The San Juan Blog in Qatar

We're Moving!

2006-07-27T06:17:00.000+03:00

We're actually moving! But it may not be what you think...You can view our new site at...

So add that to your bookmarks cause this is only going to get better. We're moving from here to our own Spot in the World Wide Web.

A Lesson in Getting Driving Lessons

2006-07-24T13:43:00.000+03:00

I went to the Gulf Driving School (behind the Nabina Showroom, Airport Road) on Monday last week. My husband accompanied me but they just stayed in the car. I stepped inside the office at 6:30 pm but they weren’t accepting applications anymore although they’re supposed to be open until 7 pm. But that’s just fine because I actually forgot the documents that I needed. The next day, Tuesday, we came much earlier, before 5 pm. The guy was already processing my application when I told him that I only need to take the half course that is 12 days for QR 620. At first, he told me that everyone takes the whole course, 25 days for QR 1800, then I explained that I already knew how to drive and that I have a Philippine license. After taking a good look at my license, he then said “you go to counter no.1 of the Traffic Department in Madinat Kalifa”, as he was showing me the portion that needed to be signed. Obviously, proceeding there would only be futile as it was already past 5 pm, so we decided to go the next day. Wednesday, we got to the traffic department at 4 pm. Surprisingly, there was only a lady waiting and 2 personnel at the counter. So I thought that it was a good sign and that this could be “it”. I went straight to counter no. 1, gave the guy my documents and my license, then he looked at me and said “you come back tomorrow morning, the person who signs this, is not here”. I wanted to shout “what!!!” but there was nothing I could do. I just had to be back again the next day. My husband and I were so disappointed at how things turned out. Three days of trying to get things done and still nothing was accomplished. I just wished the guy from the driving school had told me about it but that’s just it… they don’t give a damn. We just decided to go to Popeye’s to forget how frustrating the day had been. Thursday, got there at 10 am and by golly there were so many people waiting, most of them guys. First, I had to get a number, I got 191 and counter 1 was just serving 150. I was so worried that I won’t be able to make it before they close again. Luckily, the number skipped 12 numbers up. I guess those guys left and couldn’t wait anymore. Then goes the waiting game… there were not enough seats and no one was gentleman enough to offer me one which is just ok since I didn’t expect any special treatment anyway. In comparison to Saudi, women always get special treatment. We didn’t have to wait in long queues. In Saudi, being a woman can also be an advantage. Anyway, while waiting, there was “smell” everywhere I turned. It’s like someone sprayed a “body odor-scented” body spray or air spray all over the place. Then no one ever said, not even the guy from the driving school that I would need a copy of my license. But fortunately it pays to be observant and I saw the others bringing a photocopy of their license. It’s a good thing that there was photocopying service within the compound so I still had enough time to have mine copied. Then when I came back, I finally got to sit down. There was this man in his forties beside me. He got number 189, when he saw mine was 191, he exchanged with me. I know, it didn’t make that much of difference but I really appreciate his gesture. It was really kind of him to exchange his number with mine. So after 4 days of frustration and waiting, I was able to have my license validated and my paper signed. Then that afternoon I got to finally process my application. Although I still have to wait 45 days to get a schedule for my driving lessons, I’m just so relieved that this waiting game was over and I have yet another one to come.

The Indispensable Balloons

2006-07-24T13:42:00.000+03:00

A month after Xiane’s 3rd birthday, we still have balloons hanging in our living room. It’s not that we’re just lazy to put them away. Who wouldn’t want to get rid of them when they’re just starting to accumulate dust. The real reason: Xiane doesn’t want to part with them yet. But maybe, and I hope we’ll be able to convince her that we have to remove them before her 4th birthday. Well at least we’ll see if the balloons could last that long…

Friends are Hard to Find, True Ones Even Harder

2006-07-24T13:41:00.000+03:00

It is understandable that we don’t know a lot of people yet having been here recently. But who needs a lot of acquaintances when you have a few but true friends. We’ve only met them a few months back but sometimes it feels like you’ve known them forever. We feel comfortable in their presence and they’re always there when you need a hand, or just someone to spend time with. In each meeting, we feel their warm welcome that allows for each of us to learn more about each other. I once heard that we should be wary of the people that we meet here, even of our fellow Filipinos. Someone told me about the back stabbing and back biting that happen among “Filipino friends” here in Qatar, although I know that this is doesn’t happen solely among Pinoys. But I’m just glad that we didn’t have to put up with that. We’re just thankful for having such good friends especially in a place and time when real friends are hard to find.

Karwa Under Scrutiny

2006-07-24T13:38:00.000+03:00

We’ve been here for a year now but I haven’t really seen the efficiency of Karwa to provide the public with transportation when they needed it the most. When we came here and didn’t have a car yet, we would call Karwa and request for a cab but always ended up frustrated because we would have to wait an hour or so before we could book a ride. A few months back, it was made known that the company had procured more taxi units to meet the demands of the people of Qatar, of Doha in particular for public transportation. It even acquired several busses for the same purpose. Unfortunately just last Thursday, based on our personal experience, the same thing can be said of Karwa, that is rather inefficient. Our car broke down, we needed a ride to go home so I called the office and was told that the next available booking was at 2 pm. It was only 11 am when I called. Just imagine yourself having to wait for a taxi ride, for three long hours in the midst of a hot summer day in Qatar. You probably would have fainted first because of the extreme heat and dehydration before the darn taxi comes to rescue you. I know a lot of people here in Qatar have their own vehicles but for a progressive and rich country there should always be an efficient, safe and reliable means of public transportation for those who need it, transportation that is there when you need it the most.

Are We Jinxed?

2006-07-24T13:31:00.000+03:00

Just last Thursday, our Citroen Picasso has yet again let us down. We were on our way home from the Traffic Department in Madinat Kalifa when suddenly these dreaded words “engine fault” appeared on the dash board just when we were approaching the round-about at the Al Garrafa interchange. Fortunately, my husband was still able to drive the car until we found a safe and cool place to park as it happened noon with a temperature reaching up to 47 degrees. Tian called the Citroen car breakdown service but they couldn’t come until after 2 hours but the guy gave us the number of an independent towing service. While waiting for the towing service, we had to go around and look for a store because by this time my daughter had drunk all the water that I was bringing for her and with the heat she could easily get dehydrated without anything to drink. 15-20 minutes later salvation finally came and since we couldn’t get a cab ride in the area, we just asked the driver if we could ride his vehicle, the same one that he used to tow our Picasso. It was a long ride going to the Industrial Area where most of the service centers including that of Citroen are located. It was a grueling long ride and the vehicle didn’t have any air-conditioning unit. We had to bear the hot air that was blowing on our faces. Poor Xiane had to be in the same predicament but she never complained. Finally, we got to Citroen… the Filipino guy who works there told us that it is the first time they encountered the “engine fault” problem with their cars so I wonder, why us? I would have thought that we were jinxed but then again I think not. Instead I think we’re blessed because in a place where getting a taxi ride is almost impossible, there he was, the Filipino staff who happens to live in our area and who was kind enough to give us a safe ride home. Hopefully, they’ll be able to fix the real problem with the car and get it this week. Inshallah!

FireFox Beta 1

2006-07-14T07:26:00.000+03:00

If you're a Firefox user and can't wait for their release of Firefox 2, then probably a Beta version of Firefox would probably do. If so, grab their Beta 1 release on the FTP site. I've installed in just minute ago and one significant change for me would be the X button on every tab you open instead of it being on the very far right as before. This is great as often times, when closing tabs, one has to go to the other end click that Close button. I haven't really noticed other visual changes but everything seems to be ok. I haven't tried IE 7 Beta as I've gotten used to using the tab browsing of Firefox since last year and I'm sure MS Beta as buggier than most so I'd rather stay away from that esp. IE. Anyway, for those of you who haven't tried Firefox yet, try it and I'm sure you'll love all the functionality and the plugins you can add into it. And I can wager that it's better than IE.

What's On...the Xbox and TV

2006-07-12T14:56:00.000+03:00

Here are some of the shows we’ve completed watching the past 2 months (No Spoilers). Yeah, the Xbox, PC and TV were quite busy working together to bring us these. 24 Season 5 – He’s back; Jack Bauer. Great pacing and great plot. We both think this is the best yet although Season 4 comes really close. We finished 24 episodes in 4 nights! Can’t wait for them to start Season 6. Moral of the Story: Never argue with Jack Bauer. Prison Break – Michael Scofield gets jailed to get his brother out of jail. Not exactly your 24-kind of pacing nor Lost’s rich characterization but gets the job done. Actors are believable and great at what they do. Some plot lines are obvious and reflect some other TV Series. Moral of the Story: A tattoo is not just an art form. Amazing Race 8 – A first in the Amazing race as families travel around the US and South America to receive 1 million dollars. Great fun but challenges are a bit less exciting as the producers tamed them a bit for the younger family members. Moral of the Story: Leave the children to your parents when joining the Amazing Race. Amazing Race 9 – TTAO! The Frat Boys, MoJo, The Hippies, The Nerds, The Double DD’s and more. With all the twists and turns, no one could ever expect who’d land first on the pit stops and who get eliminated. Amazing! Moral of the Story: Luck would always be a factor but brains with luck is what it takes to win. SmallVille Season 5 – Overall, it is a great season but not for Clark. It just keeps pouring and we don’t even get to see a glimmer of light at the end of the season. Moral of the Story: Stay away from anything that comes from Krypton. Lost Season 2 – Things get messy in here. With the opening of the hatch, Pandora’s box is opened. Along with all your theories about the island (The Others, The Monster, The Island itself), confusion sets in as more people and plot points are added. Still, if you want to know what the Island has in store for Jack, John, Kate and the rest of the gang, Lost 2 has them covered. Moral of the Story: Never travel with Oceanic Air. Iron Chef Season 1 – The Secret Ingridients; Flay, Batali and Morimoto. You can’t imagine how these guys cook all 5 dishes in an hour to salivate your taste buds. Moral of the Story: Don’t under estimate Batali.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2006-07-11T20:29:00.000+03:00

I just couldn’t believe what happened to me the past 2 weeks. My husband was talking about being plagued, his things getting busted and losing some things. But what did I ever do to have a series of unfortunate events myself, that is, a series of broken footwear. First to go was my black Figlia clogs. Xiane and I got out of the car to go inside the Sofitel (we were looking for a desktop as our laptop broke down) while Tian stayed in the car to look for a parking. We were just a few steps away from the car when I felt the top of my left clog snap. I tried hard to put it back where it used to be but it just didn’t hold. So I told my husband to just proceed and look for a PC by himself while Xiane and I waited in the car. I just had to think of ways to keep Xiane entertained while we were there or else waiting for more than 30 minutes would have been a problem. On Sunday, I decided to use my good old pair of 2-inch high Benetton strappy shoes. I say it’s old because it’s been with me for 5 years now although I haven’t used it that much, in fact I haven’t been using it for the past 2 years. My husband dropped me off the Parish Center where we go to mass, after which, off they went to his office where he and Xiane would spend the time waiting for me. We have agreed to do this since it would be difficult to bring our daughter along to mass. She just wouldn’t stop talking and asking questions while having mass. I was walking on the quadrangle when the heel of my right sandal suddenly got wobbly. When I looked, there it was, the rubber that was coating the inner heel just chipped off and the more I walked, the more it came off. But thank God I made it to the church but you could just imagine how nervous I was thinking if the shoe would last for another 30 minutes or so, plus the embarrassment that I had to endure having a sandal with broken heel. Soon enough it was time to leave. As I walked to the car, the same thing happened to the heel of the left shoe. But even in that condition, we still managed to go to Hyatt, only when we got home I realized that my lovely pair of shoes is beyond repair. We were doing our groceries on a Thursday afternoon as we usually do. This way we can avoid the “weekend rush” or almost everyone coming to the supermarkets during the weekend (Thursday night- Saturday night) to do their own shopping. I was wearing a pair of black flip flops that I bought in the Philippines. It was light yet hip, a perfect footwear when you’re expecting to be spending a lot of time standing and walking around. I pushed the cart as I walked and then I felt the strap of the left pair just came off. It’s a good thing that despite this major setback, I was still able to go through my shopping. Now here’s the thing, how could it be that these shoes just snapped one after the other. My husband’s theory is that I’ve become too heavy and those footwear couldn’t take anymore of my weight. Although it’s hard to admit, I guess my husband may be right about it. But I’m also thinking that it could be that I have a lot of black footwear and it’s about time I dispose a pair or two. Or maybe, these things just happen, the same way that we happen to forget things or lose them, the same way that a series of unfortunate events sometimes do happen.

Colds and Flu

2006-07-11T20:26:00.000+03:00

During this time of the year, it is not unusual when people get sick with colds and flu. I don’t have a very scientific explanation about it but it seems like during this time, viruses gets thick in the air. My daughter, Xianelle, was the first to catch the colds. Thankfully, after having had fever for two days and the cold eventually developing into cough, she got well in just a week’s time. Then the children of our friends caught the colds and eventually the flu last week. Till now the older kid (Xiane’s playmate) is still recovering. And then, there’s me… just last Sunday, the cold virus got into me but fortunately for me, I already got better after two days. I guess it’s just natural if we get sick once in a while, what’s important is for us to get back on our feet again after.

The Heat is On

2006-07-11T20:15:00.000+03:00

This is the second time we’re spending summer here in Qatar. Last year we arrived on June, almost the same time of year. But I get the feeling that this year, is much hotter. The temperature reaches between 45-49 degrees during the day and stays at 39-40 degrees at night. During the day you get a beating from the heat of the sun and at night, you usually have to deal with so much humidity. It is the time of year when people are lazy to go out and when they do, it would definitely be after 6 pm and they almost always go straight to the malls or anywhere that’s air-conditioned. There are a few though, who also spend their time walking or strolling especially at the Corniche. Well, good for them but I’d rather do that on the “ber” months (September, October…..). Doha has been having sandstorms since Saturday, making people much lazier to go out. Well who would want to get his lungs filled with dust. Just like last Sunday, I was supposed to go to church but had to cancel because there was a sandstorm. When you look outside the window, you’ll see the trees (if there are any in your neighborhood) being blown by the wind. You’ll hear the strong wind blowing even if you’re in the confines of your flat or house. Even the doors bang once in a while and for those who experience this the first time, you’ll be thinking that there’s definitely a “presence” in the house. But think again, it’s just sandstorm. Now, the occurrence of sandstorm only indicates one thing, a change in climate. This could either mean that it’s going to get hotter or a bit cooler after the sandstorm. But my bet is that it’s going to be the former than the latter, simply because summer ain’t over yet.

