Life's Journey

Superior Scribble Award

2008-11-07T23:41:00.000-08:00

Thank you Cookie for this wonderful award, i greatly appreciate it. Thanks for remembering to visit me and for sharing this cute stuff.
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So the rules every Superior Scribbler will name 5 other Super Scribblers. If you are named you must link to the author & the name of the blog that gave you the award. Then you must display the adorable award and link to This Post, which explains The Award. Finally you must visit this post and tell your name to Mr. Linky List. Then they will have a record of all the people who are Super Scribblers!

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But Cookie dear, I guess I've to change my rules here, hehe. Because I want to give this award to all my blogger friends out there. Please feel free to grab ;)

Pre- travel to UAE preparations

2008-10-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

I am inspired to write this article because of the encouragements I received from peers, from my husband and from the visitors who managed to visit my site asking me to write more about UAE country and the Filipino diaspora in this land.
If you are intending/planning to come to UAE , here's some tips that I find useful. I hope this will help my "kababayan" (fellows) in their dream to journey to one of the attractive places in the Middle East, the UAE. This is the first step you need to do as part of your preparation.

1) This is foremost. Be sure that you are emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually and FINANCIALLY ready to travel. If one of this aspect is not certain, take time to equate things over. Don't push yourself. It is always easy to enter the gate of another territory, but it is always difficult to exit and walk back.
2) Language.
Bear in mind that UAE is an Arabic speaking country and no matter how good in English you are, there are hundreds of people you expect to work and relate everyday that speaks less English or no English at all. That makes it difficult to communicate and interrelate with them. Language barriers causes miscommunication. The "eat" that you mean, may have a different meaning to some people.
3) Culture, people and other nationalities.
UAE has a mixed nationalities. The no. 1 migrants are people from India. Next are from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other Arab countries, then the Asian, that includes Filipinos, the Americans, British, Canadians, Africans. I think UAE has adopted all kinds of races and you don't know with whom and with what race you will be employed with especially if you come thru visit visa and so desperate to get a job.
4) Religion.
The observance of the Holy Month of Ramadan and other spiritual aspects of Islam. Learn that Ramadan is the month of fasting. Respect the law. If you are not fasting, don't even try to eat in public. If you're caught eating in public or even drinking just a gulp of water, you'll surely end up in jail, and will stay there until Ramadan is over.
5) Dress
There are many types of garments or clothing you that people in this country wear. The national dress is Abaya. It is a traditional form of "hijab" or Islamic dress. It is black in color dressed all over the body. It is worn by women.
There is the "Kandura" or dishdash - as it is known. This is a long white cloak (sometimes comes in variety color too) worn by men with matching headscarf. This is the national dress for Emirate men.
There is also the Shalwar Kameez usually worn by Pakistani people.
Sari is widely used too especially among Indian women. This dress sometimes comes in bright, multicolored garment. This comes in unstitched cloth, wrapped around the waist with one end draped into the shoulder.
How about Pinoys? Well, Pinoys working in offices opted to go with the style of the white people like British and Americans. Trousers and pants with matching tie. Barong Tagalog is mostly worn by Filipino diplomats only but even on normal days, it is the winning trousers with coat and tie that makes up the day. So better to shop many of those kind in the Philippines in advance because it cost double in UAE.
6) The currency. The forex. Dolllar against peso and peso against dirham.
Study how much is 1 dirhams (dhs) UAE currency equals to Peso (Php)? And how much is the dollar rate? Of course, this is neccessary in computing how much you will earn and will be remitted to your family once you obtain a job. If you are earning more in the Philippines than what will you be getting when you go abroad, then try to re-evaluate your decision. Maybe going abroad for work, is not a wise decision after all.
7) The food.
Well, this is good if you have flexible tastebuds. That is, your sense of taste is palatable to all variety of tastes coming from the cuisine of variety races. That is one good thing in UAE. Here, you can taste Indonesian, Mongolian, African, Arabic, Lebanese, Chinese, European, American, Canadian, Spanish and of course Filipino food and many other cuisine as long as you like and as deep as your pocket can dive.

