Friday, December 27, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Nature's Hug
Last night I set my alarm at 6:30AM so that I can go to the sea early morning. The seashore is just 5 minutes walk from where we live. Walking by the park, the grasses & trees are still wet from the water sprinklers and the air is cold. It is now the middle of December, christmas is just 2 weeks away. The green trees and grasses, the blue calm waters of the sea, and the refreshing cool breeze are powerful medicine for the body and the spirit. Last week I suffered from physical and emotional pains, my family is far away and I have no one to hug. Life in UAE is sometimes terribly lonely. We all left our families in our home country, came here to live and work alone.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Line to Heaven...
Yup. my voice may not be very pleasant but the reason I sing is to make myself happy. Cheers!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Tuesday, December 03, 2013
Monday, December 02, 2013
Byun's Visit
Anneong-haseyo! We were refreshed when we met our friend from south korea who came back to UAE to see us. Her name is Byun. Such a sweet lonely girl. She used to work day and night non-stop like the other koreans, but now we were glad to see that she had found her "inner peace". She said she was able to think for herself during her visit in Turkey, hehe.
Friday, November 29, 2013
St. Petersburg
photo credit: danielkorzeniewski |
St. Petersburg is the 2nd largest city in Russia with a population of 5million. It was built by the famous 'Peter the Great'. When Peter the Great ruled Russia, he opened and reformed his country to grow and become one of the most powerful in Europe. The city is like a big cultural center, it has 150 museums and 60 theaters.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Moscow
Moscow is the capital of Russia. In 1993 the Soviet Union collapsed and Russia became a democratic state. It has 12million population. 16million in daytime because some people live outside in their country houses but work in Moscow so 7 million people commute daily to the city. Private offices working hours are from 10am to 6pm while government offices are from 8.30-9am to 5pm. Some markets are 24 hrs open. And big shopping malls open from 10am-10pm. Russians love to wear black. They have black dress black jackets, black boots and black gloves and caps.
Friday, November 22, 2013
A Taste of Thunder in the Emirates
It rarely rains in the UAE. If it does, its only mild and just for a few minutes. Today is different. Its strong and there is a sound of thunder also.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
To: Philippines...From: The hearts of PISA
Typhoon Yolanda (haiyan), one of the most powerful storm to hit the world crashed a part of our country recently. It is very devastating. Terrible news runs through the local as well as in the international networks during the last weeks. To help even in a little way we combined our donations from the different nationalities in our workplace (filipinos, koreans, indians, lebanese...).
Monday, November 18, 2013
Welcome back Logos! Hope Floats in Mina
The Logos Hope is a christian charity ship which travels the world, they have crew of about 400 volunteers from 45 different countries. They help people in the country they visit by giving medical assistance, providing water purification systems, building infrastructure, or setting up libraries.
Friday, November 08, 2013
In Love with the Prince of Asgard
Thor's new movie is as good as the previous one. It is great fun watching it. The same great actors played it skillfully that you will get carried away so easily. And they shot most of the scenes in the beautiful city of London. The story plays with the opposites of our emotions: love & anger, hope & despair, forgiveness & revenge, then of course tears & laughter.
Wednesday, November 06, 2013
Shushi Lunch at Sho Cho Abu Dhabi
Everyday we eat free food from the Company's catering services....but me and my friend agreed that we are tired of its same taste over and over so last week we both decided to go out for lunch. Our project site is near Fairmount Hotel and there is a nice 'shushi' restaurant in souk qaryat al beri. Even though we only have an hour to spare, we risked getting late back to work and went inside Sho Cho.
Friday, November 01, 2013
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia. It is a small European country between Asia and Europe, east of Black Sea, and south of Russia, near Turkey. Visa is open for tourists, you'll get it upon arrival and costs approximately Dhs.100 ($30)
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Farewell Ms. Sri Lanka!
As we live we come to meet many people, we open our hearts to some, they become our friends and by and by we have to say goodbye. We joke and fight at the same time but most of all we try to learn from all. No matter how much we want to keep our friends but still it is necessary to separate ways again. Today we said goodbye to our one and only beautiful Sri Lankan colleague. Such a sweet yet stubborn girl.
<pretty rona, joan, & gayani...PISA at the background) |
Friday, September 20, 2013
Beauty does not come in a Size
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Moving On...
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Monday, September 09, 2013
Thursday, September 05, 2013
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
It's your Life but I love you!
We know what needs to be done.
And we know what is good and bad.
But we often ignore everything else and do what we like.
Even if it harms us, we don't care.
Sometimes we don't know but someone cares.