My Lappie and Dual Core

2006-07-05T15:25:00.000+03:00

With my old trusty laptop breaking down, that meant no torrent downloads, no chikka messenger service, no posting on the blog, no chatting, no skype-calling and no internet surfing. The laptop is not that really old. We bought it in Saudi on December 2003. It's a Packard-Bell configured with a P4 2.8 desktop processor, 512mb RAM and 64 mb built-in graphics accelarator, all for SR6250. Remember that it was 2003 then so prices were relatively high although the processing speed was quite good for my graphics need. I've captured and edited our videos, did development work, made my presentations, used Photoshop, Flash and Illustrator with it. As for it's weight, well, Mavis never did like chugging it around as it is almost 10 pounds and becomes a 20 lbs. monster the longer you carry it. It was a laptop which had been in great service and never really gave me any problems till last week. Mavis and I decided to get a desktop instead of another laptop as with the almost 24/7 "need" to be online, a desktop would be best fit to assume that role as well as it would be faster than any laptop there is in the market without crashing your bank account. We went to Jarir to look at the ready-configured branded machines. We also went to the Sofitel Area to get quotations for your own configured machine. Of course, a higher priced- branded machine is more trusty in terms of stabiliy of the peripherals, good quality control and you get good service (that's what we're supposed to think) while a purpose-built machine is cheaper and you get a better configuration at that. I chose to get the "Sofitel" branded machine...he he he. Yup, cheaper(?) yet faster one. Here's the configuration: Processor: Intel 3.0 ghz Dual Core (4 mb Cache) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-81945G Pro Memory: 1 Ghz DDR2 533 Hard disk: 200Gb SATA (Western Digital) DVD: Samsung DVD +- R/RW Double layer 16x Video: Intel Graphics 950 128mb (built-in) Audio: 7.1 HD audio (built-in) Network: LAN 100mb/1000mb Case: Gigabyte with ATX 300W power supply Front USB and audio connectors 1 Year Warranty Free: Surge Protection Extension cable Price = SR2925 Samsung F13n 17" LCD (3 years warranty)- SR 875 Dual Core. 2 processing power in one chip. Twice the amount of data that can be processed in parallel. All this power at a price. the chip alone costs SR1350. Way higher than buying it in the US. Still, you can never get this configuration from branded desktops at this price. I got the beast yesterday and already halfway in installing my programs. I already noticed a great significance in performance.I'm a multi-tasking freak and I usually have about 3-4 Internet Explorer open as well as a Firefox window with 2-3 tabs for surfing, 1 explorer window open, FTP program for my Xbox transfers, Chikka and/or Yahoo messenger, and Azurues downloading in the background. There were some bottlenecks in some instances as along with all these programs running, I was also installing and updating some programs but overall, I think using this machine would be fun for multi-taskers like me. I need to see how fast it is with Photoshop, Illustrator and flash opened at the same time. I'll probably finish setting it up on the weekend.

I'm being plagued

2006-07-05T15:24:00.000+03:00

First up was the car breaking down. I had to ask somebody to take me to and from work for one week and eventually shelling out 1350 for my car to get fixed. Second, my laptop broke down last week. After it shut down of overheating and me, trying to clean up the insides, it suddenly went to sleep mode forever. I mean literally. It's like something got stuck that made go to sleep mode everytime you start it up as the sleep indicator lights up when you boot it. You can hear the harddisk whine a bit when booting and then it stops. The monitor doesn't even show any sign of life at all. I've tried bringing it to Jarir Bookstore but they only deal with Toshiba laptops while friends adviced me not the bring it to the sofitel Area. I've surrendered it to a colleague who may be able to fix the laptop so we'll see. But since we need a computer, we decided to get one (read related blog - Dual Core in Qatar). Other than these breakdowns, I've been losing things right after the other. I lost my house keys the other week and then I lost my keycard two days after. Just last night, someone came knocking at our door. When we opened, it was our neighbor asking us we know who owns the wallet he was holding. It was mine. I don't actually remember if he found it inside the building (the stairs) or outside, where I park my car, as my head was already in a rush thinking how I lost it. Thankfully, everything was still there; credit cards, money, ids and all. Hopefully, that was the last of it. I need to be more careful, I know.

Warning - ENGINE FAULT

2006-06-26T06:36:00.000+03:00

We've been without our beloved Citroen Picasso for almost a week now. As the system of the car is electronic, it flashed a warning lamp for the engine and displayed "WARNING - ENGINE FAULT" when I turned it on one day last week. It was still running but everytime I hit on the brakes and halted, it doesn't accelerate the next time you push the gas pedal. You have to turn the car off and restart for it to respond again. That means that I had to turn the car off on every corner and every stoplight. Luckily, this happened while we were close to our flat. I was supposed to bring it myself to the Citroen Service Center but Mavis convinced me that I just dial the number for the Citroen Service center for them to tow the car. An hour later, a guy was hauling the Picasso at the back of his tow truck. When I went back inside the flat, my wife asked me if the guy gave me any receipt or anything that would say that my car is with him. I said none and I didn't even ask the guy for anything. He told me that the guys from the service center would call me in a while once he gets it back to the shop. I trusted him. I guess I'm more trusting of people in Qatar that in the Philippines. It's just that I don't hear news about cars being stolen, "chopped" into pieces and being sold off to the gray market. After about 2 hours, I did decide to call the Service Center. I was told that they we're not able to call earlier as they were too busy with other stuff. Fine as long as my car is with them. I was hoping that my car would be fixed and serviced in two days time as I don't see a lot of Citroen cars in the city. But apparently, my car is in line with other cars being serviced or fixed. Now, almost a week later, I'm told that the engine problem has been fixed but they still need to road test it again and have the service for 15,000 done. For the meantime, I've been able to call a private driver who takes me to work and back everyday for SR25. Cheaper than renting a car. Hopefully, I'll get the car today as we've spent the whole week at home aside from the Rafael's helping us do some grocery last Saturday night in CarreFour, City Center. 06/27 Update: Got the car back and paid SR1351. They said it was a pressure gauge in the engine that they replaced.

Small things

2006-06-19T14:06:00.000+03:00

We met someone from a travel agency when we booked our flights for our last vacation. We kinda booked a bit late so it was difficult for us to get the flight that we really wanted. But this person helped us a great deal to get the booking that we wanted. So I decided to invite her to Xiane’s birthday. Then, I met 2 Filipinas working in a pharmacy nearby. There was this medicine that I had to buy for a relative at home but I didn’t have a prescription. The kind kabayan found a way so I can make a purchase, even it was bit risky on her part. That too, I didn’t forget so I included them in the guest list. Then we needed ice tubes for Xiane’s birthday but they were not selling at Lulu, Family Food Center and even at a store nearby. We tried our luck at this small supermarket. They too didn’t sell ice but they were kind enough to give me ice coming from their icemaker, the ones they use for the fishes. Then the next day I even had to come back for more ice. These people how thankful I am for the things that they’ve done. Unfortunately, those people that I invited weren’t able to come to the party so I decided to bring them some food. I also did the same with the guys from the supermarket who gave me ice, it’s my way of saying thanks to them. They all had the same reaction, they were so surprised and so touched by the gesture that I made. I saw the appreciation in their eyes. It was then that I realized that even the smallest things that we do for others can mean a lot and can touch people’s lives. Well I guess they really do and the world would be a better place if everyone does even the smallest acts of kindness everyday.

Xiane turns Three!

2006-06-19T14:01:00.000+03:00

Last Saturday, June 17, our little princess Xianelle turned three years old. How time flies, I remember last year we spent her birthday in Bahrain. Having stayed in there for only 4 months, we didn’t know a lot of people, thus we celebrated her 2nd birthday just us three. We took her to the mall where she had rides at the amusement area and had lunch at a buffet restaurant. Besides that was our last week in Bahrain before we moved here in Qatar so having a party was not an option. So this time, Tian and I really wanted to throw a party for her 3rd birthday. It took a week of planning and 3 days to prepare for the party. Originally, we wanted to have the food catered but on second thought I realized that I’d like to personally prepare the food. I found it more fulfilling to have my hands on the preparation. So I prepared the menu, asked helped from my mom and grandma for the recipes and procedure. Soon I was already listing down the ingredients that I would be needing. I posted the recipes and step-by-step procedure of the food that I would be cooking in the kitchen. On Monday, we bought the groceries that we will need, Wednesday night we bought the meat and Thursday night the other ingredients that were still missing. We had to prepare 5 viands (morcon, estofado, pancit, fried chicken and fresh lumpia), fruit salad and her birthday cake. By Thursday night, we started with the preparations… but the bulk of it had to be accomplished on Friday. By Friday night, I already finished the morcon, estofado, wrappers and filling for the lumpia, and fruit salad. Tian and I slept at 2 am. So on Saturday, her birthday, I only had to cook pancit and fried chicken and bake the cake. With barely 4 hours of sleep, I had to get up at 6 am. I had to prepare the cake right away and the rest followed… By 2 pm everything was set, except for us. So we had to rush to the bath and get dressed as as fast as we could, as the party starts at 4 pm. We even had a scheduled chat with out families in the Philippines who were so excited to see and greet the birthday girl. Although they wanted so much to be here for Xiane’s celebration, we knew that they were with us in spirit. They were so happy to see her in a purple gown, like a real princess. Guests started to come before 4 pm. First who came were our new friends here in Qatar, the Rafael’s, who came early to give us a hand. We had about 20 on our guest list but only 11 came. The rest couldn’t come because they had work on that day. At least those whom we expected to come were there to celebrate with us. As expected there were a lot of leftovers, which I made the guests take home. I still had enough to deliver to those who didn’t make it. All in all the party was a success. They loved the food that we prepared, especially the estofado and the fried chicken. But most of all Xiane enjoyed her party and really appreciated it this time. I guess that’s all that matters and after 3-days hard work, I can truly say that it was all worth it.

Up and About in Qatar

2006-06-19T13:42:00.000+03:00

Xiane and I have only been back in Qatar for more than 2 weeks. I spent the first week unpacking our things. We brought along a luggage, a balikbayan box, 3 traveling bags and a trolley, that’s why it took the long to unpack. I’m sure those who have been living abroad for a while now, know exactly what I mean, plus the fact that I had to do my chores at the same time. Then the following week was spent cleaning up the whole flat. Although I have to give credit to Tian for having kept the house in order while I was away, at least I didn’t have to do too much cleaning this time.

Where have we been?

2006-06-16T17:45:00.000+03:00

Well, since Mavis and Xiane arrived, we've been quite busy especially that it's going to be Xiane's 3rd birthday tomorrow. We've been preparing a bit since we're going to invite some friends over for dinner. Mavis and I have been staying up late and going to sleep at 1 AM the past couple of nights. We were supposed to have the food catered but then last week, Mavis decided that it was better for her to cook so that she has more control on the taste of the food and not leave it to the chef who was to cater for the dinner. Xiane's been excited about her birthday too. We already bought her a LeapPad Learning book which she has already tried (just to make sure it was working correctly before wrapping it and losing the 7 day warranty). She already has a dress which she'll wear tomorrow plus a crown and a scepter to boot. Hopefully, everything would turn out ok tomorrow.

Click to Activate

2006-06-09T18:54:00.000+03:00

As Microsoft (MS) rolled out an Internet Explorer update (KB912812) months ago, you might notice that websites which uses Macromedia Flash or those which uses ActiveX controls now show a bounding box around them and on mouse-over, asks users to click on the content to activate it before you actually get to interact with the ActiveX control. This modification comes as part of an ongoing patent dispute with Eolas Technology and the University of California. How does it affect IE 6 and Websites: The update changes how it handles active content viewed in certain Adobe products, including Macromedia Flash Player, Authorware Player, Shockwave Player, SVG Viewer, Help Center and Adobe Reader, as well as Sun Java, Apple QuickTime, RealNetworks, RealPlayer and other ActiveX controls. Active content that is embedded in HTML pages in certain ways may not be able to receive user input (for example, keyboard or mouse events) until the user clicks to either activate or continue loading the control. Recommendations: Solution 1: Revert back to previous version of IE6 with a Hotfix published by MS themselves. However, this is a temporary fix as MS rolled out the fix for enterprise users to have enough time to prepare their sites for the changes and make sure that all deployed applications which interact with IE can be tested and be recoded to the new way IE handles ActiveX controls. The hofix is only valid till this month as MS would permanently impose the changes soon after. The hotfix can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/917425 . Solution 2: If you are developing a website, remove the user activation requirement for active content. Developers need to go back and review all their websites which use ActiveX controls and modify and create an external the script to automatically turn on such function. Microsoft provides a guide into activating ActiveX automatically: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/workshop/author/dhtml/overview/activating_activex.asp Adobe/Macromedia also provides a JavaScript Fix on their website and an explanation why one should use the Adobe Solution: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/activecontent/articles/devletter.html http://www.adobe.com/devnet/activecontent/articles/why_adobe.html And My Concern This whole thing is currently messing up our deployed websites which uses Flash. The first time our IT rolled out the update, some of out flash content went invisible. We had to change some navigation elements on some websites and recode them again. Even then, we still got the "Press SPACEBAR or ENTER to activate" tab on these elements. We got to solving this by using the methods above but since we have about 40+ items we need to fix, we're slowly doing the upgrade as we also need to test everything again. This is ok for websites as we know we have a fix but for third party applications which we use ActiveX, Java and IE, it poses a big headache for us. Either the software maker comes up with a license agreement with Eolas or go back to their code and o the changes. A sample of this is our EDMS (Electronic Document Management System), Filenet IDM web interface. We now have to click twice for each tab that pops up. Talk about minimizing user clicks! And the thing is, the local vendor says it's the first time that they encountered this on Filenet. We're trying to get hold of a username and password to get access to the FileNet's support center. Hopefully, we'd find a way to get this thing solved or else, I'd die clicking away as I update about a 100+ documents and files which I need to upload on EDMS. Argghhh!!!

They're coming!

2006-05-31T15:32:00.000+03:00

Mavis and Xiane are coming back to Qatar tomorrow! Yup, after an extra month long stay in the Philippines since I returned to Qatar, they'll be flying in tomorrow night via Qatar Airways. I'm excited! Now, I just have to finish some chores like cleaning the bathrom and kitchen. XXX

Of Parcels, Mail Forwarding, and Buying from the Net

2006-05-29T16:33:00.000+03:00

Since eCommerce became an option for expats (esp. in the middle east) to buy items from the US/UK and have these delivered through mail, more and more has it made using the internet more interesting at the least. Now you can surf the net and look for your favorite book not found in our local bookstore, order it and have it delivered right at your doorstep (or in our case, cubicles). I have ordered comic books, dvd's and other stuff from Amazon and got them in Saudi without any hassle. Sometimes though, you find yourself trying to buy that elusive item on the net, only to find out that the internet shop doesn't deliver outside the US or UK. The solution? A mail forwarding service which gives you an address in the US/UK so you can have anything delivered locally and forwarded to your address in Qatar.Aramex now have a service called Shop & Ship which offers you that exact service. Basically, you have to sign up with them and pay a one-off setup fee of $35.00 ( SR127.75) to receive your address in the US/UK. Once you get the adress, you can now use that address when ordering any item that is not available for international shipping, for a service fee of course. If you're in Qatar, the first half kilo would cost you $8.00 (SR29.2) and succeeding half kilos would set you back for $5.50 (SR18.25). Let's say you ordered that glorious looking, souped-up laptop from Dell USA (with a discount voucher of $750) and have it sent here in Doha, you pay Aramex a total of $53 (SR193.45) for that 5 kilo package (probably 3k for the laptop and 2k for packing... he he he). With the savings you got by buying it in the US, shipping fee of $53 is just peanuts. You can even have them ship your stuff at a specified date so that all the items you bought can be shipped at the same time. The service is also available in Saudi and other middle east countries. About customs tax? Well, I know someone who actually did what I illustrated above by buying a laptop from Dell USA and having it delivered here and was charged tax at all. However, you can find the following on the Shop & Ship Terms and Conditions page.

