Yaku · Tating · Balot

Naghinamhinam na gyud ko makauli. Naghinamhinam nako sa mga halok sa akong mga pinalanggang anak. Naghinamhinam nako sa gakus sa akong inahan ug amahan. Naghinamhinam nako makigduwa sa akong mga binuhing iro. Ug labaw sa tanan, naghinamhinam nako makakaon og usab sa akong mga paboritong pagkaon sa CEBU . Ginabot, bantay lang ka!

An "amusement" park set in the world of Jane Austen's novels...with people from Jane Austen's novels. Truly an amusing movie. And what a guilty pleasure it was! So my movie-loving niece Bernice had been recommending dozens of feel-good movies for me to watch. This was one of those "nice" recs. I have put it in the back-burner thinking I don't exactly need a romantic movie to fill my nights at the moment. But, every night, it has kept on nagging and nagging me, and well, eventually I gave in. (Yes, I adore Pride and Prejudice.) It was a delight to watch. Not exactly top-rated, it was a leave-your-brain-at-the-theater-door kind of movie. It is the kind that you watch if you just want to laugh and feel good, and not really burden your mind with intricate puzzles and plot twists to understand the story. It was exactly the kind of movie I needed. The pretty Keri Russell plays the petite and smart Austen-obsessed heroine who, in fervent hopes of finding ...

...to write again. Sadness. Melancholy. Loneliness. That's all it took to get me running back to my blog. Since I came to Dubai, never had I felt such an overwhelming sense of sadness until last night. It came out of nowhere really. I was doing fine, albeit very busy, the entire day Sunday; but I was as fine and dandy as I usually am on any given day. Until I stepped out of the office last night, and stood for a good few minutes in the parking lot tinkering with my phone to find a good playlist to accompany me on my kilometer-long walk towards the Metro station. The culprit? A cat. Yes. A cat. A full grown orange cat with eyes so earnestly wide and fur so painfully soft. Here's what I wrote (on MS Word) this morning about the encounter:

YESTERDAY marked the start of the month-long Ramadan. To my Muslim brothers and sisters around the world who are celebrating this very important month, Ramadan Mubarak! It was my first time to spend Ramadan in a predominantly Muslim country, and it was quite an interesting experience. Restaurants were closed for most of the day. Roads were mainly quiet in the mornings. And of course, you don't see people taking a drink or chewing on a bite anywhere. Non-Muslims have to refrain from eating and drinking in public as a sign of respect to our Muslim friends. Observing Ramadan timings, we got off work early. For one who walks home from the office, it was still a little too hot outside for me. So I just took it real slow and decided to get some cool air at the nearby Deira City Center. At 4 pm, the restaurants and coffee shops were mostly closed for dining patrons, offering only takeaways. A lot of people were also lugging around shopping bags and pushing carts containing food and...

I AM NO food connoisseur, but I adore food. Who doesn’t? I love food of all kinds, most especially food that is not “boring.” Bland food is bleh. Give me food that offers a thrilling adventure for my palate, and I’m in -- hook, line and sinker. Balut, anyone? I love food that drives my tongue crazy. It doesn’t have to be so good it makes me close my eyes in its sheer delightfulness. If it’s salty or sour, I’ll have it. If it’s spicy, I’ll devour it. If it’s completely new to me, trust me to be totally giddy over it. I’ve had quite a gastronomic adventure during my first month here. I plan to write about them one by one. For now, I’ll give a shoutout to the food I’ve had at the office.  During my first few days at work, my dear officemates here in Al Wasl offered me a taste of some really interesting and scrumptuous Pakistani and Indian food. I’ve had some mutton mince curry with chapati, chicken and mutton biryani, paratha with yoghurt, burfi and other Pakistani sweet...

MAYBE it's just me, but I have always thought that all Arabs are Muslims, practicing only the Islamic religion, all of them. I have always thought that all who live in these Arab countries are somehow "born" or "sworn" to practice only Islam. How wrong I was. (Duh!) I owe this stereotyping to the simple fact that I have very limited exposure to Arabs. Sure, I've been to the US, some countries in Europe, and India. I have worked face-to-face with Americans, Europeans, Indians and Chinese over the years. However, I haven't really interacted much or worked with Arabs before. Muslims yes, Arabs no. So what brought on this realization? Last week, I was hurrying to catch the 12 NN mass at  St. Mary's Catholic Church  here in Dubai thinking that all 12 NN masses are English masses. Imagine my surprise when I arrived (late because this mass apparently started at 11:30 AM) and was seeing Arabic characters projected on the big screen. The churchgoers we...