I think I have mentioned enough but not all.. That's for today... More about UAE regulations, do's and dont's on next mail.

Till here......

The UAE Visit Visa

2008-10-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

They come under visitor's visa. Not because they wanted to see and wander in this place where skycraping buildings and men-made attractions are abundant everywhere, but to try to pitch a job to save the starving family back home.

This is the plight of many OFW working in UAE and anywhere in the world. Work, sweating eyes and brows, save and send money for loved ones back in the Philippines.

Getting a direct employment from Philippines to UAE is always a game of luck. I was one of those who win this game by chance. But that's another story :). You may say, there are lot of manpower agency scattered all over Philippines that hire seafarers, domestic helpers, female cleaners, office workers, beautificians, health workers, engineers, doctors and many more but as always, if you are lucky enough to be chosen, shortlisted or screened, or have financial capital to pay for the costs which costs thousands of pesos, yes, you are one of the blessed ones.

But Filipinos, are always challenged in the "short-cut" ways. So instead of waiting for the luck or "right time" (which sometimes take eternity to come), "short-cuts" are always the 2nd best option and no matter what it takes, how much does it costs, whatever happens, (with fingers crossed) the "no guts no glory" theme always wins. Which means, if you don't get the guts to try , you won't get the glory you'd pry. So, Mr. Juan de la Cruz, get the guts, do the short cuts and try to get the glory by going to UAE through visit visa.

One of the preparation Juan de la Cruz had to do when getting ready to get a visitor visa is to equipped himself financially. Getting to UAE seashore commands financial extravagance. The rents are up to ceilings high, the commodities too much because majority of them are imported from other countries. Everything from a pc of okra to a gram of onion is expensive. That is still food. We are not yet counting the cost of the accomodation. Oh, and the nos. of tenants per 15 sq.m. floor in one room. If you are used to be alone in your room before, be ready to share with 10 more people when you come to UAE. Do not discount too the different kinds of nationality you MIGHT have as roommates.

UAE change immigration rules every now and then. Before, visit visa holders in UAE can stay for a period of 2 months. This is favorable enough especially when you're real intention is to find a job and not to find tourist spots. A 2 month-period can give you enough time to search/look and scrutiny job offers. Now, a visit visa holders or tourist, can stay only for 1 month. The visa can be extended though for another month with another equivalent fee. A fine of Dhs 100.00 per day is imposed in case of overstay after the expiration of the visa. Visit visa can be obtained in any local hotel or travel agency companies inbound UAE.

The new rule also says that you cannot have visa runs to Kish or Oman island anymore. After the visa expires, one has to exit back to his home country again.

To expats, this rule proved to be difficult. But for the government, this effort is useful because it helps them monitor overstaying tourist and illegal entrants.

Jojo worked in an educational institution back in the Philippines for 17 years. Single but a breadwinner, she decided to try her fortune in the Land of UAE thru visit visa. She tried looking for a job for 1 month, but got only series of interview but no screen ins. She rented a room with with 5 other tenants @ Dhs. 500.00. She had to travel from Abu Dhabi to Dubai to Sharjah almost every 3 days for interview and walk in applications and spend another Dhs. 500.00 for the transportation. Lucky for her she got friends and cousins to support for her needs of food, mobile cards, and little living allowances. She she survived for a month before she exited back to Philippines after her visa had expired. After a month, she went back to UAE as visitor again but this time finally able to land a good job and got a working visa later on.

So gals and guys out there, before pursuing your dreams to go abroad, be ready and prepared on eventualities. There are many shortcomings that will hinder your way, but if you possess positive outlook and constructive attack against bitter advocacies, you will surely get what you aimed for..

Till here...

