nateniale's travels

What I love about traveling is experiencing the lives and culture of people in the places that I've been. And once awhile, there are books that are able to do just that. I've just finished reading one that transported me right in the middle of the working class in India who lived in poverty. I finished reading The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga in just a few days!  It reminded me of a couple of other books that I enjoyed which was also based in India - The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh (also based in Burma and Malaya) and also Q & A by Vikas Swarup (adapted into Slumdog Millionaire).  { Here is a list of books I've read }

The musical, Wicked , the untold stories of the witches of Oz, is coming to Singapore! When I first heard about the musical a couple of years ago, and found out that it was based on the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, I went and bought the book! I mean, I loved The Wizard of Oz, so I expected that I would love the story as well. Somehow, I could not finish reading the book, and it is (unfortunately) still sitting patiently on my book shelf for me to finish it. Well, now that the musical is coming to Singapore, I have bought the tickets, and hoping that having the story brought to life in the form of a musical would be much better than reading the book. Will tell you how it is once I have watched the musical!

The best trends, destinations, journeys and experiences for the upcoming year.  That was what the Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2011 was all about. Flipping through the pages brought out the wanderlust in me ( not that it wasn't already there before ). It inspires me to visit more places this year and put more places into my travel wish list . There are some places that I had been in the last few of years... Japan - Top 10 Countries Cappadocia, Turkey - Top 10 Regions New York City - Top 10 Cities and a couple of places that I am planning to go this year... Italy - Top 10 Countries Chiang Mai - Top 10 Cities and many more that I would love to go one day.  In the list of top 10 best things to do in 2011 was "write a postcard". In this day and age, writing with a pen on a postcard with stamp is fast becoming a lost art. I would like to do more of this, although the last time I sent postcards (from Turkey), only 2 out of the 6 postcards I sent out actuall...

I have heard about Haruki Murakami , but has been quite reluctant to try reading his books. I found out that unless I really like the genre or the stories that the specific authors write, I usually cannot appreciate their books. These would include Neil Gaiman and even Paulo Coelho . While I appreciate their books, they are usually not easy reads - at least, not for me. However, I finally decide to buy and read one of his books, and I picked up Sputnik Sweetheart . I started reading the book without knowing the genre that Murakami usually writes. It was, fortunately, a quite easy read for me. I finished it within 5 days (with probably just an average of half an hour each day). It was one of those novels where you just could not put down. But here is the beauty of it - the novel touched me in many ways and made me think and wonder, but at the end of it all, I have to admit that I don't really know what this novel is about. The words, the prose, the stories are suspenseful and h...

I decided to buy and read this book after I saw the trailer of the movie based on the book. The movie starred Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin. I was initially reluctant to read the book as I read one of Jodi Picoult's book called The Tenth Circle and I remembered that I didn't like it all that much. However, after watching the trailer and loving the story line, and hearing good reviews about the movie, I decided to read it. The books which movies are based on are usually much better than the movies themselves, aren't they? The book is about a 13-year-old Anna who sues her parents for medical emancipation - for the right to decide what she wants to do with her body medically. You see, she is conceived and born to be the perfect genetic match to her older sister Kate, who has life-threatening leukemia. Considering the topic, it is not surprising that I ended up crying while reading the book. I also like the way the book is written. The story is told from the various vi...