thriller

I finally uploaded the clip I took last Tuesday! And perfect timing too because it’s the spookiest time of the year and Thriller is one of the songs that's always played on this day.

Happy Halloween!

greeting muslims

As-Salaam-Alaikum = Peace be unto you
Wa-Alaikum-Salaam = And unto you peace

After almost 8 years in the country, I still find it awkward to greet Muslims in the way they usually greet.
Note to self: Snap out of it! When in Rome...

max's restaurant

I totally forgot to post about the time we had dinner at Max’s! I was reading my post about our dinner last Tuesday and I wondered where we celebrated the 27th last month, and that’s when I remembered. Anyway, better late than never, so here goes...

monthsary date

My date with hubby pushed through last Thursday...and it was just the two of us as we planned. Right after hubby fetched me from work, we headed straight to DFC and purchased tickets to the 6pm screening of Rowan Atkinson's latest film.

visiting our new office

Our company will be moving offices soon. The new address isn’t too far; actually, it’s just down the road, on the opposite side of the street. I had the chance to check it out recently, and everything was bigger, better...and just more of everything!

dinner by the dancing fountain

Ever since we got together, hubby and I make it a point to celebrate every 27th of the month by having dinner at a restaurant. Then when Caila was born on the 27th of February, it gave us another reason to stick with this monthly tradition. However, since we haven’t had the chance to go out on a date lately, and it’s been a long time since we last celebrated the 27th as our day, I suggested to hubby that we celebrate Caila’s month-birthday in advance, and then on Thursday, we’ll go out on our own...which is why we headed all the way to Dubai Mall for dinner at TGI Friday's last night.

burjuman pink walkathon

Much as I wanted to be part of the record-breaking attempt by Breast Cancer Arabia event last Friday at the Meydan Grandstand, we weren’t able to join because I still felt a bit weak from my recent bout with URTI (upper respiratory tract infection). Anyway, there’s another fund-raising activity organized by BurJuman this time which will be held this coming Friday, 28th of October.

The 3.6km walkathon will start and end at BurJuman Mall, with fun events (live band, drumming, face-painting, prizes to be raffled off, etc) for everyone.
Registration is Dhs50 (adults) and Dhs30 (children 8-12 years old), and all registered participants will receive a free Safe & Sound shirt.
For more information, you can check out www.safeandsound.ae.

See you there!

ate caila here!

Last Thursday evening, I was watching TV and Caila was running and playing around. Suddenly, she jumped in front of me and exclaimed “Ate Caila here!” Then this morning while we were lazing about in bed, she embraced my neck and said “Don’t worry, Mommy. Don’t worry. Don’t scared. Ate Caila here.”

upcoming events for breast cancer and diabetes

Hubby and I like joining events that are for causes. Apart from them being good social-awareness and fundraising activities, we also get to keep fit by running (or walking) a few kilometers.

There was the run organized by Foresight back in 2005, and around 2 years ago, the Filipino Community and the Philippine Business Council in Dubai organized a walk for a cause in aid of the flood victims of Typhoon Ondoy. And almost every year since I came to Dubai, I’ve participated in the Dubai Terry Fox Run; it just so happened that when we joined it this year, my daughter and I had a few seconds of fame. And now there are 2 more activities that I want to be part of.

janet jackson in abu dhabi

Again, another one of my favorite performers will be coming...and again, I won’t be able to watch. Sheesh!

Way back in April 2005, I went to Westlife’s concert at Media City. Of course, it was great! They sang all their hits, and I had a great view at the front where I could enjoy the show. But then, that’s it. That was the only time I went to a concert here in the UAE.

our wedding portrait

Just to give you a brief background, Directors Cut DVP was the one who took care of the photo and video coverage of our wedding more than 3 years ago. Being the lazy person I was, it took me more than a year to select the pictures for our album (we finally got the albums and videos in June 2010 while we were on vacation). And it was only during the last week of August (of this year) that hubby and I finally chose the photos we wanted for our portrait.

lunch with the vera perezes

I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but prior to coming to Dubai, I had worked as a Personal Assistant/Secretary for (now) Congresswoman Gina de Venecia for more than 3 years. Back then she was simply called Manay Gina, wife of Speaker JDV.