Aramex is not responsible for any customs or duties incurred on any Mailbox contents. Furthermore, Aramex is not responsible for penalties, loss or damage of Mailbox contents while in possession of customs.

Hope this helps!

Doha School Terms and Fees

2006-05-26T08:56:00.000+03:00

I've tried to compile some of the Schools Terms and Fees for each school and placed them in a Word Document. All terms are for school year 2006-2007 except when stated otherwise. Schools included in this document are: Cambridge School Doha English Speaking School Doha College Park House English School Philippine International School (SY 2004-2005 terms) Qatar International School You can download the file here. (94kb) *close the internal pop-up after timer finishes

Schools in Doha

2006-05-26T08:01:00.000+03:00

A lot of people coming to Doha are interested at looking for schools for their children. So here is a list of schools in Doha and the links to their websites. This is not comprehensive to include ALL of the schools in Doha as others don't even have their own website. American School of Doha http://www.asd.edu.qa/ Doha Academy http://www.dohaacademy.com.qa/ Doha College http://www.dohacollege.com/ Doha English School (Doha) http://www.dess.org/ Doha English School (Al Khor) http://www.akdess.com/ Dukhan English School http://www.bsme.org.uk/schools/more.asp?id=34&sch= Qatar Academy http://www.qataracademy.edu.qa/ Qatar International School http://www.qis.org/ Cambridge School Doha http://www.cambridgeschool.com.qa/ Al Jazeera Academy http://www.aja.edu.qa/ Cambridge International School for Girls http://www.cisg.edu.qa/ Middle East International School http://www.misqatar.com/ ParkHouse International School http://www.parkhouseschool.com/ Philippine International School +974 4821923, 4821924, 4820158 Philippine School Doha +974 4364148, 4364150

The Hippies on Amazing Race 9 (spoilers!)

2006-05-23T19:58:00.000+03:00

I've never watched The Amazing Race that much. I only get to watch it if I do catch it on TV but that's very seldom. I think I only got to watch 3-5 episodes out of its 8 season glory until I decided to watch The Amazing Race 9 (thanks to torrent!). The Race was quite amazing indeed. Contestants were made to ride a helicopter, bungiejump, dive into a pool of ice water, eat fried grasshoppers and locusts, and travel around the world with just their backpacks behind them! Cool! The more memorable teams were MoJo, The Nerds, The FratBoys, The Dentists, The Pinkies and The Hippies. I liked MoJo the most just because Mo was really very competitive. She looked lke Reese Witherspoon! But when MoJo got eliminated, I began to root for The Hippies. I thought that the FratBoys would win the race as they were very lucky with theirs tasks. In the end, The Hippies proved that brains is needed reach to the final mat first, winning the 1 million dollar prize! It was fun to see people of different attitudes doing their tasks and interacting with one another. With the pressure of doing your tasks, teammates often argue, shout at each other, and loose temper. The teams usually get lost as they try to find their way through the new country they're in especially if the navigator of the team isn't that good in reading maps and directions or if they get wrong directions from the locals. At times, teams get to misread the clues and loose valuable time or get penalty for such. It would be exhilirating to be in such a race around the world but also scary. Most of all, it would prove to be a test to one's relationship with your teammate. Then I wonder what Mavis and I would do if we were in the same predicament. Would we be fighting with each other as we go through the cobbled streets of Italy or would we as cool as ice riding the monstrous rides in Japan? What would the other teams name us? The Pinoys?

Dancing Xianelle

2006-05-22T20:17:00.000+03:00

Did this on 2004, I think, with a 3d program and using Xiane's photo for the face...

To Fly or not to Fly

2006-05-18T18:28:00.000+03:00

If you're flying to Qatar from the Philippines, the only option for you is to fly Qatar Airways (QA). Unless you want to stop over at Bahrain or Dubai, you can probably take Gulf Air or Emirates. However, if you want a straight trip, QA is the answer. Coming to Qatar, you're allowed 20k of baggage. That's why it is always a challenge for me and Mavis to pack our things cause we don't want to exceed our baggage allowance. I'm not sure how much you pay per kilo if you exceed but I've hear that it's like $30-$50. So to be safe, we always get our baggages weighed before leaving for the airport. But that 20k would never be enough if you're travelling with 2 Xbox machines, books, food stocks and clothes. That's why you need to be a member of the Privelege Club. It's their frequent flyer program which entitles you benefits like additional baggage allowance. If you're on their Burgundy Tier, you're allowed 15k more, 25k for Silver card holders, and 30k for Gold status members. Of course, there are more benefits the higher your tier level is. So for those flying to Qatar, I do suggest you enroll in their program as it would help you a lot. I've flown with Philippine Airlines, Saudia, Gulf Air, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways and I can say that QA is probably next to Cathay Pacific when it comes to quality service. My only complain about QA is for a long haul flight to the Philippines, you sometimes get to ride on a plane without personal entertainment system. You pay a huge amount of money for your trip (even costlier than going to Europe) that lasts 9 hours and what do you get? Nothing. But the worst would be Gulf Air. Imagine, the first time Mavis and I travelled with Gulf Air, they didn't have toothbrushes! But they had toothpastes! So when we we're coming back to the gulf by the same airline, we were ready with our own brushes. But alas, this time, they didn't even have a toothbrush, neither toothpaste! I don't want to fly Gulf Air again. I have never been scared of flying in an airplane. I think I was 12 years old when my family and I went to Hongkong from the Philippines to have a Christmas holiday there. If you think of it in a positive manner, what are the chances of your plane crashing? The odds of being killed on a single trip is 52.6 million to 1. That may ease some of your worries then. Still, if it does happen that your plane crashes, what are the odds of you surviving? That, I don't want to think about.

Filipino Statistics in Qatar

2006-05-17T16:48:00.000+03:00

Here are some statistics from Gulftimes:

76 Women Facing Deportation
THERE are 88 Philippine nationals, 12 males and 76 females, at the deportation centre, official sources said.In addition, a baby was born at the centre. Ten of the detainees have been there for more than a year. Though they have served their sentences, they are awaiting tickets and salary arrears from their sponsors.At the Central Jail, there are two Filipino men and 24 women, including 18 who were involved in “love affairs”.Six are being held for theft and fights with their sponsors. Besides, a baby was born to one of the inmates.At the Umm Salal jail, there are seven Filipino convicts serving terms while four men and one woman are held by the Capital Police, sources said.Out of the eight Filipinos who died in Qatar since the beginning of the year, four were killed in road accidents and the remaining died of cardiac arrest.One of the deceased was Maria Concepcion Suarez Aresta, a 46-year old woman who was reportedly run over by a speeding car near City Center on January 27.Meanwhile, the family of Filipino worker Bernaldo Sampang (38), who died in a work site accident, received QR127,500 as blood money. The rest of the amount, QR22,500, went for the lawyer and other legal fees, sources said.

Imagine that! I'm not actually surprised at how many are jailed for whatever reasons but more of the number of deaths by road accidents. The more one should be careful when driving the streets of Doha.

I'm Back!

2006-05-16T20:03:00.000+03:00

I am back! I know I haven't been able to update our blog for months but vacation is vacation. And what a vacation that was! Mavis ans Xiane are still in the Philippines for their extended vacation, as usual. They would be arriving on June 1 which is just less than 3 weeks from now. Back to Doha means back to work and in this case, alone at work since the other designer is on leave as he got married in India (Congratulations Bala!) while the other one...well, she decided not to work anymore for personal reasons. That leaves me with a LOT of work. But that's ok since it keeps my mind off loneliness. By the time I get home, I'm already tired and would just want to rest and sleep. There's not much change in Doha since we left last March. A lot of roads are still undergoing construction, which means diversions, which means traffic. Although it has significantly lessened asI think drivers got to find better routes instead of congesting to using 1 major road. It is starting to get hot, though I don't really get to feel it as I'm always in the comfort of an area with airconditioning, either I'm in the car, in the office, or at home. Hopefully, I'll be able to answer all emails that were sent to us while on vacation once I really get settled in. That's it for now and more in the coming days... XXX

Still Alive and Kicking

2006-04-15T05:55:00.000+03:00

Sorry for all those who emailed us the past month as we have yet found the time to answer your emails. Vacation is vacation so we are finding it difficult to actually respond to our emails...I'll be back in Qatar on the 29th of this month so I'll be able to answer all emails by then...Mavis and Xiane would enjoy more than a month in the Philippines after I leave. Anyway, got to get back to the pool! He he he he.... XXX

Vacation 2006

2006-03-14T10:30:00.000+03:00

We are now busy preparing for our departure on the 16th. Yes, you got it right, we’re off to our vacation again. I know we just got back from our vacation in January. My husband and I have decided to take go for a holiday early this year because we had to be back in the middle of the year just in time for Xiane’s schooling. Besides, we’d like to try spending summer in the Philippines. It will definitely be hot and humid back home but who cares. We can always go to the beach and other resorts just to chill out. We’re also very excited for Xiane because it’s going to be her first time in the beach. We promised to buy her a pail and a shovel so she can enjoy playing in the sand. I’m excited about the succulent mangoes coming from my hometown, Iba, Zambales (a province in Luzon, 3-4 hours drive from Manila). Till our next post….

We Got the Blues

2006-03-14T10:28:00.000+03:00

It was on the papers that Blue, the character blue dog of the popular Blue’s Clues (a children’s show) will be coming to City Center starting on March 11. So we went to the mall on that night, knowing that our daughter will be so glad to see Blue. We even told our friends about it, having kids themselves they also set foot to City Center. Unfortunately, there were no signs of Blue when we got there. We asked a few people in the shops if they knew that Blue was coming and one replied “Blue-who?” It’s like we were the only ones in the mall who knew and cared that Blue was coming. So we ended up strolling and later on having dinner at Nando’s. Gladly, dinner was good and we all forgot about our misfortune. Luckily too, the two girls were busy playing with each other that they forgot too what they came there for. At least it was a fine night spent with friends, thanks to Blue!

Qatar Open

2006-03-14T10:11:00.000+03:00

Since my husband and I got married, I instantly adopted his enthusiasm for tennis and became a fan myself. We usually watch tennis matches on sports channels but never in the flesh. Thankfully, there was Qatar Open (WTA) and for the first time ever, I got to watch tennis live. It felt so good to be there, seeing those big names in this sport do what they do best. It was so exciting to see Myskina, Hantuchova, Sugiyama, Schiavone, Kirilenko and most of all Martina Hingis play. Unfortunately our favorite, Maria Sharapova couldn’t come to Qatar. We didn’t get to finish the games though, because of Xiane. She was just too bored and started talking and talking so her dad had to bring her out, rather than having other people look at you with scorn. But despite that, I’m still glad that we got the chance to be there, after all not too many people get to experience it, not to mention that we didn’t pay a single Riyal for the tickets. Maybe when someday, when Xiane has grown a bit older, we could watch and finish those tennis matches.

Meeting New Friends

2006-03-14T10:10:00.000+03:00

About a month ago, we had guests for dinner, a fellow Pinoy (Filipino) expat working here in Qatar, his wife and two kids. Their first born is also a girl who’s as old as our daughter Xianelle. So just imagine her joy when they came to the house. The two girls instantly bonded that night, so did I and her mom. We invited them for another dinner and from then on we started to become friends. We’ve been spending two Fridays now at their place. We come for lunch and stay there till almost midnight. It’s always a delight spending time with them. It’s nice to see Xiane with a playmate, although there are occasional fights which is just normal for us parents. It’s feels good to have someone to talk to and share your stories with. My husband and I just feel so blessed for having met them. We really look forward to years of friendship with our new-found friends.

Follow up

2006-03-14T10:08:00.000+03:00

It’s been a while since my last post about hiccups. Thank God he got rid of the hiccups the next day, after my post. I guess writing about it helped. I just hope that it never comes back and stays that long again…

Hiccups

2006-02-27T18:10:00.000+03:00

Hiccups or Singultus in medical terms and “sinok” in Filipino, is a sound produced by unintentional movement of the muscle at the base of the lungs (diaphragm) followed by rapid closure of the vocal cords. Medically speaking, hiccups often start for no apparent reason and usually disappear after a few minutes. Rarely, hiccups can persist for days, weeks, or months. Although There may be no obvious cause for hiccups the following may cause or trigger someone to have hiccups, such as: Noxious fumes, Hot and spicy foods or liquids, Any disease or disorder that irritates the nerves that control the diaphragm (such as pleurisy or pneumonia), Stroke or tumor affecting the "hiccup center" in the brain, Abdominal surgery. I’m sure you are wondering why I am writing about “hiccups”. Well, I myself haven’t had hiccups for as long as I can remember, so why make a fuss about it. I guess something insignificant or trivial as hiccups becomes of importance once it involves someone you love. My husband has been having hiccups since Saturday night. What started as harmless hiccups now has become a total discomfort to my him. Just imagine having it every 5-15 minutes interval the whole day. It doesn’t matter where you are and what time of the day. The whole day, yesterday, he was pestered by while at work. During his sleep I could hear him snore and have hiccups at the same time. It is making him very tired and causing his whole body, especially the throat, chest, tummy and the back ache. What’s worse is not knowing what to do, to really make it stop completely and not knowing what caused it. According to medical books there is no sure way to stop hiccups, but there are a number of common suggestions that may be effective: · Hold your breath (This one, my husband tried and only worked on him for a few times.) · Breathe repeatedly into a paper bag. (My husband also did this but only worked for a while.) · Drink a glass of cold water. (He even tried drinking water upside-down after being recommended by the cleaner in their office. I guess you’d do anything and everything when you are that desperate. Amazingly though, it worked once. · Eat a teaspoon of sugar. (This, he hasn’t tried. I guess when all else fails he will try this one). But finding it, having hiccups for 3 days now, so weird and most of discomforting, he finally decided to see a doctor this morning. The doctor examined him and even had him undergo “ECG” just to make sure that his heart is functioning well. Thank God it is! For extreme cases of persistent hiccups, gastric lavage or massage of the carotid sinus in the neck. THIS MUST BE DONE BY THE HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL AND SHOULDN’T BE ATTEMPTED AT HOME. If hiccups continue, a phenothiazine (especially chlorpromazine) or nasogastric intubation (tube insertion) may provide relief. Very rarely, medical methods fail to treat persistent hiccups. Further treatment may include a phrenic nerve block. But this time he was only given this medicine which I’m not sure whether it suppresses hiccups while it’s happening or whether it prevents hiccups from recurring. According to my husband, the medicine has made the recurrence less frequent, his last “attack” was after we had lunch. Now he’s sleeping soundly and I’m happy that I can only hear snoring this time. I hope and pray that he’s had his last “hiccup attack”. I just want my husband to be well and comfortable again. Source: http://health.allrefer.com

