Sunday at Trinoma Mall, Quezon City

Last Sunday, we decided to take a short trip to Trinoma, Quezon City, specifically, to check out National Bookstore and Powerbooks. We were looking for two books, namely, "Trials of Apollo 2: The Dark Prophecy" by Rick Riordan and the MSA Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) Reviewer for Grade 6. The National Bookstore branch nearest to us (we're not in Metro Manila) did not have those books in stock.

Travel time was not as fast as we expected, so it was already quite late for lunch when we got there. Hence, the first thing that we did was to eat. We had a quick and simple meal at KFC, thinking that we needed to finish in time for the 4 PM mass at the Chapel of St. Michael the Archangel on the second floor.

We didn't notice that it was already a few minutes past 4 when we finished. The next mass was at 6 PM. Change of plan! We would, instead, check out the bookstores first, then hear mass afterwards. On the way to National Bookstore, we noticed a big crowd on the second floor. Papa Bong said those were the people hearing mass. I couldn't believe it at first. I even thought there was a show or perhaps a celebrity, whose fans were swarming around. But later on, I realized he was right. 

At National Bookstore, we were told that Apollo 2 is already sold out. I asked about the MSA PEPT reviewer, but they only had the ones for 1st Year High School  (which we already have) and for higher years. We looked around some more and found the MSA National Achievement Test (NAT) Reviewer for Grade 6 Book 2 and the National Elementary Achievement Test (NEAT) Reviewer. I researched about the NEAT, later on, and found out that it has already been abolished in 2001, along with its High School counterpart, the National Secondary Achievement Test (NSAT). Both replaced the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) in 1994 and were replaced by the National Achievement Test (NAT) in 2001. Anyways, I just got them both to supplement our current reviewers.

If you're wondering what's the fuss about with all these reviewers, I'll be writing a separate post about our plan for Theo to take the PEPT before the year ends.

As planned, we proceeded to Powerbooks. When we couldn't find Apollo 2 on the shelves, we asked one of the staff. Lo and behold, it was also sold out! Our Rick Riordan fan was both disappointed and happy at the same time. Disappointed, because he did not expect that it's not available even at Powerbooks. Happy, because it just goes to show that the book is really in-demand and very popular. The staff advised us to pre-order the book and they would just text us whenever the stocks arrive. Actually, that was what we did with our Harry Potter series, but we decided against it this time, telling the staff politely that we seldom travel to Manila nowadays. We might just have to order online, instead.

The first time that Theo read a Rick Riordan book was last year, on his eleventh birthday. "The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, #1)" was our surprise gift for him. He knew that Book 2 was also going to be released in time for his birthday this year. However, things did not go as planned. The book was not yet available on his birthday, unlike last year. So, we just bought "Lost in Babylon (Seven Wonders, #2)" by Peter Lerangis and The Copper Gauntlet (Magisterium, #2) by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. By this time, Theo had already read all Rick Riordan books, so we couldn't get any of his books to replace Apollo 2. Thankfully, Theo still enjoyed those two books, especially because Rick Riordan reviewed and endorsed both of them.

Theo did not go empty-handed, though. We found something interesting from the books on sale - the "Conspiracy 365" book series by Gabrielle Lord. Unfortunately, they did not have the first book in the series (that's always the case, actually), so we settled for the second, third and fourth.

It was half an hour before the mass would start when we were done at Powerbooks. We thought we were still early, and we wouldn't have any problems getting seats. We were wrong! Just like the previous mass, there were already lots of people inside and outside the chapel, and we didn't manage to get any vacant seats. Nevertheless, a full church (or chapel) always makes me feel good, because this means our faith is very much alive. Amidst the hustle and bustle of this big city mall on a Sunday, Catholics stop to gather, worship the Lord and celebrate the most important activity of all - The Holy Mass.

Before leaving Trinoma, Papa Bong, Theo and I agreed that we should eat dinner first so we could just relax and go to bed when we get home. Whenever we're at Trinoma, Theo would always request to order delicious Lengua with cream of mushroom sauce from this outlet at the food court called PVL Cuisine.

After dinner, we headed for home! That's it for our happy and fruitful Sunday at Trinoma!