Kish? I dont want to go back there

Today, I heard about the 'not so good' situation of my two colleagues who exit from the UAE to a nearby country, while waiting for their work visas. Myself also experienced the same 2 years ago so somehow I understand their anxiety and fear. I wrote this then....

<sea side....no swimming allowed for girls unless you are fully covered>

19May2011, Kish Island, Iran

I am back here again in the island of loneliness: Kish Island!

<there are 3hotels you can choose from here in Kish, we stayed here...>

Perhaps you may also realize that this is indeed the saddest island in the world if you experience staying here for a month. During my two visits here, I have a lot of time observing the people (there is very less choices of activity you know). And here is the one place where I have seen the most number of sad Filipinos ever. You see, We Filipinos are naturally happy people- we love to be happy, we laugh at almost anything, anywhere, anytime. But here in Kish Island, it is a different story. The island have the strange power to trigger the sad thoughts and problems of one's life- past -present -future.

<always empty streets - very few local people live here or maybe they are not going out>

Why? What is so mysterious in this Island....

"Here it is like Alcatraz!” my new found friend, René exclaimed while we are standing in the breakfast queue. Everyday from 9-10am we need to fall in line in the hotel's kitchen counter to collect our free breakfast. The Iranian hotel staff serving is thin and small and he looked like he just woke-up. He put on clean gloves before handing our food, I saw his finger nails looks dirty. 

<we fall in line here infront of the counter>

Our breakfast is one small cold bread and cold boiled egg, small butter and carrot jam, that is all, no coffee. I heard from others that the food is not hot anymore because these are leftovers from the day before. I don't know, I am hungry. Only few collect their free breakfast, I guess 80 percent of the hotel occupants (all Filipinos waiting for visa) are still sleeping.

Back in our room, I counted the beds...six all in all. In each bed, 2 people share it. The boys unit is separate from the girls but the same like ours, 10 to 12 people stay in one room. We sleep without blankets on the first night. You own your time here its free to use it as you wish, most prefer to sleep the whole day. Some mornings there is no water in the toilets. By the way, one day stay in hotel costs Dhs. 40.

<like hospital beds...its clean at least...>

Day time is very silent. But night time is completely opposite. Our room mate girls spend the whole evening talking out loud, drinking, eating and smoking. The radio is playing full volume and smoke is floating all over the room.

One dark morning, I was surprised from René when she shout “Aaaay tignan mo oh!” (Hey, look!) she is pointing to the corridor. First I thought she saw a ghost but when I turned I saw there are many mice happily running after each other. It is the first time I saw happy creatures in this island.

<hotel corridors looks eerily sad>

Around mid-noon, walking around the hotel, you will pass by many Filipinos smoking in the corners of the corridor and behind the columns and in front of their room doors and beside the windows. They are all alone, silently smoking and thinking.

<calls cost 1Dh per minute and internet cost 5 Dhs per hour>

 There is a small internet shop (with weak signals) in the 3^rd floor. I like to sit in the computer nearest the pay phone. Almost always when someone use the payphone, they cry while calling their lovedones. Sometimes I cry too while listening.

<hotel lobby>

It is very hot outside so many prefer to sit in the hotel's airconditioned lobby.

I guess, its like that. Sometimes we have to accept the sadness, maybe here, maybe there, so that the next time, the next place, we will feel the happiness and really embrace it, because we already conquered the sadness.

;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*

“To live greatly, 

we must develop the capacity

 to face trouble with courage, 

disappointment with cheerfulness,

and triumph with humility.” 

―by Thomas S. Monson

;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*;~;*

University of Life!

School Year 2012 Review :)

At this time of the year, we look forward and prepare our New Years Resolutions and make new dreams and again plan our next moves. But one thing we should also remember are the people and things that the past years brought into our lives that taught us and made us become what we are now. Yes we grew older and became more wiser and better in handling things - thanks to them that made life easier.
I am grateful that I was able to meet several exceptional people that taught me priceless lessons that molded my views and ideas of the world and of life to a better perspective. As long as we have breath, as long as our hearts are still beating, I believe we are required to keep on learning life and in turn share a contribution to the world. Please let me share mine....

Most inspiring teachers:

• Pastor Cam –his fatherly guidance to us as an international church in ECC.
• Bro Bo Sanchez – his passion and desire to bless and lift us up Filipinos.
• Joel Osteen – his loving encouragement to us Christians around the world.
• Sameer Dabbas – his contagious energy and positive outlook in business.
• Michel Gauthier & Ray Sun – their friendship and encouragement just for a very short time.

Most influential teachers:

• Baek Pujangnim – I learned that a true leader has a strength that is stable and not easily swayed.
• Jeon Daerinim– I learned to relax again, and to be really committed to the task at hand.
• Mama (mother) – I learned that to be generous is happier than to receive.
• Nanang (grand mother) – to be responsible. To be responsible. To be responsible.
• Brijesh – to be strong and independent.
• Colleagues (special mention: Joan & Neil & Sir Ben) – to be caring, to find things that makes us laugh when you feel sad, to consider friends first before self.
• The Natoor & the tailor & the store-owner down our building - I learned its ok to be friendly to strangers.
• Every child I meet - I learned to remember to always give the most innocent and free smile to all.
• Facebook & blogger friends - I learned that friends are one of the best blessings in life.

