When Our Picture Was Used Without Our Permission

I wanted to blog about our Canada vacation as soon as I had transferred the pictures from my camera (which I've already done), but then something happened last week and I knew I had to share it here so that you guys are also aware that this can happen to anyone. So, here goes…

Last Tuesday, I was browsing through the feeds on Facebook when I happened to come across a post from a Filipino community. Normally, I would have just proceeded to the next item on the feed, but what made me click on that particular post was the image because it was the exact same photograph of one of our pre-nup pictures taken in 2007!

Hay Naku, RTA at Etisalat!

Unang araw ng buwan, kabwsitan ang ibinigay sa akin ng RTA at Etisalat.

Yung NOL card ko kasi, sa pagkakaalam ko sa October pa mageexpire. Nung sinabi ko yun sa RTA, sabi nila nag-expire na nung Mayo. Eh ayon sa nabasa ko sa dyaryo, August 2009 binenta ang unang batch ng NOL cards , so paano ako nakakuha ng card nung Mayo ng taong yun di ba? Atsaka ayon sa nabasa ko, kapag nag-expire na yung card, hindi na mare-recharge uli. Pero until early August this year, nakakapag-reload pa ako ng credit sa card ko.

So anyway, halos araw-araw ako nagfo-follow-up sa RTA kung anong status ng pag-investigate nila, pero ang lagi nilang sinasagot ay under investigation pa. Humingi pa sila ng e-mail address, full name, at mobile number ko. Itong mga nakaraang araw, naiinis na ako sa sobrang tagal at walang kwentang reply nila sa pag-follow-up ko kaya sarcastic na yung tono ng mga tanong at sagot ko sa kanila; pinapakita ko sa kanila na talagang naaasar na ako sa bagal ng aksyon nila. Ngayong umaga, binigyan nila ako ng Reference Number at ang sabi sa September 21 pa expected na ma-resolve ang issue na ‘to. Nagbibiro ba sila? O talagang gusto nila mang-inis? August 14 pa lang, alam na nila yung issue na ‘to. Bakit aabot ng mahigit isang buwan ang pag-investigate ng isang simpleng bagay, at kung kailangan lagi ng reference number ang isang case, bakit ngayon lang nila binigay?

Kalokohan!

Ang Etisalat naman, nagpadala ako ng request na i-disconnect ang apat ng company mobile numbers namin nung Miyerkules. Pero after less than a couple of hours, nagreply ako sa original message ko na ‘wag putulin ang linya ng isang numero dahil ginagamit pa. Sumagot sila na hindi nila magagawa yung hiniling ko dahil kailangan ko magbigay ng kopya ng ibang dokumento, na nabigay ko naman at pinaalala ko na ‘wag putulin ang isang linya ‘pag inasikaso nila yung request namin. Kahapon ng hapon, natanggap ko yung RID number at confirmation na pino-process na nila.

Ngayong umaga, may natanggap akong e-mail na na-disconnect na lahat ng numerong sinabi ko, kasama yung sinabi ko na wag putulin. Nung tinanong ko kung bakit, ang sagot nila ay na-raise na yung RID number bago ko yun sinabi. Sana naman sinabi nila yun nung umpisa pa lang di ba para ma-anticipate namin at makagawa kami ng back-up plan.

Nakakainis! Nakakabwisit! Nakakaasar!

kalma lang

Nakakapagod. Nakakadismaya.  Nakaka-inis.
Maraming nakikita…lalo na ang kulang, ang mali.
Imbes na sa yo dumerecho, sa iba pa manggagaling.
Kung pwede lang bumitiw at sumuko, ginawa ko na.
Pero hindi pwede…dahil hindi ito para sa sarili, kundi para sa ibang tao.
Sa simula pa lang, alam namin na mahirap.
Pero pinasok namin ‘to. Tinanggap namin ‘to.
Kaya kahit nakakapagod, nakakadismaya at nakaka-inis, tuloy pa rin…hangga't kaya pa.

ihop and picture-taking at dubai mall

I admit that when I heard that IHOP was opening in Dubai, I was curious and wanted to try it out. Plus, there were so many raving reviews about it. So even though it was just a restaurant that mainly served pancakes (food that I cook occasionally on weekends), I felt that we should try it, at least once.

