I'm an Addict!

i confess i am an addict. when stress at work is at the top, or when we are celebrating a job well done, each week, i should have a dose of it. otherwise, my withdrawal symptoms ranges from headache, stomache to complete insanity...


my complete dosage includes:

1 bowl of prawn wonton noodle soup with roasted duck (see the yummy picture!!)

1 serving of prawn bag

1 serving of chili crab fried rice

1 serving of roasted duck

1 serving of eggplant sambal

1 glass of sweet passion


all this, with a little help from another Noodle House fanatic (servings are for 2), will surely make my day!


there are 3 locations in dubai-- in the upscale Bin Hendi in City Center, at the elite Emirates Towers where you can be seated in a table with perfect strangers and still enjoy the meal, and at Madinat Jumeriah, where you have to wait for 30-1 hour to be served on weekends!


since they do not have table reservations, as soon as we hit the table, we already tick on the order pads which are readily available on the tables. using spiralized ballpen, we tick all those mentioned above and immediately give them to the waitress waiting. and then, the salivating begins as we anticipate the arrival of the dishes on our tables... with fun talks in between, we will always end up stretching back, sighing out loud, burping a bit, patting our tummies, and ultimately, smiling crazily at this experience!

there was even a day when i had it for lunch in City Center, and really pushed it also for dinner at Emirates Towers! talking about addiction...

well, i guess there are times when my 'sinigang' would have to take a back seat... hehe!

Throwing the Years down the Drain

i'm not used to this feeling of coldness toward someone... it has been a long time since i felt it, and now it seems strange. it is seemingly rejected by my logical system, but my emotional drive processes it.......

there are many kinds of people who walk in and out of your life. many would be acquaintances, some would be seasonal friends and long time colleagues, and a few would be friends forever! a few of these you have given a part of yourself to. these are those whom you thought knows you, and you thought you know, but trivial circumstances will reveal otherwise which can result to strained relationships of what used to be (or seemingly) a deeply-rooted friendship. and when that happens, boom! someone gets hurt. it could be you, it could be the other person! or both.

when things are not sorted out properly, all the years, the memories, the relationship is thrown down the drain... and this really really hurts even the iciest of hearts!

but what is more hurting is the insignificance of the circumstances that led to it! even if you have the best of intentions to someone, and have expressed it openly, it can still be jaded by malice and devils whisperings. you then find it so difficult to accept the fact that a simple miscommunication, prejudice or unconfirmed suspicion will blot out all of these seemingly priceless treasures! these are the situations why the phrase "give him the benefit of the doubt" was invented, and has been proven very useful for many years. and when not exercised on you, "you are guilty unless proven innocent". but still many times, you are not given the opportunity to prove your innocence wherein, you have been judged without due process... this is the killer-pain! if you are as sentimental as i am when it comes to friends, this will spell a really bad day... or days! and finally, coldness... until healing comes with time, forgiveness, much prayers, and love...


maybe still... these situations are needed to separate the weeds from the real plants...

i remember reading thru the Old Testament the ingratitude of the Israelites to God despite His open display of love, care and provisions to them... i even don't need to go that far, coz many times i've been guilty of questioning God's love for me for many unpleasant circumstances, when He has already given the ultimate expression of it at the cross of calvary-- that is sacrificing His own beloved Son for my salvation! how short-sighted i can be!

having known the woes of a misjudged person, the next time the temptation creeps into my mind to doubt a friend, or more importantly my God, i'd have to think a million times. my stubbornness and selfishness might unnecessarily hurt a friend, or invite cold shoulders, or worse, destroy a wonderful relationship...

Valentine Craze

pinoys are really romantic by nature! even here in Sharjah, at the heart of the muslim-influenced emirate of UAE, valentines spirit still found its way...as early as yesterday, greetings of 'happy hearts day', or 'where is your date?' already flew like wildfire in our office. we are 97% pinoys, so you can imagine. and today, everyone seems to be in very good spirits! work was light, with so much jestings on whom to date and where to go filled the conversations.

dubai on the other hand did what it does best-- sell! it has managed to take advantage of this commercial opportunity to pump in more dirhams... valentine spa package, desert safari couple package, dinner packages, jewelry for his and hers, flowers, even HP printer has a valentine's promo! on the other side of the globe, i read a stat somewhere that in the Philippines, the card, flowers and chocolate companies account 15% of their annual business turnover for the period Feb 10-20 alone! talking about brisk business eh? it shows two things: (1) so many still value this day, and (2) pinoys have the eye for opportunities.

