7+7=14

Last night we celebrated our church wedding anniversary which took place 7 years ago after 7 years of having been steady sweethearts and all sum up to 14 years of generally blissful though at times shaky twogetherness...





Luckily, Dec. 18 was a holiday here being the first day of Eid Al Adha after the end of Haj Pilgrimage in Maccah. We almost had the whole day to celebrate but I had to finish some work at home in the morning until 1:00 p.m. and e-mailed it to my boss. Right after having done it, we hurried to a spa salon in Jumeirah where I booked for relaxing Moroccan bath and massage for the two of us as part of the anniversary day's special agenda. Then off to Mall of Emirates to see a movie just like what we used to do when our sons were not yet born. But we were not able to go to the movies due to time constraints . You see, unlike in Manila, moviegoers here have to come inside and move out as the movie starts and ends. We just did some leisury mall walk and had coffee at Costa's. Then off to Dubai Creek where I have reserved a table for two in a dhow cruise dinner buffet. Dhow by the way is a traditional wood made boat in Middle East.

We reached Dubai Creek just right on time but all the slots in the creek parking lot were taken. Having given up on getting that night's elusive slot,I went to the opposite road and stopped by the driveway of Radissons Hotel and asked for a valet parking which luckily was available. Then,we crossed the street and hurried to the docked dhow waiting for the late cruise diners like us, he he he.

The dhow's roof deck covered with Arabic tent and the views along two creek banks Deira side and Bur Dubai provided just the right atmosphere for a romantic dinner. There were also other dhows cruising which added to the interesting evening waterscape. The food was good and so was the house red wine. We had a nice quiet time and didn't realize that the cruise was over until the waiter gave us our bill, ha ha ha.

After getting out of the boat, we crossed the street again and went to the jazz bar at the tenth floor of Radissons Hotel where a South African songstress was performing. Her voice just blended nicely with my Corona beer and maybe with Bubot's cranberry vodka, too, he he he. The bar has a beautiful view of Dubai Creek including Maktoum bridge,an interestingly intertwined set of bridges which link Deira Side to Bur Dubai. Our niece, Tracy joined us a little later with her boyfriend, Albert. After the end of the second set of the singer, we went down to the bar at the ground floor where a Filipino band was performing more upbeat and pop tunes. We watched their last two sets which ended after 2:00 a. m. and had more booze. Then, after a little chit chat with the Pinoy band , I drove us back home.

It has been a lovely day and night! I know there will be more days and evenings like this to come for we intend to stay twogether for ever. . .

Christmas in Wafi City

There was a time, not long ago, when even just a mere mention of the words "Merry Christmas" was banned in the Middle East. Those days our kabayans resorted to our mother tongue translation of " Maligayang Pasko " to greet each other in public places.
Fortunately, for us who have just recently joined the OFW bandwagon in Middle East, we can celebrate the season as open as what we do in 'Pinas. And since Dubai is made up of about 70% foreigner population (excluding the tourist visa holders ), it makes good sense for the locals and other non Christian nationals to allow and accept this annual and most awaited holiday for Christians.
And this attitude is very visually evident in public places like shopping malls. Last weekend, we visited an upscale mall called Wafi City which has a giant white christmas tree in the main lobby and other display installations on every node of the mall passage with the movie Narnia as the motif. They even have some kind of a wardrobe wherein you can go inside and experience the make believe world of Narnia just like in the movie. Of course, they charge some good bucks for this! And the people are queueing. And I don't mean just pinoys or europeans but arabs, too.

Last New Year's Eve

The other new year's eve we just had a little party in our flat in Al Muteena, Deira, Dubai because we didnt have a car then and getting a taxi here is a tough and risky misadventure. Tough for stiff competition and risky for wreckless drivers!

But last year, having provided by a modest Nissan Tiida car by my company then, we have got the comfort of moving about, in and out of Dubai. My wife's old neighbor in Paco, Manila is based in Ras Al Khaima, another U.A.E. emirate about an hour leisury drive from our flat in Al Ghusais, Dubai. And so, we decided to go there for the weekend and celebrate new year's eve in that coastal emirate away from the hustle and bustle of the big city called Dubai.

