the cheesecake factory

Finally, finally, finally I got to eat at The Cheesecake Factory in Dubai Mall! Yaaaaaay!!! Another item off my list. Honestly, I’m so glad we always celebrate on the 27th of every month...it gives us a reason to go out and splurge a bit while satisfying our palates and tummies. Hahaha! Anyway, yes, last Sunday after work, Hubby and I headed to Dubai Mall for our monthsary. That was the day after we got Pepper, so the car’s arrival really was perfect timing. Good thing it was the first day of the workweek so, although almost all the tables were full, we didn’t have to wait and were immediately directed to a table for two.

out with the old, in with the new (part 2)

We bought Piper from our friends back in September 2009 just before they migrated to Canada, and after we realized how difficult it was to commute around Dubai with a baby in tow. Even though she was a second-hand car, we rarely had any problems with her...and during the times she was in an accident (twice), it was always a green paper that was issued to us.

pepper

peter Piper picked a peck of pickled Peppers.
a peck of pickled Peppers, peter Piper picked.

if peter Piper picked a peck of pickled Peppers,
where's the peck of pickled Peppers peter Piper picked?

a sweet conversation

As we were in bed about to sleep last night, my daughter suddenly looked at me and started a conversation:

Caila: Mommy, when I grow up, I will cook for you and clean the house and laba your damit. I will do everything kasi I will be big na.
Me: Wow! Talaga?
Caila: Yes, I will cook all your favourite food.
Me: Wow! Ang sweet naman ng anak ko. Thank you.
Caila: Yes. Now kasi, I’m still tiny small...I cannot do it. Pero when I’m big na, I will take care of you.

Then she gave me a tight hug before settling down to sleep.

Awwwwww!!!! My heart practically jumped for joy and I felt my eyes well up because of what she said and did.  It was a short conversation, but one of the sweetest and priceless ones I've ever had.

guardian angels

I’m sure most of us, when we were babies, fell or hurt ourselves at one time or the other. For me, I didn’t fall from the bed. I fell from a whole flight of stairs (approximately 12 steps, I think)...from the wooden verandah of our house to the ground...while I was in my walker. Mama told me that when I landed, they saw lots of blood coming out from my chin, so of course, they rushed me to the hospital where I had to have a few stitches. She remembers that I cried, but only a bit...and after a while, I was smiling and laughing as if nothing happened, or as if I had enjoyed the tumble. Crazy, I know.

ninth l.i.d. anniversary

It was my 9th Living-in-Dubai Anniversary last Saturday.

That’s nine years in this big sandpit, where I get to experience the extremes during the seasons: scorching hot in the summer and freezing cold during the snowless winter.
Nine years of watching amazing buildings and infrastructures rise up practically overnight.
Nine years of working with and meeting all sorts of people from different parts of the globe.
Nine years of living in a country that’s not my own, but it’s a place that I’ve considered home.

Just one more year to go, and it’ll be a decade.

As they, time flies fast when you’re having fun.

And yes, despite the difficulties and struggles of working and living in a land that I will never be a citizen of, I am having fun.

date weekend: desert safari

I often receive promo offers from various deal-of-the-day websites, and fortunately in November, I received one for a desert safari worth Dhs84. The deal promised belly dancing, a tanura show, dune bashing, bbq dinner, shisha, henna painting, camel rides, and more. Safaris are better when you’re in a group so I asked my Pinoy Mafia colleagues if they were interested, and within a couple of hours, the coupons were in our hands. Knowing that we had to book early if we wanted to go on the date that we wanted, my colleague immediately sent an e-mail to the company and wouldn't stop pestering them until we had a confirmation.  And on the last Friday of December, we were in the Spinneys parking lot, boarding one of their coasters that would take us to the desert.

date weekend: return to al barari

I promised myself that when Mama came back to Dubai, we would take her to The Farm and Greenworks in Al Barari...and we finally did last December 28. Actually, we had planned to go there in November for our monthly family celebration, but when I called to make a reservation the day before our supposed visit, it was already fully booked. This time, I made sure to make the reservation 2 weeks ahead to make sure we got a table.

date weekend: going japanese

For the second time in a row, Hubby and I celebrated our monthsary by ourselves...and again, we ate at a Japanese restaurant. My Japanese managers often eat at Shogun (which obviously means that the food is good) and one of my colleagues kept saying that it was better than Bentoya in terms of serving size, so that’s where we went after work on the 27th of December.

out with the old, in with the new

Remember my Father's Day gift to Hubby? Well, Father’s Day, GITEX season, Hubby’s birthday, Christmas, and even New Year’s day came and went, but Hubby still hadn’t made up his mind as to what TV screen he wanted. By mid-December, I kept reminding him (jokingly, of course) that his coupon would expire at the end of the month, but he just couldn’t decide...even when our almost 9-year-old TV broke on UAE National Day (it suddenly decided to stop showing the images on the screen), forcing Mama and Yaya Cel to settle on listening to their favourite telenovelas and using their own imaginations. Sure there were a lot of great offers in the supermarkets and electronics stores, but the urge to get a new one just wasn’t that strong...until yesterday.

pahabol...

Happy New Year!

Let's all have a happy, fun, and wacky year ahead!