When Work Pressure Is Up

2008-10-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

The emotions you feel while you are at work varies at different point in time. There are instances when you are inspired to work, and there are times when you hate waking up in the morning to go to work. This happens to all people in the world and this applies not only in an office, business setting but also at home and everywhere as long as living and earning is concerned.

Workloads in the office varies too. There are days when you are doing idle-not-fulfilling- works but there are also many days when you cannot even pamper yourself for a coffee nor visit the washroom to check if your face are still in their proper contours. This is the day where your table are piled up with sooooooo much work to do with timelines and pressures from boss/es who cannot understand that you are trying to do your best to complete everything but then you are just limited with resources to do it because of other circumstances; like you need to gather data first, need the assistance of a peer because all the information you need is with him and he is not available to help; and you also need to breathe - otherwise, you'll breakdown. This is the day when work pressure is up.

I can feel if my husband workload is becoming too much for him to endure. From the Philippines to UAE, he manifest the same behaviour (when he is on the magnitude of work stress) that tells me to back off a little :( and stop nagging. I am not the nagger type, but I mean, I will limit my what's and how's question to him when he is not in the mood to talk in this moment. Yes, my husband - when pressure is up, zipped his mouth and won't share a talk. Ask him how his day has gone and he will answer me "nothing". Ask him if he is hungry and he will answer back "no". Ask him if he wants to go for a walk to relax and he will reply back " no". All "no" anwser. That's the indication. The medication? stop asking, prepare the dinner and be supportive with his emotions . I won't argue further. I will just let his lowliness slowed down and yes, eventually, he will come back to his old self again. And once he is ready to discuss, I always have a wide ear to listen, a heart to understand and a tongue to respond.

There are people who carries their work pressure with them at home. This is sometimes inevitable. The person is unconscious that he is bringing the workplace with him to the family and the members of the family cannot comprehend why. Why Daddy is not in the mood to play with me? Why my husband is hot tempered or why is he silent? If the reason is not understood, there will always be the room of argument. And if the argument is not justified, there is always room of suspicions, and if suspicions are not openly communicated, there is always room of drifting apart. Friends, beware.

When work pressure is up, health is compromised too. Some people tried to overworked themselves to get things done, never aware that on each hour spent on overworking - a hundreds of nerves are wrecking too. So, friends, take life easy. Journey in life with simplicity. Work is a part of our life. If we don't work, we have nothing to eat, live, earn, shop, travel. When work pressure is up, just take it one step at a time. We still can meet deadline. And if we can't, there is always a room for negotiation, bargaining and communication.

Till here...

A Beach Resort in UAE

2008-10-17T08:52:00.000-07:00

I have been into this place once only but I cannot help but admire the tranquility it brings and the wonderful sight it captures to a nature lover like me.

This is a beach resort, in Jebel Dhanna, - a beautiful place located in the Western Region - 250 kms away from Abu Dhabi. A hotel named Danat Resort magnificiently stand along the shore facing the cerulean Arabian seas. This is a must-visit place for every local and foreign people in UAE that want to unwind and enjoy simplicity and serenity - a good escape from the frenzied, hurly-burly city life of glamor and clamor.

You can check this place out in the web. URL: http://www.ncth.com/

The Filipino Channel

2008-10-17T00:16:00.000-07:00

ASSAMALAIKUM!

One of the worst difficulty an OFW has to face as a challenge- while-away from family is homesickness. This is oftentimes difficult to counteract especially if you are stranger in that new land, without friends, relatives or peers to hang on.

My husband and I are lucky to have landed in UAE. We were not only able to mingle with a lot of Filipino friends but we have seen lot Filipino products scattered in the mall, department stores and even on church sidewalks. There is even Filipino mass held on St. Joseph church every Friday, and hearing Tagalog Christian songs somehow minimizes the anguish and longingness in the Philippines. It makes us feel closer at home.

