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)

A day without laughter is a day wasted

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"A day without laughter is a day wasted."

-by Charlie Chaplin 

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Making Memories in my Heart

I love June! 

(big lunch box....hehe)

This is a free lunch box from Al Jaber Catering, our new company.

Some of us are not priviledged to receive it, but thanks I got free boxes last week.

Inside, it has 2 types of rice, a vegetable dish, a meat dish, fruit for desert and juice.

Three of my friends shared it with me.

I learned that free food especially when shared is always delicious.

One Saturday evening, my colleagues and me got down the eastern mangroves to have picnic.

It is very hot in the UAE now because it is summer. But still there are lots of fun and food and photo shoots for 2 hours, as the sun sets peacefully in the background.

  

(eastern mangroves)

(potluck: pansit, lumpia, carbonara, salad,adobo, etc)

(the weather is humid and hot, we are all sweating hard but still happy) 

<chuchi, gayni, beautiful rona, rommel, ate christy>

<joan, neil, kuya ben, jonel, ermie>

(28.06.2013_beijing restaurant)

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“In all of living, have much fun and laughter.

Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.” 

- by Gordon B. Hinckley

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Two Masters

One morning while focusing to work normally in the office,

one manager gave me a video documentary about the Himalayas in Nepal.

He heard that I wanted to go there previously but I was not able to.

I almost cried.

Not because of Nepal but because I felt someone still cares.

Since last month, getting by in my workplace everyday have been very very hard.

Serving 'two masters' really is impossible.

It makes you crazy.

Now I have '2 masters'.
One on the right and one on the left.

I feel torn when both sides calls me at the same time.
Where shall i run first?

I feel desperate when I ask for solutions to problems but both sides ignore me.
Will the problem solve itself?

I recently feel guilty to bite a piece of bread (i think given to me out of pity) while my other friends get hungry.

I feel angry when I  received 'sorry' instead of simple guidance and direction.

Oh life! I am starting to hate the word 'sorry'...

What is 2dhs? what is a 5 minute clarification? what is a small respect?

What happened to people whom I have admired and looked up to before?

Toys do not get hurt. But we are all human beings.

This is not about professionalism.
This is about policy and its stupidity.

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

I never had a policy;

I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.

~ by Abraham Lincoln

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Body for Sale

[photo credit: google images]

It is about 10 PM on a Thursday.

My mother and me were walking towards my accommodation.

We noticed there were many people standing in one corner of the street.

Thinking there was an accident, we walked on to see what is happening.

In the middle of the crowd I saw them, the girls wearing tight short skirts.

I said, "Mama, let's get out of here."

It was a pick-up area.

A car stopped in front of us, "Ronalyn! What are you doing here!?"

Oh shocks. Sitting inside the car was one of our CM at work.

I quickly waved and said "Hi, sir!" and dragged my mother out of that dark place.

Prostitution obviously exist around the city.

But why is it being ignored and not addressed by the government?

One of my friends said:

"If I am the ruler, I will allow it, I will make prostitution legal.

This country needs it.
Here, there are many laborers, and more men than women.
It will help them meet their basic physical need.
Otherwise they may become violent.
This outlet will help reduce the crime rate of the country."

He may have a valid point.
But looking back to my own home country, it is worst.
Our capital, the city of Manila had been
recently named as "the gates of hell" by famous author Dan Brown.
One of the reason is because of its 'horrifying sex trade'.

I don't know about you,
but for me I feel it is somehow very, very sad.
Even scary.

Legal or not legal,
Our bodies are still the home of our souls.
It deserves to be taken cared of and treated with respect.

~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.

If any thing is sacred, the human body is sacred.

-by Walt Whitman

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A Simple Birthday Wish...

Can I make 33 wishes?
Here we go:
1. Ten (10) or more cheerful greetings from people I love. > Oh. I am still getting countless of greetings :)

2. Three (3) or more warm hugs from people who loves me.> got 1 on 21st & 4 hugs on 26th ^^
3. A blessing from my nanang.
4. To hear the laughter of my nieces and cousins all at the same time.