Post-Valentine Date

2006-02-19T12:50:00.000+03:00

Our valentine photos

February 14 or better known as “Valentine’s Day” was just spent at home. Although we had wanted to eat out that night, we decided to just have a take out and have our “real” celebration on the weekend, thinking that there would a lot of people having their dates in restaurants. Besides, it was a Tuesday which meant Tian still had work the next day and we didn’t want to be in a hurry. So we had Saturday, “today”, planned out. Left the house at around 10:30 am and proceeded to City Center. We went straight to the cinema to buy our tickets. We were hoping to watch “King Kong” which Tian had seen here when were on vacation or “Harry Potter” that Xiane and I had seen while we were in the Philippines. Unfortunately, none of them were still showing so we opted for “Aeon Flux”, a sci-fi film starring Charlize Theron. The show starts at 12:00 which gave us time to grab some snacks at the nearby food court. Xiane had a Happy Meal, while Tian and I had our meals from another burger joint. Then off we went to the cinema. Although Xiane got a bit bored towards the end of the movie, we were so relieved that we got to finish the film without any trouble. This, by the way was her fifth time in the theater (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith- her very first, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-2nd, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- 3rd, Chronicles of Narnia- 4th). In fairness to her, she had been very good when we watched them. Just to give a short comment on “Aeon”, I can honestly say that it is one of the best sci-fi movies that I’ve seen in a long time, probably, as good as the Matrix, that is the very first one. The FX and stunts were very good, not just another movie trying to follow the steps of the Matrix. Charlize was really gorgeous in this film and has done her role justice. But most of all the plot was coherent and clear, unlike other sci-fi’s that I’ve seen. I’m glad that we got to watch it, I’m even asking my husband to buy the DVD. After the movie (2:00 pm), we strolled at the mall for another 30 minutes and then decided to eat again. We were planning to eat at “Ponderosa” where they had a buffet. Xiane fell asleep when we arrived there so Tian told me to check out the food first. After seeing the food and after having reported it to my husband, we’ve decided to just eat at “Chillis” (in The Mall). We ordered Nacho fajita, spicy buffalo wings and grilled shrimp alfredo (pasta). We were just so full when we left the place. We got home at 5 pm and decided to take some rest. So that’s how our date went but we’re still off to have some ice cream in a little while.

An Evening at the Grounds

2006-02-19T11:29:00.000+03:00

One night on our way to City Center (the biggest mall in Doha), as we were driving along, I got a glimpse of a playground just opposite the Corniche. Instantly, I thought of our daughter and how she’d love to be there to play. So my husband and I took Xiane to the playground last Monday. The moment she saw the slides, swings, etc., Xiane just couldn’t wait to get her hands on them. So there she was climbing structure that had stairs, that children can climb going to the slides. It also had different structures (bars, plastic steps, etc.) that kids can use to climb up. It was big enough to accommodate several children at a time and they had three pieces of this structure on the grounds. There were also 2 sets of swings, that each had 3 individual swings on it and a mechanical horse rides that were attached to one base structure forming a circle. But of course, Xiane had to try everything. She’d bravely climb up to be able to use the slide, which I thought was a bit high and scary, even for an adult like me. Xiane just like all the rest of the kids (Indians, Asians, locales) there were too excited to ever think of getting scared. Tian took photos of her while I helped her as we jumped from one structure to the other. After sometime, Xiane got tired (actually we got tired), so we asked her to rest for a while. We bought some popcorn from a store nearby, sat on the grass and munched on the popcorn. Afterwards, all three of us got to the other side of the playground, where we found a big pool that had a gazebo at the center. We stayed there for a few moments just looking into the water. I even wondered that it would have been nicer if it wasn’t just a pool but rather a pond. It would have been much better if there were fishes there that people can admire while having some quiet time. Then it was time to go. But we had to drop by the playground again for Xiane’s last slide. On our way home, we spent the time talking to Xiane about her experience at the grounds. It was really good to hear that she had a great time that night. So we’re looking forward to more visits to the playground, especially while the weather still permits it.

Government Hospital in Qatar

2006-02-13T01:23:00.001+03:00

It was my first visit to the Al Hamad Women’s Hospital. It is situated in a complex, along with the Al Hamad General Hospital. First impressions: it had a big parking lot, reception was like a hotel’s. There are 3 types of rooms that you can choose from: one where 4 people share, one where 2 can share (the first two is what you can call a ward), and the private room, which they say is like a suite. I was able to see the one where 2 people can share, and it is nothing like a ward. The room was very spacious, had a big bathroom, had 2 phones, drawers and a small cabinet. I’ve been to government hospitals in the Philippines and when you say “ward”, it means that at least 10 people are placed in one big hall. What’s more amazing with the hospital is that you really don’t pay for all the medical services, tests and treatments that you get. You are only to pay for the room, that is QR100 for the double-sharing, and QR800 for the private/a night (didn’t get the price for the 4-people sharing). Opting for the room-sharing is not that bad, although I learned that males, for instance the husband, are not allowed to stay overnight. So if you have no one to take care of you but your husband or if you need more space, better choose the private room. Just don’t regret about the QR700 that you could have saved per night afterwards. Either way, you’d still be saving a lot. One catch though, cameras are not allowed during delivery, so if you’re keen about documenting your baby’s birth, then start looking for a good private hospital that allows that, cause I’ve heard that these private ones are not at par with the Al Hamad in terms of medical services and technology. I hope being a government hospital meant the same in the Philippines. Here, people don’t pay taxes and yet people, including expats benefit from the government’s general services whereas in the Philippines, the “E-VAT” has just been passed into law. I just wonder if our countrymen will ever benefit from the taxes that they’re paying for.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed."

2006-02-13T01:23:00.000+03:00

In June 2003, I was 9 months on the way and so was a friend in Saudi. My friend wasn’t due till the 2nd week of July. But on a hot summer day in June, I got a call from her telling me that they we’re already on their way to the hospital as she started bleeding. I could still remember how worried she sounded, and who wouldn’t be when you’re still not due. What’s worse was that her husband was in Riyadh at that time while we were in Al Khobar ( about 4-hour drive away). And so, she went through labor with me by her side. At first, we were still able to chat but as soon as labor pain set in, I couldn’t even get her to smile. She was the typical depiction of a woman in labor, in movies. No kidding and no offense to her, she was nothing but hysterical. Well, I understand now why she was that way, not to mention that she has a low threshold for pain. Plus not having her husband around made it even more difficult for her. I was there during the labor and delivery although I was asked to leave the delivery room, for fear that the whole scenario might cause me go into labor as well. Having witnessed her go through the whole process really scared the hell out of me. It made me think whether I could bear the same pain that she had. That was really quite an experience for me but more than that it was great to have helped a friend. The kind of thing that makes you want to sing “That’s What Friends Are For”. Fortunately, I was able to surpass my labor and delivery with flying colors, calmly and bravely. Thank God and thanks to my husband for being with me all the way. That was two years and eight months ago…

"Friends are God's way of taking care of us."

2006-02-13T01:21:00.000+03:00

Last Thursday, a friend of ours gave birth to a bouncing baby girl at Al Hamad Women’s Hospital. This friend is one of the very few that we have here in Qatar. Just like us, they came here in June. They were coming from Saudi and us from Bahrain. Moving to a new place can be pretty scary but knowing that you’ll have friends right away is such a relief. She wasn’t due till the 13th but with the sudden surge in her blood pressure, she had to deliver via “caesarean section” or CS, 4 days earlier than her due date. From the time that she was admitted to the hospital (Wednesday morning), I was already on the lookout regarding her condition. I called and SMS-ed her husband for developments. Then on a Thursday morning she was operated on. But it wasn’t until Friday afternoon that we were able to visit her in the hospital, as she spent 2 days in ICU for recovery after the surgery. But even before we came to visit, I got a call from her. She was asking if I could accompany her that night. She needed someone to assist her with her needs and to take care of the baby for the night. The operation was much too painful for her to move about. Being new here, she didn’t have anyone else who could accompany her. The husband wasn’t allowed to spend the night as she was sharing the room with another patient. I told my husband about it and he instantly agreed although it meant that he’ll be left to take care of Xiane for the night. It was also my first time to be away from our daughter but I knew that she was going to be fine with her dad. Having explained the situation to Xiane made it easier for her to understand why I had to be away for a while. So off I went to the hospital, where I spent the entire night giving assistance to my friend and most of all taking care of the baby. I tried to get some sleep but I just couldn’t. Not that the baby kept me awake, I guess it was just that I took my job seriously. I was there to take care of my friend and her baby, so I did. The next day, Tian and Xiane fetched me from the hospital. How I missed them even if I only spent a night away from them. But it was all worth it. It was really nice to have been able to help a friend when she needed it the most. I just hope that the next time I’ll have a baby I wouldn’t be placed in the same predicament, that is to undergo CS. I also hope and pray that my friend would be able to recuperate fast.

My Humps…

2006-02-06T15:09:00.000+03:00

My little girl just loves Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps”. Actually, to say that she “loves” it is an under statement. Xiane is addicted to it. Last night, she spent the entire 30 minutes just watching the mtv of the song. She does not only sing along, she also imitates everything on the video, especially the way “Fergie”, the female singer of the group, danced. It was really fun watching her do that but she just kept playing the video until Tian and I finally got tired listening to it. After playing the mtv for the “nth” time, thank God she agreed to stop.

Breaking News…

2006-02-04T15:03:00.000+03:00

We found out when we woke up this morning that an accident happened at around 7 am (Philippine time- that is 5 hours ahead of Qatar time), claiming the lives of more than 70 people and injuring hundreds more. A stampede took place at a stadium in Manila, as people tried to get inside, to attend the 1st anniversary celebration of “Wowowee” a noontime variety cum game show. The show, since it launched last year, became popular among the masses because of 1 million pot prize that the show is giving away thru it’s daily game segment “pera o bayong”. But it drew the public closer when it became a “semi-charity show”. It turned into a venue where poor people were given help (usually financial) by Filipino viewers all over the world, who in turn get to see the show via The Filipino Channel (TFC). In a poverty-stricken country like the Philippines, it is no wonder why people are desperate to get inside the stadium, to be given the chance to win the jackpot. It is really heartbreaking that something like this could happen, when people only wanted some entertainment and to win something, so that they could somehow uplift their lives. It was even reported that somebody in the crowd shouted “bomb” which was said to have started the stampede. At a time and age where terrorism exists, things like this could really turn out into a total disaster. People, definitely Filipinos are aware of “9/11” and the horror of “Rizal Day bombing” is still fresh in their minds. How irresponsible and stupid of the person who made this “joke”, if at all you can call it a joke. May his/her conscience haunt him/her for what he/she has done. Our condolences to the families who lost their loved ones today. We pray for those whose lives were claimed by this tragedy and for those, who now lay wounded and injured in hospitals. Our hope is that, those responsible will be held liable and that this kind of accident won’t ever happen again. But our greater hope is a better life for Filipinos so that they won’t have to put their hopes and aspirations on variety game shows.

A Thing with the Wig

2006-02-01T12:43:00.000+03:00

I’ve always been fascinated with wigs. It’s just amazing how one wig can give a person a whole new look, turn someone into a completely different person (well at least physically). I was shopping for Christmas gifts when I bumped into the “wigs” section of SM Department Store (the biggest chain of malls in the Philippines). Excited as I was, I tried every single wig on and ended up buying one. I wore it at home, in Baguio and everyone just couldn’t help laughing. Not that it was funny, people were not just used to it. Tian was surprised the first time I wore it in his presence. I’m waiting for the chance to wear it in public though. Back in the Philippines, I could only wear it in Baguio, where we have cool weather, as cool as our weather now. Hmmm…. I might as well wear it while I have the chance… at least Xiane already got to wear it and here’s proof…

A Thing with Candle Blowing

2006-02-01T12:23:00.000+03:00

Tita Tin's Birthday

Tita Cindy's Birthday

My Birthday

Tito Ninong Carl's Birthday

Xiane just couldn’t get enough of candle blowing. The three of us celebrated her 2nd birthday at “Rendezvous”, a buffet restaurant in Bahrain. The staff was kind enough to give her a slice of cake that had a candle on it. Small as it was, still she enjoyed blowing her candle. We got to the Philippines just in time for the birthdays of her Tita Tin (Tian’s older sister), Mamita, Tito Ninong Carl (my brother), Tita Cindy (my sis-in-law) and mine too. Each time she got to blow the candle on the cake, so that’s like having her birthday five times over.

Birthday At Home

2006-02-01T11:33:00.000+03:00

It’s been a while since the last time I spent my birthday in the Philippines. I was supposed to spend it with my family in Baguio but Xiane got sick with tonsillitis so we had to stay for a few more days in Angeles. Just the same, it was just great to have spent my natal day with family. My mom and dad came all the way from Baguio. It was really so sweet of my mother-in-law to have ordered a “decadent” chocolate cake, the best I’ve ever tasted. She also ordered small character cakes for Xiane. So I had my cake surrounded by Sponge Bob, Dora the Explorer, Cinderella, Winnie the Pooh and Barney. We all enjoyed dinner at a local grill. All that’s missing was my husband.

The Great, Great Grandparents

2006-02-01T11:26:00.000+03:00

How many of us have had the chance to meet and be with our great, great grandparents? My husband, never saw his. I had a chance to be with my Lola (grandma) Ninay, the mother of my grandma. I was 7 years old when she passed away. Xiane is a lucky girl, she still has her Lolo (grandpa) Imo, the father of her Lolo Chris, Christian’s dad; and her Grandma Lydia, the mother of her Grammy Jean, who is my mom. It’s such a blessing that they’re very much healthy to be in Xiane’s presence and for her to be in theirs.