But there is one very famous entertainment that treats Filipinos' homesickness. The Filipino Channel (TFC) an international cable TV network of ABS-CBN that cater Filipino program such as Wowowee, TV Patrol, MMK, Matanglawin, Sharon, ASAP, The Buzz, daily primetime soap shows, UKG, EL, GB,KD,BME, UZ, TnT and many others. There are other Filipino TV channels packaged with TFC too such as ANC, Kapamilya Channel and Cinema One.

TFC helps OFW copes loneliness. This is our way to link latest news and information about Philippines. This is our diversion from a full day toil at work. Sitting in the majlis, watching TV, - transcends us into a feeling of being like in our own home in Philippines - as the images in the screen slowly flip from side to side, leading us to stories and news of the what's up and in - in the country.

It entertains our boring lives abroad. The game shows, gig shows, noontime shows makes us smile, even stretch our mouth muscles to laugh. Filipinos were known to be a good life-challenger. No matter how angry, troubled, abused, offended, a Pinoy is - like me, we still get the chance to smile and laugh and say, "Hey, this is life. I have to go on. I've got no choice". :) With the absence of the loved ones who could have comforted us at this downtrodden times, we normally shifted our ill moments to entertainment. TFC and other means like videoke, disco, bar come to our rescue.

TFC also gives very informative and interactive mode of entertainment. One of my favorite is Kuya Kim of Matanglawin. I am impressed by the way he presented facts and figures especially when he compare a height or weight of an object on a very literal view; like when he compared the height of the tallest tower in the world found in Dubai - named Burj Arab into how many statues of Statue of Liberty it equals or how many Kuya Kim does a large snake in Bohol weighs at the same time? My husband also sticked to ANC where he gets so many valuable insights especially the program Business Nightly or CrossRoads.

TFC also holds its first time PinoyExpo in Dubai this year. It was populated by thousand of Filipino coming from all Emirates of United Arab. Many famous Pinoy showbiz personalities were there to entertain. I wasnt't able to see it but I do heard from hundreds of friends that it was really fantastic and very successful. It did not only serve its purpose to expose Philippines, its product and culture to foreign eyes but it also reunited Pinoys in one place, and in one event - all together, impacting the unity and camarederie that only Pinoy OFW had shared in common.

Thanks TFC and the joy you bring to people who are away from home.

Till here.

I Know Him So Well

2008-10-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

I used to download songs that has meaning to me on my mobile phone. Ti's I played while Im on the bus going to and from work. It reminisced me a lot of things, interconnect a lot of people that come and go into my life and remembered each moment they make me wild, scared, smiled and cried.

Among those that strucked me is the I KNOW HIM SO WELL song. I first heard it sang by my cousin when I was 14 yrs old,while she strummed her guitar. I fell in love with the song the moment I heard it. And when it was my time to learn to play the strings - this is one of the first songs I practiced well. This time, it is my cousin and me who did the duet and we blended beautifully.

Downloading the lyrics from the internet is not yet conceived at that time. Yes, the www or http or whatever it is - is not in Webster's dictionary yet so I end up writing the lyrics by my hand copying from the Song Hits magazine that were the only in thing at that time.

During highschool, whenever I have time to play the guitar, this song surely comes in the line first. But when my cousin got married, this song seems to drift away from me too. Maybe I got overused to it that I no longer include it in my song list or maybe because I no longer sing duet with my cousin again - and the inspiration is over. There were lots of other beautiful songs that I felt obsessed too and maybe they coerced together to scratched the I Know Him So Well from my system. Maybe..... lots of maybe...:(

The song rekindled back in my memory nearly after 20 years. I am working in UAE already and having nothing to entertain myself from homesickness, I started to search this song to the now popular www engine using google and youtube to get a glimpse of this fave song of mine again. Whenever there is invitation for a party, I will never fail to volunteer to offer a song of I Know Him So Well neverminding the rattles of the rats, mices and cockroaches who cramped out from their caves stopping me to sing. Gosh! maybe I was just able to deliver this song heartily, with feelings and emotions, memorabilia! that my friends always requested me to sing it everytime a karaoke or videoke is around.

