Sandier Pastures

This week’s theme: Practical

Nothing beats the real thing but recycling an old baby bath in place of a real pool saves water and is more practical especially if the pool is an hour drive away.

Photo taken summer of 2006 in Matsumoto, Japan. Pristine has grownup and now having an inflatable pool that suits her size.

I was tagged by Bisdak Babbles for this. I had a great time reading the posts. It was hard to just pick 3 posts, though. 

Start tag
This is a new fun seo meme ride for us all. This is based on the seo theory that links to posts inside your blog are more important than links to your home page. I have selected three posts I want to promote along with my site’s name. You will do the same thing.Let’s keep it simple and spread our good work around to both share and build some ratings! Make sure you pick three posts that you feel are your best. You could also select 3 posts you simply want to promote. Your site name is listed with your 3 selected posts beneath.Once you have your post up: Add the sites and post links of the folks you tagged onto your post. Try to add the site and post links to anyone involved to maximize the effectiveness. Tag a minimum of 5 people or go wild like me and tag 15!Try your best not to double tag people so it will spread better! Please actually read the posts from everyone so you can see some really good work from our beloved blogging friends! Make your title a little different from mine to avoid repetitive titles. Please try to maintain some friendly updates to your post too Revellian dot com
SEO Keywords For Beginners
Content: The Kings Illegitimate Stepchild
Tales of Blogger-X Illusion

Mariuca - Wishing On A Falling Star
Love In Disarray
In Love With A Dream
The Good Client

Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery
Perfume Shopping Spree
Defining Beauty
In Full Splendour

First Time Dad
Homer Kidnapped
Something Ends
Good Night Sweetheart! Hello Basil!

Speedcat Hollydale Page
Rocket Boy in Hawaii - DC9
Speedcat’s Death Ride into Terror!
The Boy All Men

R Playground
Friends101
Shy Blogger
Soul Music

LadyJava’s Lounge
Are you a Genius??
The secret to a happy marriage
I’ve got a twitch in my eye

Being Woman Joy of Being One
A Handbag Lunatic
A Real Deal
What makes you fat?

Make Money Online
Share Uploaded Files and Earn
Fight Back against computer-security threats
Earn Money 3 Ways with Shareapic Program

Cat Tales
Sunday was Bathday
got locked in!
When she’s sleeping.

Life with the Two Crazy Dogs
35W Bridge Collapsed Survivor
10 Questions
Traffic Violation - Bite Me!

Attitude, the Ultimate Power
Cookies
Happiness is a Decision;
Choose to be Happy

Happiness Vs. Human Nature

Terri Terri Quite Contrary
Just How Immature Are We?
Finding a Voice
So Much More to See than the Game

Amel’s Realm
In Memoriam
On Trust and Relationship
Marriage Review

Dutchcorner
The Key
Cellphones
It’s all in the ears

Idle Moments
Meet Udong
Alcohol and Lollipops
Tomarimasu Ka?

Sandier Pastures
Taking the plunge
Safe in a troubled region
Drinking in Dubai: What you need to know

ADD YOURSELF HERE WHEN DONE BY LEAVING A COMMENT
End tagIf you want to add your blog and three of your good posts, then feel free to copy and paste!

13 WAYS TO BE ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY

October 15 was Blog Action Day with the theme: Environment so here are 13 things I commit myself to do whenever possible.

1. Purchase a vehicle that uses less of the earth’s limited petroleum resources. By choosing a car with the most fuel efficient engine in its class, drivers could reduce their engine CO2 emissions and potentially save on fuel costs.

It doesn’t have to be a hybrid Toyota Prius, there are lots of alternative eco-friendly cars available that’s easy on gas.

2. Take the public transport if you have easy access to it.  By joining other commuters and travelers rather than cruising in individual cars, you can save money on parking fees and gas.

If Dubai’s public transport system is as efficient as that of Japan’s, I wouldn’t mind taking it everyday.

3. Make it an effort to recycle. May it be yard wastes, newspapers, aluminum cans, pet bottles or plastic bags.

We make it a point not to buy small bottles of water when we go out. We fill our own water bottles before going out.

4. Reduce plastic waste. Did you know that it takes 20 years for a plastic bag to decompose and 250 years for a plastic cup? 

We take our own grocery bag when we shop to reduce the use of plastic bags.

5. Recycle paper. Avoid hitting the print key when you can. Transmit information electronically and only print when you truly need it.

I bring papers printed on one side home, so my daughter can make use of it for drawing.

6. Eat Local. In the area of food, think about how far it has traveled to get to your mouth.

This is very difficult in my part! Fruits and vegetables available in the grocery here come from far-flung places. Our tomatoes come from Holland! I may not be able to practice this but I hope you will.

7. Have Barbeque! Grilling is a healthy way to cook but did you know that it is also good for the air? Outdoor grills take less energy than electric kitchen stoves. It also keep heat out of the house, lowering air conditioning costs.