First Time at a Theme Park

2006-02-01T11:13:00.000+03:00

From the zoo, off we went to Enchanted Kingdom, the only theme park in the Philippines, located in Sta. Rosa, Laguna south of Manila. Xiane had been to amusement centers in malls, but this was her first ever in a real, outdoor, theme park. We had to be in long queues just for Xiane to be able to take the rides. But it was all worth it, even for us adults, as we waited for out turn to get a ride, esp. the “anchors away”. It was a great way to spend the day just loafing, no worries to think of. But most of all it was so good to see our daughter just having a great day.

First Time at the Zoo

2006-02-01T11:00:00.000+03:00

Xiane went gaga as she watched “Madagascar”. She just loved the wacky duo of Alex, the lion, and Marty, the zebra but it was the latter that she really loved the most. She just laughed so hard. So just imagine the excitement she felt when we told her that we were going to the zoo, a real zoo. Her eyes all lit up, and her smile, ear-to-ear. It was actually the bright idea of her “Mamita” (what she calls Tian’s mom) to take Xiane to the zoo. So on a bright Sunday morning, off we went to Malabon Zoo. It is a zoo located north of Manila, about an hour and a half drive from where we were (Angeles City). Everyone in the family, including Xiane and Yiyi (her 1 and 3 months old cousin) had to wake up at 5am, as we had to leave the house at 5:30 (allowance for traffic). We got there at 7:30 and the zoo opens at 8am. Luckily, a guy vending taho (soya with caramel) came by, so we spent the rest of the time eating. Then 8:00, the zoo finally opened. We were among the early birds. Inside the zoo, there were tigers, lions, black bears, monkeys, birds, fishes, snakes. It was just amazing to see all these animals in the flesh. It was fun to watch a baby orangutan being given a bath. Xiane had a good laugh, as she watched. Too bad we didn’t get the chance to touch “eggpie”, the albino python snake. Although Xiane didn’t get to see an elephant and her favorite “Marty” in Malabon Zoo, Tian and I are quite sure that she enjoyed her first visit to the zoo. Next time, we plan to take her to Manila Zoo, a bigger one that houses more animals.

A Series of Firsts

2006-02-01T10:45:00.000+03:00

Last vacation, Xiane got to experience a number of things for the first time. First Haircut When Xiane was born, she didn’t have much hair and she didn’t grow much hair until she turned two. Now she’s grown very curly hair, yup really curly that her lolo (granddad) calls her locks “wild”. The curls she took from Christian’s side of the family, esp. from her lolo. Just recently, I suggested that she should go for a haircut because the ends of her hair started to get dry and they get tangled all the time. Besides, she sometimes makes a fuss when I try to fix her hair, so might as well have it trimmed. So for the first time, we took her to a barber for kids. There she sat on a toy car, so it felt like she was having a ride in a mall. For a first-timer I can say that Xiane was well-behaved, only moving her head from time-to-time. I thought that the barber was able to cut her curls away only to find out that more of her curls came out after the haircut. Well I guess that’s just how it is. Not that there’s anything wrong with being curly but should Xiane decide that she wants straight hair someday, at least there are a number of ways to achieve it… try “rebond” (a hair straightening process) for instance.

We are Family

2006-01-28T22:25:00.000+03:00

The San Juans (Xtian's side) The Ruedas (Mavis' side)

The Big Grin

2006-01-28T22:16:00.000+03:00

The big grin

Back with the Chores

2006-01-27T10:09:00.000+03:00

Today marks our first week since we got back from our vacation in the Philippines. I spent the first 3 days unpacking our things, which totaled to 2 luggages, 2 traveling bags, 1 balikbayan box and 2 hand carries. Yup I did it all by myself. Well I’ve gotten used to it. Christian would only help me pack just to make sure that everything fits and that there will be no excess baggage. But when it comes to unpacking, that’s all me! Now that the 3 days of unpacking are over, I’m slowly getting back to my chores. First, the living room, I had to rearrange all the furniture by myself because I thought that if I’d wait for my husband, it would take forever (just exaggerating!). I moved a huge furniture with 6 drawers, from the middle of the room to one side, then 2 pieces of big sofas from one end to the other and a heavy 4-seater dining table. It was a very tiring day but I was happy that I was able to do it by myself. It was also nice to give my husband a little surprise. Next stop, was the 2 bedrooms, I had to keep Xiane’s toys (which are a lot!) in the other room and exchange a few pieces of furniture from each of the bedroom. And then, there was the kitchen waiting to be cared for again. Not that it was that messy, it’s just that sometimes, men don’t know how to clean up. My husband did clean up but it just wasn’t good enough for me. Besides the house was left for almost a month, so what do I expect. The last but not the least of my concerns was the bathroom. Despite feeling cold, I decided to give it a wash yesterday. Now you see why this one says “back with the chores”. It’s just good see everything back in shape again!

Back in Qatar

2006-01-27T09:48:00.000+03:00

I’ve never felt this good coming from vacation. For the past four years, I always felt sad once our vacation was over because that meant leaving home and going back to Saudi. There were even instances when I’d call home (my mom) the day after we had arrived. I’d cry over the phone while telling my mom that I already missed her, in short I was always stricken with the feeling of being “homesick”. Gladly I never felt that when we arrived here from vacation. It might be because I was able to spend enough time with my family or simply because I love it here in Qatar. I think it is more of the latter. Back then, leaving home for Saudi was quite sad, as you’d be staying in a completely different place again, with all the restrictions and prohibitions. Whereas leaving home for Qatar is not such a bad thing to do. With all honesty, I can say that Qatar is home, far away from home. If only we can bring our families here, then it will truly be a home for us.

No, I don’t…

2006-01-27T09:27:00.000+03:00

No, no, no! I don’t like… these words are Xiane’s current favorites. Though we know that it is just a stage that she’s going through, sometimes it can be very frustrating. It’s not easy when your child just negates and refutes everything that you say or tell her to do, just for the sake of saying no. I guess it is her way of asserting her independence and individuality which in a way is a good thing. It just sometimes alarms me when she starts saying “I don’t like you mommy/daddy”, hoping that she never means it. I guess this is the time when parents should be more patient and understanding of their children, to remember not to take things personally, rather think of it as a necessary part of their child’s development.

The Letter L

2006-01-27T08:30:00.000+03:00

Yada, yada, yada....

Xiane is now 2 and 7 months old. Before she even turned 2 she had already mastered the abc’s. Seven months later, Xiane has completely become an ultimate talking machine. She would talk and talk and talk some more. Sometimes you’d simply tell her to stop talking for a while and take some rest. Sometimes she would but most of the time she won’t. It is really amazing how a child learns every single word from scratch, and more amazing when you realize how wide her vocabulary has become in just a short span of time. Sometimes it just surprises me and my husband when she starts using words, and the good thing is she knows how and when to use them. She now uses all sorts of nouns, verbs and adjectives. She’s also learning to use the pronouns each day. Xiane can now speak in sentences. The only problem is that she has difficulty pronouncing letter “L”. She can pronounce the letter per se but once it comes with other letters in a word,“nono” for “lolo” (granddad),“nook” for “look”, “nizard” for lizard” and many more. One time her tita doc (aunt in the Philippines) tried to correct her: Tita Doc: Xiane say “L-O-L-O, lolo” Xiane: “L-O, Nono”. We all had a good laugh! Here are some of the words, expressions that she likes to say: Oh no! What happened! The End What’s going on mom/dad? Remember? I did it! I’ll do it by myself. Help please! I’m sorry, I’ve been a naughty girl.(complete with emotions) Mommy/ daddy I want to watch (whenever she wants to watch dvds) Hurray! I’m so hungry/sleepy. I don’t want to sleep. It’s ok mommy/daddy. Poor Xiane-xiane Don’t worry mom/dad Just a little bit ok? And so much more!

Colds and Cough

2006-01-27T08:04:00.000+03:00

Two days after we arrived, colds and cough have gotten hold of the three of us. It must be the change in climate, although I know for a fact that change in weather conditions alone can’t make you sick. It might be that our immunity and resistance was very low, coming from a tiring flight, lacking rest and sleep. Unfortunately for us, viruses were already awaiting our arrival. It not only welcomed us but embraced us as well. Last Tuesday, all three of us had to see a doctor. It was a funny thing to learn that although we were all coughing, each of us had a different kind of cough. Mine, being the worst because I was prescribed Cephalexin (a kind of antibiotic) whereas Xiane and Tian were prescribed different cough syrups each. I just hope that the virus and other microbes will leave us soon. It’s quite difficult to be sick and feel cold at the same time.

Time Flies

2006-01-27T08:03:00.000+03:00

Four months ago, Xiane and I were aboard a plane to Manila, for our yearly vacation. It has been our practice since Xiane was born that we go home 2 months ahead of Christian. But this vacation proved to be the longest ever as Xiane and I spent a total of 3 months ahead of her dad. But those four long months are over and now we’re back in Qatar. So it is true what they say that time flies and it flies fast when you’re having fun. I got to spend the longest vacation in my life. It was really nice to have spent ample time with our family (Tian’s side in Angeles City and my side of the family in Baguio City. Xiane and I were like ping-pong balls going from one side (Angeles) to the other (Baguio) just for her to be able to spend time (which is equally divided between both sides) with her grandparents. I lost count of the number of times I had to pack and unpack our things each time we travel (4-5 hour drive). But most of all it was great to see family members, especially our parents, have a wonderful time with their “apo” (grandchild) Xianelle, to see how much joy and happiness she brings them. And as Christian puts it, nothing can really beat the feeling of being home, more so, to be able to spend Christmas and New Year with our loved ones. I truly enjoyed wrapping gifts for family members and my inaanaks (godchildren) once again. It was fun to see Xiane open lots of gifts too. This was in fact, the first time she spent the holidays in the Philippines. We got to spend the weekends in different places. One weekend, we were at a resort where we stayed overnight. Xiane just had a blast swimming in the pool although the water was freezing cold. Some weekends were spent at a park, for a picnic and for some playtime. We had a lot of evenings spent dining out with family and friends. This vacation was just the best ever, that’s why even now that it’s over, the happiness still lingers. And although time has flown that fast, I can truly say that each day spent was all worthwhile and will forever be cherished.

Food!

2006-01-26T23:46:00.001+03:00

We love eating! While in the Philippines, we tried to our best to go to local restaurants that serve local delicacies and foreign dishes not typically found in Qatar. We've also had our share of cookouts and barbeques so you can imagine all the poundage that we've added since. Here's a sampler of tasty and yummy food we've partaken in...

Arabiatta Pork Steak Mussels with Garlic and Butter Grilled Fish Mocchacinno Grilled Pork Lumpia/Fresh Spring Roll Grilled Chicken Adobo Pizza Green Mangoes and Shrimp Fry Paste Breakfast Cereals

GMA 7 and GMA Pinoy TV

2006-01-24T19:46:00.000+03:00

There is a vast growing number of Filipinos all over the world. Here in the Middle East alone, the Filipino community is ever growing. Furthermore they do not come just as individual overseas workers but more importantly they come and bring their families along. Hence there is a great demand for an entertainment that is truly Filipino. A little birdie has informed me that the Philippine-based GMA 7 would be able to launch its satellite programming in the Middle East on the first week of February. Last year, Orbit launched a Pinoy package which showed several syndicated shows from GMA 7. However, a lot of people complained that they thought they'd get the whole GMA 7 channel only to find out that it was not the case. This time around, it is the real deal. Filipinos would get the 24 hour programming of GMA 7 as what they get the Philippines, live and real-time. This time around, Filipinos would have an option. Are you a "Kapuso" or a "Kapamilya"?

Jetlagged

2006-01-24T19:39:00.000+03:00

Jetlagged Function: noun: a condition that is characterized by various psychological and physiological effects (as fatigue and irritability), occurs following long flight through several time zones, and probably results from disruption of circadian rhythms in the human body - jet-lagged /'jet-"lagd/ adjective The 3 of us have been waking up early at since we arrived. I myself have been waking up at 3 in the morning and finding it difficult to get back to sleep. Xiane and Mavis wake up at about 4:30 or 5 am. Since the time difference between Qatar and the Philippines is 5 hours, 3 AM here is equivalent to 8 AM there. While in the Philippines, we would start our busy day at about 7 AM or even much earlier if we have made plans to go to the park or if we need to take long travels. Usually, we would get sleep at about 1 or 2 AM the following day only to wake up at 7 AM. A friend tells me that your body recovers and adjusts 30 minutes of each day from the time difference between two places. Say, if the time difference between 2 countries is 5 hours, it would roughly take your system to fully adjust. Hopefully, everything would get back to "normal" by next week.

We're Back!

2006-01-21T05:57:00.000+03:00

We're back! After all the hassle of taking such a long trip, placing all luggages in and out of conveyer belts and xray machines, we got home to Qatar at 8:00 PM last night. It's 11 AM in the Philippines right now so all of us are awake but still wanting to sleep though not that sleepy. Jetlag! Hopefully, we could get to updating this again soon! We have lots and lots of photos to show you guys! More to come!

The Flight and Arrival

2006-01-01T16:56:00.000+03:00

My flight to the Philippines was at 11:15 PM. Kutch, who was sharing the same flight with me, wanted to check-in early to avoid any problems we were sure that a lot of people booked for this day. He picked me up at 7:30 PM. For employees in Qatar, one has to have his office fill out a document, Exit Permit, which you had to have stamped by the immigration office at the airport. Before, the office was located right before you enter the airport which was easy enough for you to have the paper stamped. I found out that they already moved offices and I had to walk half a kilometer (to and fro) to get my stamp. Kutch already had his stamped by his office. We checked-in without any hassle by 9 although the queues were getting longer and longer by the second. We decided it was too early to wait for our fill once aboard the plane so we ate at the canteen on the second floor after going round the Duty Free Shop. By 10:30, we were already lining up for the buses to take us to the designated plane. Most, if not all, of the people taking the plane were Filipinos wanting to spend Christmas in the Philippines. I’m sure everyone was excited. I was even able to meet another acquaintance from Saudi who rode the bus to Bahrain, took the flight from Bahrain to Qatar and now seating behind my seat to the Philippines. Our problem started right after we got seated on the plane. After 30 more minutes waiting, the pilot announced that we have to wait for some passengers that were still not onboard. We waited for 15 more minutes till 4 passengers came. Again, the pilot announced that we had to wait for some more time before take off. By now, people inside the plane were almost ready to curse at the pilot and crew for the delay. Another 15 minutes came and the last set of passengers took their seats. The late passengers were actually coming from other connecting flights that were delayed. We were hoping that the pilot would make up for the time lost and fly faster. But that was not the case. A day later (Dec. 23), we landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at about 2:30 PM. Mavis, my sister and Xiane were expecting our plane to arrive at 1:30. By 3:15, I was standing on the arrival area when I heard someone say “There’s Daddy!”. I turned and saw Xiane running towards me. I knelt down to greet her with a hug and carried her. Ahhhhh, after all the delay, nothing can beat the feeling of being home.

