a life less ordinary

• I just wanted to say... I love my coffee! I love my Tchibo Exclusive 100% pure granulated coffee with Nestle Coffeemate Light. Two spoonfuls of everything. Woosah in a cup.
  
• I survived 43 degrees of desert heat! Summer back home is a mere 39 degrees but here, it's something else. 7 more degrees to go! So far, how can I describe it? It feels like biting heat, coupled with hot wind and dust. Every time I'm under the sun; my eyes water, my face feels like it's being blow-dried and I breathe in short hot gasps. And it's only 10 in the morning!
  
• I'm undergoing a laparoscopy on the 3rd week of July. (Don't bother Googling it; I'll tell you what it is.) It's a "minimally invasive" surgery (read: smaller incisions) to check whether the cysts that I have are either in my ovary or fallopian tube. And of course, take it out. Scared of cuts, but looking forward to the long rest.
  

For someone else....

Last night I went to Burjuman; which is the classiest mall in Dubai to buy a Damier Hampstead MM for my mom's friend.

Wearing a black tee, dark jeans, white Chucks and red plaid belt, I looked unworthy to be inside that swanky store. But I figured hey, rich people dont always look the part right? =p So I might actually look like a rich kid dressing down to buy a really expensive bag.

The bag had waiting list status and I was lucky to be able to reserve the last piece. Shipment for new stocks is still in a few days and I bet, those have owners already by the time they arrive in the UAE. It was THAT popular.

When I arrived and asked for the reserved bag, the salesman looked confused and said, "Are you Miss Johaida?" And of course I dont look anything like a Johaida. Apparently, that stupid call center lady I called up in the morning wasnt able to book the bag under my name. Bollocks.

Mr. Salesman said, "If you're willing to wait until closing time for the bag, its yours. Sometimes, the lady that reserves the bag comes in at the last 10 minutes so we just want to be sure." So waited I did.

I browsed through the dark wood displays of watches, scarves, shoes and shades; the bags, wallets and jewelry; and all I can think about is: "WHY THE FUCK WOULD SOMEONE BUY SOMETHING THIS EXPENSIVE?"

Mr. Salesman approached me after around 20 minutes and smiled, "Madam, the bag is yours." It was like buying the Holy Grail. They lovingly placed the bag in its cloth bag, and placed it inside a paperbag. They asked me to fill in a Customer Card and they printed an invoice on the Louis Vuitton letterhead.

And when they announced the price, it was a tad painful to let go of money that actually isnt mine.

When I went outside with Kahlil, I shoved Tata's pasalubong unceremoniously inside that bag and Kahlil said, "Hinayi babe, singkwenta mil na. (Ingatan mo babe, singkwenta mil yan)" Yes, 50 grand in pesos. A kid's tuition. A slice of land. Downpayment for a car. A kitchen showcase.

Okay, okay.. you get the picture. =p

Crunk + lucy

Meet Crunk, my precious Holga and Lucy Lomo, Kahlil's LC-A +.

• Currently subsisting on Red Bull Sugar Free, lots of fast food (not good) and loud music. This crazy diet of sorts is brought about by tons of work at the office. Yes, I am officially "fattish" (fat but not quite) now. =(
• Watched "Prince Caspian". =) Ang pogi!
• Had a crazy karaoke night with my Nielsen friends. Fun fun! Kahlil and I culminated the night with a brawl mala Fight Club near Starbucks. Cameras and footwear off, we started hitting each other (lightly and jokingly, of course). Crazy. Nice workout actually. Tsk. Try watching Fight Club and In The Realm of the Senses consecutively and you'll do the exact same thing. =p
• Love love LOVED "Juno". =)
• Watched "The Happening". This movie made me grateful that I currently reside in the desert. =p
  

I am having the worst work week (so far) since I got here last December.

Since Sunday, I didnt go home earlier than 8pm and today was the culmination of the nightmare.

On a Friday, I STILL have to work.

First, I left my access card at home. Brilliant.

Kahlil brought it over so I finally started working.

At around 1030pm, (when the rest of the UAE is out on their weekend), I decided to go home to finish  the rest of my presentation.

Midway through my cab ride (which I waited for for like 20 minutes or so), I remembered I left my flash drive in the office. Perfect.

I had the cabbie make a U-turn and asked him to wait a few minutes as I dashed (as in, I ran like the wind) to the office to get that friggin' flash drive.

I got home in one piece. I turned on my laptop to start working. Then, this message popped up:

Your trial version of Microsoft Office 2007 has expired.

PUTANGINA!  

So there, I cant even open my Powerpoint file. So yeah, I wasnt able to do any work.

Okay. I feel so much better now. Gotta sleep because I'm going to the office at 6am to finish up. 

When it rains, it pours. It really does.   

B & O

Now that I have my very own Ipod Touch 16GB (eherm), next up, a kickass docking station and/ or a Bang & Olufsen earphones! Hay....

I know I should be working right now; but I have a tendency to shut down when the workload is this much. So instead, I find a way to de-stress first; and then I jump right into the work again and build up the momentum until I either get tired or pissed off.