As I search the internet engine, I found very interesting facts about this song.

Song: I Know Him So Well
Sang by: Elaine Paige & Barbara Dikcson
Story : Two women who expressed their bittersweet feelings for a Russian
chess champion. The duo, estranged wife, Svetlana and Florence, his
mistress

This song is part of the concept album and musical play " CHESS" - sooo
popular in UK
This recording remains a Guinness record holder - the biggest UK
chart single by a female duo

It was released in 1985, 13 years after I was born (that's the reason
maybe why my cousin and I have been so obsessed in this song before and
even now..

Here's how the song goes. I wish you know the tune very well so you won't end up guessing what the dos' la and ti of this song. Notice the depthness of the meaning it tries to perceive.

Nothing is so good it lasts eternally,
Perfect situations must go wrong,
But this has never yet prevented me,
Wanting far too much,
For far too long,

Looking back,
I could have played it differently,
Won a few more moments,
Who can tell,
But it took time to understand the man,
Now at least I know
I know him well

Wasn't it good?
(Oh so good)
Wasn't he fine?
(Oh so fine)
Isn't it madness,
He can't be mine?
But in the end
He needs a little bit
More than me,
More security,
He needs his fantasy and freedom,
I know him so well

No-one in your life is with you constantly,
No-one is completely on your side,
And though I'd move my world to be with him,
Still the gap between us is too wide,

Looking back,
(Looking back)
I could have played it differently,
(I could have played it some other way),
Learned about the man,
Before I fell
(I was just a little careless)
But I was ever so much younger then,
(Maybe, so much younger then)
Now at least I know
I know him well

Wasn't it good?
(Oh so good)
Wasn't he fine?
(Oh so fine)
Isn't it madness,
He won't be mine?

Didn't I know?
How it would go,
If I knew from the start,
Why am I falling apart?

Wasn't it good
Wasn't he fine?
Isn't it madness,
He won't be mine?

But in the end,
He needs a little bit
More than me,
More security,
He needs his fantasy and freedom,
I know him so well,
It took time to understand him,

I know him so well

Photo Albums

2008-10-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

It comes in different color.
It appears in different sizes.
It is designed in different theme; serene, mild, modern, wild, techny.
It contains funky, hilarious, cranky, teary, dramatic, jubilant, scary, images....
But it has a treasure nobody in this world can give. MEMORIES...

It contains past. Past which cannot be retrieved back. And as you flip along the pages, album to album, you will driven and linked to the oldtrodden memories as if it was just YESTERDAY....

Photo albums. Yes, they are the virtual diary of the people connected in our lives.
They contain smiles of our old friends, some forgotten , some remembered.
They imprinted tears of our loved ones, some in anguish, others in elation.
We sometimes lose control of the things in past, yet the images the photoalbums brought- have helped us recall and recover our inequities that guide us to move through today and tomorrow.

There is no tomorrow without today. Today will become past, tomorrow. Save every inch of memory it brings. Record it. Blog it. Picture it.

Just as a journal contains write up, photo albums too contains image-up.

If I were to asked to saved one treasure before the world broke down, I will surely brought my photoalbums with me. I may no longer see the people I love, but their memories will linger on in the photoalbum forever.

Till next mail...

UAE's LULU Island

2008-10-02T05:05:00.000-07:00

I have heard it in everybody's mouth. In every Filipino I encounter in UAE, it seems that everyone knows this place, have been into this island and have a great time savoring the beauty and madness of the place.

So my husband and I, intending not to be left behind by the latest attraction in town, went to checked out this place together with our dear friends, all 12 of us.