Our Holiday Schedule

2005-12-20T18:50:00.000+03:00

Dec. 22 - Xtian takes Qatar Airways flight at 11:15 PM to Manila, Philippines. The trip is about 9 hours long! Dec. 23 - Xtian arrives in the Philippines at 1:30 PM (Philippine time: +5 hours from Doha). Mavis and Xiane would be waiting at the airport along with Xtian's sister and her daughter, Yiyi. Take a 2 hour trip north of Manila to Angeles City (Google Maps). Dec. 24 - Do some cooking and prepare the whole day for the gathering in the evening. Xtian's relatives and friends would be spending Christmas Eve in the his parents house. Dec. 25 - Wake up early for the trip to Manila to spend Christmas with Xtian's grandfather in Manila. Buy lechon (roasted pig) along the highway. Take part in a mini-program for the kids in the family compound. Later in the afternoon, check-in at Astoria Plaza Suites. Do some shopping in the evening. Dec. 26 - Do post-Christmas shopping and take Xiane to one of the Kiddie Parks inside a mall. Drive back to Angeles(2 hour drive). Dec. 29 - Take a 5 hour trip to the mountainous City of Baguio. Strawberries here we come!!! January 1 - New Year in Baguio! Jan. 3 - Take the 5 hour trip to go back to Angeles City.

It's almost D-Day

2005-12-20T18:06:00.000+03:00

One more sleepless night and that's it for me. I'm going home. I'm going home to celebrate Christmas in the Philippines! After 2 years of not having a "real" Christmas in Saudi, we decided that this year would be different. We would be spending the holidays in the Philippines with our families (Christmas with my side of the family and New Year with Mavis' side of the family). So yes, I admit I'm excited. Plus, after 3 months being alone in Qatar, I get to see my wife and my daughter! I wonder how Xiane would react when she sees me. I'm not sure how we could update this blog while on vacation. Might go in a haitus for a while but hopefully, we could give you bits and pieces of our vacation. We'd all be back on the 20th of January so at least expect something after a day or two after that. In the meantime, I might publish our Year-end letter here before I go on vacation. I just finished it today and would be reviewed by Mavis tomorrow before we officially send it out. Since 2002, we've been writing a letter to our families and friends at end the year just to let them know how our year went and to update them with our lives. So let's see if Mavis approves the publication of our Year-End Letter. Still, D-Day is near!

The Kong and I

2005-12-17T17:48:00.000+03:00

It was never my intention to watch King Kong until yesterday when I saw that it was showing in Grand Cinema Center and tried to see what critics had to say about the film. This is Peter Jackson's dream movie. Even before he finished the Lord of the Rings (LOTR), he had openly stated that he wanted to do a remake of King Kong. And so he did. What kept me from really wanting to see the movie is that I knew the outcome of the movie and the ending is something that I'm not too sure I'd want to see. But with the glowing reviews, I knew I had to see it. I took the 10:45 showing hoping that not a lot would wake up early on a weekend to see a movie about an ape. The seating arrangement in Cinema 6 was quite awkward as you had the middle area as an entrance. Either you choose to be on the left or on the right, missing on the really good seats on the middle. I'm sure whoever designed this cinema isn't a cineaste. I chose to be on the left side, about 4 (non-available) seats away from the real middle, as my dominant eye is my left (not too sure if it was that but I feel more comfortable sitting on the left side if given the choice between the right or left). After 3 hours watching the movie, I could say that Peter Jackson owned KingKong, or should I say, Andy Serkis owned KingKong. Serkis is the same guy Jackson asked to act out Gollum for LOTR. Both his characterization (through motion capture and facial expressions) of Kong was superb. Credit also goes to those who digitized Kong himself. The movie starts up flat in the beginning as it was more of long characterizations. The actual fun begins right after the first hour; engaging the audience with special effects and over-the-top sequences. I liked it and would recommend for anybody to watch it. But remind you though, it's not really for the kids. It's not comparable to LOTR or Harry Potter. Also, here are some tips that you may want to know to help you enjoy the film. 1. Make sure that when you watch the movie, know that this is fiction and try not to be one of those National Geographic guys dissecting the movie for its factual values. 2. Don't ask how Naiomi Watts survived being "Kong-handled". I'm sure a real person would have had broken her neck and most, if not all, of her bones broken the way Kong was holding her. 3. Don't ask how the men could've survived running with/under the stampeding brontausaurs with only 4 men lost throughout the whole 10+ minute sequence. 4. Don't ask how they got Kong onto the ship and where they placed him. Just know that they were able to take him to New York in one way or another (chop him to pieces to be able to carry him, fit him in the ship and reassemble him in New York). Again, this is a movie about King Kong. He never did exist nor is Skull Island real. So don't talk about the evolution, geology, biology and physics. Just enjoy the movie. p.s. I can't wait for Jackson's next project: HALO.

Jobs in the Gulf

2005-12-16T12:37:00.000+03:00

A lot of people have been emailing me to help them find a job in the gulf. I am not a contractor nor employed in an employment agency so I really can't help you with that. However, let me tell you this. I got my first job in Saudi Arabia through the Internet. I found a post in jobisland.com in which an employer wanted someone with experience in graphics and web design to work as a consultant for another company. That was in 1999. I got my second job in the gulf in 2002 by searching the web and looking for company websites where my work would fit in. I was able to find an advertising agency in the gulf and directly sent the General Manager my resume. Their website didn't even post an opening but I still sent the GM mine. I got a call from them about 2 weeks later and on the interview, he asked me where I got his email address and I told him that I got it off the net. Plus points maybe? I applied for the job in Bahrain last year (November) as I was on vacation in the Philippines. A friend, Rico, found an opening on the internet for a company in Bahrain (Orbit). I went to their website, found the opening on the career section and sent them my resume. The day after I got back in Saudi, I got a call from their HR department asking me if I can go to Bahrain for an interview. Now, in my current job in Qatar, I sent my resume September or October last year. I googled the web for Oil and Gas companies and sent my resume to some of them. 6 months later, having moved from Saudi to Bahrain, I got an email from the company asking me if I was still interested in the position I applied for 6 months ago. And now I'm here. All the jobs I had for the past 6 years were brought about by using the Internet. I haven't sent a hardcopy of my resume since 1999 to apply for a job. And the thing is, I must have sent a hundred to 200 emails to potential employers in the span of 6 years. I did get more offers than the actual number of jobs that I held. I declined going to China, Hongkong, Egypt and Cyprus. I also missed joining a gaming company in the Carribean because of a wrong email address. So for people asking me to help them get jobs, be resourceful. If you were able get to our blog and emailed me to help you find a job, I'm sure you could email potential employers just the same. To help you out looking for jobs in the gulf, you could go to the following sites.

http://www.worldwideworker.com/

http://www.bayt.com/

http://www.gulfjobsites.com/

http://www.qp.com.qa/qp.nsf/jobs?openview

http://jobs.escapeartist.com/Openings/Middle_East/

http://www.jobsindubai.com/ You could also do a google search for the industry that you want to be employed in. For example, do a search in google for "hospitals + Saudi" (without quotes). Go to the specific hospital website, look for an opening and send them your resume. Heck, even if you don't see an opening, send them your resume. You'll loose nothing by pressing that send button. So, unless you are my relative, please do not ask me to help you out with finding a job.I do hope I've enlightened you and hope that my tips help you on your job search. Goodluck on your jobhunting! p.s. IF you're not a relative, please don't pretend to be my relative either.

And so it begins...AbobeMedia

2005-12-16T11:41:00.000+03:00

Adobe has officially acquired Macromedia on Dec. 3, 2005. The whole deal was valued at about US$3.4 billion, all of which were stock-made transactions. Adobe would still be Adobe but Macromedia would be no more at the start of 2006. I first heard of Macromedia in 1995 when I was beginning my foray into the IT world. I never touched a PC before 1995 I think. My professor in animation would have Macromedia Director, Authorware, Freehand and Fontographer installed in his machine. I never did touch them as I didn't even have an idea how to create a Microsoft Word document then, how much more with those applications. Fast-forward to 1998: The internet internet boom was just starting in the Philippines and people were starting to be interested with webpage development. I got to know that there was a software called Dreamweaver that could easily create webpages for me and my clients. Then you had something called Flash that can create animated banners for you instead of using GIF animations. Surprisingly enough, both Flash and Dreamweaver were owned by Macromedia. Circa 2000 - 2005 Instead of trying to compete with Adobe in terms of graphics, publishing and video, Macromedia knew they hit a jackpot with the techonlogy they developed and cultured. Flash became an industry standard. Designers and Developers were using it everywhere; to create presentations, banners, interactive applications and webpages. Dreamweaver has been rated to be the top WYSIWYG HTML editor around and has helped developers carry their work more efficiently. Everybody in the business of Web Development and Multimedia knows Macromedia. The Future The announcement that came on the 2nd half of the year came as a surprise for me. Adobe Systems, a software company that provides graphics artists and video developers tools to do their thing, is acquiring Macromedia. It's a no-brainer that Adobe did try to enter the world that Macromedia was reigning on even before they acquired it, trying to see if the giant that it is, could dislodge Macromedia in its grip of the web development market. Adobe produced products like GoLive (HTML editor) and LiveMotion (Flash content development) which both failed miserably in the market. Then the annoucement. Why did Macromedia sell out? The question asked by those using Macromedia software is plain and simple. We know that no one can ever beat Photoshop, After Effects, Acrobat and Illustrator. But since they have acquired Macromedia, how are they going to handle the development of the products by Macromedia? Some say that it might be for the better since the products would now be intertwined with each other, making an almost seamless jump from one program to another when editing, importing or exporting. They'd get to settle their differences in their palette tools and interface schemes (in 2000, a lawsuit had Adobe claiming that Macromedia was infringing with the way they had "tabbed palettes" in their products - Adobe won the case). Never again would you be using an Adobe product to manipulate photos and then importing them to seperate Macromedia product. Now, it's a "roundtrip" development process. Build, develop, create any media using several products by one company, Adobe. Would it really be for the betterment of Macromedia products? It might not be.. well, for at least sometime, until Adobe has fully integrated their code and system to these Macromedia products. It might be that the first year would be a bout integrating their products to the products of Macromedia. Would that mean that Macromedia products would remain stagnant in development except for the integration? Adobe never did understand fully well the needs for web designers and developers. Hopefully, they won't bully the guys from Macromedia when it comes to decisions for the future of Flash and Dreamweaver. How would Adobe handle the development of Dreamweaver vis-a-vis their own GoLive product? In any case, no one can really say. Here's to hoping the the next iterations of these products would actually benefit the people using them and not just satisfy the Giants' need to have a share of the web. Would we be seeing AdobeMedia in the future? I don't think so.

At Home and at The Garden

2005-12-09T22:58:00.000+03:00

Kutch, Sandro and Joel, of PinoyTechQatar, came to the apartment today to supposedly help me out in arranging the furniture as I asked for help at the start of the week. I also asked them to bring a drill so we could move the hanging lamp. They arrived at about 3:30 but instead of doing what were supposed to do, we ended up doing nothing. They just copied some MP3's and movies from the Xbox, watched satellite and ate. I ordered Pizza from Pizza Inn (current favorite: Chicken Fajita) and baked pasta to match. Since we were all, in one way or the other, "techies", we spent time discussing softwares, servers, emails and IT stuff. By the time we finished, we were all full and ready to burst. They left at about 5:45 PM but we plan to meet again next week to buy stuff we need to take home to the Philippines. Kutch and found out that we were taking the same flight on the 22nd a couple of weeks back. I shouldn't have eaten that much since I was also due to meet with a colleague at 7:30 for a small gathering to celebrate his employment with our company. He was hired as a contractor at first but eventually was taken in by the company, which was a reason to celebrate! We met at The Garden - The Great Indian Restaurant

click on Map to view full size - map by Maporama

The Garden has 3 floors in which the 1st floor served an all vegetarian menu. I'm not too sure what they serve on the the 2nd floor. The 3rd floor was called Royal Garden and served buffet. Since I was with 4 colleagues who were from India and know what good Indian food tastes like, I had them taste the food first. The reasoning is, I wouldn't have any idea what authentic Indian food tastes so I can't say that it's bad or good without a standard, right? The food got their seal of approval so I chomped away. The Hamour was good and so was the Chicken Tikka. The other viands were also tasty though I didn't get to memorize what they were called. The choices in the buffet were nice although we would have wanted more mutton viands. The place was classy, clean and neat. You also get good service and their starter drink was fantastic (better served chilled). You have to reserve if you plan to have a group eat on the Friday as a table might be difficult to get and the place is a bit cramped. It was packed with people and those who finished eating were easily replaced in a minute or two. It gets 4 out of 5 for me. The only thing not good about it was the space. So if you're in an adventure to try out Indian food, I recommend The Garden. Anyway, we got to talking about languages, dialects and accents, food, meat, being vegetarian, and work stuff. We had a great time! We parted ways at about 10:30 and planned to get together after Eid (January) to try out the vegetarian restaurant. P.S. Yeah, I know, I've eaten a lot today.

My HD Died on Me

2005-12-09T11:06:00.000+03:00

Qatar - My 2 year-old Laptop Hard Disk (HD) died on me the other day. I tried to resuscitate it by running a defragmenter, doing a scan disk, formatting it and reinstalling Windows. Everything failed. The tried checking the physical blocks of the drive again and found Bad Sectors. Bad...really bad. I wasn't able to fix it so the only solution was to buy myself another laptop HD to replace the one I have and hope that I could still recover my files on the 2nd partition of the old laptop. So off I went to Sofitel trying to see what they have. I was looking for a 80 Gb, 5200 RPM (Revolution Per Minute - the higher, the faster, the better) drive... an update to my dead 60GB 4200RPM HD. I got to this store which was telling me they have one which was 7200 RPM! Almost too good to be true. And it was. They showed it to me and said that the drives before showed it clearly on their tags that they spun 7200 RPM. But right now, they don't show it as this are coming from a new batch of delivery. So I asked them if they're sure and was told "Yup, we're sure but we can not guarantee". That also meant I can't return it if I find out on the net that it is not running at the speed they were telling. But what the heck. I needed a drive so I bought it, took it home and installed it. I was not that dissapointed when i did find out that it's running at 4200 RPM. At least I got the laptop working again. As for my data files, I was able to recover so little but I'm still not giving up. I'm hoping I can still recover my "My Documents" folder. Arghhhhh.... Technology has its ups and downs. By the way, the HD that I got was a Toshiba 80 Gb for 420 but got an extra external USB case for 50QR only. I saw a 100GB selling for 630. Look around, prices are different for each store.

