Miss AYA Says

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

2012-12-20T18:50:00.002+08:00

LATE POST :)

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Hello, my dears. It's 9 in the morning while I'm typing this. I just finished reading the sixth book of the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. Gonna tell you this now: I actually didn't hate the series! When I started reading the first book, I had this feeling that I'd hate it. But I didn't, and that's why I was able to finish reading all six books in the series! For me, it's not as exciting as the Hunger Games trilogy but I thought it was still pretty engaging over-all. Did I love it? Now, that's a question I still don't know the answer to. I still have a lot of Q's in my head... you know, about the ending and some parts of the story. I know I have to write about this or else I won't be able to sleep. Haha.

So here goes.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the series, Google it. Haha just kidding. The story goes something like this...

The next part contains some spoilers.

-Twins Sophie and Josh witness and somehow get involved in a magical duel between a stranger and Nick Fleming, the owner of the bookshop where Josh is working. The stranger, John Dee, is after The Codex, an ancient magic book. Dee steals the Codex, kidnaps Nick's wife, Perry, and leaves without knowing that Josh has managed to rip the last two pages from the book. Nicholas then reveals to the twins that he is really Nicholas Flamel, a French alchemist who, along with his wife, uses information from the Codex to regularly brew an immortality potion to keep himself alive for centuries. Without the Codex, they won't be able to brew the potion, and they will become mortal again and eventually die. Nicholas also tells the twins that he and Perry believe that Sophie and Josh are the 'twins of legend' - 'The two that are one and the one that is all. One to save the world and one to destroy it.' Nicholas seeks the help of an old friend and an Elder to have the twins' magical powers awakened, just as Dee discovers that the last two pages of the Codex, and unfortunately the ones that he need, are missing. And this is where the chase begins.-

There were a lot of characters in the whole series that at times I found myself confused, but as the series progressed, I became more familiar with the characters and understood their roles' importance. There were many familiar names (though I don't really know much about them because I am not well-versed in history and mythology).

The story's told from a third person's point of view. A lot of times I found myself really engaged after reading a chapter. As engaging and exciting as many of the chapters were, I still found myself bored by a quite a few of them, especially the flashbacks. Each book has more than 60 chapters. A lot, right? But they're short chapters, don't worry :P

I will tell you this: A lot of things happened from the first to the last book that I couldn't believe it when I realized that only 1-2 weeks had actually passed in the book's setting from the first to the last book. That's how continuous and fast-paced the story was.

Now here are my questions.

1. Why were Isis and Osiris, supposedly Earthlords, so easy to defeat? I thought there was going to be a really cool magic battle between them and the twins on the top of the Pyramid of the Sun.

2. What happened to the Codex? The Mage wrote it, right? But when Dee and all the other characters ended up in the past at Danu Talis, Abraham took the book from him. Why did he need to take it? I mean, they're in the past so technically, the Codex still wasn't stolen yet. Then Abraham then handed it to his wife who then gave it to Josh who eventually became Marethyu. Marethyu gave it to the Flamels, then Dee stole it from the Flamels, and the cycle goes on. Am I missing something?

3. Why did Sophie not get much of an ending?

4. What happened to the Flamels? At first I thought they died in the end because of what Marethyu said about taking them to Paris blah blah blah, but then he said (in his letter to Sophie) that he and the Flamels were there at Aoife and Niten's wedding. I'm so confused.

Yeah. Can't sleep. Still thinking of the ending and looking back at some parts. I might have overlooked some things?

Over-all, it's an engaging series, and I enjoyed most of it. I read the whole series through my Kindle app. I saw the actual books in the bookstore. I like the magical-looking book covers :)

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Giveaway Alert! Dream Makeup - Sigma Essential Brush Kit Giveaway

2012-12-20T18:12:00.000+08:00

Helloooo! I joined Dream Makeup's Sigma giveaway! They're giving away a Sigma Essential Brush Kit (of winner's choice)! AWESOME.

I chose the Blue Bunny kit. WANT. WANT. WANT! Please, please, please, be mine!!!