Precious Lessons from Extracurriculars:

• Travelling – about the beautiful places of the world. About the uniqueness of everyone - we have different skin and eye and hair colors yet have the same heart and mind, about the various places people lived from different era and about the richness of culture& traditions of each place.
• Money as usual – about the happy rewards of investing in the Philippine Stock Market
• ECC – about the unequaled peace and joy of having a relationship with the Lord
• SK PISA – about the war in construction business – chaotic but great and fun to be part of it.
• Food – about the importance of health and balance.
• The books – about the wonder of life & happiness, about things that really matters; about family & relationships,  about developing ourselves continuously.

~.'.~.*.~.~.'.~.*.~.~.'.~.*.~.~.'.~.*.~.~.'.~.*.~.~.'.~.*.~.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. 
Learn as if you were to live forever.” 

― by  Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
~.'.~.*.~.~.'.~.*.~.~.'.~.*.~.~.'.~.*.~.~.'.~.*.~.~.'.~.*.~.

TIARA: The Floor is Turning!

Imagine how is it like eating your dinner while you're sitting at 80 meters above sea level and with a 360 degree view of Abu Dhabi.

Tiara is an amazing restaurant located at the top of the tower in Marina Mall. If you come to UAE you must have to visit there to see Abu Dhabi from birds eye view, better at night. There is also a coffee shop just below Tiara, you can try it too. 

"Have you ever wondered what‘s up there?" A friend asked, "why don’t we go up there and eat?" We counted our money and thought its enough, decided and then walked towards the center of Marina mall for the restaurant's elevator.

The lifts of the tower is made of glass walls, it is a good idea because you could watch the outside as you go up. Its approximately 25 floors from the ground.

Coming out of the lift, the Arabic manager gave us a warm welcome, he promptly guided us to a table (all the tables are adjacent to the glass walls) and stylishly placed our napkins to our laps.

As usual, we're confused what to order. We did not understand anything in the menu so we asked the pretty Filipina waiter to serve us whatever she suggest is the best - she gave us spinach soup and grilled seafood and it was good.

I looked around and noticed that they lighted a sweet smelling candle for each table and they're playing a soft music at the background.

Apart from us, there were visitors of various descent -mostly arabs and westerns and they're obviously enjoying the place too.

Outside, the night lights of the city were beautiful! It’s sparkling like stars below.

At first I did not realize that we were moving until I looked twice at the glass walls overlooking the corniche and noticed that the outside view changed from 5 minutes ago. Wow! the floor is moving.

Because the floor is turning, you can see the corniche stretched to the fullest with the glittering buildings underlining the dark skyline. You can also see the beautiful Emirates palace hotel and the peaceful lake bordering its garden grounds. You can see the many private villas at the back of marina mall each with yachts parked in front of them. You can see the breakwater with UAE’s biggest flag.

And, finally, the food is delicious! They served the softest mash potato ever.

The floor's complete revolution takes approximately one hour. What a pleasant experience.

(26 Feb 2010)**photos from sir google internet

The Codfish/Catfish (Short Story)

The codfish is famous for its taste and highly desirable, but they are difficult to get to market.

When codfish were first being shipped, they froze them. They noticed that the flavor was lost during shipping. Somebody came up with the idea to put them in tanks and ship them in actual seawater. Even then the codfish would arrive at the market 3 or 4 days later, and would have lost much of their flavor and also lost its flakiness, becoming soft and ‘mushy’.

Finally a creative person solved the problem. The cod were placed in the seawater tank with a couple of catfish in the tank with them. The catfish is the natural enemy of codfish. During shipping the catfish would chase the codfish all around the tank the whole time, and when the fish arrived at market they were as fresh as newly caught, with no loss of flavour or texture. You see the catfish kept the cod from becoming stale. The catfish kept them fresh.


As we travel through our lifetime, we are like these codfish. We become still and stagnant and we lose our flavor. We are just waking up and doing the same things over and over every day. Sometimes we need a ‘catfish’. Just like the cat fish with the codfish, we need difficult people in our lives that would keep us alert and would chase us and keep us active.

Maybe it is difficult to have these “catfish” or challenges, but because of these difficulties it would make us grow more and more in strength and character.

Thanks to you all ‘my catfish’!

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

"Friends are sometimes boring,

but enemies never."

- by Mason Cooley

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

Welcome 2013

New Year around the world filled with lights and colors!

Sydney

Hongkong (my favorite :)

Marina Bay Singapore

London

Pyongyang

Berlin

Dubai

Aukland

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”
― by Neil Gaiman
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Last Part

The last month of the year whisked away very fast. It swept from a silent start to a grand finale. Many things happened unexpectedly.

...like friends suddenly getting married.

(And then they will eventually move and drift off to family life.)

.....and managers getting promoted.