5. To hear "iloveyou" from my mother and brother.

6. To hear "Bravo! You did a great job" from my new boss.>He said "thanks for your efforts today!"
7. Forgiveness from people who do not like me.
8. Praise from people who likes me.> got more than 10 praises from friends.
9. A day off spent reading and relaxation in Emirates Palace.
10. My annual work leave application approved.
11. Renewed visa stamp on my passport.> got it on 24th thanks!

12. A happy dinner together with our department team.> we had a happy lunch with all our staff on 27th

13. Star cinema with colleagues.
14. Tour the UAE with friends.

15. Buffet Lunch at Al Fanar.
16. Picnic in the park.> on 22/06 at mangroves with friends

17. To enter in the Burj Al Arab.
18. To ride a camel.

19. Be able to drink a cold beer on the rooftop.
20. To enjoy a 'shisha' party with friends.

21. A bike ride along cornice.

22. Own domain name for my blog site.
23. Autographed book from bro. Bo Sanchez.
24. A gift given secretly. Any gift.> got several already!

(small precious gifts I found randomly on my desks hehe)

 25. A handmade birthday card.> from my crazy friends see picture below! hahaha!

(unique birthday card from crazy friends!)

26. Ice cream cake. > thanks got it on 26th

(ice cream cake)

<with extra eggpie also!>

27.  Bouquet of roses.

28. Someone to cook Pakbet especially for me, Ilokano style.> Saluyot is ok. Ate for lunch on 23rd.
29. To received at least 10 photo greetings in facebook or email.>1 only but more than 10msgs (lazy friends)
30. My article to be published in Abu Dhabi week or Tempo.
31. A chance to watch a baby sleep in my arms.
32. To see and touch an angel.> done 22/06
33. Love. Lots and lots of love.>My heart is already overflowing...Thank you Lord!

My prayers to receive it all before the 28th of this month. Thanks hehe.

Touch Me Not!

I feel dizzy. I stood up and nearly fell down.
This is not hangover hehe.
Last night I experienced my first ever full body massage.
May I share my experience to you, dear friends....
Yes, I have never allowed anyone to touch my body without my permission.
But for the sake of curiosity I surrendered myself to 'ate' (the lady massage therapist) for 80 minutes.

When I entered the hotel I am so nervous.
But my mother was there waiting and very happy to see me, so I smiled and pretended to be cool.
My mother took off with an elderly lady and another 'ate' welcomed me and said, 'follow me'.

I entered the room, it is dark and I feel scared when I saw the bed, I thought 'that is the torture chamber'.
She handed me a small packet and said 'remove your clothes and put this on' (don't ask me what it is).
She said she will come back after 1 minute and left me alone in the room.
I silently undress thinking I still have 1 minute to run away and escape.

But I obediently followed the instructions, laid on my stomach and covered myself with the towel.
I could hear a soft music playing in the back ground.
Ate came back and asked how I feel.
I said this is my first time and I don't know what to do.
She laughed and said all I need to do is relax and enjoy.
Ok.
And then the heavenly process started.
She started massaging my upper shoulder, going down the waist and then my legs and feet.
She massaged and knead my arms, and then back to my shoulders and finally my head.
Ohhh I love it!
After 1 hour I fell asleep. It is over.
She said I have to slowly stand up and drink water before coming out to the reception.
But I just like to sleep :)

Conclusion: Massage relaxes the muscles of the body as well as the mind, it feels very good.

<photo credit: Eden Spa, Le Meridien Hotel>

 Everyone should definitely surrender their body for a relaxing massage!

Love or Responsibility

<'nanang' and 'manong' 05.06.13>

"Wishing our Islamic nation a blessed Is'raa Wal Miraj...."

This welcome sms wakes me up this morning.

Our Muslim brothers shares this holiday with us today, 06-June-13.

We have free time for 2 days and I wanted to go out of the UAE and visit Qatar since it is near and only 30 minutes flight, but the embassy says that you should have an existing valid visa at least 6 months.

My visa is expired and my passport is also expiring after 6 months. Oh life!

I have a heated debate yesterday with a friend.

Our topic is about the responsibility of children over their parents.

He said that children are responsible for their parents when they grow older.

I said that children are not responsible but parents are responsible for their children.

Now maybe you think I am a bad daughter. Let me explain please.

When parents decided to have a child, at the start, they are responsible.

Children depends on their parents for everything. 

The parents take care of their babies, they feed them, they guide them and then provide for schooling.

