Surrender

Life during the past few days felt like a desert safari....

Time used to be easily spent on the cycle of work & sleep (only). Day after day same-same.

Then, the cycle was broken 10 days ago when someone gave me these 2 big responsibilities, I thought I got rid of them already but they came back. See, I gave away my 2 hamsters to a friend a year before because I was afraid that I'm not responsible enough to take care of them. Here they are again, poor tiny animals. Depending for food, shelter & water.

<my pet hamsters>

Plants are more easy to take care of than pets. Someone gave me a fortune plant 4 months ago, alhamdullila! It is still alive. They say it brings good luck to the area where it is located.

One colleague treated us during her birthday 2 weeks ago. Did you ever notice that celebrations are usually done in restaurants, in front of food, and the topic is always about work...?

<great friends>

We witnessed this year's Big 5 Show at the Dubai World Trade Center. Report said more than 2500 exhibitors from 70 countries participated. That means the middle east market is alive. Let's hope it would get better more and more. I thought I'd missed the exhibition, big thanks that I am blessed to have a phenomenal boss, he brought me to escort him. Cheers!

<picture borrowed from gulfnews.com>

I never imagined that our korean managers would be so humble as to acknowledge and even give gifts and cool birthday messages to a fellow staff. We always felt and assumed that there is a gap or distinction between 'us' global staff and 'them' korean staff. But such a humble gesture from them is very warm & bridged any boundaries.

<will definitely miss them>

Last Saturday, we watched a very talented Russian ballerina performed at the Emirates palace hotel. The ballet dancers are very graceful. Twirling and splitting and spinning. Was entertained too by the grandeur of the hotel.

 Walking outside after the show, the grounds of the hotel is breathtaking at night with its lighting effects all over the place.

 Its already midnight and here we are not caring and just taking endless photos in front of the building.

<Fountains and palm trees decorate the grounds of the hotel>

<the Moscow City Ballet>

<Ms. Oryekhova plays the role of Aurora (sleeping beauty)>

Our new-found friend, Byun said goodbye to us 2 days ago. She is probably safe and together with her family in the city of Busan, South Korea now. Life always give us 'goodbyes' along the way...

<sshhh!....this is shhoju>

<Peace- their favorite photo pose.. hehe... last night in PISA>

Sometimes we just have to surrender to Life. If it throws us responsibilities, we need to accept it and grow. If life blesses us with great people to serve and work with, just be grateful and cherish each chance to serve them, likewise if those above us are difficult to deal with, we have to learn and adjust accordingly. Along the way, there are so many great things to enjoy, like more friends to meet and get to know, more experiences waiting to explore and discover....just surrender to the safari of life.

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The greatness of a man's power

is the measure of his surrender. 

~ by William Booth 

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

What Girls Want

I've been thinking about this question someone asked me the other day. Very basic question but I do not really know the answer.

But what does a girl really want? Almost every man thinks that girls are complicated and normally treat their wives/mothers/sisters like a Soduko puzzle. Well actually a girl's heart is very simple and easy to please.

As a present or just to make your girlfriend/wife/mother/grandmother happy....these simple suggestions are worth like a diamond, it gives refreshment to any female soul.

• a genuine smile, a kiss and a hug.
• an honest compliment coupled with encouragement.
• a surprise gift (flower is the best).
• simple acts of thoughtfulness like opening doors or carrying heavy stuff for her.
• during rough times, take her side no matter what.
• a funny story or a simple joke to make her laugh when she's tired.
• ask how she is & just listen when she's in mood to talk (don't forget to 'nod' once in a while).
• show appreciation at any chance you have.
• offer to take her out for a walk or for a lunch or just drive her to the grocery store :)

These are just some of the many ways to make a girl happy, in the end what's really important is to make her feel valued, loved, and protected. Hope these ideas helps us to deal with the girls in our lives next time they behave like puzzles.

Au Revoir!

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“Being a woman is a terribly difficult task,

since it consists principally in dealing with men.” 