Our friend Jake lives very close to the beach, in fact the beach hotel we stayed in, Juma Al Majid Hotel is situated just at the back of his accomodation villa. It is an old hotel with ample but far from luxurious facilities like swimming pool and gym ( minus sauna and steam), pool bar, kid's playground , gardens and watering holes for locals and kabayans named " Makati Avenue " where a visayan band perform ( in my experience of bar hopping overseas, the bands are almost always "bisaya"). The room was... hhhhmmmmm....well... it's an old hotel.

I like the simple straight and long swimming pool where you can do a good length of laps and enjoy some drinks including beer and liquor by the pool bar. Prices are half the prices you pay in Dubai for a more crowded space and facilities! Derico, of course enjoyed the gardens with swings and other playground stuff. Diego sucked milk and slept alternately he he he he he, although he also enjoyed the attention given to him by the hotel staff who are mostly, you guessed it right, kabayans.

On New Year's Eve, all guests are required to attend their buffet party at the gardens ( of course plus extra charge ). The food was scrumptious ( european cuisine and grilled meat and seafoods) and drinks free flowing ( which included chardonnay white & cabernet red wines , whisky, vodka, beer of all brands except corona, my favorite "cerveza mas fina", he he he ). There was a program hosted by a Filipina with an " international" english accent, ha ha ha ha, after all the crowd was international and we were the only filipino guests that night. Some Russian singer perfomed among other nationals but the most awaited and applauded were the belly dancers from Egypt! There were several bonfires around the garden to counter act the very cool and windy evening. The party was culminated , as expected and required, by fireworks display by the beach then dancing , dancing dancing which Derico enjoyed to the hilt. I think he will grow up to be an energetic party animal! The gardens by the way sits on a cliff overlooking the beach.

After the party at the gardens and having tucked Derico and Diego to bed, we caught the last sets of the Pinoy Band in Makati Avenue and I have even managed to jam with them and sung "Unwell", ha ha ha ha ha ha. Bubot and I continued to party at the bar's dance floor and recalled our swing, cha cha, salsa and reggae moves. It was her first time to dance again after delivering Diego!

The next day, first day of 2007, we just lazed along the cliff overlooking the beach and moved down to the beach itself. Although the water was cold we were not able to stop Derico from playing and eventually soaking on the beach.

Last Christmas

Last Christmas was Diego's first Christmas with us and our second one in Dubai. He just turned one month old then. Derico volunteered to do the trimmings of our little Christmas tree which was a gift from Bubot's Makati office colleague when she came to Dubai to substitute for her during her maternity leave. To somehow recreate a typical Pinoy Christmas scenario, we had a modest noche buena on Christmas eve joined by our Mareng Malou, Pareng Brix, good friend Hussein and of course our other household members cousin Jacq and my sis in law Divina. Derico sang Christmas carols and was very happy when he got Santa's gift of stuffed Batman toy among others. Diego just slept the night away listening to our videoke singing. Sure,we had fun, but it still nothing compared to the Christmases we had in the Philippines...
It's December again, and we are cooking something for the birthday celebration of Jesus Christ. But as long as the spirit of love/gift giving is there, it does not matter to Him however you wish to celebrate.
Merry Christmas to all from this side of the world!

Diego Turns One Year Old

Ricco Diego turned one year old last 21st of November, but since it fell on a working day, we just had an apple cake on that night and scheduled the real party on the 24th, a Saturday. We held it at Al Mamzar Beach Park in one of the chalets for rent on the picnic grounds by the beach. The guests had fun swimming at the beach, playing with the park swings and slides and devouring the food al fresco.

Our flat neighbors and some old friends were their to celebrate with us. My high school classmate, Evaline, who is based in Sharjah, U.A.E. came with her husband and daughter. It was my first time to see her after graduation. Our ninong Sotirios came all the way from Abu Dhabi. Bubot's officemates, Rex and Eric helped us in food preparation and also physical arrangement and transport ( although the venue is a good 5 minute drive from our house ). The food preparation committee was of course headed by Bubot with niece Tracy and cousin Jacq as members.

Deric and his friend Didi must have sensed that there were more adult guests than children that they have invited the foreigner kids they met at the beach and playgrounds.

Some former colleagues from Mindanao, brothers Andy and Antoine ( Diego's ninong ) did not make it to the beach but came to our flat instead where some other guests stayed for some time, too, to have beer by our balcony. The weather was getting cooler so it was very ideal to stay and drink outdoors.