I know it’s autumn in the northern hemisphere right now so bbq is not possible. However, here in Dubai, we can bbq all year long so we’ll make it a point to grill outside instead of cooking a feast on special occasions.

8. Dine on reusable plates, spoons and forks. Instead of using paper plates, cups and plastic utensils. You can help save a lot of trees and reduce plastic waste.

We bring our own utensils when we camp out and reuse them. I don’t like bringing paper plates as I find them too soft and unstable.

9. Invest on eco-friendly appliances. Check out the products that emits less freon and carbon. Also, think twice if you really need that second fridge in your room just to store drinks.

A little walk into the kitchen to get your refreshment won’t hurt; it can even be a little exercise.

10. Change your thermostat setting. Setting the thermostat a few degrees lower in winter and a few degrees higher in summer can give you substantial savings on utility bills.

When I was in Japan, thermostat settings in offices during summer is 28C and 20C during winter. People adjust to this too hot and little bit too cold temperature by wearing lighter clothes on summer and bringing a light jacket on winter. Here in Dubai? The thermostat is offices and malls are set at 15C or lower. This country will never pass the ISO standard for environment.

I always change the thermostat to at least 20C but someone is always putting it back to 15. I keep a light jacket in the office.

11. Think twice about buying a new cellphone. E-waste from discarded cell phones is a growing environmental problem. Thousands of electronic refuse are being shipped abroad illegally for ‘disassembly’ by workers with little protection against mercury and other toxic substances they contain.

Although I love new technology, I don’t change cell phones frequently. My last cell phone lasted me 5 years before I bought a new one.

12. Make your own cleaning supplies. Use simple ingredients such as baking soda, soap and vinegar to create non-toxic cleaning products that work.

I use baking soda to exfoliate and that saves me from buying a facial scrub contained in plastic. It is also a lot more cheaper and works for me really well.

13. Use flat panel display. Flat panel monitors use 1/3 as much energy than a CRT monitor. A typical LCD requires 25 watts; a CRT, 75. CRT’s need more energy because they require constant power to illuminate the phosphors that produce images on screen. Flat panel monitors not only saves energy, it also saves space.

We have been using flat LCD’s since it came out. The CRT monitors just take up too much space.

How do you contribute to making our planet greener?

After 9 months, you know you’re in Dubai when:

• Your car gets dusty just 2 hours after a full wash at the petrol station

• you see more Indians and Filipinos on the street than you would on a street in Bombay or Manila

• some people of a certain nationality wears the same kind of clothes everyday like a uniform!

• you can’t find a reasonable way to cross the road on foot without walking 5 kms to the nearest pedestrian

• long stretch of roads have no pedestrian lanes in it

• you are horrified to see that the traffic light yesterday is already turned into a roundabout the next morning!

• you’re waiting for the bus alone and then as soon as the bus shows up, 50 Indians jump out of nowhere and stampede all over you. By the time you realize what hit you, they already occupied all the available seats and the bus driver will not let you in.

• you’ve been waiting for a cab for an entire hour in the hellish heat and almost can’t stand straight anymore and then when a cab shows up, some annoying &%!# shoves you and gets in the cab before it reaches you

• Signboards with “History Rising” or “World’s Tallest”, “World’s Biggest” is all around.

• Flower beds are dugged up at night to change the color scheme of the floras.

• Random people on the streets will take photographs of your little one if not, will pinch their cheeks.

Welcome to Dubai-lala-land!

Summer is ending or has ended in most parts of the world but our morning temperatures here in Dubai is still not below 30. Saturday weather was great, with a little wind but it was not so hot anymore.

We went to Jumeirah Beach Park, my favorite spot in Dubai so far, early in the morning so we can swim without being burned or without bumping with other swimmers. Last weekend was the end of Ramadan and so many people were heading for the beach.

As soon as we paid our entrance at the gate, Pristine grabbed me and ran towards the sea. The water was as usual very clear and clean. It felt so good to be back to the beach again. A month earlier, the sea water would have resembled a hot tub and the sand would burn our feet but at this time of the year, or at least a couple of days back, it was just perfect!

But because of the wind, once we get out of the water, it felt so cold! We immensely enjoyed the beach and stayed there the whole day to see the sun set. We brought our tent with us so we even had an afternoon nap.

Here is the slideshow:

We had a very rare, once in a lifetime 3-day weekend last week! Since there were no plans to go somewhere far as our car is not here yet (long story), we decided to spend one day at the mall just doing our grocery shopping and raiding the food court, the next day at the beach and the last day for rest. Everyone needs a vacation after a vacation, right?

As the whole Muslim community celebrated the end of Ramadan, non-Muslims like us also celebrated our liberty - no more sneaking to eat or drink in public!

Here are some photos taken last weekend. Flektor had not been working properly so I’ll post some photos here and the slideshow later.

There was a camel at the mall!

   

Deira City Center was brightly decorated, the center stage had a camel (not a real one but moving!), which made our little one get excited. She thought it was real.

