The best American travel writing 2008-edited by Anthony bourdain

Didn't read much of the stories in this book Cept for one on Singapore (three chopsticks by calvin trillin).Kinda narcissistic... The story featured KF Seetoh and how he brought the author to taste the best food, aka hawker food in Singapore. I think the story exemplifies again how food brings and binds people together. And very often when one thinks about a place or when someone mentions a place we have been to, we will tend to ask if they had tried a certain dish at a certain place. When friends visit our country, food is not missing the planned itinerary. The story ended with the author imagining what he would say to Seetoh of he ever visits NYC "but you haven't had a calzone yet...... You can't go home without eating a knish, it will knock your socks off." Exact same words that Seetoh used Cept for different food of course.

Aleph- Paulo coelho

I think nothing can compare with the alchemist. It's the same with the Aleph. Aleph is a autobiography of sort of Paulo coelho's travels in 2006. He embarked on a "quest" to find his spirit, as he had felt stagnant in his spiritual growth. On his journey in Russia,Siberia, he met a young woman named Hilal who claimed that she was connected to Coelho based on a story he wrote about a friend keeping a fire burning for his friend. Through some mental invocation, coelho found out that Hilal was a woman who had loved him 500 years ago and who had died because he did not have the courage to stand up for her. Now all he wanted was her forgiveness. It seems all that we do, did, and will do are interconnected. This book will appeal to you depending on what your beliefs are. Although the idea of reincarnation is exciting, how real is it ?

1968 and I'm Hitchhiking through Europe- Joe Mack

A college student's summer vacation in Europe in the 60s. Quite a charming read as the book wasn't so much about what he had seen in Europe but the people he had met. I wonder if the world is as opened as it was back in the 60s, where people were unafraid of inviting strangers they had picked up from the road to their home for dinner. Is hitchhiking a thing from the past or is it still a viable mode of travel? With the world a less safer place than it was, I believe the former might hold true.

Richard matheson-button button

Because I couldn't find Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson, I borrowed the only available book by him in the library- Button, Button: Uncanny Stories 

It was a very good read. Filled with short, obscure stories that sometimes ended abruptly. Some of the stories in this collection included Button, Button (featured in Twilight Zone and a movie entitled The Box), No Such Thing as a Vampire, Clothes Make the Man, etc.

My favorite was No Such Thing as a Vampire. The plot was quite clever. Dr Petre Gheria's wife, Alexis, had turned sickly and was found in the morning with blood spilt all over her body. Gheria discovered two puncture wounds on her neck and was seemingly led to believe that the village was haunted by vampires. It turned out to be a case of revenge and murder plotted by Petre on his wife and her lover, who was also Petre's close friend.
A fun and cute read...

Richard Matheson-what dreams may come

I watch the movie I think back in 1998 or so. I loved it then but hadn't realized it was adapted from a book till recently when I was browsing through some e-books. I think the film was better than the book. The book's a bit long-winded but then again it paints a bigger picture of the philosophy of life after death, reincarnation, etc and gives the readers more room for thought. I quite enjoyed the afterword by Stephen Simon, the producer of the movie. He said he actually cried reading the book and thought Matheson was ahead of his time by raising all these questions and ideas regarding the spiritual life before new age became popular. It was also through this after word that I realized Matheson wrote somewhere in time (the book title is actually bid time return) , another favorite of mine. I watch somewhere in time back in 1996 but I think it was screened way before 96. It starred Christopher reeves aka superman and Jane Seymour. That movie made me wish I could time travel that way too! By pure thought.
I couldn't find the eBook version of somewhere in time so decided to try my luck at the library today. Unfortunately the library didnt carry it as well but I made another discovery about Matheson. He actually wrote I am Legend. I read the book and watch the movie but didnt recall Matheson being the author. A string discoveries and it turned out I actually liked all the movies that were adapted from his books.
Back to What Dreams May Come... The idea came from Shakespeare's Hamlet where Hamlet said "for in that sleep of death what dreams may come". It hints of the idea that there is belief or even fear of what might linger after death. Do we completely dissolve out of existence or do we carry on another life as what Chris Nielsen experienced after his death. It talked about souls and mostly above love. Chris and Ann were soul mates in the literal sense of the word, inseparable, finding one another life after life. Chris went through hell and was willing to stay on in hell just so he could be with Ann. I remembered this scene very well from the movie. Robin Williams was terrific in his acting. You could really see the light went out of his eyes when he decided that hell was where he would stay, if he couldn't pull Ann out of it. A rather beautiful moment.
Although I so want to believe that everyone has a soul mate, it gets harder as one grows older. Do we really have souls that will persist after our physical shells die?is there only one soul mate for everyone or are there many to go around? How did soul mates come about? An act of God or something else ? Why is it that some people never meet their soul mates and live their lives in single hood ? Did their soul mate got lost in another life? Perhaps.... It's all very strange and I guess we would have no answers to that.

Everything must come to an end,
Nothing lasts forever.

Ebooks

I have got quite a collection now of eBooks. But somehow found it rather tough to concentrate when it's electronic. I guess some things just cannot be "technologised". Nothing beats the crisp smell of a new book, the feel of the pages, the crackling sounds a book makes when you turn the pages.