Introducing, my crushes named Matt:
Matt Bellamy of Muse
Matt Tong of Bloc Party
]]>
Introducing, my crushes named Matt:
Matt Bellamy of Muse
Matt Tong of Bloc Party
]]>
I have been attempting for some time to blog again and sadly, I've lost a bit of interest to update my blogs. Blame work and laziness . So until I find something new and crazy to write about, I am content answering question lists from wherever. Here's one that piqued my interest:
Copied this from Owen.
These ten (10) questions originally came from a French series, "Bouillon de Culture" hosted by Bernard Pivot. They're better known as the questions that James Lipton asks every guest at the end of "Inside the Actor's Studio."
1. What is your favorite word?
Passion. It's drive + intensity all rolled into one word.
2. What is your least favorite word?
Serendipity. The movie and the actual meaning. It sounds so exotic but its actual meaning is rooted in fickleness and chance. Everything happens for a reason; there are no accidents, people!
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Spontaneity and passion for the arts and people
4. What turns you off?
Arrogance and bad vibes
5. What is your favorite curse word?
Nothing beats the purposeful utterance of F*CK in any given situation
6. What sound or noise do you love?
Enzo's voice, the click my LC-A+ makes when I take a picture, my mobile phone ringtone assigned to my loved ones
7. What sound or noise do you hate (dislike)?
Right now? I really hate the noise the pigeons make on top of Kahlil's flat. Generally, I hate the drone of people bantering with little or no purpose, the sound of sportscar tires when the driver arrogantly shows off that he has a car that can go from 0 - 200 kph in a few seconds, and the noise of construction around Dubai. (They do construction here even in ungodly hours).
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I would like to say a music journalist/ album reviewer but my music range is not that extensive and I fear I have untrained ears. So, I think event organizer/ planner or someone's executive assistant? But that someone has to be important. Like, a CEO or something. But man, I seriously want to be an event planner.
9. What profession would you not like to do?
Any profession that involves moving money around; bank tellers, accountants, etc... It sucks to hold someone else's money.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
"Welcome! You've done good so here's a key to your suite. Enjoy your eternal rest!"
(I kinda made God sound like a concierge there)
]]>
Hello, Vox! I've missed you.
Right now, I have a presentation to finish but afterwards, I promise to post something in here. =)
]]>Before this was made popular by Urbandub with their rendition, I remember loving this song way back in highschool. Back then, my classmates only know Jennifer Love Hewitt's version; and this was the only "No Ordinary Love" song I knew. That's when I realized my musical taste was really different. =p
I love this video because of her wedding dress. Now if only I had the same abs, I will definitely wear something like this. =p
]]>
April 12, 2009
Filipino community rallies around 137 stranded bus drivers in Dubai; Ople Center seeks immediate probe and suspension of licensed agency involved in their recruitment
In keeping with the spirit of Lent, the “bayanihan” spirit was alive and well in Dubai as Filipinos pitch in canned goods, water, toiletries, and other food items to help 137 bus drivers stranded and looking for jobs after being deployed there by a licensed recruitment agency.
The stranded drivers were overwhelmed by the show of hospitality and generosity by Filipino community leaders who traveled in a convoy yesterday (Black Saturday). According to Ares Gutierrez, sub-editor of XPRESS, the paper that broke the story about the stranded bus drivers, most of the victims were confused as to what they should do next.
One of the drivers, Claro Oliver of Rizal province, contacted the Blas F. Ople Policy Center yesterday for help in pursuing justice against their recruiter, CYM International Services, a licensed recruitment agency. The agency promised the Filipino drivers good-paying jobs at Dubai’s government transport agency known as Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). Some of the drivers, some of who quit their local jobs despite years of service, have been waiting to be hired by RTA since January of this year. Desperate for food and cash, the stranded drives have resorted to scavenging a dumpsite for scrap food.
Former labor undersecretary Susan Ople, who heads the Blas F. Ople Center, urged the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to immediately investigate and if possible, suspend the said agency and its counterpart in Dubai, Al Toomoh Technical Services. “The sheer number of victims involved constitutes an act of economic sabotage by this licensed agency. We urge immediate action and for the owners of the agency to be barred from leaving the country.”
The bus drivers, nearly half of who hail from the province of Bulacan, complained to the Ople Center that their passports were being held by the foreign counterpart of their local agency in Dubai. This prevents them from applying for new jobs. Majority of the victims are professional drivers who have worked for years in reputable transport companies such as Baliuag Transit. The Center said the Philippine Consulate should intervene and obtain the passports of the stranded workers.
The plight of the 137 bus drivers were first exposed by Filipino journalists Jay Hilotin and Ares Gutierrez of Xpress publications based on a tip from a fellow Filipino journalist working at Gulf News. Word quickly spread through e-mail and soon, an assembly time and place were designated to enable Filipinos to join an aid convoy leading to the camp where the bus drivers were staying. A Filipino association of Airsoft aficionados whose game was suspended last Friday, pitched in by giving cash donations.