~by Joseph Conrad

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Jordan

Remains of the columns of the Roman Theater, Amman

During Eid Mubarak last 3days ago, I went to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Thru Royal Jordanian airlines, it is 3hours away from Abu Dhabi and with an hour time variance. Airport immigration is typical as in any arab country, there is just a little incident when my friend travelling with me was questioned more longer because her passport photo looks healthier than her in person ^_^.

150AD Roman Amphitheatre, 6000seats capacity

We stayed at the charming Pasha hotel in downtown. The capital of Jordan is divided into two regions, (1) old and (2) new. Old Amman looks old, smells old and feels old. But the new Amman looks normal, same as Abu Dhabi city.

We had traditional food for lunch & dinner, Mansaf is a delicious tenderly cooked chicken or lamb on top of flavored rice served with yogurt. 

Like all busy cities, the streets are filled with cars, windows open driving in free lanes, vendors are selling various goods like clothes, souvenir items, local perfumes, etc..., some tourists like us wandering around, and many people just strolling and enjoying the holiday.

Remains of the Temple of Roman god Hercules

We met an eager local tour-guide  his name is Steve. We found him sitting at the entrance of the Roman Theater ruins. He said he always guards the coliseum waiting for tourists to serve because it is his territory.

Steve: the best and happiest Tour Guide in Amman

He offered to ride in his car, straight up to see the Citadel on top of the hill.  So, up we go and reached just in time before sunset. At 5pm the entrance was already officially close but he wasta our way in. The citadel is famous for the temple ruins of the greek god Hercules. From the hilltop 360 degrees you can see the capital of Jordan.

Steve's Colliseum

 On Friday morning we hired a taxi to drive us to the very ancient city Petra. For 3long hours in the car we watched the stony, hilly, red dessert of the country. Petra is arabic word for stone. Maybe because the ancient buildings are carved from the huge red stone mountain, history said it existed from 300BC. To see the famous rock-carved architecture, we have to walk more than 1hour in between the very big mountains, the passage is narrow so only horses can be hired as a transport. The horse owners look and talk like pirates so we did not hire any, we just walk happily along with many other tourists. Going back is disaster, we feel very very exhausted, phew! But its really worth it, to get a glimpse of how the early humans live.

The Treasury, 'Al Khazna' Petra

Amazing Ancient City of Petra

Many travellers. from all over the world comes here to visit

sandwiched between mysterious giant red rocks

Israel on the West, Jordan in the East (Jordan River Boundary)

On Saturday morning we hired the same Jordanian driver from the hotel and visited the Jordan River where Jesus Christ was baptized and the Dead Sea.

Dead Sea Mud covered

Blogging at the shores of Dead Sea

The road kept going down-down-down. It  is more than 1000feet below sea level. It is a boundary line of Jordan with Israel on the west side. Mohammad, our local driver said the dead sea is dead because there are no fishes that can survive its very salty water. But it is very rich in phosporous and other dead sea minerals used for skincare. We bought facial and body muds, it is very black.

Happy to travel with great friends!

We left Jordan feeling refreshed by 8PM on the 3rd day.

Working vs Living

SK PISA staffs hehehe

Today morning I arrived at the office and saw my bosses still working. They did not sleep for 48 hours and  kept on working till this evening. I didn't know how to feel when I looked at them, I was more angry than worried. I feel like asking...."Bujangnim, are you committing suicide?!" 

Then I realized that Koreans work to death.

That's their work culture. Arabs have culture, Indians have culture, Filipinos have culture.

Accept it or get angry and worried everyday. 

But I believe living is all about making the most of the lifetime given to us and living it to the fullest. Like spending time with the people we love, doing things that makes us joyful and happy, exploring   things that pleases our soul, and just enjoying every minute, thankful for being alive.

Work is supposed to be fun. I love my work, I love our project and the multi-cultural global staff and every daeri-nims and bujang-nims. It is our one united goal to complete successfully this amazing future Twin Towers and gorgeous Villas soon to be proudly standing beside the beautiful sea of Abu Dhabi overlooking the famous Grand Mosque.

