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Oh my goodness catching up on blogging is taking AGES. Good thing I don’t have much school work to do this weekend! I’m almost done though, I’ve finished my Fiji recaps and my next (DOUBLE) daily dinners post is almost finished and ready to post on Monday morning. Hooray!

Today I thought I’d just tie up a few loose ends and get completely caught up.

My overall impressions of Fiji are AWESOME. I LOVED my trip and I’m so grateful that I got to see and do so much. I feel like I got quite a decent picture of Fiji since I got to see it from so many different viewpoints: as a tourist, as an international student, as a local etc etc. It was great having Rosemarie to show me around and introduce me to her friends from Fiji and all over the place.

Fiji is a little more expensive than South East Asia but it’s also so much less stressful because (almost) no one tries to scam you! It seems that Fijians are very honest people. I found the prices to be generally fair and there were no tricks. I’m sure there are exceptions to this but really I didn’t have any problems. It is also handy that there is no language barrier.

One thing about travelling in Fiji though is that you have to be pretty willing to eat whatever is made for you. At a lot of the resorts you don’t get any choices and your dinner will just be brought out for you already served up on a plate. This is pretty much my favourite way to dine, so I was happy, haha. But if you’re a bit picky you might go a little hungry and I would pack some extra snacks.

I would totally return to Fiji. It’s really not too far from Australia so I’m quite confident we will return some day.

It was also soooooooooooo nice to spend so much sister-time with Rosemarie. She was fairly busy with school while I was there but we still managed to squeeze in a lot of visits. YAY! And then the family reunion at the end of the trip??! Even better! (It would have been perfect if Scott could have come too. :()

Oh kokoda, how I love you. I ate this FOUR times in Fiji. The first was homemade by Rosemarie. Then we ate it together for lunch at Beachouse. Then it was available for lunch at Octopus Resort, where my gushing convinced EVERYONE at the table to try it as well. And then finally they had it at my last meal (lunch) in Fiji on Robinson Crusoe Island. I WAS SO HAPPY.

I read 8.5 books on my Kindle on my trip. KINDLES ARE AWESOME. I read Hopeless, Safe Haven, The Silver Linings Playbook, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The Power of Habit, Warm Bodies: A Novel, White Teeth, The New Rules of Lifting for Women, and half of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (no insignificant feat!).

I went to Trader Joe’s in Los Angeles again on the way home and they were sold out of cookie butter AGAIN! I seriously almost cried. I am cookie butter cursed, I swear.

Since I’ve been home I’ve just been at school mostly. I’m back at the gym too following a new weight lifting plan that I’m very excited about. And we had a games night the other night with Lesley. I don’t have very much school work so this weekend has been nice and relaxing. I am so so so close to finished school!!! (5 more weeks of classes/clinical, then 3 months of clinical over the summer…. at SURREY!! my first choice!!!). Then DONE!!! I CAN’T WAIT!!!

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Last night we decided to go out and see the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo movie. We hadn’t done much through the day so it was good to get out of the house.

Both of us had read listened to the books last year so we were quite excited to see the movie.

I’ll keep my review spoiler-free.

I thought it wasn’t bad! I mean, it was like the books in fast-forward. They did change some things, but I am not the type that gets mad when the movie is not exactly the same as the book. In fact I was quite impressed by how they condensed some plot lines and still had a good story.

When I listened to the books last year I really thought they could have been improved by better editing. The books were SO boring in some parts. I felt like they should have cut a lot, but maybe the death of the author (Stieg Larsson) stopped this from happening.

The movie did this editing, and I liked it.

By the way, how weird was it to see Joost from The Way in a totally opposite kind of role.

Can’t wait until the next movie!

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About one month since my last book post. Twelve books. Not bad!! All audiobooks while working.

  •  Beauty Queens – Libba Bray (kinda funny, about a plane of beauty queens that crashes on a remote island)
  • The Giver – Lois Lowry (never read this as a kid)
  • Going Bovine – Libba Bray (didn’t really like this book, got bored, about a kid who gets mad cow disease)
  • I Am The Messenger – Markus Zusak (this book was weird, I didn’t really like it)
  • If I Stay – Gayle Forman (a book about death)
  • The Kitchen Gods Wife – Amy Tan (makes me miss my mom’s side of the family)
  • The Lovely Bones – Alice Seabold (another book about death)
  • Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka (I always thought this book would be so hard and intimidating, but it wasn’t at all! It was funny and interesting and so short!)
  • One For The Money – Janet Evanovich (Scott tells me they are making a movie of this too. I have no interest in seeing it)
  • Room – Emma Donoghue (this book was SO GOOD. I thought it was so fascinating and interesting and sad. I felt so emotional, I nearly cried at work. Really, read this, please.)
  • Saving Francesca – Melina Marchetta (aussie, ok)
  • She’s Come Undone – Wally Lamb (a book about a girl who gets totally messed up by some horrible things that happen to her as a child)

Seriously Room was so good. I already kinda want to listen to it again! It’s a weird book to have as a favourite but it is definitely way up there on my list.

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I have been churning through the audiobooks lately. A good story really makes the work day pass quickly!!

Books I Listened To:

  • the rest of Something Rotten – Jasper Fforde
  • First Among Sequels – Jasper Fforde
  • The Help – Kathryn Stockett (interesting)
  • Water For Elephants – Sarah Gruen (liked it, haven’t watched the movie yet… the movie might ruin it for me)
  • Assassination Vacation – Sarah Vowell (did not find this very interesting since i have little interest in american presidents)
  • The Girl Who Played With Fire – Stieg Larsson (liked much more than the first one in the series)
  • The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest – Stieg Larsson (good in some parts, incredibly boring in others)
  • Divergent – Veronica Roth (yes yes! very similar to hunger games, but i think i liked it better. read this!)
  • One Day – David Nicholls
  • Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer (i recommend this one as well. about post wwII, in letter format)
  • The Death Defying Pepper Roux – Geraldine McCaughrean (would be a good story to read to your kids at bedtime)
Books I Read:
  • A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier – Ishnael Beah (very interesting! this guy has gone through the unimaginable)
Next:
  • Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka
  • She’s Come Undone – Wally Lamb
  • ???

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Books I Read:

  • 2/3 of Something Rotten – Jasper Fforde (The fourth book in the Thursday Next series)
  • Super Sad True Love Story – Gary Shteyngart (Takes place in a near-future dystopian New York where life is dominated by media and retail)

Books I Listened To:

  • Bossypants – Tina Fey (A funny biography of/by Tina Fey)
  • The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins (A YA novel set in post-apocalyptic North America about a deadly competition)
  • Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins (The second book in the series)
  • Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins (The third and final book in the series)
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson (Swedish crime novel)

I liked The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo eventually, but the slow start was ultra ultra boring and the names were confusing in audiobook format. Will the sequels be the same? I zipped through the Hunger Games trilogy in a week. I loved the first one, the second was ok, but I thought the third one dragged a bit. I can’t wait for the movie though!

What should I read/listen to next?? I need recommendations! Something funny please?