And after our visit, I’m thinking that maybe once is enough.

Let me start with when we arrived. When I told the lady that we needed a table for 4 plus a baby, she first offered us a table in the mall part, outside the restaurant. No way did I want a table there (it would defeat the purpose of an IHOP experience), so I asked her if they had any tables inside.

Lady: Ahh, yes ma’am. Is this table ok? (it was in the middle, in the way of the diners who would be going to the balcony and out)
Me: Is that the only one available?
She didn’t answer, but just looked at me.
Me: What about outside on the balcony?
Lady: Outside? Yes ma’am.
And she led us to the balcony that had several empty tables.
I don’t know why she didn’t offer this from the beginning.

Soon a server approached us and gave us the menus, and after scanning the options, we told her our orders. A while later, our drinks were served...

(l to r) Caila's Chocolate Milk, my Splashberry, Hubby's Tropical Island Twist, and Jovy's Iced Tea

...followed by our food.

The servings were pretty big; and since we hadn’t had breakfast yet (we had come from attending Sunday mass), we dug in, anticipating yummyness.

Unfortunately, we weren’t satisfied. The hashbrowns were too toasted for us, so you could hear our mouths crunching while we ate. The Breakfast Sampler and Griddle Melts were generally ok, except the Melts’ breads were too thick and the Sampler’s eggs were too runny. The pancakes (from my Sampler and Caila’s Funny Face) were our biggest disappointment. Sure they were thick and fluffy, pero walang lasa! I honestly think that’s why they had these syrups ready on the table…to add flavour.

I know our pancakes weren’t part of their Pancake Menu, but still, whatever pancake they served, it should be delicious and tasty. Siguro naman iisa lang yung pinaka-basic na batter ng pancake nila di ba? It’s their signature dish. Kaya nga International House of Pancakes eh. Seriously, even the Maya boxed pancake mix tastes better.

Anyway, after leaving the restaurant, Caila wanted me to take her picture. I gladly obliged because she rarely wants to have her solo picture taken...and it's hard to make her smile for pictures.

click! click! click!

And since ginaganahan sya magpa-picture, we asked Jovy to take one of our family.

a decent family picture where our faces can be seen. yay!

has your maid absconded? (part 2)

In my earlier post, I didn’t explain how we cancelled Juliet’s visa and reported her as absconding at the Immigration Department. I hope none of you have to go through what we did, but just in case you do and you don’t know how to go about it, here’s what we did:

Visa Cancellation
At one of the typing centres at DNRD (the one located along Trade Centre Road), I informed one of the typists that we wanted to cancel our maid’s visa. He asked me to give him the following:
     • Maid’s original passport
     • My husband’s passport and visa copy (because he’s the sponsor)
     • Dhs100
After a few minutes, the man gave me the documents with the typed form, Hubby signed the indicated space at the bottom, and we headed to Hall 2 of the Immigration building. Hubby showed the papers to the man at the counter, who then gave him a number token, and waited. Once his number flashed on the screen, Hubby went to the designated counter and gave all the documents to the officer. The officer looked through the papers, scanned the barcode of the typed form, stamped CANCELLED on Juliet’s visa, and gave the original passport and 2 printed Cancellation papers to Hubby. That’s it.

Absconding Report
At the same typing centre at DNRD, I told the typist that our maid ran away and that we had cancelled her visa the day before. He asked me where we lived, when she ran away, and what was the sponsor’s (Hubby) mobile number. Then I gave him the following:
     • Maid’s original passport
     • My husband’s passport and visa copy
     • One of the printed Cancellation papers that the Immigration officer gave us last night
     • Dhs22
After giving me the typed form, the typist told me to proceed to Hall 15 (the building opposite the Commercial Bank of Dubai). Upon entering, we went to the Customer Service desk. The officer told Hubby to sign on the form, scribbled on the paper, and told us to pay Dhs360 at the counter just opposite his desk. The payment was for Deportation Fees (Dhs230) and Absconding Application Fees (Dhs130). Having done the payment and getting the sticker receipts, we went back to the Customer Service desk where the officer took the receipts and stuck them on the form, took Juliet’s original passport, and gave us a printed paper with some information that said Absconding at the top. We were then told that if she returns or if we see her again, we are to immediately take her to the nearest Police Station for them to handle. As for the Dhs2,000 security deposit that we had paid when we applied for her Employment Visa, we’ll only be able to get that back if and when she leaves the country.

