Friday 30 January 2015

A thousand pieces of you by Claudia Gray : Short Review

A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird, #1)


This book surprised me because I didn't think I was going to like it. The blurb seemed appealing but when they started travelling around and ended up in a palace, I thought it was going to be a DNF, but it wasn't ,I actually liked that part the most. The combination of romance,sci-fi and mystery made it an unexpected goodread .

Wednesday 28 January 2015

Pizza Express at K11 Hong Kong

Not the best pizza I have ever eaten but not the worst either, a little bit pricey ,but it's Hong Kong . It is all right if you are in Tsim Sha Tsui  and feel like pizza.

by Foodie

Sunday 25 January 2015

Oscar Nominations 2015:Lost Stars

Never Never by Collen Hoover :Acrostic review

Never Never (Never Never, #1)


 Nothing on their minds
empty were their heads
vacant their memories
erased their lives
reading was a must.

Nothing was resolved
everything was unclear
vain seemed the characters
even their romance
read at your own risk.

Thursday 22 January 2015

Penitentes Ski Resort in Mendoza , Argentina

Penitentes ski resort is located 170 km far from the city of Mendoza, it is surrounded by the impressive Andes mountains ,including the Aconcagua, the highest peak in the southern hemisphere .It is a mid-sized resort, visited mainly by people from Mendoza and Buenos Aires.

There are 300 hectares where  you can ski and enjoy the beautiful scenery, besides, the  weather in this area is usually sunny and dry . There are several hotels in the area where you can stay.

The road trip from Mendoza is nice .






The resort wasn't crowded at all when we got there and we had a great time.However,  I suffered from mild altitude sickness since it is 3,194 metres at the top and we had just been at sea level in Buenos Aires.

















 

By Pibe

Sunday 18 January 2015

A Murder of Magpies by Sarah Bromley: Short Review

A Murder of Magpies
This is a novel on how special powers may not be a blessing but a curse . Don't expect a typical action-packed YA story; it is slow-paced but well written and the characters are anything but shallow teenagers. In my opinion it is a sad book about loss, betrayal , narrow-mindedness , neglect, misunderstandings and poor judgement with a glint of hope .

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Will a mobile application expose our feelings?

Ready or not the field of " emotional analytics" is developing fast and Moodies the app developed by Beyond Verbal could reveal what we truly feel whether we like it or not .
Unlike the rest of the gizmos and applications presented in this year's Las Vegas ICE, this one can really tell what people think about it.



Amazing or frightening? Only time will tell.

Monday 12 January 2015

They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire : Review

They All Fall Down
Would you feel proud of yourself if you went from average girl to number five on the list of the hottest girls at school? Kenzie Summerhall is surprised to say the least, but that doesn't prevent her from taking advantage of the perks of being considered a hottie: new friends, nice guys, cool parties.

What makes this book entertaining is that things are not as simple as they seem to be and as some girls from the list die because of freak accidents Kenzie wonders whether it is worth it at all.There is the cliched love triangle that abounds in YA books: a nice jock and a bad guy with a criminal record, both of them incredibly gorgeous and head over heels in love with a regular girl.However, the book also addresses more relevant topics such as the power of friendship and guilt.

The ending is a bit far-fetched ,but all in all I enjoyed the novel. It made me think of my Latin teacher who was for sure really good, because I passed even if I was hopeless at it.I wish I could recall more from his lesson but I only remember a few random sentences:si vis pacem para bellum (if you want peace, prepare for war),veni,vidi,vinci ( I came, I saw ,I conquered) and of course the most popular one carpe diem (seize the day) which we all use ad nauseam (to an excessive degree).

If you want mystery, romance, action and some Latin,read the book.

Friday 9 January 2015

Nata Lisboa: Egg Tarts



I  guess China and specially Hong Kong is a strange place to eat for the first time these Portuguese  Custard Tarts or Pasteis de Nata, but that is where I had them, so when I finally had the chance of enjoying the actual Portuguese ones from the European franchise Nata Lisboa I was eager to see if they were better than my favourite ones from HK.The motto of this company is The World Needs Nata and I completely agree with it.

Nata Lisboa has shops is many countries .Its exclusive recipe was developed by pastry professionals and was the winner of a blind test performed in the School of Hotel Services and Tourism of Lisbon.


The café was nice and the service good . They kept the tarts warm and they were  fresh. The dough was  crusty and in fact as good as it could  be, however , I found the custard too sweet and liquid in comparison to the ones from Lord Stow. Don’t get me wrong, they were  good and probably  someone with a sweet tooth would find them amazing, the place was packed and everybody seemed to be enjoying them, so it is just me and my slight dislike for sugary treats. 

Thursday 1 January 2015

X-mas presents, bad gifts and poker faces


When you don't know what to buy to your loved ones , is it a good idea to give money instead of presents? Nowadays,  receiving money has become commonplace and gift cards abound in almost any shop, even in supermarkets. But is it a colder present or a wiser one?

We have all ended up with horrendous gifts we didn't like at all .Namely: socks, pyjamas, books on topics we will never read , household items ,ties, handkerchiefs, scarfs, flashy make up, useless gadgets ... and so on. (Come to think of it, I bet one of the main purposes of Ebay is to sell those products). We certainly wish we had been given money on more than one occasion, so why not do the same?

If there is goodwill ,I believe any present can be good ,if not, I'd rather not waste my time shopping  for somebody who doesn't even deserve a toothpick box and I prefer a little bit of cash or a gift card instead of an awful present.
However, when a present has been chosen carefully and the right amounts of money , time and LOVE have been devoted to purchasing it , that present becomes a pleasure to give and to receive .

For those who find it difficult not to show their feelings when opening a bad presents and also for after dinner games, this is an interesting video on how to make a poker face.