but then there are those who would not succumb to the seemingly commercialism and would rather be resourceful and artistic... good for you guys! i salute you! as the old over-used adage goes "it's the thought that counts!"

if the couples are all loved up this day and somehow positively (?) pressured on what to give to their habibis and habibtis (arabic of male and lady love), adversely, a number of singles are hard-pressured. i remember when i was in high school when me and my single girl friends would send each one flowers from 'anonymous' sender, just so to be 'in' for the season! now i think it's so insane! haha! oh well, the pressure dries up slowly as we age. and singles now seem to have more fun and more creative juice in dealing with the v-day than during the yester years...

well, whatever this day means to each one, whether good business, or romantic get away, or an unnecessary pressure, V-day is here to stay! it's a force to reckon with! haha! go rule!

Tour Guide

for the past weeks, i have mastered the art of being a tour guide...

the first batch was my boss' mom and friends, in their 60's but still very robust! i have been tasked to make their itinerary for 10 days, showcasing the cultural-side and the modern UAE... they were seasoned travellers being retired Pinoy doctors who are US Citizens... i love conversing with them as they passionately share their travel experiences in asia, europe, mediterranean and other places... they do not say 'no' to long walks and late evening dinners, and would not let their age get in the way. they followed their schedule scrupulously no matter how jampacked it is. nobody would think that these are senior citizens! the only thing that gives them away is their non-chalant talks of their BP and sugar levels at each journey's end...

the next batch were ladies in their 40s, best friends since high school... and they only have 7 days... hmmm! they actually did not need much help, as they came in at the right time--- shopping festival! this is the group where schedule is just a guide, especially if the time alloted was only 2 hours per mall! in them, i have been fascinated at their 'sisterhood' that has weathered all the decades...

the last one is a couple... and they only have 3 days, including valentine's day tomorrow. cool! valentines at the desert safari... for them, it is more of just taking a peek, as they are sure of coming back here for more.

so if you're planning on coming here to dubai, make sure you contact 'the tour guide'! im gonna give The Big Bus tour a run for their money! be it for shopping, for cultural enrichment, or for a mere stopover, i'd love to show this side of the world to you! my fave ones are: desert safari, sharjah gold shouke, madinat complex, burj al arab, all the malls, hatta fort, all the construction along sheik zayed road which will make you think you are in the terminator 3 movie, romantic dhow cruise, cultural trip to dubai museum and heritage village, abra and creek side trip, wild wadi water park and of course, adventureland!

being a tour guide on-the-side has always been a pleasurable experience for me as well... i am equally enriched with each group having their own characters, and their own stories to tell. i think this is the best way of putting to test my hard-earned 5 years experience in dubai ! haha!

Coffee Talk#2 Hyatt Regency

for our coffee talk 2, we went to Hyatt Regency. nestled at the boundary of Deira and Bur Dubai, and facing the gulf sea, Hyatt stands elegantly as it did some 15-20 years ago, being one of the oldest hotels in dubai. despite the years, it has caught up well aesthetically with the newer ones... we had a good resource person that evening who even treated us for dinner! yum yum! we dined in at The Kitchen savoring ceasar salad for starter, then nasi goreng and seafood rice noodles for the main course. i loved the food! just perfect taste and quantity! i think we enjoyed it so much that we did not realize it was already past eleven!!

later, after a good two burps, we knew it was time for coffee!!! for the remaining 30 minutes, we went at the lobby side of the hotel, and threw ourselves comfortably in their soft cushion sets! our friend had to leave just before the Coffee talk so Mano and I are left on our own. i ordered almond choco drink, while she ordered macchiato, and we shared the tiramisu which is delicious! the almond choco is good for a non-coffee drinker like me...

the ambiance was great, and there was a good vertical space giving ample air to really breath and indulge in relaxing! we were strategically seated at the aisle of the main hotel hall, so people watching was action-packed! it occured to me that there was really a downpour of men on this side of the planet, as we noticed that there were only a handful of ladies walking around! while Mano and i were seriously discussing, a group arrested my attention-- three men and a baby! the baby was oh-so-cute, and so was one of the guys, who seated 3 meters across us with a very good angle for surreptitious glances! haha!

the remaining minutes were spent just talking about random topics, but this time, with more pauses and gaps of silence... we just let our eyes and brows do the talking! this is one of the rare times when Mano and I are silent... hooray!

at 12 midnight, we both smiled and sighed... another coffee talk is over...

Hotel rating:
almond chocolate and tiramisu = very good
service = fair (we waited for 10 min before someone got our order)
ambiance = very good! good music too!
experience = very good! i think we will repeat this!