Quotes to ponder (part 1)

2005-12-06T16:04:00.000+03:00

Xiane is our talkative 2 1/2 year old daughter who calls Cinderella "Abby Abby", is scared of ants, has a set of Faces (Happy Face, Sad Face , Surpised Face, Angry Face), loves Belle of Beauty and the Beast, and is a swimming junkie. While watching Cyndi Lauper sing with Elmo on DVD... Grammy: That's Cyndi Lauper (thinking that Xiane would say "ah just like Aunt Cindy")! Xiane: she sing too much While watching Oscar the Grouch on DVD Mavis: Don't be Grumpy coz you'll be like Oscar. Try to always smile. Will you show me your Happy Face? Xiane: (Emoting, making a Sad Face then shoving her head on her arm) I don't happy, I'm sad (acting). After spilling water from a basin in the kitchen... Mavis: What did you do? Why did you spill it? Xiane: I'm sorry mommy. I walked too much. Just a little bit ok? After watching a lady clean fresh fish on the market... Xiane: Poor fish, the lady cut it up. Wanting to touch the fish... Xiane: The fish won't bite, she's a good girl! (referring to the fish)

Car Pooling...Help ease the traffic in Doha

2005-12-05T00:20:00.000+03:00

Qatar - The following has been originally posted at http://www.qatarliving.com Good news to everyone, I and some of my friends are in the process of developing a network for ride share.The idea is very simple, if you don't own a car or if you own a car but don't want to use it or sick of driving and you need someone to drive you to and from any place in the city of Doha all you have to do is just contact us, subscribe (IT IS TOTALLY FREEEEEEE) and we will hook you up with someone who will be your ride-share partner. Also if you are a car owner and you drive alone and you wish to do something good for this community, you wish to help other people and also help yourself by decreasing the load on the crowded city of Doha, just contact us,subscribe and we will hook you up with someone who will be your ride-share partner. For further info please send your full "real" name, contact number, the area you live in (not necessarily the exact address,for safety purposes) and your ride-share plan, for ex what time you go to work?? where is your work?? what time do you get off work?? If you have any special needs that you need special arrangements?? Please send all these info to dentical75@yahoo.com and we will contact you as soon as the project is complete. Please help us beat the traffic jam by reducing the number of moving cars on the roads, send this message to your friends, encourage them to contact us, and advertise for the idea, it's great and it worked in many places all around the world.If you have any ideas or suggestions you are most welcomed to contact us on dentical75@yahoo.com Best regards, Dentist

MAP: Sofitel & Computer Shops in Doha

2005-12-04T15:45:00.000+03:00

Here's a map to the Sofitel Building to help you guys out if you want to buy PC peripherals in Doha. Click on the image to see the full size. Map provided by: Maporama

The Hype that is Xbox 360

2005-12-03T12:06:00.000+03:00

I've always been fascinated with gaming. I've had an Atari console when it came out, playing Pac Man and Space Invaders. Aside from the several Game and Watch screens that I had, I also had several Nintendo Family Computers in which Mario and Luigi were made famous. Then Sony came out with Playstation which brought in the Final Fantasy Series and Metal Gear. But that was then and now what I have is the Big Black Console called Xbox. I love my Xbox. It's been 2 years since I got mine from the Philippines (though the unit was bought and brought from Hongkong) and had a 120 GB harddrive installed to it. Not only do I use the console for gaming but also for playing all media files that we want to watch on the big TV; JPG, AVI, MPG, MP3, RMVB, WMV, MOV, DAT for VCDs, and even our DVDs. You can even transfer the files from your PC/Laptop directly to the Xbox through ethernet connection. The only thing missing is for it to be a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) so we can copy TV show from our satellite feed directly to the Xbox harddisk. We've brought it to most of the hotels we've stayed in just for Xiane to be able to watch her cartoons and keep her happy. It's one of the first thing that I set up when moving to a new place (we've moved 6 times this year including our long hotel stays). So far, paying roughly US$380 for the console with 120GB has been worth it. Microsoft has just launched its new Xbox, named Xbox 360 for whatever reason. A Core version (Console, Composite AV plus wired controller) would set you back for 299 while the Premium System (Console, wireless controller, headset, ethernet cable, Component HD cable, and 20GB hard drive) would cost you US$399. That is if you can find one. He he he. People who were lucky enough to get one had sold theirs thru ebay, earning almost twice the amount of what they paid for. That's what hype makes people do, spend an unbelievable amount of money for that item or service. I have a friend who is not really a gamer but was fed the hype. He now is too excited to get an Xbox 360 just because he knows a lot of other people buying it. Amazon and other online retailers have them on their sites but most likely, your orders would arrive January or even February of 2006! But people are still ordering and other have been trying to track down those elusive boxes. Others have even resorted to stealing! I'm not sure why MS would hype the launch of their next gen console only to have limited numbers available to those who want it. A marketing ploy to salivate those who want it? Or, looking it at the other way, it might mean that they released so little for people to serve as product testers for the 360. A lot of owners have been complaining about errors, hangs, disc reading errors and disc scratching. MS says it's just 3% of 360 owners but I'm not too sure. Personally, I would not buy one just yet. I don't want to be a guinea pig for MS. I'd probably buy one after a year or two after 3-4 stable firmware versions have come out. Besides, my old yet trusty Xbox hasn't given me a problem in 2 years of use and abuse. Plus I can almost do anything the Xbox 360 can do (except play those not-so next gen games and output to HD) and more. I'm not in for the hype...which is good, so I can start saving for the High Definition TV that I'm going to buy once I decide to buy my 360! He he he he...

The World Challenge

2005-12-03T10:54:00.000+03:00

The World Challenge is all about global involvement, casting a net for ideas from individuals or groups deserving recognition. In the process we also hope to inspire would-be entrepreneurs. I'm proud to be a Filipino especially when hearing news like this. Out of 12 finalists from the Global Community, Filipino agricultural engineer Justino Arboleda went back home to the Philippines $20,000 richer but more than that, bringing pride and glory to the Philippines by winning the First World Challenge sponsored by BBC World television in London. There had beeen 456 entries from 90 countries. His entry was the use of Coconet, waste coconut husk material developed to prevent landslides and soil erosion. Ingenious. With the Philippines being the no. 1 exporter of coconuts, what other better way to use such product than to use it to help prevent environmental disasters around the world. And not only that, the good thing about his Enterprise is that it also provides income and livelihood to the community. They now produce 30,000 square meters of this Coconet for distribution around the world. They also produce doormats, stuffing for car seats and mattresses, and fertilizer (made from coconut dust). Wow. All that from a coconut tree and a Filipino. The Finals is being shown on the BBC in a special program on Dec. 3 and 4 and be featured by Newsweek magazine in its Dec. 3 issue. Just click on the link and pick your country and the date to show you the TV listing for that day. Or you can view the Video about Coconet here... You can also view a local article about him here.

Sa Doha nAPO Sila...The APO Hiking Society Live in Concert!

2005-12-02T19:28:00.000+03:00

Qatar - The Apo Hiking Society (APO) will hold a concert in Doha Cinema on 15th to 17th of December with guest performers Kyla and Bituin Escalante. Ticket info Nayong Filipino Restaurant (Mesaieed) Damascus Saloon (Souq Al Asiery) Romel 5818474, Roger 5423695 Fathima 5436577 Angelito Rivera (Alkhor) 5428119 History The APO HIKING SOCIETY first gained recognition in 1973 when they gave a farewell concert at the plush Meralco Auditorium in Metro Manila. Just out of college, the group was the talk of the Ateneo University and adjoining campuses for their music and humor. It was only when two of its four members were about to retire from the field of amateur music, however, that the APO, then known as the Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society, finally had a city-wide audience. One of them was scheduled to leave for Turkey as an exchange student. The other had a position waiting for him in his father's advertising firm. Why a talented young man of 21 would want to go to Turkey, every young man in the early seventies would probably understand. But what the APO could not understand was their fourth member's decision to leave the irresponsibility of being unemployed to join the ranks of the corporate world. The trip to Turkey did not materialize and the APO, now a tentative trio, pushed on steadily towards fame and fortune. Looking back, the APO members Danny Javier, Boboy Garrovillo, and Jim Paredes do not regret never having been regular wage earners. Their farewell concert, which had SRO audiences for two stormy nights, not unexpectedly became a hit record the following year. In the three decades since that "farewell" concert, the APO has made 22 record albums; hosted several television shows including their own noontime Sunday show "Sa Linggo nAPO Sila"; and launched hugely successful major solo concerts and countless provincial, dinner, and corporate shows. They have performed in over 50 cities in the United States, in Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Japan to bring Original Pilipino Music to Filipinos the world over. taken from: http://www.apohikingsociety.org/history.shtml

Sofas are here! or are they?

2005-11-30T18:32:00.000+03:00

Qatar - I've been calling IDdesign early this November to ask what happend to the sofas we ordered last September and was told they got stuck in the customs but would be delivered on the 2nd or 3rd week of this month. So i got a call the other week from them telling me that the sofas are already in and they would deliver within the week. And they did! However, when they got to assembling the sofas in the living room, it seems to me that these were not the sofas we ordered. They were of different style and bigger. The thing is, I am not so sure anymore because it has been 3 months since we ordered them. I've been telling my wife this dillema but the thing is I can't show it to her since she has our camera back home. My phone is the cheapest Nokia phone you could find so no chance of taking a shot. So what I thought of was drawing the thing... Well now, she's not also sure if these were the sofas we ordered... By the way, we have to redo the whole living room area to accomodate these sofas as you don't have enough room between the center table and sofas. I'll wait till Mavis comes back so we can decide how to do rearrange everything.

Happy and Smiling

2005-11-30T18:28:00.000+03:00

Qatar- I'm sure all of my colleagues were smiling happily when they left the office today... I was!

Small World of Blogging

2005-11-29T16:02:00.000+03:00

I was chatting with a friend in Saudi this afternoon, talking about work and other friends when he suddenly asked me to forward him the URL of this blog since he hasn't seen it yet. I type it in the chat window for him to click on. He told me that he met this guy in Saudi and they got to talking. I'm not sure how the topic got where it was but my friend began telling the guy that he knew someone who worked in Khobar then moved to Jeddah and moved back to Khobar then moved to Bahrain. Now, the guy interrupts my friend and the whole situation kind of went like this (I'm not sure how it exactly went but this is my personal interpretation of what happened based on what my friend told me. If you're the guy who my friend was talking to, you can email me the exact details and I'll revise this) My Friend: Oh, I have a friend who was in Khobar then moved to Jeddah for a while, then moved back to Khobar, then moved to Bahrain this year. Guy: And he's in Qatar right now? My Friend: (surprised but nodding) Guy: He has a small kid? My Friend: Yes! Guy: His wife is currently on vacation in the Philippines? My Friend: (now starting to wonder and laugh) Yes! Do you know him? Guy: Yeah, I've read his blog. Small world.

Happy Birthday!

2005-11-27T22:51:00.000+03:00

Cakes! Cakes! Cakes!

Xiane loves blowing candles on cakes.

It's moms' turn turn to blow the candles.

Xiane and Mavs

Mav's mom, my mom, Xiane, Mavis, and my sister Tin

Mavis celebrated her 29th birthday in the Philippines last Friday, Nov. 25. Her parents were also there as they were there to fetch them for their trip to Baguio the following day. I asked my dad the previous day if he could order for me a bouquet of flowers (Malaysian Mums - I've always given her Mums) and so he did. Mavis loved them although she wasn't able to take them to Baguio as the bouquet turned out to be a big setting that won't fit in the car. Anyway, they ate out in Lurings' (a bbq & grill restaurant) to celebrate. Happy Birthday baby!

Of Music and Whatever

2005-11-27T18:38:00.000+03:00

I was doing some searching on Midi files for my dad-in-law when I came upon certain threads on the net that made me laugh. I can't believe that these were posted on 2001 and still being indexed! Anyway... Poster 1 : is liv styler (the girl in the movie "ARMAGGEDON") has a connection (sic) with the lead singer of aerosmith? Poster 2: si Liv Tyler?, wala, pero c Alicia Silverstone alam ko daughter ng lead vocalist nila (Liv Tyler? None, but I know that Alicia Silverstone is the daughter of their lead vocalist) Poster 3: liv tyler IS the daughter of the vocalist of aerosmith. ConfusedPoster: pls. explain the song MacArthurs Park. I really cannot see any logic why "someone left the cake out in the rain and I'd never have that recipe again"?

Ice Water!

2005-11-27T17:40:00.000+03:00

It's gonna be December on Thursday and one thing that I hate about what it implies is that you get very cold water in the mornings and evenings. The past few days, I've been taking cold showers in the morning but the water was bearable. When I was in college and in Baguio (a mountainous region in the Philippnies which typically has about 13-18 degrees temperature in early mornings), I never bought myself a water heater. Water coming from the faucet would be like 8-10 degrees cold. I'd usually wet my hair with "ice water" first, then my arms and then I start jumping like crazy to prepare myself for the whole body splash. Once you get the thing going, you just continue with it till your body adjusts or till it becomes numb, whichever comes first. But I don't want to do the same routine again. So I woke up at 4 AM today and turned on the water heater for my 5:45 bath. It felt good to take the warm shower. I guess that's what I'll be doing for the next few weeks!

PinoytechQatar and Friday

2005-11-27T17:36:00.000+03:00

Qatar - A few weeks back, I was invited through google to join an online group of Filipinos who are in Qatar. The group was composed of Filipinos in Information Technology. Last weeek we decided to meet for the first time and set a date on Friday. Anyway, our supposed to be group meeting became a meeting of 2, me and Kutch, as the others became tangled with other pressing matters. We met at Starbucks in City Centre at 4 and just talked about what we do, life in Qatar and stuff. We went around the mall looking at TVs, LCDs, Speakers and computer peripherals. By 6:30, we got hungry and decided to go to the Souk to eat in a Filipino restaurant. I got home at about 9:30 after driving him home in Salata. Although it was just the 2 of us, it was good to at least have met another Filipino who basically shares the same interest in IT. We're hoping that we'd have a good turn out next time. By the way, if you want to join the group, feel free to visit http://groups.google.com/group/pinoytechqatar .

Guns & Roses

2005-11-27T17:24:00.000+03:00

When I was in 3rd year of my highschool life, Guns and Roses (GnR) were king in the Philippines. Axel Rose was more popular than Michael Jackson and Slash, his eyes covered with his curly long hair, was next to being a god being the mysterious guitar genuis that he was. Bon Jovi was getting killed ( I actually believed that it's lead singer was already dead when one frontman announced "Bon Jovi is Dead" while doing their gig). You'd walk in the school grounds and see a guy waving a guitar in every corner. I'm not too sure if it was GnR who inspired us to listen to rock songs as they had many contemporaries; Ludicris, Metallica, Poison, etc.. but more often than not, every guitar player knew the chords to "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (G-D-C) as re-popularized by GnR.