Tuesday, September 03, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Give It All Away (Short Story)
Legend has it that a man was lost in the desert, dying for a drink of water. He stumbled upon an old shack-a ramshackle, windowless, roofless, weather-beaten old shack. He looked about this place and found a little shade from the heat of the desert sun. As he glanced around he saw a pump about fifteen feet away-an old, rusty water pump. He stumbled over to it, grabbed the handle, and began to pump up and down, up and down. Nothing came out.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
The 4 Cows and the Lion (Short Story)
Unite or Die
Once upon a time there lived 4 cows in a forest. They were very close friends and always stood by each other in times of need. Whenever some wild animal tried to attack them, all of them got together and chased them away. So no animal in the forest dared to attack them.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Friday, August 09, 2013
Sunday, August 04, 2013
Brace Challenge
"You need to eat too much now, tomorrow onwards you will be hungry because you can not eat anymore."
She's right. So we eat the whole pot of carbonara yesterday.
My friend referred me to her lady dentist.
Today I got my own teeth braces.
I thought it is easy. Wrong. It is a struggle.
It feels like a hard gum is permanently stuck to your mouth.
It feels like a hard gum is permanently stuck to your mouth.
The pain is tolerable but its constant.
Eating is difficult, it hurts to chew.
When you talk, you can not pronounce very well, your 's' sounds like 'sshh'.
And your face deforms, when you smile you look like a vampire.
And the worst is you can not kiss anymore, huhuhu.
(There is no one to kiss. It's just a joke.)
One year of vampire smile and monthly tortures is challenging.
Cost me a lot of money too.
Cost me a lot of money too.
No matter what, I have gone for dental braces on my own will. Nobody forced me.
Mwah. Cheers!
Saturday, August 03, 2013
How to cook Carbonara (Filipino Style)
Today, I tasted the best carbonara ever.
One of my friend kidnapped me to their home, she said she will feed me full first before sending me to the dentist.
I am going to share with you her secret recipe, ssshhh!
Friday, August 02, 2013
Sentimental Friday
Last week, I sent messages to all people I love and told them what makes them special for me.
Most of them are miles far from Abu Dhabi.
I did that because I was afraid I will die and will never get the chance to tell them.
My heart just prompted me to be more loving to others this time.
No I am not sick (nor planning on suicide).
I am getting older maybe.
There is a Filipino joke about single- women "walang napaglalabasan ng init" Haha.
Single ladies tend to be more strict, easily agitated, and often moody.
Hopefully I am not like that.
Being alone most of the time, I think and talk to myself all times.
Myself said to myself "If you die later what will you do now?".
Most of them are miles far from Abu Dhabi.
I did that because I was afraid I will die and will never get the chance to tell them.
My heart just prompted me to be more loving to others this time.
No I am not sick (nor planning on suicide).
I am getting older maybe.
There is a Filipino joke about single- women "walang napaglalabasan ng init" Haha.
Single ladies tend to be more strict, easily agitated, and often moody.
Hopefully I am not like that.
Being alone most of the time, I think and talk to myself all times.
Myself said to myself "If you die later what will you do now?".
Yesterday at work, we received a special email:
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Modus Operandi: Be Careful during Ramadan
Sunday, July 28, 2013
I Love you Friend (unconditionally)
I could hear only the sound of my heavy breathing and of my running footsteps.
The air was still humid but I could feel a slight breeze this evening in Corniche.
It is dark at 8pm but there were many street lights around.
I saw a few people also walking or jogging.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Why You Should Respect a Guitar
The Origin of Guitar
The guitar was born more than 4000 years ago <1900-1800 B.C.>
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
How to Tell if you are a True Filipino (in heart and in mind)
You are 100% Filipino (genuine and true) if:
1. You have close family ties, you are hospitable, respectful and industrious.
2. You send giant cargo boxes “Balikbayan Box” to the Philippines at least once a year.
1. You have close family ties, you are hospitable, respectful and industrious.
2. You send giant cargo boxes “Balikbayan Box” to the Philippines at least once a year.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Looking for Room in Abu Dhabi
<warning notice, ouch!> |
Most of us struggle to find a decent place to stay in the city because of the high rental cost. I searched and checked more than 10 buildings hoping to find a good but economical place to stay but all are not satisfactory.
Some Filipinos do business by renting a flat then subletting the rooms to other Filipinos, making it very expensive. For example now I pay to my Egyptian landlord Dh2000 ($550) per month for my 9m2 room, but for the same room size, my fellow Filipinos will sublet it for Dhs3000 ($825) to gain additional 50% profit. If you want a cheaper option, there are bed spaces or partitioned spaces, these are double deck beds, very small area just enough for sleeping, it costs Dhs500-2000. They hang curtains to divide the room into small portions, but anyone can move the curtain to see the other side hehe, so there is no absolute privacy. Also the toilets will be shared by 10 or more boarders so it is very busy and crowded. You can see the photo below to have an idea.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
My Hamsters went to Heaven
The blanket covering my body was uncomfortably hot it woke me up. It is dark, checked the time past 1 o'clock AM, maybe the a.c. is not working. I stood up switched on the light and searched for food, yesterday left Al Maqta bridge, got down from bus, lay in bed and sleep without eating dinner. I felt pain. My stomach is hungry and my heart missed my hamsters.