The Bigger Scheme of Things

there is something fascinating about how a certain decision is made... specially when it entangles a hundred more other issues, then it becomes super amazing! sometimes, we are allowed to see the bigger scheme of things, but many times, we are just given pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and each piece is meaningless without the rest. it happens a lot in corporate decision-makings, and many of those things does not make sense to people outside the circle.


i have done quite a stir in our organization the past 2 days when i was doing remedial plans to our manpower needs for those who have left and are leaving soon (since recruiting from manila will take a while). i was not aware that it was chaotic already until i heard it from our other managers. we have been doing simultaneous interviews, lateral and vertical promotions from within. the picture is quite clear in my mind with each one holding different parts of the puzzle piece. but to them, it comes off unclear and confusing! but today, being a 'mending day', i assured them that things are going to be ok and that it will be for everybody's good. i hope they believe me. i hope that things will fall into the right place at the right time....

i guess the same thing happens when God executes His plans for us. many times we do not see the sense in it. many times, we think we know how to do it better. and often times, we think we are left on our own to grope in the dark. then the sin of unbelief, discontent and endless whining comes in and ruins our relationship with Him...

if i, being a sinful human being, plans things that is for the benefit of most people concerned, what more does our loving Heavenly Father?! but unlike me, wherein i have to 'hope things will fall into the right place', His plans and execution does not depend on anything else, but on His wise estimation and mercy alone! but we have to let Him freely take his action in our lives!


lifting a quote from the book i am readung, i quote "when God does not make sense, He still makes sense!" His bigger scheme of things will always be for His eyes only, until He so pleases to show it to us...

Slow Movement in Europe

I received this email from a friend. i guess the 'slow movement' is slowwwwly making waves... a lot of points make sense to me... oh, if this were true, i hope asia catches on with this european spirit. this is quite exactly what i had in mind about the balancing act of: making a living and real living...


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Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe named Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and"craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour work weeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!". This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity.

It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means re-establishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living. It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighterand more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

Coffee Talk#1 The Debut

living abroad made me creative in terms of extra curricular activities. back home, i am content with staying at home, or at friend's houses to sing the blues away... but here, i have no family, and i do not have many friends... but, i still have work stresses to deal with. so what am i gonna do? suck my thumb? cover my head with pillows?...

we thought of going malling (nah! too expensive!), or bar hopping (nah! we're not fond of alcohol!) or how about 'let's sit and talk a while, in a one world of coffee..'? sounds familiar? yeah, that's the Nescafe commercial. but instead of having this coffee talk in just any cafe, Manoleth and I thought of doing it in more exciting places-- the hotel lobbies!!! we wrote down the 5-star hotels in Dubai, and we realized we are going into a weekly thing! and coffee in hotels are priced fairly compared to cafes. what's more? we plan on infusing topics for the evenings, depending on our 'resource' person for the night. resource here means either 'financial' or 'conversational'! haha! and even if i am not a coffee-holic, i think the idea is very tempting enough.

so for out coffee talk#1, we chose the closest to Mano's office, the Hotel Sofitel lobby. being quite a small city hotel, the lobby is not as captivating, so this is not an intimidating first time for us. we saw other groups of men discussing, while on the other table, a girl reading a book while probably waiting for someone. i thought, 'this is a great idea to whoosh my mind away from strain...' the ambiance is relaxing as we listen to piano playing from the second level...

we ordered donut, choco cake, and croissant, and decaf cappucino for both of us. we did not like the choco cake, but finished it anyways while talking about many things-- from writing a book about this, to naming resource persons, to dispensability of people, to our plans in life, to how we were betraying our gym commitment by munching all these sweets, and so on and so forth... so 3 hours, countless stories, endless laugh and $10 after, we were home-bound with a great smile!

...watching the world go by sipping coffee with a good friend, in style, is not a bad idea after all! i am now excited with coffee talk#2...

Change

i've heard this saying before, "change is as certain as taxes and death"....

i couldn't agree more! just when plans have been laid and you are congratulating yourself for a great masterplan, certain things crop up that will turn your world upside down. it could range from something as welcoming as meeting Mr. Right, to as extreme as losing a loved one. my current plan-twister is neither of those (whew!). but major changes in the personal plans of our management team...



some have left for greener pasture... others have given their intention to leave soon... and all these were happening just when i have already planned and did initial moves for my own replacement-program when i leave the company by 2008! hah! it is initially frustrating, but after useless sighs, blabbings and whinings, it now becomes challenging...


when people leave, it is both a sad and a joyous occasion. sad, because it leaves a vacuum. sad because a friend will leave. it is like losing my hand, or my legs. sad because it stirs up the organization unnecessarily. sad because change is not always welcome in everyone's comfort zones.

at the same time, it is a joyous one. i am happy for the person leaving knowing that he will be heading for a better life. happy because i know that he will bring with him wonderful memories of us to his next abode. happy because this is an opportunity for others to move up. happy because it prompts everyone to shake up and think really hard. happy because this simply stamps that "man plans, but it is God who makes it happen"....


as what we were taught in the church last friday, "the first step in dealing with change is acceptance". otherwise, other engines will not move.