Some of you are probably wondering if Juliet returned or if we’ve received any news as to where she is now. Well, she hasn’t gone back to the apartment. But from what I’ve heard, she went to POLO-OWWA yesterday and that’s where she is now. If she’s there, the UAE government cannot do anything because those who seek refuge at the Philippine Consulate and the POLO-OWWA are protected by the Philippine government and its laws.

Oh well. It’s her life and she’s old enough to know the consequences of what her actions would be. Good luck to her, wherever she is now.

has your maid absconded? (part 1)

Obviously, ours has, otherwise I wouldn't be posting this.  And here’s how it happened...

Last Monday, Hubby and I went to the Immigration Department to cancel Juliet’s visa. After almost 7 months, we had had enough of her attitude, forgetfulness, and plain stupidity to put up with her any longer. She may have been hardworking, but she was not someone we could rely on to take full care of our children while we were at work. So as I was saying, we cancelled her visa and we informed her that she would be flying back to the Philippines on Friday night.

As you can expect, Juliet was upset and shocked at our sudden decision. However, since she had told us more than a month ago that she wanted to quit (she stayed because we asked her to and we told her that if she really wanted to leave, she would have to return to us half of the money we had spent for her visas and ticket to enter the country), we thought that she’d be relieved at least.

Yesterday morning on my way to work, I received a call from Mama saying that it seemed Juliet had run away. Only her (packed and locked) suitcase and a bag of laundry was left of her stuff. She didn’t tell Mama that she was going out or anything. Mama just suddenly noticed that she wasn’t in the apartment and that most of her things were gone. I immediately informed Hubby, and then I tried to call Juliet’s number. It was switched off. After several tries throughout the morning, it finally rang. She answered but she didn’t say anything, just listened. I started talking, telling her that she needed to go back to the apartment. She ended the call. I called again, but it just kept ringing. And then after a few more tries, the phone was switched off. Several minutes later, I called and it rang. Again she answered without saying anything. I was really angry by then so I practically shouted at her and threatened her that if she didn’t return, we would go to the police, Immigration and the Philippine Consulate to report what she did. After my outburst, she ended the call. Instead of calling her back, I just sent her an SMS repeating what I just told her.

After that, I called Juliet’s sister in the Philippines. She had no idea that we had cancelled Juliet’s visa nor had they spoken recently. Naturally, she was shocked, disappointed and embarrassed when I told her what her sister did. She kept apologizing on her sister’s behalf. Even after the call, she sent me a very long SMS to apologize, and practically begging me not to hurt her sister if she returns. I assured her that we wouldn’t, and we would let her know if Juliet did go back to the apartment.

Sometime later, Hubby called. He said that all the people he spoke with advised him to report what happened to the authorities to clear his name. We may have cancelled her visa already, but if she’s still in the country and if something happens to her or if she gets caught doing anything illegal, Juliet is still his responsibility because he is her sponsor. He immediately went home to get her documents, and went to the Police, the POLO-OWWA office, and the Ministry of Labour. It was at the MOL where someone told him that since her visa was already cancelled, he had to go to Immigration. Hubby was already getting agitated at the situation and having to go to all these offices. Fortunately, when I explained the situation to my manager, he quickly understood and let me leave work early. So at 2:45pm, Hubby and I were on our way to the Immigration Department. On the way, he told me that he had called a couple of Juliet’s friends (numbers that we got from her mobile phone). All of them denied speaking to her and/or seeing her recently. Not at all convinced that they were telling the truth, he made sure they knew we were going to report her as absconding, and if caught, the person or people who helped her would be liable and charged accordingly.

