Sandier Pastures

Things are a little bit lonely in my blog lately. I understand that Sundays are mostly off for most people giving time to family and relaxation than working and spending time in front of the computer the whole day like me.

Monday comes to this side of the world and it is still Sunday where most of my readers are (at least according to Site Meter, most of my readers are from the US) so no traffic for me. Tuesday…then today is Wednesday… Halloween so they would be trick or treating.

Then I found out in someone’s blog that there’s a great carnival going on right now which everyone but me is participating! So that’s where everyone is!

How left out did that make me feel!

I am talking of course about the Fall Y’All Bloggy Giveaway hosted by Shannon in Rocks in My Dryer. I do mention her and her blog like I know her - - when in fact, I don’t. I haven’t read any post on her blog because typepad blogs are banned in the UAE!! Banned as in inaccessible. Can you believe that?

There are lots of bloggers participating and the main list is in Shannon’s blog. So since I can’t see the main list, I googled Fall Y’All and picked up tracks to blogs who are giving away stuffs from books to gadgets to cute aprons to gift certificates, the list just goes on and on. Gotta try my luck again! I had to look real close though, as some of them don’t ship outside the United States.

So, if typepad is working fine in your side, go check out the Fall Y’All Bloggy Giveaway page while there’s still time to do so!

Happy Halloween!

There was very heavy traffic going to Jebel Ali side of Dubai early this week which was caused by laborers mostly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh protesting in the streets demanding a 200 dirham (approx. $55) increase in their current salary of 600 dirhams per month (approx. US$166). They also complained of their accommodation, living condition and the fact that they have to pay for their visas to get here. 

Residents near the area said police sirens can be heard everywhere and in no time, the protesters were back in their shabby labor camps, fenced in with barbed wires more like caged animals than human beings. I can’t believe this is happening in 2007.

These men are the ones making the Dubai dream happen and giving it shape and form. Now, the news says they are to be deported and face a lifetime ban from entering UAE again. I hope they go home and tell the others who attempt to drown in debt just to go abroad, that life in Dubai as a laborer is not worth it. The streets are not paved in gold.

Update: The protest ended, the laborers arrested. In one forum I read one lady said, “The government of Dubai may not care if 1,000 Indians march down the streets but I wonder what 1,000 white Westerners protesting in the middle of the highway would do though.”

CNN also covered a story on this.

Since we got the car last week, M and I stopped running to catch the bus in the morning and instead take the car to work. He drives while I just listen to the radio. Listening to the radio make me feel that I am really living abroad, not in Japan at least as all the DJ’s are speaking in English.

Every morning since last week, a radio station had been hosting a quiz show and every day, the prize increases. Callers are to answer short general information questions in 60 seconds and whoever gets the most number of correct answers until Thursday this week will get the prize. Prize for grabs up to this morning was 2,100 dirhams (approx. US$572). The first caller just got 7 questions correct and the next caller tomorrow morning will have to beat that.

I love quizzes, I had been participating in quiz shows since I was 9. My first plane ticket was courtesy of a quiz show. The morning quiz show of course excited me so much, especially that I can answer as much as 15 out of 15 questions in 60 seconds on a good day. I am dying to call to participate! But I wonder would I still be calm enough to answer all the questions while I am on the phone just like while I am listening in the comfort of my car?

Here’s some of the quickie questions that the callers failed to answer:

• What country has the capital city of Vienna? (he answered Italy!)
• What does the computer term CPU stand for?
• Who was Britain’s first female Prime Minister?
• Who was Mel Gibson’s sidekick in the movie Lethal Weapon? (he passed)
• Where did the singing group Abba came from?
• Who developed the theory of relativity?
• Which of these actresses appeared in the movie Top Gun: Meg Ryan, Kylie Minogue or Helen Hunt?
• What country has the capital of Nicosia?
• Who is the singer with the current album entitled “I’m Not Dead”?
• Who was the actor married to Madonna until 1989?
• How many heads of US Presidents are carved in Mt. Rushmore?