It is the parents responsibility.

Children are entitled for home and for protection and development.

But for children, it is their own choice, not their obligation to care for their parents when they grow old.

I believe that if a child is cared for and loved by the parents, when the child grow up as adult, undoubtedly  he or she will  return their love and respect without conditions.

Children should take care of the parents because of love and not because of duty. 

I suddenly missed my mother. I realized that although we are both working here in the UAE, we still do not spend time with each other. So last night I called her and asked her out for a date. I figure that she love to have a spa so I checked online for special promotions and found that most are fully booked for the holiday. I reserved 2 special body treatment in the evening and then planned to take her for dinner afterwards. I hope it all goes well. I have never been to a full body massage before. I feel weird just imagining to remove my shirt and/or my bra so that a stranger can touch my skin 'oh shocks!' But my mother will be happy to spend this time with me together. So bring it on!

Singapore

November 17, 2009 at 5pm I arrived in Singapore and checked in Park Royal Hotel.

Singapore is a very small country, only around 647,000 sq.Km

The country is well known for shopping so I visited the popular Orchard road, this street is lined up with many big department stores with reasonable prices. (I bought 3 shirts)

<The Raffles Hotel, SG>

This is the Raffles hotel they said it’s the most expensive in the whole country and one of the most expensive in the world,  all the rooms are deluxe and costs $6000+ per day. The tour guide said it is 1886 architecture.

<18.11.2009, SG>

Singapore harbor is the world's busiest harbor port because in every 3minutes one ship goes in and one ship goes out.

<the singapore flyer>

This giant ferry's wheel gives you 30-40 minutes ride and it is a great way to view the city.

Sentosa island. It means peace and tranquility. Before it is the country’s military fortress.

Millions of people visit the island every year because there are many nice attractions: the underwater world, watch the famous sea angels very rare nowadays they said, and the wax museum where it is showing the history of Singapore, and then the Malayan tower, watch the 4D show it is very exciting, and in the night the very famous 'song of the sea show' where they used the combination of laser, water and fire in the musical show in water.

<song of the sea.sentosa, SG>

There are also beautiful gardens. Initially Singapore zoo garden don’t have wildlife so they started to breed animals, today they are one of the most successful breeders in the world. You can try and ride the tram in the night safari if you love animals like me. The animals appear happy and comfortable in their forest environment. It is dark in the tram, the track road is rough, while we are driving I could feel the cold wind on my face and I could hear the soft rustling of the leaves and the noises of the birds and animals. I really missed this experience. If only this place is just near my house I would go there every evening.

<clark quay,SG>

I have noticed that the Singaporeans love to read the newspapers. Inside the plane, everybody is silently holding their local newspapers and magazines and deeply immersed in reading. I think I'm the only one with empty hand and just staring at everyone.

<The 'malion' a fish body and a lion's head derived the country's name 'Singapura'>

I also learned that Singaporeans are very hardworking so this caused a big problem to the government because their population stopped growing. So the government tried to solve this by passing a law that declares two non-working days per week (one for rest day and one for production day hahaha).

After 3 days, I left Singapore. What a great city!

Another Heartbreak

<29.05.2013>

This went all inside my stomach this afternoon. It is like a fried rice with a grilled chicken on top  and is called 'biryani'.

These three old men (my kind kuyas at work) took me out for lunch today. They said they have discovered this delicious food in a small cheap restaurant hidden in Mussafah. You have to eat there using your hands only.

Today my boss called me in the meeting room. He said from now on wards I will work under another boss. It breaks my heart. I felt unwanted. I am very very sad but thanks to kuya Ben, kuya Bong and kuya Leo, they made me laugh nonstop during the afternoon.

Even if my beloved company gave me away, I need to carry on. I don't care who is now my boss or who pays my salary. I love my job. I love everyone of my colleagues although many have left us already and perhaps many more will leave. But I strongly believe in our project. I pray to be able to see it completed successfully.

So I will show up each day at work filled with passion in my heart with a goal to contribute my best and learn everything there is to learn.

<inspired with the sunrise every morning_overlooking sowwah island>

Retreat

It's Friday - the only day you are allowed to wake up after 6 am here in the gulf region.

But my nose is blocked and I can not breath properly so I have to open my mouth to take in oxygen.