Upon arriving at Immigration, we went to one of the typing centres, explained what happened, and gave them what they needed. After a while, they gave me the paper with the attachments and pointed where we needed to go.  We went to the hall, gave the documents to the officer, paid some money, and handed over our absonding maid's passport.  As soon as we left DNRD, we both let out sighs of relief, knowing that in spite of everything, our family was safe and our names were cleared if anything happens to the lady we hired from Minalin, Pampanga.

absconding

there always has to be a catch

One of our managers gave me an iStyle Gift Voucher worth Dhs100 from HSBC. He said that he received a similar one for Sharaf DG a couple of months ago, but when he used it, he ended up buying items worth Dhs1,000. So he decided this time, he wouldn’t give in to the temptation to spend more.

Awesome for me, right? I immediately checked the internet for what items were being sold at iStyle, and as I expected, most of them cost at least Dhs1,000. However, I did notice that apart from the accessories, they did sell one item that cost less than Dhs200.

this would be perfect for when I go to the park to walk and jog, don't you think?

I was all set on calling Hubby to ask him if we could go to the mall after work so that we could buy it. After all, I’ll just have to fork out Dhs99. Sayang naman kung hindi samantalahin ang pagkakataon.  I had even already chosen the color I wanted to buy it in.  But then I turned over the voucher and saw this...

darn!

So what’s the problem there? I don’t have an HSBC credit card!

bmw no more

image source

Summer is really, truly here in the UAE. And I, for one, do not like it. It’s soooooo hot! As in scorching and sweltering hot! Yesterday, the temperature reached 42 degrees, and I’m sure that as the days pass by, it will get higher. For the past few mornings, as soon as I get out of the shower and wipe myself off, I already start to sweat. Kadiri, I know, pero ganon talaga ka-grabe.

When the summer began sneaking in to the country, whenever I would have to walk, I would use an umbrella to shield me from the rays. But on Sunday when it became unbearable and I felt my hair sticking at the back of my neck because of the sweat, I decided that I couldn’t take it anymore. It would be crazy to spend even a few minutes under the blazing sun, so I was forced to cut short my commute to the office.

Before, I could easily and comfortably ride the bus, take the metro (which doesn’t cost a thing in my case because it’s only one station after I get down from the bus), and then walk 400 meters from the station to the office. This entire trip would cost me Dhs2.30. But now, after getting down from the bus, I take a taxi to the office; costing me an additional Dhs10. So not only do I have to pay so much more, I keep the calories that I could have lost through walking. Kainis! And to think, it just recently started so I still have about 4 to 5 months to endure. Augh!

I’m already considering adjusting my schedule so that I can ride with Hubby when he leaves for work in the morning. This way, I can leave the office earlier (that is, if my bosses don’t have any last minute urgent requests). However, I will still have to walk the same distance from the office to the metro; and from the looks of it, the sun and temperature at 4pm seems to be the same as the sun and temperature at 8:45am. So parang wala lang din.

The thing is, ten dirhams is just too much to spend for a short distance ride, but I don’t want my health to suffer because I chose to endure the summer heat and burn a few calories.  So what other options do I have?  Any suggestions?

By the way, in case you haven’t figured it out yet, BMW means Bus, Metro, Walk =)

ang hirap magsimula

It’s been more than a week since I said that I had to start losing weight, and although I knew that it meant that I should reduce my food intake, or lessen the amount of fatty foods I put in my mouth, (plus exercise, of course) I didn’t think it would be so hard. If I were a regular working mom who simply spent her time between the office and home, it would be easy for me to eat before six and escape to the nearby park for a brisk walk, jog, or run each day. And for the first few days when I did, I really believed that I could.

i need to take action now!

I seriously have to start losing weight! I know I’ve been growing bigger in all areas of my body lately, but I didn’t realize how huge I’ve become. Before, I could easily fit in XS dresses and blouses; now I have to look at the M and sometimes L sizes to find clothes that I can comfortably fit into. Sure, it took years for all the changes to happen, but still, I can’t believe how much I’ve neglected my body! See the photo below?

birthday downgrade

Tomorrow is Mama’s 72nd birthday...and to my dismay, I can’t keep my promise to her that we’ll celebrate it with a meal at Burj Al Arab. Actually, money wasn’t the issue because I already had some savings put away for it...well, it is, but because we need to help out some family members, we had to sacrifice and give way to a more needed expense.