*fingers crossed*

Link to the giveaway: http://dreammakeup-blog.blogspot.com/2012/12/sigma-beauty-essential-brush-kit.html

Giveaway Alert! Couch Wasabi Saladbox Giveaway

2012-10-22T13:02:00.002+08:00

Hullo! I blogged about SaladBox already. Read my post about it on my beauty blog: http://www.codenameaya.com/2012/09/saladboxlaunch.html. The first box's out already. I'm not subscribed to SaladBox yet, though. Came across Couch Wasabi's Saladbox giveaway earlier. Perfect timing! I really want to win this so I can finally be able to experience box subscription services. And I wanna see if The SaladBox subscription is really worth it (at least, based on the first few boxes). Dumarami na ang mga beauty boxes here in the Philippines lately, ah.

If you want to join too, here's the link to CW's giveaway: http://couchwasabi.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/cw-belated-birthday-saladbox-starter-plan-free-subscription/. CW is giving away a SaladBox Starter Plan subscription (for Nov-Dec boxes) :)

*crossing fingers*

Are you going to the 2012 BDJ Fair? I am!

2012-10-10T21:50:00.000+08:00

I’m super excited for the 2012 BDJ Fair at the SM MOA Music Hall on October 14! :) Just a couple more days and I’ll see you all the Fair!

The 2012 BDJ Fair is open to everyone! :) Drop by and visit the different partner booths, and get the newest editions of the Belle de Jour Power Planner, Navi: Your Life Navigator and the FMN Notebooks at 20% off! Their newest planner, everything is possible, will also be released at 20% off!

Enjoy the various fun activities from our various brand partners!! No Entrance Fee!!

For a small donation of Php 100, get a chance to enjoy special booths :)

I’ll be bringing:

my camera because I will be meeting my blogger friends there, and because I want to remember all the FUN.
(wearing) a laid-back and comfy outfit and my new flats because I know I'm gonna be walking a lot there.
cash, of course, for a VIP pass (yey!) and any other stuff I might see there. Planners and notebooks are discounted!

I’m excited to see Donna Cuna-Pita, Tricia Gosingtian, PJ Lanot, Patty Laurel, Divine Lee, Jasmine Mendiola, Erica Paredes, Georgina Wilson and Fitz Villafuerte in the 2012 BDJ Fair: Limitless!

For more details check out their Facebook Page: facebook.com/BelledeJourPlanner. Visit their website at www.belledejourpowerplanner.com

See you all there at the BDJ Fair!

Barbie Mariposa-Inspired Look Trial 1

2012-07-31T07:36:00.004+08:00

Hey guys! I watched Barbie Mariposa (again) yesterday and found Mariposa's look really pretty. So I tried to recreate it.

Here's what I ended up with. It's not exactly the same as Mariposa's. I was just actually testing out the eyeshadow colors I'd be using and the technique.

Note: Photos are enhanced (using Picasa). Obvious naman eh, di ba? :) I originally planned on just posting this on Instagram since this was just a trial look. Figured I'd post it here on my personal blog, too :)

I need to bring the purple eyeshadow into the inner crease and line my upper lash line just a bit more thickly. I barely lined it this time. I think I should also soften the outer corner.

I'll post the complete look on my beauty blog soon :)

Fish-tail!

2012-07-30T09:05:00.000+08:00

Did this many months ago, just forgot to post. My hair's long enough for braids like this now. Yey! I tried doing a fish-tail braid for a change. I usually just go for the regular braid.

I think braids look really nice messy and textured, and on hair with highlights.

Unfortunately, my dark brown hair color didn't show up at all in the picture. Well, I wouldn't really expect it to show up. It's been a year since I colored my hair! HAHAHA. It's time to color it againnnnnnnnnnnn :)

If my hair were a few inches longer, the fishtail braid would have looked more like a fishtail. It's supposed to thin out as you go down to the tips of your hair. Anyway, might try this again now that my hair is 5 months longer (?) :)

To My Baby Misha

2012-07-08T23:11:00.002+08:00

Four months ago, on March 6, one of our dogs passed away. Her name's Misha. She was just about to celebrate her 9th birthday on March 28 but too bad she never got to. Misha was a very good dog. She was family. I still miss her.

She was like a little sister to me.

She was a very sweet baby.

I will never forget her.

Never forget how she liked sleeping on my bed, on the sofa, on her plastic chair, on the planggana, on newspaper, on rags, on slippers.

How she followed us around the house, even to the bathroom.

How she sang every time the ice cream man passed by.

How she liked licking Moshi's ears clean.

How she liked eating the plants in the garden, especially the lemon grass.