Saturday, July 06, 2013
Silly Worries
Today is very hot.
We came out of the church after the Friday worship service and the sun burned on us. Summer here in the UAE could reach a temperature up to 50 deg.C or more. We start sweating from head to toe when we go outside even at night. The date fruit trees start to change color from green to brown. Our Muslim brothers start preparing for Ramadan. And my colleagues start applying for their annual leave. Most expats spend their vacation during this period, including me. But my passport is soon to expire, so last Tuesday I visited our embassy to renew it. It was a disaster. The embassy said that they only accept new applications after 3 weeks. After that it would take another 6 weeks for processing. Oh life. I felt that everyone except me is going away to enjoy their summer vacation. I worried, complained and got upset.
And then I realized that this thing is beyond my control. Sometimes we run our minds with worries and become angry about things which are not even worth thinking.
We came out of the church after the Friday worship service and the sun burned on us. Summer here in the UAE could reach a temperature up to 50 deg.C or more. We start sweating from head to toe when we go outside even at night. The date fruit trees start to change color from green to brown. Our Muslim brothers start preparing for Ramadan. And my colleagues start applying for their annual leave. Most expats spend their vacation during this period, including me. But my passport is soon to expire, so last Tuesday I visited our embassy to renew it. It was a disaster. The embassy said that they only accept new applications after 3 weeks. After that it would take another 6 weeks for processing. Oh life. I felt that everyone except me is going away to enjoy their summer vacation. I worried, complained and got upset.
And then I realized that this thing is beyond my control. Sometimes we run our minds with worries and become angry about things which are not even worth thinking.
At work we get stressed when we feel that there is so much we have to finish.
But if we plan we can easily organize our time schedule based on what are most important according to our employers requirement and priorities.
We complain that we have unpleasant work environments.
But if we lose our job we get a bigger worry on how to support ourselves.
So we just have to work hard and compromise until we can move on and find another suitable company.
Financially, we get burdened when our funds are insufficient for our monthly expenses.
But if we can just budget our cash, we can control our expenses, sacrifice some extra entertainments. Spend only for basic needs, cut off loans and credit cards. Do not make 1 dozen children if you can only afford 1. Do not buy a Mercedez if your salary is not enough.
We also worry about other people's business, we think about why people do bad things, why a person said that or why that person behave like he did, why this happened...etc.
Heck, these things are not our concern. Silly things should be treated the same way. Laugh at it. Because they are just wasting our precious time and reduces our energy. Wipe them out from your system.
Some worries are more serious, these we should not neglect.
Like our health, physical worries needs immediate action,
seeking for medical advise should not be delayed.
seeking for medical advise should not be delayed.
If we need to rest then rest. If we need to take medication then take medicine.
There is no choice.
There is no choice.
Sometimes we hurt our loved ones.
When our families and friends do not meet our expectations we become disappointed with them. Relationships are important. Take some time to cool down and think how you can satisfy each other's need, most often relationship problems can be solved by mere discussion.
So finally, you yourself can help yourself to everything that worries you.
Life equipped us with many available resources but you already have the best formula to your own problems. So be disciplined and take responsibility.
Birth and Death is final, no one can change it. Then why worry?
Nothing is permanent the world is continuously moving and
every second is one step towards our end.
every second is one step towards our end.
So do not worry, be happy and just enjoy life.
Friday, July 05, 2013
Why Goals are Important
Suppose you have all the football eleven players, enthusiastically ready to play the game, all charged up, and then someone took the goal post away. What would happen to the game? There is nothing left. How do you keep score? How do you know you have arrived?
Would you sit in a train or a plane without knowing where it was going? The obvious answer is no. Then why do people go through life without having any goals? Enthusiasm without direction is like wildfire and leads to frustration. Goals give a sense of direction.
(article from google)
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Farewell Mr. Vice President...
(another goodbye...) |
Someone once told me,
"Life is like a game of chess...
We have to move the pieces one by one to place them in the right spot;Every move is important and sometimes there are some pieces that we have to sacrifice,
Just to be more stronger and to be able to finally win the fight...."
Today at work all the staffs ate lunch together.
Our PM invited us to a nice Thai Restaurant near our project site.
It is a secret farewell party. For the VP.
We had happy talks, about the place and food, about life,
about families here and home, about many things, except about our situation at work.
After 2 hours we all headed back to our offices and worked again as if nothing happened.
This is my construction company. Full of drama.
(the Pinoy group) |
(the Hindi mixed) |
(the Arab mixed) |
(the Pinoys mixed) |
(the international group hehe) |
(27.06.2013_the Noodle House, Souq Qaryat Al Beri) |
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