So, this is one of those “de-stressing” moments, and what better way to de-stress than to blog?

I came up with this list in my silly head of all the things I like in this country so far; and forgive me if most of them have something to do with food or drink; because I have tons of gastronomical adventures here (albeit not too adventurous as to try Indian food):

·         I adore Moulin D’Or tuna sandwich and cream cheese croissant. Lovely to munch on with their cappuccino.

·         Yo! Sushi (suki Japanese place).  If they opened something like this in Manila, I’m pretty sure it will be very popular.

·         Streetside shawarma and chai tea. Dubai’s version of kwekwek and sago’t gulaman. Sarap!

·         Lebanese food! Surprisingly, I can appreciate this cuisine in small portions. But I can never understand why they give you a basket of washed, raw and unpeeled vegetables for you to eat while waiting for the main course.

·         Hammour anything. Love, love, love…

·         Radisson SAS buffets. On rare moments, the Skinny Chimney actually stuffs himself with lotsa food, so trips to Radisson are always good. =)

·         Costa tiramisu cake

·         Baskin Robbins chocolate chip cookie dough (occasionally)

·         Subway sandwiches!

Okay, I have to change the focus to non-food now; because I don’t want you to figure out why I gained 3 pounds since I left Pinas. =p Here are other, more important things that I love here:

·         Dubai weekends (Barasti, Chi @ The Lodge, Burjuman, Karama bootleg CD/ DVD heaven, beaches, Bur Dubai, and all other Skinny Chimney and Pretty Butiti jaunts and haunts)

·         Kitchen confessionals (coffee, kitchen floor, his smokes and our thoughts)

·         Walking around Dubai, listening to music with adjoined earphones; thanks to the handy dandy splitter

·         Meeting new people (from the SC’s artsy fartsy friends, Reij’s officemates and other people I meet along the way)

·         Making an Emirati sneeze 7 times. (In one of our Four Points (by Sheraton) trips, I drank a Flaming Lambhorgini straight; and this Emirati beside me by the bar ordered the same. He drank his even faster and in turn, he sneezed 7 times consecutively and later on picked a fight with someone in the bar.)

·         Virgin Megastore-Magrudy’s- Coffee Bean rainbow connection. My counterpart to Music One-Powerbooks-Starbucks/ Java Man trips in Greenbelt.

·         The undying industry of fake DVDs c/o Chinese folks who drop by once every two weeks.

·         My comical watchman (One time, he stood so long by the lobby on my floor just to scare me when I turned the corner from my door).  His other crazy antics is worthy of a separate entry altogether.

·         My Nielsen friends (from the Pinoys, to Kagan and Robert, thank you)

·         My kick-ass healthcard! (Gold, beybe! Free everything, including the prescribed medicine!)

·         Shempre, si Skinny Chimney. (mushmode na sad, pirmi nalang!)

Dubai, I anxiously await your summer and pray to God I won’t spontaneously combust. This calls for higher SPF face creams! But otherwise, I’m loving it here. =)

This article made me smile. People don't quite understand why I would rather commute than re-learn how to drive. We have two cars in our garage at home but I never bothered with them because I know I have a predisposition for road rage, I'd have to pay for petrol and exorbitant parking fees, I panic at the thought that I might have car trouble in the middle of nowhere and of course, why the hell am I going to suffer sitting through bladder-busting traffic?

I commute because I don't hassle anyone but me, I get home in one piece by paying a relatively cheap fare, I enjoy the alone time, I enjoy the music I listen to, walking feels like meditation, and I can actually run errands anywhere if I decide to drop by somewhere. And nothing beats just sitting down and have someone go through the trouble of stepping on the clutch-gas-brake. And yeah, tamad ako e.

But here in the UAE, I am quite tempted to get a driver's license because cabs are either hard to come by or are rude and because the weather is starting to become unbearable.

Still vacillating between two ideas: to commute or to drive? Hmmm...

SAVING THE PLANET: CONFESSIONS OF A REGULAR COMMUTER

By Pennie Azarcon-Dela Cruz, Executive Editor
Sunday Inquirer Magazine

SOME people have shrinks. Others take valium. The rest just sleep it off. Me? I take a ride on the LRT. Nothing can make you forget your blues quicker than the more immediate need to (puff-puff)… get (huff!) on that train! Quick now, before the buzzer sounds and the doors slam shut.

It helps that it’s fast, cheap and you don’t have to talk to the other riders. You’re just basically left to your thoughts, thinking about lunch maybe or that pair of shoes you saw in the mall last night. Except when a cell phone rings and as one, everybody starts groping inside their bag or patting their pants. Never fails to amuse me. Like Pavlov’s dog or a Marcel Marceau sketch.

