Visiting Prague, Czech Republic

I never knew about Prague until a few years ago, but I have to say that after our visit there last month, it is one of my favourite places to visit. With its castles, churches and cathedrals, it has the charm of the traditional Europe that made me want to visit it when I first learned about the continent back in grade school.

Visiting Vienna, Austria

I love Europe. There’s something about its cities and historical monuments and castles that excite me. Which is why, when I insisted to Hubby that our family take a vacation this year during the kids’ summer holidays, the only option I gave him was Europe. After all, Canada was good but the fares were just too much. And Philippines, well, it’s rainy season. Fortunately, he agreed and I set to work looking for packages from different agencies and researching on how to get a Schengen Visa.

The end result: we visited Vienna, Prague, Budapest and Bratislava in 8 days! That’s approximately 48 hours (more or less) in each city/country, so you can bet it was like an Amazing Race ☺

A Rant and Reminders from a Mom Who Blogs

I am very angry!

A picture I took and shared in this personal blog of mine was used without my permission. And what’s worse, it was my youngest daughter’s UAE Residence Visa and the one who used it was a man advertising his company’s visa processing services!

That’s the thanks I get for sharing helpful information, huh?!

How to Apply for a Schengen Visa to Austria from Dubai

You’d think with the free time we have during Ramadan, I would have blogged more, right? Well, I really wanted to, but I opted to spend the time with my family more…until it was too late and the blogging part of my brain couldn't form a simple sentence to start a post ☺  Anyway, here I am pushing myself out of my blogger’s block to come up with something that will make up for my silence this past month.

And since our family is going on a trip out of the country very, very soon, it was only fitting that I share our experience on how we applied for our Schengen visas this time.  Yes, this time because before this one, I had already applied for three Schengen visas to two different countries (Germany in 2005 and 2014 and Switzerland last year). 

So, here’s how you can apply for a Schengen visa to Austria from Dubai:

Iftar at Olive Oil, Jumeira Rotana

Ramadan Kareem, everyone!

How are you finding the holy month of Ramadan, so far? I'm sure you're enjoying the shorter working hours, right? ☺ Well, aside from the fact that I get to spend more time with my family, what I also love about Ramadan are the Iftars. Invitations from friends and companies to join them to break their fast is always a treat, and these are always great opportunities to get together and catch up.

So when I received an invitation from Jumeira Rotana for their Iftar Night at Olive Oil restaurant last week, I wasted no time and confirmed me and Hubby right away.

We arrived at the hotel located in Satwa at around 7:45pm last Wednesday night and were immediately welcomed by Ms. Monaliza Doush, Jumeira Rotana & Villa Rotana's Cluster Marketing & Communications Executive. Other blogger friends I knew had already arrived: Mauh of Blessed Days in Dubai, Jhoysi of The Thrift Trip, Carla of My Yellow Bells, and Doc Gelo of Beyond Toxicity were already relishing the food on their plates.

Anyway, moving on to the buffet spread.  Since Hubby and I were already late by the time we arrived, a lot of the dishes were already more than half-empty.  Fortunately, their Sous Chef Marius Weise, and the rest of the servers frequently checked the chafing dishes to make sure they were promptly refilled so we still had the chance to taste everything.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to take any good photos of the mains but there were several to whet our appetites and satisfy our hunger.  While I enjoyed the seafood dishes, Hubby frequently went back to the spread for his favorite item, the lamb ouzi. You can be sure he savoured every bite he took of the tender meat.

Thank you, Ms. Mona and the rest of the staff of Olive Oil Restaurant and Jumeira Rotana for such a delightful evening.   

Want to have your next Iftar at Olive Oil? The original price for the buffet is Dhs129 which includes Ramadan drinks and soft beverages, but you can avail of 50% discount by printing the voucher here.

Disclaimer: We were invited to the Iftar Night. However, all views and opinions are my own.

Olive Oil Restaurant
Jumeira Rotana
2nd December Street, Dubai
Phone: 04-3455888

Anniversary Staycation at Grand Hyatt Dubai

Since we had already tried the food at Andiamo! and Peppercrab, and our girls told us during Grand Hyatt Dubai's Christmas tree lighting that they wanted to spend a night there, the 5-star luxury hotel located at the edge of Dubai Creek was a good choice for our anniversary staycation this year.   So taking advantage of their corporate rates and summer promotion, I booked our family for an overnight stay last weekend.

Arriving at 11am on Friday, we were promptly taken cared of by the valet, bellboy, and reception.  Now even though we've visited the hotel a number of times already, the lobby of Grand Hyatt Dubai always impresses me.  It's just so...grand!

Grease the Musical

Back when we were kids in Papua New Guinea, whenever my siblings and I had the chance to borrow VHS tapes from our friends or the neighbourhood video rental shop, my sister and I almost always chose the movies with lots of singing and dancing. I guess it was because Papa was musically-inclined so he somehow influenced our preferences in movies. Some of our favorites until now are The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Grease. I remember we enjoyed watching those movies over and over again, singing along when the characters sang, and not caring if we were out of tune ☺