My sister sent me photos of our 4th generation pups back home. The pregnancy of the mommy dog was not expected so my sister was surprised to see the puppies. There are 4 of them:

Minutes after they were born, my sister assigned them names immediately. But if I were to choose, as suggested by of course my assistant name adviser, my daughter, the names would have been:

• Mocha - for the brown one (right picture)
• Chocolat - for the other brown one (middle picture)
• Sirius and Joe - for the black ones (left picture..there are actually 2 black pups there)

MY FAMILY’S DOG STORY

Our first dog ’swam’ its way to our house during a flood. No matter how my father tried to drive her away because stray dogs don’t have a place in our home, she would always swim back during the rainy days and walk back when it dried. We eventually took her in. She was probably the sweetest dog we ever had. I was 12 that time and every morning while boarding the jeepney (mini-bus sort of thing) with my 2 brothers to school, she would chase the vehicle until she pants and almost lose her breath. Then she would walk back home. She did this for almost one year until we lost her. We searched everywhere and some witnesses told us, some drunk in the street corner ‘ate’ our dog during the city fiesta. We were all heartbroken. She had tiger-like marks on her fur and ran so fast, we named her Cheetah. Too bad we didn’t have any photograph of her.

THE DOG AT THE TOP OF THE FAMILY TREE

The pups’ great-great grandmother was our second dog. My family never wanted a dog since rabies scare my father very much (his grandma died of rabies). Dogs and small children are not a good combination. Of course we have the option to go to the vet and have the dog treated (vaccinated) but we did not have that luxury before. Our second dog, Christie came knocking at our front gate and once we opened it for her, she never left our home. Thank God she was not a biting dog. She had a very mild character and eventually died of old age.

Christie had a philandering husband called Casper, named after the friendly ghost because he would pop in and pop out instantaneously, especially if there is a new she-dog in the neighborhood. Christie bore with him and bore litters after litters, courtesy of the same father. Casper never took care of his brood and continued on his dogmanizing ways - until we learned that he died outside of our home. We concluded that he died of AIDS.

So the 4 pups above are our new dogs in the house. As of this writing, my sister has given away two of them to her friends.

~0~0~0~0~0~

The Carnival of Family Life is up at Little Legends Blog. Check out the great family-related posts this week!

I participated in a really cool gift swap hosted by Christine a few days back.

The rules were simple, those interested in participating list their own name in Christine’s site and person #1 gives to #2, #2 to #3 and so on. The last person gives the hostess (person #1, Christine) a gift.

I got listed after Donetta so I get to receive a gift from her and in return I had to send a gift to the person next to me on the list, that is Idel in Japan. A gift swap happening in three different countries! Isn’t it exciting or what.

The UAE postal system is not popular for being efficient, a friend supposedly sent me a small parcel more than two months ago and is either lost or will arrive really late so I am prepared to wait for weeks (even months) but guess what?  Someone delivered a package to me yesterday, October 27, just when Donetta herself asked me in the email if there are any signs of the package she sent!

The package managed to travel by land, sea and desert and reached me in 8 days! In Dubai standards, that is some sort of miracle!

I opened it at home, with a very curious toddler waiting by my side. Thanks Donetta for the good stuff!

No, the little girl in the photo was not included in the box! That is my precocious daughter who  made a quick pose right before I clicked the camera.

A closer look at my gifts:

She could not get her hands off the bell!

So I got: (1) A game set; (2) a cute pair of dangling earrings in a personalized jewelry box; (3) jelly candies candy corns in a bowl (I clearly didn’t have an idea of this very popular Halloween food!); (4) sweet wafer rolls in can; (5) a pine cone; (6) a corn (that my daughter attempted to bite! gasp!) and an evidence that she reads my blog, Donetta sent me a (7) Natural roach repellant!

Thank you Christine for hosting and thanks Donetta for the package. This was fun!

For working mothers like me who want to learn new computer courses but do not have time to attend regular classroom settings, a computer based training is a very popular option.

I am searching for computer trainingfor Photoshop as I would love to give my blog a makeover someday. For e-learning resources, visit www.computerbasedtrainings.com. You can also find leadership training courses in the site. 

Gulf News, a very popular newspaper in the Gulf region based in the UAE has published a very interesting article entitled “Untold Tales: lens-eye view of the city” that captures the essence of life in Dubai in 24 hours.

I had been blogging about Dubai since our relocation early next year to let others know how it is to live here. Sad though that I can’t be on the streets armed with camera for 24 hours. Go check out the article and the great photos taken by professional photographers on an hourly basis on the eve of February 13, 2007. The side links starts from midnight - 1am until midnight the next day.