Then the distraction begins. “Hello, Papa? Oo, pauwi na ko. Initin mo na yung ulam diyan. (Yes, I’m on my way home. Heat up the food.). Sometimes it’s less innocuous and you find yourself lost in translation — the Japayuki talking in nihonggo to someone in Japan, the sticky intonation hinting of romantic transactions. Or a couple fighting, strong whiffs of third party liaisons in the air. The mother pleading for a son to stay put, she’s almost there. Speculations rise. Puzzled looks, raised brows, the pursed lips of judgment.

Who needs a Koreanovela when it’s all here — in the intimacy of an LRT coach where drama plays out just as urgently as inadvertent humor. I recall how one train driver once pitched in in this huge eavesdropping emporium. “Huwag po nating salubungin ang bumababa,” he intoned nasally, seriously, into the public address system. “Hindi po natin sila kamag-anak.” (Let’s not meet the passengers going down. They’re not our relatives.) Smiles all around.

The passing scenery isn’t bad either. From the rusty roofs of Caloocan, the train zooms past the majestic tombs of North Cemetery and slows down when it gets towards Blumentritt and its plethora of umbrella-covered street stalls. In Sta. Cruz, decaying buildings with their cracked windows and decrepit walls afford riders the tempting opportunity to play voyeur. There are glimpses of unmade beds, unwashed glasses, some shirts hang out to dry on the balcony. More speculations. When the LRT gets to Avenida and its rows of melancholy moviehouses, one turns away instinctively from the rundown toilet cubicles and stained urinals visible from the windows. The best view is before Central Station from Monumento: all those trees at Arroceros Park. Then it’s back to the anonymity of buildings all the way to Buendia.

When I’m lucky and find a seat, I settle in with my cell phone, texting in reminders to errant writers and contributors, finishing a day’s work in the time it takes to get to my stop. On a dull day when conversation shrinks to a companionable hum, I look around, noting street fashion, what the stylish commuter is wearing, what I’d like to be wearing myself.

Sure it’s a routine. Line up. Open bag for inspection. Climb four flights. Fish out LRT card. Push into slot. Get in. Wait for train. Rush in. Eavesdrop. Observe. Answer phone. Text. Look into open windows. Slip out. Get down. Save gas. Save earth. Feel good.

Lifted from: http://blogs.inquirer.net/sim/2008/04/23/saving-the-planet-confessions-of-a-regular-commuter/#more-47

Meet Kahlil King Abellana de Pio.

AKA Skinny Chimney/ fighting tuko/ Jarvis Cocker of Kamagayan.

He's an artist in every sense of the word, a rabid photographer (almost getting run over by a car just to take pictures of a pigeon), a movie buff (as in dead to the world when he's watching any film; even the ones he's seen a million times before, geez...), music connoisseur from something as oldie as Frank Sinatra to something as weird as Mewithoutyou (with matching factoids; down to who the music producer is). A passionate geek, and he knows it. =p

The other day, he texted me this:

Babe, i love you. Ay na gyud ka pa-hurt ug kekems bisag nako (Wag ka na magpa-hurt sa maski sinong lalaki maski ako)  and in the future if you meet other people. I'm sure there will be others for you much more special than me because you're a beautiful person. Sometimes we don't feel the greatest pain of being if the void of losing someone seems much too painful. You let go when you have to, not when you need to. Selfish2x guro ta gamay oi (Magpa-selfish2x naman tayo konti). Love yourself first. Take care, luv you luv....

Needless to say, I melted.

Thank you Skinny Chimney. Thank you for the I-pod Touch, for dancing hiphop and R&B with me when I so missed my college days, for listening through and enduring my nonstop chitchat, for allowing me to dispense some vanity tips (he now uses the BodyShop Olive Soap, thanks to me), and for being THE best thing that 2008 has given me so far.

---your pretty butiti

I love this. This explains, in a nutshell, what Dubai and Sharjah life is like. By default, most people work in Dubai and live in Sharjah. The distance is kind of like going home to Las Pinas from Libis or Ortigas. Add in HORRENDOUS traffic; that is, it's probably what Manila traffic would be like if binabaha ang EDSA - sira ang MRT-bumabagyo EVERY SINGLE DAY.

COW LOGIC

SOCIALISM:

You have 2 cows and you give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM:

You have 2 cows; the Government takes both and gives you some milk.

NAZISM:

You have 2 cows. The Government takes both and shoots you.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION:

You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow dropped dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION:

You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION:

You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A BRITISH CORPORATION:

You have two cows. Both are mad.

LEBANON SYSTEM:

You have two cows. One is owned by Syria and the other is controlled by the government.

EGYPT SYSTEM:

You have two cows. Both vote for Mubarak.

DUBAI SYSTEM:

You have two cows. You create a website for them and advertise them in all magazines. You create a " Cow City " or " Milk Village " for

them. You sell off their milk before the cows have even been milked to both legit and shady investors who hope to resell the non-existent milk for a 100% profit in two years time. You bring Tiger Woods to milk the cow first to attract media attention.

SHARJAH SYSTEM:

You have two cows. You sell them to an investor in Dubai. The cows get stuck in traffic between Sharjah to Dubai and die. You have zero cows now.