PISA

But these over-over-times are exhausting everyone to the extent of draining all of our energy. I believe that we need to sometimes pause also, stand back and ponder and admire our work. After all, it's not easy to reach what we have already accomplished, we deserve to pat our backs as well and celebrate even just the smallest task well done. 

I prefer working because of living than living because of working.

It's not fair

Today I watched in silent fascination the most captivating, refreshing sight ever. 

I never realized that something so simple could have the power to take your breath and skip at least 2 heartbeats. 

I wished to hold that moment and to safely keep it inside my bag, so I can look at it again and again. 

Oh Life! How come you never play fair?

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.” 

~by  William Shakespeare

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

LISTEN to understand (not to reply)

I thought it is easy. To master the art of listening is soooo tough! Actually, it is very difficult to listen to others always with understanding. Sometimes we think we fully understand what they are telling us. But I found out that sometimes:

• We hear a 'yes' but it means 'no', and hear a 'no' but often it means 'yes'. 
• People say 'it is ok' but really want to say 'It is terrible!'
• A person can speak a word softly while his mind shouts loudly.
• Words are not able to express some things we think and feel.
• Our lips speaks logically but our eyes speaks mysteriously.
• We understand people close to us even without words spoken.
• No matter how hard we try to listen, we still struggle to comprehend.
• It seems better not to understand and remain happy than to comprehend and become angry.
• Some words are better not be said, and sometimes talking is not necessary.
• When people just like to talk and do not like to listen, it really gets very unbalanced.
• Listening takes more and more practice, more and more patience, more and more understanding.

Nevertheless, the reward is satisfying so I will keep on trying to learn how to listen from the heart and not from the mind. Only this I know is the easiest way to practice listening with understanding.

Au Revoir!

***

“The most basic of all human needs

 is the need to understand 

and be understood. 

The best way to understand people

 is to listen to them.” 

~by Ralph G. Nichols

***

Lesson Today: Humble Gratefulness

Doxology
(Romans 11)

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?”

35 “Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay them?”

36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen.

90 Days Challenge

It's just less than 3 months and the year is again going to end. 

One evening, in our bus home from work, one of my colleagues casually asked me, "What is the thing that you are most afraid of?" 

I immediately and instinctively answer, "Dying without the chance of achieving my dreams!" 

Sometimes we forget that life is really very short, and we take for granted every passing day. We miss doing the most important things and keep on the habit of doing unimportant things. 

I am scared to die without experiencing the best things that life has to offer. So, I decided to do things that will wake up my soul. One way is to face new challenges. I made a bucket list and set to achieve at least 10 items towards the end of this year. I dare myself to accomplish all of it by 01 January 2013.

To Do List during 3 months (October to December 2012):

1. Visit another amazing country, and learn new cultures and customs different from ours.
2. Everyday, make someone smile (at least one person each day); and smile to every child I meet.
3. Learn a new language (let's try Korean), be fluent by the end of 3 months.
4. Experience outdoor skydiving, scuba diving, mountain climbing.
5. Say 'I love you' from the heart to the most important people in my life (nanang, parents, brother....)
6. Learn to play the guitar chords of at least three christian songs by heart (without notes).
7. Sleep on the grass, under the moonlight.
8. Old friends reunion (if not possible, write 'thank you' letters to all of them and send via postmail)
9. Wake up 30 minutes earlier each morning and meditate.
10. Face at least one fear each day...and master it.

Still have a lot of ideas in mind, will add them as the days go by.

(photo borrowed from sir internet google)

Finally, it is fun to set goals and plans ahead, it is like a map for us to focus on things that matter to us and it guides us so we don't get lost. It also help us to improve more and keep moving towards becoming a better son or daughter, better employee, better friend....a better human being. God bless to your bucket lists!