Raindrops

when was the last time that rain has not been a nuisance, but a nostalgic experience for you? i had mine last friday. and it was awesome...

after church service, when we went back to our car, it was awashed with rain drops! yes, it rained in the UAE! and i was told that it has been raining since two months ago! (i was in Manila at that time). whatever environmental or even metaphysical implications this occurence has, for me, it was simply nostalgic. the smell of the after-rain, the cool rainy day breeze and the dark grey skies brought back thoughts about my Manila days... we drove down the nearby Jumeirah beach where we spent a little less than 5 minutes just to linger this beautiful day with the magestic Burj Al Arab in sight, and other families happily playing yonder...

a little later, when we were home in the villa, and i was busy cleaning my room, the rain started pouring again... and it gets stronger every minute... i opened my window and gladly listened to the raindrops cascading on the leaves of the tree beside my window... later still, i saw lightning, as we expect, thunder came immediately after... wow, this really feels like home!!!! haha!!! for some weird reasons, i was kid-happy inside...

this is not the way it is with the others here... because who would be happy being stuck in traffic because the roads are quite flooded with this brief display of rain? (part of UAE is not ready with the drainage system since rain is more of an exception) ... and when you are out there dining al fresco?.... or when you are trying to catch the last days of the Global Village (the external amusement and bazaar destination)? ... or when your roofing is not ready for even the slightest rain, just like what happened to our center...

who would have thought that i'd view the simplest rain process in a different light?.... truly, absence really makes the heart grow fonder...

The Pursuit of Simplicity and Discipline

in response to the title, i am telling you, when you're in Dubai it's tough to stay grounded! if not for His grace, i would have long been disoriented. coming here to dubai some five years ago, i was single-minded on two pursuits: (1) experience in working overseas and (2) financial independence...

five years later, my goal no. 2 has always been like the horizon-- so near, yet so far. not because it was unreachable, but because i change the goal even before reaching it! just like the rest who had a definite time frame even before stepping out of the philipine airport, a year later my ideas were morphed into something more complicated.

in dubai, i have been faced with these two struggles that never used to unsettle me this strongly back home:

Maintaning a simple lifestyle - when access to anything grand and fabulous is just as easy as pie, and when almost all the things you see blinds you in their flash and fancy, this goal could really be arduous. even in our company, we adhere to 'image is everything' mentality, so from clothes to shoes, to bags, to accessories, we have to be presentable to say the least. i've piled up pounds on restaurant-hopping for corporate meetings. i've ticked almost all the 5-star hotels for our R&R. been thru other high-profile leisure and recreation facilities for industry update purposes. my job entails that i know most, if not all, the entertainment whereabouts in UAE and the GCC.

and where does simplicity find its place? when duty calls, i've to be reminded always of moderation, knowing that the above things are just but fleeting pleasures. it's nice to experience them, to indulge once in a while. but making it a lifestyle? nah! i can't AND don't want to sustain it. why not? simply because it's not me, and i know it will not be good for me in the long run...

and when i am off-duty, i enjoy life's simple pleasures... that is (1) spending quality time with my friends, (2) enjoying the most mundane things like watching DVDs, chitchatting non-stop over tuyo, sinangag and itlog, etc. and (3) spending quality time alone with my grey matter...

Discipline in the means of grace - tough when you do not have any excuse to miss a devotion, a worship and a good prayer time! back home, i used to complain that i do not have the means to regularly attend gatherings, nor the luxury of a peaceful place and time for a good devotion... and now that i have them all here, i realized it is all the more worse at the other side of the battle! i have the time, the car, the money, the solitary place for devotions... except that many times, i lack the most needful thing-- the hungry heart for His words! and this battle confronts me more often than before... ONLY by His grace for His glory, a number of these battles have been won...

so to those who'd like to leave their simple comforts for greener pasture, be forwarned that you may solve some problems, but create other ones. i guess i'd just have to accept the fact that this world can never be problem-free, otherwise, this could be heaven already!