fascination with the Ancient Egypt Civilization & Yes I had read all those mentioned above ;)
I am also not a fan of self help, motivation book! Err! This is boring redefine to the highest level! It is kind of cool to be sitting at the sidewalk cafe or for Malaysian is Starbucks or Coffee Bean holding (half reading without minding the words) one of these suckers! Like How to be a better person, how to value happiness and blah blah blah! For me, my life experience is made by jumping into the water and waddle my way through most of the time with nothing but The Bible as my guide or maybe some Max Lucado books! Other than that my life is not determine by "To be Happy I need to take Step 1 then reflect on Step 2 and list down Step 3". I usually lost interest halfway through Chapter one! To be honest : One can be happy if they decide in their mind to push aside and rise above their fears and unhappiness not by reading some motivational ala self help book! Yeah right! Why not buy a Happy Meal instead?! Coz its a Happy Meal!
Nothing compare to reading a management book. These books are usually very painful to go through. I hardly could keep up with the things suggested, what more to practice them! All the theories are too deep but nonetheless kudos to Donald Trump, John Maxwell, C.S.Lewis for all the writing but nah! I pass! I am not smart and I will not pretend to be! Ditto!
I usually enjoy good old fiction! I like to be imaginative! I am attracted to these books more than all those mentioned above! I love to imagine, a place far a way with characters that I do not know and do some snooping without feeling guilty and to feel what they are going through and when all those feelings unnerved me, I can just close the book and come back to it another time.
I recently joined the public library here in Johor and I discovered a world full of books but sad to say that public libraries in Malaysia are so run down and not maintain in a good way, there are leakage here and there, books are old and shabby, the collections are very limited. How do you encourage people to read if your library is in a shamble? No wonder Malaysian's mentality that I faced when I browsed through the limited row of books that few girls exclaimed in Mandarin "How come so old still here in the library?" I stared at them in dismay to know that these are the future generations of Malaysia! A nation that stop to seek knowledge is a dead nation! What makes you think that we can only read when we are in school?! So what we do after school? We leave the books behind and turn our backs on them? Certainly not! We continue to read and improve our vocabs and knowledge! My goodness, it makes me sad!
When I went to the UK, Europe and States, people read books everywhere they go! When they are waiting for tube, waiting in line or just casually lounging on the park, these people read no matter how young or old they are! They are never without a book! From small young tykes to grandmas tending their energetic grandchildren they read! Here in Malaysia we have our young asking why "a person after school" is here in the library! It is weird to be call old and above all sad to be jeered at for wanting to find a book to lost myself in! Sad!
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