The food court was alive and busy. I sense that there were plenty of people eating lunch as early as 11 am. They must haved longed for all that good food after a month of fasting!

The next day, we went to the beach.

We were invited for a barbeque dinner party by my Indian friends at the Al Khan Lagoon in Sharjah. At first, I thought we were going to do it by the beach so we went there with a huge bag complete with towels and extra clothes. Everyone was excited as this is our first time for barbeque in Dubai.

Turned out to be, the organizer cancelled the beach barbeque and opted to do it nearer, just off the main street in Al Khan Lagoon. Although it is still a body of sea water, swimming is not allowed. Boy, did I have great trouble explaining to my bikini-ready toddler why she has to take off her swimsuit!

There were some kids there so eventually she mellowed down and played in the sand. As the sun set, my friend’s husband started roasting the marinated chicken and other meats, the smoke coming from the fire made us hungrier and hungrier. When it was time to eat, we were served first with the juiciest and most delicious looking piece but as soon as the meat touched our tongue, we were on fire!! It was piping hot — hot as in not overly warm hot as it is straight from the grill but hot as in SPICY as hell HOT!! My tongue hurt a lot and M was sweating; my mother was whistling, lol!

All the other Indians around us were laughing and my friend was apologetic because that was the only flavor they have - on all meats. Yay!

Glad we bought rice from home, as an emergency food in case my daughter doesn’t eat the exotic food at the party. It was the best decision we made. We ate the very red hot chili chicken with rice and gobbled it up with lots, I say, lots of Pepsi and we were at least half-fine.

How hot is hot for you? Can you take spicy Thai or Indian food? (and I meant without Pepsi!)

My daughter will be turning 4 years old in a couple of months. She can write her own name, spell it and shout it loud. More than that she can also type it in Google - of course she has no idea what those bunch of letters in the search result are because she can’t read, for now.

At a tender age she is more adept with the computer than her grandmother, which is a good thing and at the same time, scary. We don’t have a TV in our home. We ditched it 2 years ago to give way for ample quality parenting time we always wanted to give her. But we do, as normal people, love entertainment so we watch movies on DVD, she sure knows how to insert the DVD into the computer and play/rewind/forward it.

I also let her watch music videos that are kid friendly in youtube and other sources of kid online entertainment. As much as possible, I am by her side while she watches the short videos. One time I had to leave her when my phone rang. When I came back, she was watching something of adult content! I was shocked and immediately turned the PC off.

She is just 4 but she can click through things online. She can’t read and judge for herself yet, in short, she is defenseless against damaging information that abound in cyberspace.

While the internet is an informative and lively playground, it is also a potentially dangerous place and every parent should know what their children are up to.

I have found a software that monitors children online to help keep them safe - the ICU Software that is designed by parents, for parents so it is easy to install and use. ICU stands for Insight into your Children’s Unaccompanied activity, how appropriate!

As a parent, we want to give our children the freedom to explore the world (online or real) and at the same time protect them from unnecessary harm online that includes viewing sites of adult content, playing illegal games, illegal downloading, etc. As my daughter grows up and become smarter by the minute, this software is very handy because I am not sure if she want me to be by her side at all times especially when she is older.

There’s a free trial of the ICU software so you will know if it suits your needs and check the FAQ to answer your doubts. Check out and try ICU because there is no price for peace of mind.

This week’s theme: Smelly

The effects of ultra high speed urbanization: With all the road construction blocking the way for the garbage trucks everyday, this is a familiar scene in the residential areas of Dubai. Of course you can’t see this in the main tourists areas — they have to keep those clean for the moolah’s to come.

Photo taken near my apartment building. I detest to pass here everyday where my nose can detect the smelly rotten garbage even from 20 meters far. I am just happy I don’t have a garbage bin in front of my window just like the poor 1st floor tenant in this picture.

Every week, once I start working on Saturdays, I keep asking myself “Is it Saturday already?” or “Another 5 minutes in bed wouldn’t hurt.” I know working moms can all relate to this sentiment.

Today is Friday, my usual rest day when I can actually sleep longer and now just before the clock ticked at 6 a.m. I am already awake and writing an entry from home! I don’t blog at home normally but today is an exception.

I woke up with the sound of the minarets in the nearby mosques, yes there are plenty of mosques around where I live. The call to prayer this morning was louder and longer than usual because it is special - this is the end of Ramadan! Muslims all over the world celebrate the end of the fasting month so starting from today, non-Muslims in Dubai, i.e., expats like me partake in the celebration by enjoying the declared 3 days holiday from today and then Saturday and Sunday.

We have no plans to travel far, maybe just go to the beach very early in the morning tomorrow or just waste our vacation in bed, depends on how hot it still is outside.

What would be exciting to do for three days? I suddenly don’t know what, being used to just having one day off every week.

Have a great weekend! I might be back with some beach pictures which I haven’t done in a while.