How she liked eating the wallpaper thingy on our wall whenever she's jealous and making papansin.

How she liked to sit on our laps.

How she liked catching her food when we throw it in her direction.

How she loved sunbathing.

Her tail.

Her big tummy.

Her triangle face. Her petal ears.

Her pink nose.

Her soft paws.

Her longganisa pose.

Her pa-cuteness.

Her Dobby face.

I can go on and on, you know.

I miss her everyday.

Misha, we all miss you. Moshi misses you so much.

I love you, Mimi.

Thoughts on stuff

2012-06-16T12:54:00.001+08:00

Hello, my friends! How are you? I hope you're having a nice weekend :)

Anyway, I am back! My schedule is back to 'normal' again, and by normal I mean I'm officially unemployed again. Haha. I am back to being a student again, though. I have to say, I wasn't really excited to enroll in graduate school. I had mixed feelings about it. The thought of being a student again excited me a bit, just a bit, but the thought of graduate classes and more difficult courses kinda cancelled out my excitement. I cracked the other day, felt so sad and alone and scared, and decided not to finish the enrollment anymore. But then the next day I was feeling a lot better already so I decided to go back to the campus to finally register. Yeah, even I don't get myself sometimes. Ang labo ko lang. So now, I'm officially a graduate student. I have to say, though... I'm still not totally excited about this whole thing. I know I'm gonna get used to it. Eventually.

In another note, if you guys haven't followed me on Instagram, then please do. My user name is CodenameAYA and I share personal and blog-related stuff on there :)

(From Google)

See you there!!! :)

And please continue to support my beauty blog - www.codenameaya.com. A giveaway is coming up soon! :)

Real or not real?

2012-02-01T11:59:00.000+08:00

Hellooooo! I switched my laptop on again after 3 long days. What have I been doing? Well, here's what...

I've been reading The Hunger Games trilogy OVER AND OVER AGAIN, been watching The Hunger Games movie trailer OVER AND OVER AGAIN, been getting chills and excitement upon watching The Hunger Games movie trailer OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

Whew.

Seriously, I did spend the last three days reading the three books. Didn't get enough sleep but everything's worth it. I cannot wait for the movie to come out! The books themselves are very exciting and hard to put down. Kilig, tawa, luha - yeah, I'm allowed to be shallow once in a while!

I've never been this excited in a very, very, very long time!

Soooo...

2011-12-22T01:56:00.000+08:00

How have you been?

Just wanna share with you this fishy and chippy goodness!

YUM.

On Giveaways and Friends

2011-11-25T15:55:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone! I mentioned in my previous post in this personal blog of mine that I would be having a giveaway soon. Well, thanks to HBC, that giveaway is now up and running on my beauty blog, Codename AYA. Wait, make that "giveaways." Yes, plural! Every week for 8 weeks, HBC and I will share with you different makeup tips and feature HBC products which you can get for FREE just by answering the question of the week. Click *here* to check out the ongoing giveaway! :)

Aside from that giveaway, I'm also gonna be having another giveaway on December, in celebration of my blog's first anniversary! YEEEEY! I hope you watch out for it and join as well! I'm really excited about this!!!

I've been blogging for almost two years now. My first blog was about chemistry. Haha. A bit nerd-ish, I know. I was still a student then. Anyway, after I graduated, I had a lot (and I mean A LOOOOT) of free time, and I spent most of that time reading beauty blogs and watching beauty videos on YouTube. That's when I first started getting interested in beauty blogging. I posted my first ever haul post on December 5, 2010, and you can read that *here.* From then on, I just couldn't (and still can't) stop blogging. I seriously am enjoying this. And although I still don't have a full-time job, I feel that I have a lot of responsibilities already - all blog-related. I consider blogging as my "work" (for now).

One of the things that I enjoy about blogging is meeting new friends. I've met quite a few fellow bloggers already. One of my first blogger friends, Ann of The Beauty Addict, is even having a giveaway right now. Click on the picture below to join her giveaway.

Of course, I'm joining this giveaway! This is my way of showing my support to my blogger friends.

If you think that blogging is just all about the freebies, the events, the features, the sponsors, etc., you are wrong. For me, what's important is that you write about what you know and about things you enjoy, share that with other people, and meet new friends along the way ;P

I smell a giveaway

2011-11-01T01:31:00.001+08:00

Hey there! Last night, I noticed that my beauty blog's Facebook page finally got 200 likes. YEEEY! A huuuuuge THANKS to everyone who clicked the Like button!