As a resident, I can say the collection of photos rightly justifies and describes the life in this complicated city so I hope you have the time to see it too.

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This week’s theme: Pink

Japan in Spring. Very beautiful, very pink.

Photo courtesy of a friend who sent this picture to me to pacify my longing for things Japanese after spending my first spring outside Japan for the first time in 10 years. I really appreciate the time he took this picture on a weekday because if not, it would be too crowded with people from different parts of the country to see the sakura in full bloom (time of blooming usually 2-3 weeks later than in Tokyo).

With this picture, I feel that I have the beauty of the flowers all to myself.

Taken April 2007; Matsumoto, Japan.

I was tagged by Kailani and Expat Mom to do a very interesting meme. So here’s another closer look at Dubai, in the eye of a resident.

Introducing the Weekend in Your City Meme!

Best Place to Eat: Spice Island at The Rennaisance Hotel must be Dubai’s favorite international restaurant! It is an international restaurant and home of Dubai’s famous Grand Buffet that boasts with all you can eat, all you can drink brunch menu that highlights cuisines from around the world. It also has lots of live cooking stations: Mexican, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Italian, Indian, Indonesian, Italian and Mongolian. 

For budget meals, and those who are seeking to try Arabic dishes, it’s L’Auberg (sorry I don’t know how to pronounce that, I just eat there). If ever you come and visit and don’t try this restaurant, I’d cry - - for you!

Best Shopping Mall: Definitely The Mall of the Emirates, the largest shopping center outside of North America. Where else can you shop and ski at the same time even in the middle of summer? I haven’t been inside Ski Dubai yet. I am not missing snow and cold that much. Clarification: I don’t ski everytime I shop there. Just want you to know that Ski Dubai is inside this mall and a mall that holds a ski-resort means it is insanely huge - - meaning, all your shopping needs are met.

Famous Landmark: Dubai is full of landmarks. I guess the Palm Island would be one. There are three of the palm islands by the way, one of them, the Palm Jumeirah is almost complete, residents moved there last June. Palm Deira and Palm Jebel Ali is under construction.

Then we have the Burj Dubai - which when completed, would become the world’s tallest structure and of course, who would ever miss the iconic and world’s tallest hotel, The Burj Al Arab?

Entertaining the Kids: Deira City Center’s Magic Planet. So far, this is the only place we go to entertain our kid. We have not explored Dubai that much. She also loves the Creekside Park where vast greens sprawl for kids to run about all day long. The park is also located near Dubai Creek - a very nice scene to enjoy.

We want to go to Wild Wadi sometime in the future. Wild Water Water Adventure Park, situated between the Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel is a 12-acre desert filled with 30 million liters of water solely dedicated for fun.

Popular Outdoor Activity: Hands down it’s the beach. I am so happy to think that so many people from different parts of the globe coming here just to see the beach and we are living right here.

Also camping in the desert is popular. A desert safari tour gives you the opportunity to watch the beautiful sunset before reaching the camp site where you have the opportunity to experience camel riding, sand boarding or sand skiing. After that rigorous activity, enjoy a delicious barbecue dinner and a shisha (the famous Arabic water pipe) and watch a belly dancer perform. Audience participation is recommended.

Breathtaking Views: The red dunes? The crystal clear beaches?

Only available in your city: This is so far the hardest question. I feel like being one of the finalists vying for the coveted Miss Universe crown. Here’s what came to my mind:

• 24/7 construction rush

• people from 200 different nationalities living (or trying to) in harmony

• Arab women behind the wheels! In Saudi Arabia, and other Islamic countries, women are not only prohibited to work, they are also prohibited to drive a vehicle.

• Lots of optical illusions that are becoming real. Man-made islands, marinas, gigantic tall buildings that spiral their way to the skies (some even dance), man-made grass parks, overwhelming amount of water although in a very dry and arid area…

• Lastly, this might be the only city where the foreigners outnumber the locals in terms of population.

Let me know what’s hip in your city!

• Mar in Spain

• Sabine in Malta

• Robin in Israel

• Divina in The Philippines

• Samulli in Germany

… and YOU. If you want to review what your city has to offer, do this meme and let me know. I love travelling to different places and checking out the charms of each city but right now, I can only do that through reading blogs so let me know if you feel like doing this, ok?