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It's Friday! Time to Eat. (Soul Food)

It’s Friday!

Here in the gulf region, Friday’s our time to rest from work.

I was walking in the courtyard toward our church’s entrance. The early service have just ended and the people were slowly going out to empty the hall to make way for the second service.

There were many people from different countries. I could hear them speaking various languages at the same time- all of cheerful greetings. I saw smiles from faces of different skin colors -white and black, brown more.

For me, here, during Fridays, there’s no feeling more peaceful, more comforting and more refreshing than sitting along with our brothers and sisters in the church.

Hmmnn…  I just love the songs of worship to greet the Lord. As we sing I hear a blend of diverse voices praising God. I love to sing loudly. I never mind if my tune is high or low, knowing confidently that all our voices will rise up to heaven.

We listened to our pastor’s prayer….all our heads bowed in union with one another. We silently thanked God, asked forgiveness, seek His blessing and asked for protection for all the hard times. 

Here we are one with one another and our heart opens willingly. Our minds clear the week’s troubles and lighten up, at peace and ready to understand and take in the sermon, like bread fed to our starving souls.

For me, the church is the best place to be in the whole UAE during a Friday morning. No shopping mall in Abu Dhabi or Dubai can equally satisfy my soul’s hunger. Like being starved for 6days at work!

Au Revoir!

The Ghost in the 5th Floor

Her eyes are so dark. It reminds me of our old black cat back home. Darkly scary. 

Its Tuesday morning. Woke up, bathroom, clothes on, shoes on, keys-cellphone-notebook, get out of room, get in the lift, go down and wait for Baskar. Normal day. 

'Ting!' the lift stopped in the 5th floor.

My brain temporary woke up. The door opened and she stood there. A strange woman in black dress. She stared at me and I looked at her. The door closed and she came nearer. Then suddenly she reached out to touch my hair. 'Whoa!' I shout, I think I just shout. Then I noticed her eyes...it's so dark and very black. I  started to feel afraid. 

She said...''Hmmm, you're a good lady...'' .....to be continued.

True Wealth (short story)

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing his son how the poor people live so he could be thankful for his wealth.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. 

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?” “It was great, Dad.” “Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked. “Oh yeah” said the son. “So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.” “We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.” “Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.” “We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.” “We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.” “We buy our food, but they grow theirs.” “We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them.”

With this the boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are.”

(story and photo borrowed from sir internet)

Spices of Life

Oh life! How come you never give us some clues how to learn your lessons faster.

A wise author had said that life will hand us lessons. And these lessons will continue to be presented to us until we learn it by heart. 

Well, I got another repeated lesson today. I think it is about controlling my emotions, especially my anger. Today I wanted to punch a man's nose. Out of anger. 

By the end of the day, I realized that this is just one of the spices of life. Once in a while we need to experience a little bit out of the ordinary in order to enjoy living. It is the same like food, spices are added to make it taste good.

Alright then, I think when life will present me with this same 'anger' lesson next time, I shall pass the test, insha'allah!

Au Revoir.

One of the Best Books Ever...

(from professor Randy Pausch's website):

On September 18, 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that will claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, as has the book he wrote based on the same principles, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. Sadly, Randy lost his battle to pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008, but his legacy will continue to inspire us all, for generations to come.

Hongkong

Hongkong is like the entrance gate of the China continent if you enter from the south, actually it is part of China but under a different judiciary system same like Macau.

OCT East (ecological resort - Shenzhen)

poor insects... tsk tsk...converted to ornaments 

houses for the rich (Stream Valley)

pleasant tram ride

dreamy- colorful 'Tea Show'

chinese souvenir shop

overlooking 'windows of the world theme park'

Macau -view from the tower observatory deck

so, this is Hongkong...

at night...many, many lights and people 

busy street of kowloon

view of Hongkong Kowloon side from the hotel window

hellow disneyland!

water parade by Mickey and friends...

awesome, magical fireworks display every night at Disney 

Repulse Bay Hongkong