And the other day, I also noticed that my beauty blog now had 350 readers. Again, super THANKS to everyone who are subscribed to the said blog in any way!

Love you all! Thank you so much for reading my posts! I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

To show my appreciation to everyone who reads and supports my blog, I am going to hold a giveaway. Please stay tuned for that and check my beauty blog regularly for updates.

At last!

2011-09-25T00:12:00.005+08:00

Hi everyone! I don't know if anybody is paying attention to this personal blog but whatever! If you were wondering why I haven't been posting on my beauty blog as much as I have been before, well here's the answer... I was busy preparing for my chemistry board exam. Yes. Busy studying, busy memorizing countless chemical reactions, equations, busy solving for the pH, energy, molar mass, potential and all that good stuff. I remember mentioning this in some of my posts already.

Anyway, the exam is finally over! Two days, four subjects, four hours per subject. Thank God I survived. I'm still in one piece. I received good news two days after the exam. I am now officially a chemist!

Honestly, I hated the feeling of waiting for the results more than taking the exam itself. The wait's so worth it, though. Now that is over, there's more blogging time for me. Hihihi.

I just want to thank everyone who wished me well for my exam. I've only been blogging for about 10 months but I've already met a lot of really sweet people here in the blogosphere. I never would've imagined that I'd be spending a lot of time interacting with people I've only met online and have never met in person. Your simple wishes for my exam made me feel better and more confident so thank you, thank you, thank you! :)

Curly pony

2011-08-25T10:00:00.001+08:00

I put my hair into a side ponytail the other day. And the tail decided to curl by itself.

Cooooool :D

It's been a while...

2011-08-23T11:00:00.001+08:00

... since I last saw my nails like this.

Short and stain-free.

Self-control

2011-08-21T03:02:00.000+08:00

My nails are naked for two weeks now.

That's a record.

But that doesn't mean that my nails don't have any color on them right now. They have color, alright... a nasty yellow color.

Will wait for the stain to grow out first before applying nail polish again.

I can do this.

Wait, wait, what is that?

I see a bottle of baby blue nail polish.

Oh, wow, that's such a lovely shade.

I want that on my nails now.

Dead, no more!

2011-08-19T14:28:00.005+08:00

Oh, hey there! Hi, hello, my name is Aya! If you read my beauty blog (*here*), then you probably know me as "Codename Aya." Yeah, that's kinda like my screen name.

But anyway, as I've mentioned, I have a beauty blog and in that blog I talk about beauty, makeup, skin care and sometimes (just sometimes) fashion. If you enjoy blog posts about product reviews, hauls, tutorials and all that kind of stuff, or if you're the type of person who doesn't want to spend a lot of money just for makeup and whatnot, then head on over to my beauty blog! See you there!

Anyway, enough with the commercial. What's up with this new blog, you may ask? Well this "new" blog is not actually new. This blog was created by me more than a year ago but it died after a couple of months. It was known as "30 Days of Summer" back then because I created this blog to document my thesis-filled summer, one day at a time. My goal that time was to be able to finish my thesis in 30 days, just in time for summer graduation. Read *this* post to know the whole story. That's why if you look back at my "previous" posts, you'll see lots of chemistry-ish terms and rants. But if you check, I never got to write my 30th-day post. And you can guess why. :( Yeah, so that's how this blog died.

What a really sad ending for a blog, eh? But can you blame me for not wanting to look at it since? Of course I didn't want to remember the bitter and frustrating past. I didn't even have the guts to give the blog some kind of closure. Haha! That's how bad of a blogger I was.

But now everything's changed. I am reviving this good ol' blog of mine... I gave it a whole new look. And a new name to go with the new look, too, of course! Basically, this blog will serve as my other outlet... you know, like where I can write anything I want about anything I want. I just don't wanna "contaminate" my beauty blog with posts that aren't actually related to beauty (contaminate... my, what a chem-ish term O_O).

Sooooooooo that's the story of how this blog died and how it is coming back to life again. Hope to see you again here soon :)

Day 27: Net Excitement

2010-05-12T12:49:00.000+08:00

Three more days to go before my supposed-to-be-deadline-for-everything and I'm doing NOTHING. So much for keeping busy.

