Liebster Blog Award

Hello friends!

I feel like I've been too stagnant in the blogosphere lately. If it weren't for my scheduled posts, I wouldn't have any post up last week! To think it's only been one week in school. In spite of this, I had loads of fun. For the first three days, we held our annual intramurals/sportsfest. I acted as a double body for chess and volleyball. Although I had to give up chess midway to be able to play ball, we were able to place second for volleyball! It was the best intrams I have ever had. Appropriate since it's the last one before I graduate. On Saturday, we had our leadership training. (Yeah, there were people who actually trusted me to be a leader *tears*) I had to endure waking up early on a Saturday and a five-hour bus trip going to Morong, Bataan where we visited Dambana ng Kagitingan (Shrine of Valor)- a monument dedicated to the real heroes of World War II- and released baby pawikans, an act to rehabilitate the endangered species. All in all, it was hectic week. One that I wouldn't trade for anything.

But to top it all off, right after I got home from the trip, I found out I was nominated for a Liebster Blog Award! This award was bestowed upon me by the lovely ELAdams, also known as the author of the new YA book, The Puppet Spell. You don't know how much it means to me for a published author to recognize my blog and in part, me! It kind of feels like a deity has gone down from the heavens just so I could touch his/her hand. Aaaah. 

*breathes into a paper bag*

Moving on, here are the rules for the Liebster Blog Award:

1. Tell 11 things about yourself.
2. Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.
3. Post 11 questions for those who will be nominated by you.
4.  Nominate 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
5. Get in contact with those 11 (but I only have 4) bloggers in order to inform them that you nominated them.

So first up, fun facts about me, myself and I:

1. I am a seventeen year-old girl who is slightly below the five feet mark. Pedobears, please stay away. 
2. I am very creative with naming dogs. Cases in point, I call our Pomeranian "Pompom" and our Pug "Apug."
3. I stand by pandas, the most awesome animal in the world, despite my friend's protest and claim that giant octopuses(there is no such things as octopi) would win over pandas any day. 
4. I am a girly girl at heart. I would choose dresses, skirts, shorts and high heels over jeans on most days.
5. I am a naturally bubbly person. Even when I want to be depressed, I can't. 
6. I joined last year's NaNoWriMo. Sadly, I didn't even get past the 10 000 words mark.
7. I love my current English teacher to bits even if she does think I am weird.
8. My ultimate cuss word is "siomai" (dumpling). Derived from sh*t. 
9. I am easily scared by the supernatural.
10. Even though I am one year away from "freedom", I force my parents to let me sleep beside them although I have my own room. Except most of the time, they still say no. Ha.

And here are ELAdams questions for me and my replies:

What inspired you to start writing? 

If I were to be honest with myself, I'd say it was borne from selfishness. According to Jade from the game Tales of the Abyss, acts of charity always begin as self-centered. But it is though our "pure" desires that we are able to affect the people around us (or something like that. I can't match up to Jade's genius, okay?!) So while I do believe writing is a social act, for me, writing has first and foremost been about self-fulfillment. 

Perhaps a kinder way of saying "Listen to me for my thoughts hold value therefore my existence has meaning". In a more poetic sense, I write to give a body for the voices - my thoughts- inside my head. 

Which writers do you most admire?

A toss-up between Alison Goodman and Laini Taylor because a part of me dies (in a good way!) whenever I read their work. Such beautiful prose and characters and everything else. *dies some more*

Which are your all-time favourite books?

Tricky. Of course there's EON & EONA by Alison Goodman and Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor. For chic-lit, Anna and the French Kiss & Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. In contemporary, there is Where She Went by Gayle Forman. Dystopia: Unwind trilogy by Neal Shusterman and The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. For fantasy there's Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Oh, and Percy Jackson & the Olympians!

How do you like to spend your free time?

Depending on my mood, I'd be reading (duh!), watching anime, playing video games, drawing or cooking. I love arts.

Favourite movie?

I'm not much of a movie buff but for now I would have to go with Mean Girls because you can watch it over and over again and not get bored.

Where would you love to travel to?

JAPAN. Definitely Japan. Paris is a close second. I'm drooling just thinking about it!

Favourite music to listen to when writing?

... The sound of my fingers typing? I'm not much of a music person.

What are you reading now?

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima. I love Raisa and Hans to bits! Individually and as a couple <3 Yes, I am already shipping it.

Tell me a random fact about yourself.

I don't like beaches. They're hot and the sea water stings my eyes which makes it no fun at all. It doesn't help that I am insecure in a swimsuit.

What are your hopes for this year?

That I will go where I need to go. And not die. Always the first on my list.

What inspires you?

Life. Pure and simple.

Next up, my own set of questions:

1. If given the chance to change your name, what would you be baptized as?
2. If you were a color, what would you be and why?
3. Name the happiest moment of your life (one that you are comfortable sharing).
4. On eggs: Scrambled, sunny side up or boiled?
5. Which fictional character do you relate most to and why?
6. If you could live in any book, what would it be? And the mandatory why?
7. What's one book that you wish you could have written?
8. What is your earliest memory?
9. You win the lottery and receive a million dollars. What would your first buy be?
10. What would you name your firstborn?
11. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

And now, my nominees!

1. Amelia from Krazy Kharacters
2. Ula from Blog of Erised
3. Bo from Bo's Book Nook
4. Courtney from Courtney Reads A Lot

Fin.