(and they will then rise up to invisible ranks)

etc. etc. etc.
The letters in the computer screen's a little blurry as am typing now. A friend gave a bottle of casella wine the other day....and my mother left a cut of ham yesterday. Perfect combination. Half and half already occupied my stomach.
An hour ago, together with 50+ other first-timers, we were all desperately throwing 7-kilo balls in Zayed Sports City. In celebration of the year-end, our company hosted a bowling tournament among our staffs. It's great fun, period. We first filled our stomachs with pizza, and then awarded our pre-elected staffs with money and then hit the lanes with vengeance. So, Bowling is all about sharp eyes and strong arms, that's it.

Koreans play great bowling.
I wonder how they do it. Why do they have these thin bodies yet were able to throw the heavy balls smoothly forward with ease? While us, Filipinos-Indians-Arabs we all have super-duper-extra huge bodies  but still have to exert a huge effort just to hit a pin (clumsily too).

Our team is the best and the noisiest I guess. I love you guys!

Great colleagues. great company. great evening. great month. Great year!

-<*>--<*>-<*>-<*>-<*>-<*>-
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. 
-by Confucius

-<*>--<*>-<*>-<*>-<*>-<*>-

So, It's Christmas....(part 2)

Merry Christmas ECC!

This tradition of ECC, where people of all nations gather together in a an evening of music and praises is a happy ending every year. Each country will have their own presentation so we enjoy listening to various christmas songs in different languages - the most pleasing mixture of various faces and voices and skin colors ever!

<South Africa>                     <South Korea>

<Indonesia>                               <South India>

<Nigeria>                       <The Philippines>

(and many more countries)

~.~.~.~

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

~.~.~.~

So, Its Christmas...(part 1)

Merry Christmas SKEC (PISA)!

<Abu Dhabi - SKEC Family>

Christmas is about giving....So we exchanged gifts.... worth AED 50 each :)

<PISA's leader of the pack - Sir PM surrounded by his children....>

Conclusion: We, the SK (korean/filipino)staff of PISA loves taking photos of ourselves

...so we pose for photos here and there

<.... and again and again....>

<I love this shot!> 

<we got the most good looking Filipinos and also the most handsome Koreans in the whole UAE>

***just blooperssss!***

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Company cultures are like country cultures.

Never try to change one.

Try, instead, to work with what you've got.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Home

<looking down Elektra - Hamdan Street from the window>

Standing by the window of my rented room-home, I look down and watched the city in the dark for 10minutes and then my heart started to miss my real home.

I grew up in a small village, surrounded by mountains and the sea. 

Maybe in your part of the earth, you are blessed with 4 seasons. Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. While in the Islands of the Philippines, we enjoy simply 2 seasons - either its Rainy or its Sunny. 

<The Nipa Hut>

In our small villages, the Nipa Hut serves as a very comfortable home. Even now that there are many concrete buildings, we still keep nipa huts beside our houses where our grandparents like to sleep or just take rest together with our chickens, and cats and  dogs and birds and their nests perched on the bamboo roof. Instead of watching TV, we love to sit in the nipa hut among families and friends, simply sharing stories and laughter. It is a favorite hang-out place.

<tobacco business>

Sorry folks it is not suppose to be proud of, but one of our main product and probably the most profitable is tobacco. We plant the tobacco seed, we cook the tobacco leaves and then we sell them to the bigger companies who finally will process and export them, we create the cigarettes :( 

<each family owns at least a family of cows as well. >

We all have our own our rice fields, so we plant our own vegetables and we tend our own flocks of chicken and cows. Food supply is all fresh.

<The Jeepney, Philippines' own unique creation. This can cross a river too!>

 

<From the mountains rainwater flows through our streets towards the sea all throughout the rainy season. There are no fishes because the water is shallow but there are lots of frogs and even crabs when you're lucky (winks!).>

>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<

"No one realizes how beautiful it is 

to travel until he comes home and 

rest his head on

 his old, familiar pillow." 

~ by Lin Yutang

>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<

UAE National Holiday, a glimpse....

National Day (Arabic: اليوم الوطني لدولة الأمارات العربية المتحدة‎) is celebrated on 2 December each year in the United Arab Emirates for two days or more (mostly on the 2nd and 3rd). It marks the UAE's formal nationalization from the British Protectorate Treaties which ended on December,1,1971 and the eventual unification of the seven emirates in 1971 which combined to form the modern-day country. **borrowed from ms. wiki

car parade filled the streets from hamdan street to salam street going to the road of corniche all the way to the breakwater near marina mall.

 cars and music and people everywhere....

bright and colorful lights decorate the buildings of abu dhabi....from top to bottom, side to side all around :)

the locals love to sit on top of their cars during the parade with their stereos playing local music in full force

twinkle, twinkle, abu dhabi....the city sparkles!

amazing buildings like giant clusters of light statues

feels like christmas time to me

hehe even the fishes celebrated national day (they were painted with uae flags)

*-*-*-*-*-*

Marhaba UAE 41 go forward!

*-*-*-*-*-*

Interviews: About Abu Dhabi

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.

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

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!

<~>*<~>*<~>*<~>*<~>*<~>

“Being a woman is a terribly difficult task,

since it consists principally in dealing with men.” 

~by Joseph Conrad

<~>*<~>*<~>*<~>*<~>*<~>