We started at 11:00 am. Gosh! it is midday and the heat was sooo terrible! It was 1st October and the 1st day of Eid Al Fitr (the end of Ramadan). The humidity is so high, and the heat of the sun really pierced your skin to the max. It is not a wonder anyway. We were in one country of the Middle East where temperature is extreme, too hot, too cold. Unluckily for us, our adventure had fall on the too hot temp and the heat burned our body and oxygen too. But although we were exposed to extremities of the heat, the more we were challenged to continue the escapade.

We arrived at the island at around 3:00 pm. Imagine, the heat, the long que we have to wait before arriving in the place. Once in, we immediately wandered the area and looked out what makes the place beautiful ... as many people have said.

Lulu island is a 1050 acre man-made island off the coast of Abu Dhabi. It is technologically but beautifully reclaimed land but you can take a swim, dipped yourself into the bluegreen waterfalls or tanned yourself on the beach. It is planted with lots of dates tree for shades and green. There are cottages along the seashore where you can put your stuffs, display your food or just lay-down, savoring the moment and enjoy the serenity of the place.

There are 4 boats ferrying the people to and fro the island. Inland, there are buses and one colorful train used to carry people who wanted to explore the entire novelties of the island. I can remember the first Jurassic Park movie where a computer-automated train too is used to carry people to see the whole place embedded by dinosaurs, tyrannosaurs, rhinocerus, and etc. Lulu island though, has none of this endangered animals in place. They only have however, the friendly and hardworking camels wandering around.

Aside from the man-made beach and waterfalls, one attraction is the small hill located at the far end of the island, overlooking the sky-craping buildings and towers of Abu Dhabi. It is nice to dwidle in this place during sunset time nearing nightfall, where you can view the magnificient beauty of Abu Dhabi glaring with lights. You can also lie down on the tempting softness of the desert sand it offers.

Everything is man-made. If you are a nature-lover escapader, this place will surely not match your taste. But if you are technology enthusiast, then this place will be a good reference of your study on how to build your own man-made island attraction in the future. :)

There's not much nice spot to hang around yet as the island is still on its development stage. But still in my own point of view, the best attraction you can always invite people to come and relinquish the beauty and madness of its grandiosity is one that is being made by nature where waterfalls run infinitely, beaches lay down limitlessly, animals wandered freely and the probing of how God created such a marvelous place remains a mystery.

Till next mail....

Out Of Place

2008-10-02T02:50:00.000-07:00

I was invited to attend a wedding ceremony by one of our dear neighbor in Regency Plains Subdivision. We knew them, both the bride and groom family and some relatives because they have been very close to us for the past years. An invitation was given to me a day before the wedding. I am one of the godmother or sponsor of their wedding as they say it. Maybe they think Im mature enough to be their counselor/guide as they lead their married life all throughout (huh!). Anyway, I accepted the invitation with sincerity and my husband supported the idea of me sponsoring because he maybe thinks the same way too. :-(

The motif amazes me. It is great. Pink! My favorite color.

Without further adieu, I hurriedly shop for a gorgeous dress to wear and beautifully prepare myself for the event.

The wedding is at 9:00 am on a Saturday of June 2005.

My husband had a very important matter to attend in the school at that time, so I went alone. Bringing the card, wearing my 7th heaven makeup and proudly showing off my gorgeous dress, out I go, hurriedly to the church.

But alas! You know time may not be always our best friend at some point in our life because no matter how I evade traffic and delays, I arrived in the church …. 15 minutes late!
I sat on the last pew. Wishing, hoping, I could have arrived earlier so I can catch a glimpse of the bride and groom wearing a smile, marching along the aisle with their proud parents. Had I arrived earlier, I could have done my own share in the floor too, showing my catwalk in a pink gown. :-( But I suffer the consequences of my actions :-( , so I have to wait and just cherish the moment, neverminding my being late. I am a victim of the popular quote anyway, “It is better to be late than never”.