Mama understands, though. In fact, when I told her my plan, she said that she didn’t need to have an extravagant dinner to celebrate the occasion. She was content on having a special dinner at home or we’ll just eat out at a regular restaurant. I was the one insisting on a 7-star dinner because this might be her last birthday with us here in Dubai; but when she said that most probably she’ll “extend her contract with us” and spend her birthday here next year, I finally (unwillingly) relented.

I don’t want to celebrate in a restaurant in one of the malls, though. If we can’t have dinner at one of the poshest hotels here, we should at least have a 5-star dinner. After all, Mama deserves nothing less than a first-class birthday meal.

tumpak

About half an hour ago, I was pissed off. I literally wanted to pull my hair, shout, scream and swear all the bad words I know over and over again. For those of you who know me, I very rarely swear. Those words only come out of my mouth when I'm going to explode and I’m really, really angry at something or someone. So, yes, it came to that point. But since I’m at the office, I had to stop myself and control my emotions. Our entire department works in a big room so everyone can see and hear what you do. No good would come out of me making a scene, right? Another option would have been to go to the washroom and lock myself in there for a while, but if I did, my female colleagues would immediately know that something was wrong, and would pester me to tell them what happened.

it started with the cake

image source

Caila wants to celebrate her 4th birthday at school. The plan was simple: I would bake cupcakes for her classmates, we’ll buy a small cake for the candle-blowing, McDonald’s nuggets for the kids to have something else to eat, flavoured milk or juice for their drinks, and a few stuff for lootbags. All Caila had to do was let us know what theme she wanted. Of course, that was my and Hubby’s plan.

name game: if you can’t beat them, join them

Since our first-born’s nickname is a combination of her two names, I wanted to do the same for our second daughter…thus the name “Sharice” (S and H from her first name, and the rest of the letters from her second). I like it because it means cherry and deep red, which is the color of the bag I wanted to buy when I was pregnant (actually, until now, I’m still looking for that perfect bag).

stuck in the lift

For the first time in my life, I got stuck in an elevator. Fortunately, I wasn’t alone. Last Saturday, Hubby, Caila, Ate Cel and I had just left the apartment and were heading out to shop for groceries. We stepped into the elevator, pressed the G button, and when we arrived at the ground floor, the doors remained closed. We tried pressing the button to open them, but nothing happened. We pressed the B button to see if it would open at another floor, but all it did was go to the basement and stay shut. We went to the ground floor again, then pressed the emergency button until we could hear the watchman’s voice. For almost a minute, Hubby shouted to him through the intercom, telling him to call the maintenance people or help us get out because the doors wouldn’t open.

i have 2 holes, the left and the right

My residence visa is about to expire so I had to go with our PRO to Al Baraha Hospital this morning for my medical as part of the renewal requirements. After the usual payment and paper processing, the doctor who was doing the verifying put a stamp on my paper and told me to proceed to Room 5 where I just needed to have my blood drawn. At Room 5, the man at the Reception told me to go to the last room on the left where two ladies were drawing the blood from the female applicants, and fortunately I didn’t have to wait. Unfortunately though, when the lady stuck the needle in my left arm, something went wrong; she said either my vein was too small or the needle was too big (whaaaattttt?!?!?!?!) because she got just a few drops of blood. So she told me to give her my right arm (which I did), and fortunately, this time she easily located the vein and got the blood.

stress, patience and patients

The last day of January really tested my patience.

I had applied for a half-day leave off work yesterday because I had a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon, and anyway, there weren’t any deadlines or urgent matters that had to be taken cared of at the office. For that part I was right, but it didn’t mean I would be free from stress, from work or otherwise.

conflict in schedule

I was a flower girl so many times when I was younger, a bridesmaid once (for my cousin’s wedding), a secondary sponsor once (for my brother’s wedding), and of course a bride at my own wedding. The only wedding roles I hadn’t experienced were Maid/Matron of Honor and Principal Sponsor...although for the latter, I don’t expect to be asked to be one until after at least a decade.

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.