I caught one of my colleagues colds virus because I allowed her to play on my i-phone every evening in the bus.

As a result, I now suffer from headache and my throat hurts and I woke up early on a Friday because I am sick.

Its good that my mind is still functioning properly so I can write and complain :)

Last Wednesday I thought I was capable to beat a man twice as big as me.

Only our HR manager kindly stopped me from fighting back that big cruel man.

So I just took a deep breath and marched around and around our office cabin, exhaling 'aaah' 'aaah' aaah' and finally went to the washroom and shout nonstop instead to the mirror.

After 10 minutes I resumed my work.

My 'enemy' the big man called me to his office and apologized.

I looked at him and I wanted to tell him that I do not need his apology!

But horror upon horrors, my crazy eyes started to release tears.

You see, I never wanted to show my weakness.

So I was more angry with myself and so I could not speak.

Maybe he thought I was really upset with him.

Night time came and  I recalled what had happened.

What is the lesson I learned from this experience?

1. Never fight with anyone bigger than you unless you are sure to win or unless you are willing to lose.

2. All humans have a deep need to be recognized and respected even those who don't deserve respect.

3. Keep quiet the moment when you are very angry otherwise you might say words that you will regret later.

4. Life is an adventure, we wake up everyday and we do not know what is going to happen. Some days are silent, some days are disaster. But each day is brand new. It is a gift to enjoy and  a chance for us to perform yet again our best.

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"Random things happen

for no reason in our lives.

We choose a few

and form a line of thought.

Made by all these dots,

which we call reason."

-by Hong Sang-Soo

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Cross-roads of life

I came home early tonight.

Because I skipped my routine run.

Because I arrived late from work.

Because I had OT.

Because there are loads of work.

Because of deadlines.

Because of a crossroad.

And I feel sad.

So I just turned to my guitar for comfort....

;_;

The Real Meaning of PEACE (short story)

Be Calm in your Heart

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist
who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists
tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there
were only two he really liked, and he had to choose
between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a
perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around
it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.
All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect
picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged
and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest – in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

(author unknown)

Live Freely

Sometimes in our life when all things are too much for us to handle, we need to escape from everyone and everything. We just feel the need to break free....

Try these wonderful suggestions:

-> Take a vacation!

<no matter what happens, have vacations often>

-> Sleep enough

<and wake up fresh>

-> Express yourself and laugh out loud... as loud as you can.

<share funny stories with a friend>

-> Do something that makes your heart beats very very fast.

<run as fast as you can>

-> journal your feelings and write everything....

<if you love to write like me>

-> Go and eat your favorite foods.

<yummy> 

-> Change your hairstyle/ dress style/ home style...etc.

<be daring, don't be afraid hehe>

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

On a planet that

 increasingly resembles one huge

Maximum Security prison,

the only intelligent choice is

to plan a jail break.

-by Robert Anton Wilson 

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(some pictures borrowed from google)

What to do when you are afraid?

I am not in the mood to write. But it is now 2:00 AM and I can not sleep so I may as well use the time to blog. 

Yesterday I received a job offer from another company (Sssshh!:)) Honestly, I don't like to change, most of us don't like changes- change of things, change of address, change of work and so on, we are used to our familiar habits already.

When I first arrived in the UAE, I discovered, working in the middle east is very challenging because our culture is very different. But if you stay here for 7 years surrounded by arabs and be extremely exposed to the middle eastern culture, the result is that you will become aggressive, adamant and direct, and shrewd.

Then for the past 2 years I worked in a Korean company. Everything is the opposite. Now there is a merging going on between these two opposite cultures in our workplace. Its like oil and water being combined. There are many adjustments and changes to be made.

New things are not always guaranteed to be good things but we have to change in order to grow and if you are afraid like me, just have faith and just carry on. I am afraid of many things, yes but I also discovered that almost all people are afraid of the same things too. 

Things I am scared of:

1) ghosts.

2) the process of dying...

3) being stuck in an elevator with a scary stranger. 

4) falling in love with someone who do not love me back

5) dark places like a graveyard in the night.

6) terrorists.

7) natural calamities.

8) speaking in front of many people.

9) and so many more to mention here...

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"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

-by Nelson Mandela

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Solitude