victims of typhoon yolanda need your help

Who hasn’t heard about the devastation that one of the most powerful storms ever recorded brought to the Philippines over the weekend? It’s practically all over the news.

image from mb.com.ph

image from inquirer.net

image from ibtimes.com

These are just a few of the pictures, but you can see and imagine how much damage Typhoon Yolanda brought, and the lives it took and affected.  And as of the time that I'm writing this post, it has been declared in the news that the death toll may reach 10,000!  So much loss in just a couple of days!

From all around the world, all sorts of help are pouring out for the Philippines. To name a few, the UAE, Saudi Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the US, Canada, and the National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Basketball Player’s Association (NBPA) have donated and pledged support and assistance programs and projects for the victims of the super typhoon. Even Pope Francis has asked for everyone’s prayers through his Twitter account.

The victims need all the help they can get. So if you are one of the kind-hearted souls who would like to help but don’t know how, please click on this site and/or this site which have updated lists of official groups and centers which you can contact.

No matter how small or big your assistance is, it will definitely go a long way…and I’m sure my kababayans would be eternally grateful.

Maraming salamat po.

the best theme for her 5th birthday

As early as now, Caila has already decided on what the theme will be for her 5th birthday. Oh yes, there’s no question about it …she will celebrate it with a party. Lucky for us, a celebration at school with her classmates is already a party, just like her 4th birthday. So all we need to order and prepare are the cake, goody bags, maybe something else to eat, and drinks. 

Last month, she was considering a Lilo and Stitch theme. Ok naman.  It's one of her favorite shows, plus she can sing most of the lyrics of the theme song (Aloha E Komo Mai).  But a few days later when we started singing a few lines of the Hi-5 theme song (the one that goes “1-2-3-4…Hi-5! Five in the air, let’s do it together. Hi-5!”), she said that she wanted a Hi-5 theme kasi daw she’s turning 5 years old. In fairness, she has a point. The theme will suit her age.

I thought she would change her mind and realize she wants something else (with little girls, you just never know), but so far she still wants Hi-5.  She's been telling us that almost every single day (with matching "1-2-3-4...Hi-5!")  We’ll see. After all, there’s still 3 months to go.

 

But to tell you the truth, I want her to stick with the Hi-5 theme. Bagay na bagay eh.  And of course knowing me, you can bet I've already begun checking the internet for ideas on Hi-5 cake designs =)    

michael kors selma bag and wallet

Saw this on our bed after I stepped out of the shower this morning.
The reason for the gift: wala lang. 

in pink!

Thank you, Mahal!

proud of the pinoy spirit

We all know Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda hit the Philippines early yesterday and is on its way out today. It was scary, I tell you. Ok, I might not have been at the Philippines when it lashed out at the country, but watching the videos on Youtube was enough to worry me and all my Filipino friends who have loved ones back home. Who wouldn’t get worried? It’s a super typhoon and one of the strongest ones ever recorded in modern history.

I immediately called Mama to ask where she was and how they were. Fortunately, she was at my brother’s house where they were all safe and away from the centre of the tropical cyclone’s direct strike. Whew!

Our country has been facing terrible disasters lately: the PDAF scam, the recent earthquake that hit Bohol and Cebu, and now this. Haaaay! But in spite of all these negative things, I’m so proud of the Filipinos’ attitude: that we don’t dwell much on the problems, and just move on as much as we can.

Truly, nothing can beat the Filipino spirit!

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!

is there a currency symbol for the dirham?

I had an insomnia attack again last night. And just like what usually happens when I can’t sleep, so many jumbled thoughts entered my brain. One of which was the currency symbol of the dirham.

During my almost 10 years in this country, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the symbol. It’s always represented by AED or Dhs. Those are letters! Why doesn’t it have a symbol?!

For the dollar, it’s $.
For the pound, it’s £.
The yen is ¥, and the euro is €.
Even the Philippine peso and Indian rupee have their own symbols.
So why not the dirham?

And since my brain just couldn’t push the thought aside, it came up with a symbol to represent the dirham:

Well, you never know…maybe this idea could take effect. 
Ahem! Attention, UAE leaders and government! ☺

friends from jeddah visit dubai

Good friends from my high school years visited Dubai during the Eid holidays, so of course we had to have a mini-reunion with all our other batchmates based in Dubai.

After enduring all the detours and heavy traffic leading to Dubai Mall on the 17th of October, Hubby, Caila and I met-up with the group at Ribs and Rumps in the Foodcourt. As usual, it was a get-together filled with laughter and reminiscing.

Although Kiomi and Francis’ son had fallen asleep, their daughter, Caila, and Sharon’s daughter had a good time as they played together. It was really cute that they got along, quickly overcoming their shyness from meeting for the first time.

Time passed by quickly and although it was getting pretty late, since our batchmates from Jeddah wanted to see the Dancing Fountain, we headed outdoors where we reached just in time to watch a show begin. Coming all the way from Al Ain, Love managed to meet up with us for a quick group picture and one last show of the Dancing Fountain before we left the mall.

middle east chapter reunion

The next day, my family and I took Kiomi out so that she could do a little souvenir-shopping. And on Sunday after work, I met up with her and Francis (and their kids) at Tim Horton’s in Deira City Centre. I also managed to meet fellow n@wie Gracie (behind the blog A Reality Bite) and her husband who were college pals of Francis.

Hubby and I had taken Francis around the sights of Dubai when he came for a quick stopover several years ago (2005 or 2006), and the last time I saw Kiomi was back in June 2010, so there was so much to catch up on. As always, it’s great to see good old friends again wherever and whenever our paths cross.