Aside from lack of food, the drivers were sharing living quarters near the Ajman garbage dumpsite. Their building’s electric power is sourced from a generator, giving them only 3 to 4 hours of electricity. The building also has inadequate water supply.
According to the drivers, they paid as much as P150,000 to CYM International Services in exchange for jobs at RTA. Some of the drivers have been staying in Dubai waiting for the promised jobs to come into fruition since January.
Based on interviews with XPRESS, driver Max Sumulong, 34, one of the victims, said last year CYM had offered him a job as a driver for Dh5,200 a month and he had given the agency 10,000 pesos (Dh1,000) as “processing fee”.
“The agency had asked each one of us to take out a 150,000-peso (Dh11,418) loan from a lending agency recommended by them and made us sign undated cheques worth 405,000 pesos (about Dh40,000) addressed to a bank and the lending agency, payable in 15 months,” he said.Eliseo Maximo, who has worked for 11 years as a bus driver in Manila, said: “We’ve been collecting aluminium cans, selling them at Dh4 per kg in Ajman, just to have something to eat.”
The stranded bus drivers are hoping that the Philippine Consulate can help them look for jobs in Dubai rather than be sent home. “Their biggest worry is on how they can repay the lending agency. If they come home, whatever they earn as bus drivers won’t be enough to pay off their loans and still sustain the needs of their families,” Ople explained.
Ople said she is awaiting documents from the bus drivers that would help speed up the POEA’s investigation into the alleged illegal recruitment practices of CYM International Services and its counterpart in Dubai. The Filipino community has lent the drivers a photocopy machine so they could consolidate and reproduce all the documents needed to bolster their case.
The former labor undersecretary also hoped that the 137 drivers would be able to meet President Arroyo, Vice-President Noli de Castro and other high-ranking officials in their visit to Dubai.
This makes me proud to be Filipino. Our small Filipino barkada in the office also donated some food items last Good Friday. I hope the drivers' case will be heard soon; not only back home but here in the UAE as well. And to illegal recruiters, sana makonsensya kayo.
]]>What if your flight attendant can do so much more than serve you drinks and food? This guy made an Oklahoma-bound flight so much cooler. =)
]]>
Okay. Short break from report-writing. I'm having Red Bull-induced palpitations. Oh the things you have to do to fight off sleep. Hay.
Anyway, I had an unpleasant experience this morning. And it basically confirmed that yes, recession is here to stay in the UAE.
I take a cab to the Bur Dubai bus station in the morning. I ride the bus to go to Sharjah after a weekend at Kahlil's. I usually pay 6 dirhams for a short cab trip to the bus station. So imagine my surprise when the cab driver demanded 10 dirhams this morning.
Apparently, over the short weekend, while I was so wrapped up with watching Heroes Season 2, spring sale shopping for summer wear, and attending a birthday party barbeque, the RTA (Road Transport Authority) changed the cab flagdown rates.
For any point within Dubai, the minimum fare is 10 dirhams. Which means even if a trip to the bus station is just 6 dirhams, the cab gets 10 dirhams. Talk about rip-off. And to add insult to injury, flagdown rate for Dubai-Sharjah trips is now 20 dirhams.
The Pinoy bus driver said this was implemented because the cabs have been complaining that there are less people taking cabs now and they're not getting enough commission because:
-there is a huge exodus of expats out of the UAE because of the recession
-those people who took cabs last year are now starting to take the bus because its cheaper
But see, it doesn't make sense at all. With this exorbitant price hike, they are discouraging people even more to take cabs. Bus nako forever!
Hay. Kung sa Pinas pa to, nag-rally na. Imagine, from a minimum of 3.50 dirhams (which was the old flagdown rate), you now have to pay a minimum of 10 dirhams! Golly gulay!
More than ever, on top of my neverending credit card bills and daily expenses, this new price hike is making me feel the slap of recession bigtime.
Pakshet.
One of my favorite non-fiction writers, Malcolm Gladwell; author of Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers; talks about spaghetti sauce.
]]>I am staying out of someone's life for good.
]]>]]>How are you a better person today than you were ten years ago?
Sponsored by Nature Made.
I was 17 years old 10 years ago, and these are the good changes that have happened in a period of 10 years:
- I can hold my liquor better now
- I have acquired some meat on my bones (although the trick now is to reduce the percentage of body fat brought about by my now-slow metabolism.)
- I dress better (maybe coz I now have some money to shop where I want and a body that can finally fill out the Small size of Western or European brand names)
- I am not easily amazed by "flashy" people. (By "Flashy", I mean people who look good, talk well, etc...).
- I am totally independent now and proud that I have survived on my own
- I dont sweat about the small stuff as much
- I learned a lot about myself; particularly, my strength to pick myself up again after weathering emotional storms
- I am more appreciative of simple things
- I acquired a nephew! And that is so much better than not having one at 17. =)