Tomorrow is a special day for me and I'm really excited. My excitement, however, is "overpowered" by this sort of test anxiety regarding Saturday's chemistry board exam simulation. That, however, is overpowered by excitement re my birthday celebration on Saturday. What I really feel right now: net excitement.

I wonder what cake I'll be having. Hmmm.

This was last year's cake, btw.

Day 24: Frustrations

2010-05-08T22:24:00.000+08:00

You know what they say... "Nothing is perfect." And my work in the laboratory is no exception. I just have to accept that we don't always get what we want when we want them. We don't always get favorable results on the first try, right? These things... they take time. And that's the sad part. Time is what I don't have right now. And I am even starting to think that maybe 30 days aren't enough. I know it's my own fault. I let myself be distracted by so many things back when I had all the time in the world. So now I am in so much pressure. Maybe this is the reason why I've been acting kind of weird lately. I feel so angry and irritable most of the time. I vent out my frustrations to innocent people. I'm becoming more and more sensitive and emotional. I know all this will be over. I just hope it will all be over soon.

I've got no time to lose. Next week's gonna be one hell of a week for me, I know it. I won't even get to rest and enjoy on my own birthday. Well, that sucks.

Day 22: On Gel Chrom

2010-05-05T14:01:00.000+08:00

It's May 5, Day 22 of my thirty-day series.

I'm in the lab right now and today's agenda: Swelling of Sephadex G-100 and column set-up.

For those of you who have no idea what Gel Chrom (Gel Filtration Chromatography) is about but wanna know more about it, click here.

Actually, Sephadex G-100 takes about three days (at room temperature) to swell BUT this swelling time may be shortened using a boiling water bath. Bottom line: my three-day waiting time is reduced to 5 hours, yeah! And now, three of the five hours have passed. Two more hours to go.

Day Whatever: Partials

2010-05-01T20:44:00.000+08:00

I doubt that anyone noticed that I haven't posted anything this week. So much more my 30-day countdown, eh? Anyway, this week I started writing my manuscript, making do with the partial results that I have in hand.

So much to do, so little time.

Day 14: Swimming

2010-04-24T01:46:00.000+08:00

The usual centrifugation, SDS-PAGE and Bradford assay... nothing new.

The highlight of my day would probably be the overnight-swimming with my family. A little confession coming up. I'm already 19 y.o. but I still don't know how to swim. But hey, it's ok. I know that I'm not the only one who doesn't :P

Day 13: On Dialysis

2010-04-22T18:38:00.003+08:00

Today's agenda: Dialysis.

I've done this for the third time already and here are the steps that I follow in dialyzing my crude protein extract.

Step 1: Wash the dialyzing membrane with distilled water.

Step 2: Soak the membrane in boiling water for five minutes.

Step 3: Wash the membrane with distilled water again.

Step 4: Tie one end of the membrane with a cotton string.

Step 5: Fill the bag up with your sample.

Step 6: Tie the other end of the bag with a cotton string.

Step 7: Suspend the bag inside a container filled with the dialyzing buffer.

Step 8: Place the container inside a bucket packed with ice.

Step 9: Stir the dialyzing buffer using a magnetic rod and stirrer.

Step 10: Allow dialysis to proceed for several hours.

Step 11: Change the dialyzing buffer then resume dialysis. Change the buffer after every several hours.

Step 12: Allow dialysis to proceed until the required amount of time is achieved.

Day 12: Merlin

2010-04-21T18:41:00.004+08:00

Yes. Merlin, the TV series, is what I am up to right now. And I'm lovin' it.

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Here's a little bonus for all you reading me (except for my thesismates).

A FREE MEAL for the first one who correctly guesses the two things I did in the laboratory today, April 21, 2010. Of course, these "things" have something to do with my thesis. And YES, a free meal to the first one who guesses correctly. I promise. Comment your answer(s). Good luck! [Bonus valid only until 7 pm, April 22, 2010.]

Day 11: Sick

2010-04-20T17:59:00.000+08:00

Day 11.

Nothing exciting happened today. Bradford assay here, SDS-PAGE there. Bradford and SDS-PAGE over and over again. Nothing new, really. Sometimes when you do something over and over again, you just get sick of it. BUT I cannot afford to "get sick of it." No, not now.