I love getting spa treatments — that little window of time for relaxing and revitalizing is a godsend, whether it’s a heavenly massage,  beautifying facial, a glam hair treatment, or a foot spa for your aching feet.

One of my recent memorable spa experiences is the Lulur Ken Dedes massage at Win’s Spa in Batam, Indonesia (we took a ferry from Singapore) — around 175,000 Rupiah (more or less SGD 30 or USD $20), which is a two-hour package inclusive of a traditional message, sauna, body scrub, and herbal soak. Apparently, “Ken Dedes” is a royal beauty treatment named after Princess Ken Dedes of the Singosari Empire of 18th century East Jaya, and is a complete package of beauty care, especially for brides (they didn’t tell us that at the spa, or maybe they tried to but they weren’t speaking much English).

I love Javanese massage –it’s based on thumb pressure: pushing and circling the muscles while the palm strokes  simultaneously, releasing the knots and improving blood circulation. Then the body scrub (“lulur”) — it’s a fragrant paste of sandal wood, turmeric, groundnuts, rice and other scented woods. The golden scrub is rubbed onto the skin for exfoliation and left to dry, then  rubbed off again, leaving the skin rosy and silky smooth. A fragrant herbal bath follows, and they dress you in this luxurious batik gown, and give you a cup of ginger tea while you sit for a certain procedure that can’t be posted here (hahaha — my book club gal pals know, though). It was a great spa experience, and I’d go back to Batam just for this.

I mention this because of a book I recently discovered, Wellness on the Islands: The Philippine Spa Experience by Elizabeth V. Reyes, photography by Luca Invernizzi Tettoni (also the team behind design coffeetable books such as Filipino style and The Tropical House: Cutting Edge Design), which I reviewed for Zen Health Magazine.

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I’ve had the Percy Jackson books thrust at me by random people because they know I’m a big Harry Potter fan, and people who really know me can tell them that the more people foist a book on me the less likely I am to pick it up. Hence, it’s taken me a while to pick up the Percy Jackson books.

I originally read the first book because I was planning on seeing the movie, but changed my mind about the movie when I heard it was a long way away from the book.  So I ended up reading on in the series instead. I finished all five books in the space of one week in February: the first two books in one night, and the next three books (borrowed from my cousin Chickoy) in one sitting.

Here goes my verdict post.

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I just saw Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland today, and much like the Sherlock Holmes movie some months ago, it’s not part of the canon, although it does borrow much of Lewis Carroll’s  Alice is 19, doesn’t remember any of her “Wonderland” adventures, and falls down the rabbit hole again as she flees from a marriage proposal from the foppish Hamish. Alice must fulfill the prophecy in the oraculum and slay the Jabberwocky to save Underland from the evil Red Queen.

Like all Tim Burton Films, it’s a visual spectacle, and I credit him that. I liked the Cheshire Cat, the Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman!), and the Red Queen, not so much the jaded Alice, the depressing Mad Hatter (as much as I love Johnny Depp, I don’t like his Wonka and his Mad Hatter and they both seem like the same eerie caricatures on crack), or the  hammed up White Queen.  With this grown up version of Alice, I missed the heart and whimsicality of the original Alice, and I wouldn’t trade that for all the visual effects in the world.

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Shortly after reading Fables, I read another Eisner award-winning graphic novel: Mom’s Cancer by Brian Fies.

In case you’re not into graphic novels, Eisner awards are like the Oscars of graphic novels. More formally known as the Will Eisner Comic Industry award, these awards are given in honor of comic artist and writer William Eisner to recognize exemplary works in the comics industry.I’ve recently finished some Eisner-award winning graphic novels — Eisner awards are like, the Oscars of graphic novels. More formally known as the Will Eisner Comic Industry award, these awards are given in honor of comic artist and writer William Eisner to recognize exemplary works in the comics industry.

Mom’s Cancer, originally published online, won the Eisner for Best Digital Comic in 2005, the first ever awardee for that category.

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Spot the not -- could she be a fable?

I was doing my rounds of local blogs today (part of my daily work routine) and came across the strangest thing: a mysterious ghostly sighting that’s been popping up all over the city all week!  It was on both Chuvaness and Byahilo, and I managed to catch Enrico (Mr. Byahilo himself!) online to ask about it — and he sent me this photo (thanks, Eric)!

That’s kind of freaky — imagine riding a train to work, partly drifting in and out of sleep, and being jolted out of your early morning stupor to find this ghastly woman in a period costume right in front of you, her cold, clammy hands gripping the handrail! She looks as if she stepped out of the pages of Noli Me Tangere, or maybe even Snow White!

This “ghost” sighting comes just in time — I was about to publish this review of the Fables Deluxe Edition by Bill Willingham, et al, so I hurriedly had to edit this entry to add this photo!

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