I can see pink colors all around. Pink ribbons, ballons, roses, gowns (and mine too :) ). And they all look fantastic! awesome! The choir, they sound angels to your ears. The ambience, so romantic for a love celebration such as this. Everything looks so perfect and you cannot help but being driven by a groovy feeling of love and being loved at that moment.

I waited… patiently waiting…. The ceremony took an hour and a half. Then the priest pronounced them husband and wife. The newly- wed couple turned around to face the crowd and waved.

I immediately stood up, holding my gift, walked closer to them, amidst of the crowd applause. I was thinking of hugging them and extending my heartfelt congratulation. But to my astonishment, the bride and groom are strangers to my eyes. They are not my friends! I don’t know them! Nor the parents who stood by their side. I was shaken. I cannot move my feet any further. I was at the wrong wedding ceremony. I attended a wrong nuptial mass, and oh! to my ever-shocking-returning-senses! miss the real wedding ceremony of my real friends! (hu!hu!hu!hu!). I looked around. I can see eyes gazing (maybe glaring ? ) at me. Eyebrows crossed, as if saying, who are you? The bride and groom stopped for a moment, looked at me and smile. Good thing, no one chuckles or else I will be the laughingstock for that moment. Regaining my composure, I uttered a soft sorry and hurriedly went out the church, the gift still clinging in my hand.

Out in the yard, recovering from my short amnesia, I took the card, read it very carefully and much to my dismay I was indeed at the wrong church! I ran out of the vicinity and laughing out loud to myself, hired a taxi and headed home. I called my husband and told him what happened and he was laughing too.

Lesson: If someone invites you for a party, make sure you know the details of the affair. The place, the time, the location, the theme. Being intelligently prepared for the event equals to being beautifully in place. :)

Till next mail...

The Good Samaritans

2008-09-28T12:45:00.001-07:00

One day, my husband and I went out for shopping. We were buying stuffs then for our package to be sent to Philippines. It was almost 3:00 pm but the traffic was sooooo heavy because it was Ramadan month and people were rushing to go home in preparation for the Iftar (fasting break time).

We stopped by at the petrol station for gas. We were in que then, waiting for our turn when suddenly the engine stopped. My husband push the ignition on, it started then stopped. Tried again, it started and stopped. It went on 3x, then finally stopped.

The cars behind us started to blow their horns. Who won't be? We were in the middle of the line and there were many cars still behind us impatiently waiting for their turn to gas, and they were stucked up. My husband asked for help, but no one could asist him because the gasoline boys were very busy too attending to other customers. The problem became worst as no one in the gas crew understand English and no mechanic is around to assist him. My husband tried to troubleshoot the car but its not making the situation better. No one is helping him too. Every single person that he has approached for help just shrug their shoulders off. Understandably, in this particular part of the earth, the word "HELP" does not exist. No one understand the meaning of it.

We started calling our Filipino friends. One of them is Caryll. I can say, we must have called the right person at the right time - because Caryll had referred us to another kabayan who is a car engineer. Luckily, Iman - the car engineer is at his home at that moment and when my husband called him asking for help, he immediately went to the place of incident.

After almost 2 hours, the car started to run. Iman is really a genius. Of course, he is a Filipino, and Filipinos are really trouble shooter. He did the job well. Then, suddenly another car halted in front of us. The driver tried to start it on again, to no avail. Again he tried, and failed. And tried and failed. He approached us and Iman came to the rescue. He checked, did some troubleshooting and the car ran again. The man thanked him. Without Iman, he would surely had stucked himself and the car in the midst. He should be thankful. He had approached a Filipino. If he had gone to other species, he would never be given assistance at all.

Good Samaritans. That's how Filipinos are. No matter what kind of species (nationality) you are, and in wherever country you live, when you are in dire need of help, Filipinos are always there ready to help in all the best they can.

Iman, his wife Angen and us became good friends then. The incident gave us a lesson that really, in a place where everyone is stranger, where help is at risk, the only Knight that you can rely on to come to rescue with you his shining armor is "kabayan".