Anyway, we were fortunate to spend a Sunday lunch with her and her family during our vacation. The last time Hubby and I had seen her was at our wedding where she was one of our godparents, so I thought it would be nice to see her and for her to meet our daughter. So I sent her an SMS, to which she replied with an invitation to their ancestral home in Quezon City the following Sunday to meet up with her and the rest of her family and attend the mass before having lunch.

mary immaculate parish

On the first Sunday of our vacation in the Philippines, Hubby and I decided to attended the evening mass with our daughter at the new church near my family’s home. Since it would be my first time to enter the church (it opened its doors early this year I think), I was very excited. Unfortunately, none of the people at our house knew what the mass timings were and there was no billboard in sight at the church grounds which mentioned this information. So, we figured that since most churches have a 6pm mass, then we would go there by 5:50pm. And of course, we guessed wrong; apparently, the first evening mass was at 7:30pm. We didn’t want to go back home and then return, so we opted to enjoy the peace of the church until the mass started. To pass away the time and since there were just a few people there, I decided to walk around and take photos of the interiors (but of course, medyo nahiya ako so I didn’t take that many and I didn’t use the flash...which explains why the pictures aren’t as clear as I wanted).

one of the stoups (holy water bowl)

unlike most churces that had icons of apostles, this one had statues of saints

a view of the opposite wing from where we were sitting

Hubby and Caila standing in front of the icons of Jesus and Mary

the Baptistery

me and Caila and the image of John baptizing Jesus at the Baptism area

the choir

the wall being used as a projector screen

the Sanctuary

For a church that isn’t yet finished, it looks nice huh? It’s not air-conditioned, but the electric fans and the big doors at the sides that brought in the cool air were sufficient. Actually, my first thought when we entered was that it would be nice for a wedding. There was a choir loft above the main doors which would be a perfect place for the videographer/photographer to take a Princess Diana shot of the bride as she walks down the aisle. And unlike the churches here in Dubai that have a Babies Room, this one didn’t (is there any church in the Philippines that does?) so we were able to enjoy the mass in a pew inside a church with our daughter...something that we haven’t done in over a year. Anyway, the mass was officiated by an Italian priest (Fr. Pablo or Fr. Paolo…I can’t remember) who I guessed has lived in the Philippines for a long time already because he could speak the local language pretty fluently, allowing him to shift easily between English and Filipino. Unfortunately, the sound system either wasn’t working properly or just wasn’t good because several times the speakers sounded sabog.

While we were singing the hymns (especially the ones in Filipino), there were times when I could feel tears pricking my eyes. It’s a bit embarrassing, but this often happens to me when I attend mass in the Philippines. I become all sentimental because of the experience. I don’t know why. I think it’s probably because the churches here in Dubai are almost always overcrowded and the mass readings and responses seem rushed, making it difficult to believe and enjoy the fact that we’re in God’s house when we attend mass; so when I do attend a peaceful and solemn mass, I really take it to heart and appreciate it. I’m emotional that way, I guess.

Add this to the fact that the priest’s homily was enlightening as well. Weird as it may be, I wished that I had a pen and piece of paper then so that I could jot down what he was saying. The theme that day was correcting others’ faults, and he mentioned that despite Italy and Philippines having the most Catholics in Europe and Asia, these countries are the most corrupt in their continents...mainly because the people are afraid to correct each other. Faced with the fear of being persecuted or disowned or killed or rejected for standing up to what is right, we usually just act like The Three Monkeys. Because we want peace and order and we hate getting involved in any arguments, we Christians prefer to keep our eyes closed and act blind, cover our ears and pretend we didn’t hear anything, and/or keep our mouths shut and don’t tell the truth. But then, this is not the way we should do things. For serious matters, you should correct a person face to face, with 2 witnesses, and in the presence of a member of the Church or Law/Government. Easy to say, difficult to do. Oh well. At least I left the church learning something.

fluffy mashed potatoes

I cannot believe it! My colleague who is a really great cook asked me for the recipe of my mashed potatoes! Wow!

You see, last Friday we prepared dinner for our German family at our place. Hubby prepared the main courses (chop suey, kilawin, pork kaldereta) while I prepared the mashed potatoes and gulaman. And since there were a few leftovers, I brought the mashed potato and kaldereta for my baon yesterday at work. Like what we do during lunch, my (female) colleagues and I taste and share each other’s food. Anyway, they all tasted my potatoes and said it was ok. And then this morning, my colleague asked me for the recipe!!! She said it’s masarap and she’s planning to cook it for her daughter. Yaaaaaaaaayyy!!!