Till next mail...

Suduko, and the entertainment it brings

2008-09-27T02:57:00.000-07:00

I am getting fascinated of the intelltectual entertainment Sudoku offers. This is a number puzzle represented by digits 1 to 9. It is played over by a 9x9 grid, divided to smaller grids of 3x3. No similar number must be repeated in each of the column and rows. To better understand how it works. please click this link http://www.sudoku.name/rules/en.

For starters, have a little patient if you fail to solve or complete the course. I have failed in scores a few times but as I get hooked in solving the puzzle, I discovered a lot techniques on how to complete the nos. 1 to 9 in each row and column successfully. whoa! Congratulations to me.

Try this. It will give you brain exercise. I usually do this when I want to drift a little from the stress and pressure in the workplace. And it helps a lot. You will become number wizard to in the long run...

till next mail...

Pinoys in UAE

2008-09-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

The exodus of Filipino OFW in all parts of the globe reflects on how abudant Philippines is in her human resource capita now. Millions of Filipinos leave their homes, traversed to foreign land. rendered their intellectual and physical expertise, helped develop the economy in exchange of earning a better salary which the dear beloved country, Philippines cannot offer.

Thousands of OFW working abroad earned 4-5 years degree in college, gained legitimate licenses such as Engineers, Doctors, Nurses, PTs, Accountants, Teachers, Attorneys. Others got the highest degree in education such as Masterals, Doctorals and more.

Few OFW were lucky enough to practice their field of professions in foreign countries. Others were less fortunate because they end up working as cleaners, laborers and worst, domestic helpers.

This is reality. And this scores to all countries where the influx of Filipino OFW is popular. One of these is the United Arab Emirates.

United Arab Emirates is one of the favorite work destination of the Filipinos. As of early 2008, the Pinoy Expats in UAE has reached to approximately 200,000 and the nos. are continously growing. Recruitment from the Philippines either in a form of an agency-hired or directly-hired employment is very active, coupled by a word-of-mouth promotion of how it is feasible to get a job in UAE even if you are on a visit visa. This and other factors like unemployment, poverty and yearning-to-earn more attracts hundreds of greener-pasture-seeking Filipinos to come to UAE especially Dubai.

You can see a lot of "kabayans" ( A Filipino dialect used to address to a co-Filipino). They are scattered everywhere. In the malls, hotels, resorts, airports, educational institutions, sports, banks, oil and gas, constructions, restaurants, etc. Inspite of the diverse culture in UAE, Filipinos were able to merge in, and even outsmarted other nationalities in terms of work performance, communication, behaviour and dedication and had earned a degree of respect and recognition among thousand of employers in the UAE.

If this is your first time to come to UAE, you will seldom feel homesick. Where ever you go, "kabayans". are there. If you miss Filipino food like pinakbet, kinilaw, mechado, bam-i, bulalo, sinugba, pinaksiw - Pinoy restaurants are around. If you don't have enough budget to buy new clothes, "ukay-ukay" is there. If you need cash, there is "5 - 6" loan sharks too. If you miss Philippine product like Del Monte, Mama Sita, Selecta ice cream, just go to a nearby Filipino Store and you can see even the "daing" (dried fish) and walis tingting there. One famous chain of Department/Supermarket store in UAE, The Carrefour also stocks "saging carnaba (banana), Philippine Mango, and the ever popular with high consumer demand DOLE banana.

The word "komosta ka", "mabuti", "magandang umaga/hapon", "maganda", "pangit", are among the very famous, least to say, overused language in UAE especially taxi drivers. Hire a taxi and you will be amazed when they know road directions in Philippine language like "kaliwa (left), kanan, (right) diretso (straight)".

This only manifest that in this particular part of the world, Filipinos also shine. Intellectually inward, beautifully outward.

Till next mail.....