They were a hit. On that year, they launched a double album, Use your Illusions I & Use your Illusions II, which people lapped up. They took took the 1st and 2nd slots on Billboard. This has got to be one of the rarest in the industry. My dad even gave me a VHS copy of their tour in Japan which I watched over and over again. Yes, I was a fan and still a fan.

Last Friday, I went to rental shop and saw an original DVD of their Tokyo tour. I immediately asked the owner if he had one for rent. Sadly, he didn't have one and the copy I was holding was for sale. Well, I'm a fan but not too much of a fanatic to buy a QR120 DVD of GnR. He then told me that I can buy a copy for QR30. I gladly jumped on it and bought myself the 2-disc copy. I tried playing them last night but my Xbox wouldn't play them. Then I realized that they were copied on DVD+R discs which my box doesn't read. Too bad. I do hope I can get him to copy them on DVD-R discs....then I would be happy ;)

Xtian's Currents

2005-11-23T16:11:00.000+03:00

Currently playing on the Xbox: Half Life 2 Far Cry Instincts Currently Watching on TV: Everwood (2nd Season) Miss Match (Alicia Silverstone TV Series) Currently watching on MTV: Wild Boyz Pimp my Ride Punk'd Viva La Bam Currently listening to: Don't Stop me Now - Queen (Greatest Hits) Forevermore - Side A (Live)

Current Favorite Music Video: My Humps (Black Eyed Peas) Don't Lie (Black Eyed Peas) Wake me up when September Comes (Green Day)

Current projects: www.annduranproductions.com/ann.htm

Macaroons

2005-11-23T16:00:00.000+03:00

I don't know if it's just me, since I've been pinning for some months ago, or either they're really good but you must try the Macaroons in Lulu Hypermarket. I bought 1 box of about 25 pieces for 8.50. I've shared them with some officemates and they agree. Mavis and I saw these macaroons months ago in Lulu and I asked her to get some. When we got home, we found out that she took the wrong box. We had to settle to eating our baked breads instead of the macaroon I wanted. This time, when I saw them on the shelves, I didn't hesitate to get a box and try them out. As soon as I got in the car, parked in Lulu, I opened the box and ate one and IT TASTED GOOD! So you better watch out for these yummy coconut macaroons when you go to Lulu to do your groceries. I don't think you can get them any better than this. If you do, then send me your macaroons so I can compare and judge... he he he. I wonder if Lulu is going to send me another box for promoting their macaroons... hmmm.. i don't think so.

Freddie Mercury and Queen

2005-11-23T15:31:00.001+03:00

Freddie Mercury. His name might not be a great as John Lennon's but I still consider him one of a few of his generation. He has a certain charisma that people love about him and made Queen an act to watch. They were supposedly the ones who started Glam Rock, somewhat of a show-off band that likes to include the audience in their performance. Anyone who was already 10 years old by the 1990's could probably chant "We Will Rock You", sing a piece of "We are the Champions" or clap their hands to "Radio Ga Ga". Who could forget the baselines of "Another one Bites the Dust", "Bicycle Race" and the David Bowie-Freddie Mercury collaboration, "Under Pressure" (whose baseline was used by Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby"). Their songs and lyrics are not typical; talking about mundane things (Bicycle Race, Radio Ga Ga) but something that people often forget. No one could ever create a song like Bohemian Rhapsody and pull it off like they did. Only Freddie Mercury and Queen. I still listen to them. In fact, I have them on my on-board cd and listen to Queen every morning as I go to work and listen to them again when I come home. It had stayed there for about a month now. My current favorite song would be a less popular one titled "Don't Stop Me Now". It's pretty upbeat even for Queen. Now, I need to burn me a copy of Guns & Roses' first 2 albums...

Am I Funny?

2005-11-21T17:00:00.000+03:00

Abu Karbal Bookshop

2005-11-19T17:07:00.000+03:00

Qatar - People in Doha usually get their serving of books from Jarir Bookstore which can be found near the Ramada Signal. They have some of the latest published books along with whatever you need in terms of office supplies, crafts, phones, computers and magazines. But this week, Jarir failed me. I was looking for Adobe Photoshop CS2 Classroom in a book for my team to use and called them up to see if they have it on their shelves. Alas, they didn't have it nor can they order it. Abu Karbal Technical Bookshop is not as big as Jarir's showroom. In fact, it probably occupies less than 1/4 of its showroom. However, if you're into technical books or anything related to computing, I guess it has a better and updated selection than what Jarir has. The bookshop itself is located in Marjab street. If you're coming from Al Sadd going to the Ramada Signal, you need to turn right just after Burger King (hhmm.. now I'm not sure if it's Burger King or Hardees - will look into it and update this). You'd see a green sign to your right that says "Marjab" once you enter the street itself. Now, go straight and pass 2 stoplights and slow down a bit. You'd find the shop to your right and if lucky enough, you can park your car just it front of it. Easy Peasy! You can also contact them and ask if they have the book you're looking for before you go there.

Abu Karbal Bookshop P.O. Box 10066Doha, QatarMiddle East Tel : 00974-368881 Fax : 00974-368880

Either you give them the title of the book or go to Amazon and look for the ISBN no. which makes it easier for them and to be sure that it is the book you're looking for. By the way, the Photoshop book costs QR200. Books here are quite expensive indeed.

2005 Vacation!

2005-11-19T16:39:00.000+03:00

Qatar - Yes, I got my plane ticket the other day. I got a seat waiting for me on December 22 which would take me home, back to the Philippines, just in time for Christmas. I actually booked since September since Christmas flights are always full... and expensive! I had to pay QR3510 for this baby! When I bought my wife a ticket, it only cost QR3010, i think. But since it's peak season for the airlines, they bumped it to QR500 more. What a cheat. The only thing that explains this is that the airlines are taking advantage of people wanting to travel. I mean, I would understand if they charged more when there are less people flying since they still have to use the same amount of fuel for the plane with less people on it. But if flights are full, then there's no sense in charging more except if you want to take advantage of people like me. I wouldn't whine if my company is paying for my ticket but since I haven't really finished 6 months of work yet, I'm not yet entitled to the ticket but would be paid for the 19 weekdays that I'm allowed to have this year. That results to about 25 days in total including the 3 weekends that I have. Good enough, right? And next year, I'll be allowed 37 weekdays! Whoa! That results to about 51 days of vacation... and paid at that. So I'm excited to go home! I was also able to submit my leave application to my company and had it verbally approved by my supervisor and now waiting approval from my Manager. Just a month and a few days to go...

What's Showing on City Centre?

2005-11-16T19:33:00.000+03:00

Qatar - You can follow this link to see what's showing on Doha City Centre Cinemas alongside with their schedules. You can even check what's showing in Bahrain! Or even better, this shows you all the movies and their schedules around the Gulf! You can check what's shoing on Cinema Land (Landmark Mall), Doha Cinema (Between C Ring Road and Najma Road), Grand CityCentre (City Centre), Gulf Cinema (Between C Ring Road and Najma Road), and the Mall Cinema (The Mall). No more late entrances and missing 30 minutes of the film! Be sure to add them to your Favorites and check weekly as they get updated as scheduled. Although it seems that Qatar is late in showing some of the good movies out there. Bahrain is already showing March of the Penguins. I wonder when they'll show Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...mmm... hopefully early December. And I can't wait for the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, which I hope to catch in the Philippines while on vacation this January!

Of Viruses, Spywares, Adwares, Malwares and Dialers

2005-11-15T20:09:00.000+03:00

5 years ago, computing people were just worried about their PC's getting viruses and the millenium bug. I think I've only seen 3 virus attacks from when I started my foray into computing till the year 2000. Just as long as you get yourself one of those anti-virus software, then you're almost sure that you're protected. But that was 5 years ago and the whole situation is now different. Viruses, dialers, spyware, adware, malware or any other wares that they'll develop, they now occupy your machines, dwelling on your hard drives and hiding within your system files. A virus is a virus but what are dialers, spywares and adwares? These are all malicious programs you might get from installing software or browsing internet pages that you surf to and attach themselves to your system without you knowing. A dialer might try to use your modem and dial a number that would charge you for your call. Spywares hide on your system, collect and get data and information from your machine and send these data invisibly to you. Adwares are much like spyware but the information they get is used to choke you with ads, pop-ups, and banners. I spent 2 days formating, installing, formating and reinstalling my OS on the laptop because I mistakenly turned off my antivirus and my antispyware softwares. I suddenly got these pop-ups appearing and knew by then that I got hit. Yeah, I've been hit before. Getting on the net would make my system slow down to a crawl. I did try to squash the spyware by deleting registry keys, DLLs and exe files, running antispyware and antivirus software. They did detect some infected files, deleted them, but never really got rid of the whole thing. The next step was to just format my drive C:/ . I've learned from experience to always split my physical drive to at least 2 partitions, drive C and D. Always keep your personal files on drive D and if you know how to, move your My Documents too. So I just formatted my drive C, installed my softwares and hoped that everything worked fine. But that was not the case. Apparently, one of the software I always install seems to have a spyware. After about 6-8 reformats, I decided to slowly build back my system, installing only the antivirus and antispyware software and some base drivers, and installing Windows SP2! I think that helped since I got it working without hitches again. And I'm back to blogging!

Big Girl Xiane

2005-11-12T18:39:00.000+03:00

Philippines - My daughter Xianelle is only 2 years old (2 and 5 months on November 17 to be exact). Yet everyone who gets to see her (even before we left Qatar) would comment that she didn’t look like her age and that she’s big/tall for her age. Back then, Tian and I could only comment: “Oh is she really?” as we didn’t have any clue as to how big or tall a 2-year old should be. I only realized that it was true when we got here. Most of the 2-year old kids that we know of are smaller than Xianelle. She has a playmate who’s months older but smaller than her. I even have a 3 1/2 year old cousin who’s smaller than she is, and a 4 year old who’s as tall as her. Just this afternoon, two of our friends came to see us. They were so surprised to see how big she is. They both agreed that Xiane looked like a four year old. Well, I just hope that she really grows up to be tall, at least taller than me and her dad. What made Xiane a big girl? Lots of milk. I breastfed Xianelle from birth until she was 10 months old. But knowing that it wouldn’t be enough for her, I was also giving her infant formula milk. She started with S26 and then shifted to Promil Gold when she turned 6 months old. When she turned 1 she shifted to Progress Gold, all three are manufactured by Wyeth. Xiane, now 2 years old, would drink 150 ml of milk and would ask for another bottle (150 ml) and another…but I usually try to discourage her on the third serving, thinking that she’d be over fed and for fear that she’d end up throwing up. Speaking of which, Xiane did throw up when she woke up from her nap yesterday. I couldn’t think of any other cause but “impacho” (over-eating). At breakfast, she had a bottle of milk and ate rice with soup. Before lunch, she had waffle dog, and then ate fries and macaroni soup for lunch itself. With her small stomach, it is no wonder that she had to throw up. But I like her having a good appetite rather than lacking it. It makes me happy that she’s eating well, for nothing can be more frustrating than having a hard time feeding your child. At least, we just have to make sure that she’s not just eating the right food but also just the right amount of food. And so that’s what makes a big girl…

My Husband is Sick

2005-11-12T18:38:00.000+03:00

Philippines - Tian texted (sms) me today and told me that he had fever last night and chilled. He’s having tonsillitis. He has been complaining about it since yesterday, maybe he caught a virus or bacteria when he went to Bahrain last Tuesday. I just wish that I were in Qatar just to comfort and take care of my husband. It is very difficult to get sick, more so to be sick when you’re all by yourself. I know being sick, only adds up to his loneliness. The least that I could do is remind him to take his medicines and to take care of himself and to pray for him. I just wish I could do more. Get well soon babe… Love you, mwuahhh!!!

Weekly Outing in Angeles

2005-11-12T18:36:00.000+03:00

Philippines - Last Sunday, November 6, my mother-in-law decided that we go to the Centennial Park in Clark. Clark used to be one of the major US Military bases. It was home to the US Air Force. But since the bases were pulled out, it became a base for different multinational and local companies. In 2002, the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport was inaugurated. It is also yet to house SM Department Store, the biggest chain of malls in the country owned by Henry Sy. But most of all, it’s wide and open space has become a favorite recreational spot for the locales of Pampanga, especially of Angeles and Dau. Xiane and I, along with Mamita, Lolo, Tita Tin, Tita Doc, Yiyi (Xiane’s cousin) and Des (Yiyi’s nanny) went there at 8:00 in the morning. There, the little girls as well as the big ones, had fun riding the swing and the see-saw. It was such a delight to hear my daughter’s laughter with all the swinging and sliding. It was also a great spot for taking photos. Then later on, we went to yet another park inside Clark. This time it was the El Sombrero Riding Stable. You could go horse back-riding and ride the carriages but we decided to just watch. Instead we rented a bicycle with a side car so that the kids can ride. Both Xiane and Yiyi had fun as Des drove them around the park. Then when we’ve had enough, it was time to leave. Tomorrow is yet another Sunday, and we’re scheduled for a swim at a local resort. This one, I’m sure Xiane will truly enjoy.

A Date with Zorro

2005-11-11T18:42:00.000+03:00

Philippines - I was scheduled to watch “The Legend of Zorro” last Tuesday, November 9. I was going to watch it with my mother-in-law. But with the schedule that she had to keep in running her business, our date was put on hold. Then, three days later it was decided that I’d just go see the movie by myself. Movie houses in the country usually run movies only for a week but luckily, they’ve decided to extend this one for another week. Finally I was able to see it today The Legend of Zorro is the sequel of the hit movie, The Mask of Zorro. It starred the “muy simpatico” Antonio Banderas as Alejandro dela Vega and Zorro himself; and the “gorgeous” Catherine Zeta Jones as Elena dela Vega, the better half of Zorro. Although story-wise, the first film was more engaging, I would say that I did like the sequel. Having seen the first Zorro, I was excited to know what has become of the charismatic hero and heroine. True enough, the film will give you an answer to that. The main actors are still as intense (in their portrayal) as they were in the first Zorro. With both their charm, they could easily get away with the physical signs of aging. Ultimately, it was entertaining and Zorro was a worthy date.

New Taxis in Bahrain

2005-11-10T16:05:00.000+03:00

Bahrain - I got to ride the new white-orange taxis that roam the streets of Bahrain the other day. Before, the old taxis were colored orange-yellow. I got to talking to the driver and was told that all taxi drivers are now Bahrainis instead of the Pakistanis and Indians which drove them previously. I was telling him that their charges are now higher than what was being asked just 4 months ago. I could understand if they charge higher if gas prices are inflating, but in the Middle East, gas price inflation is rare. A bottled drinking water is even costlier than a liter of petrol/gas! He roughly earns 15-18BD (if he's lucky) a day but has to pay 5BD/day for car rent and 1.5BD/day for Taxi license and another 1.5 for gas. I was commenting that it was good that Bahrainis are now being given the more job opportunities but was told that although it was good, it could be better. He was saying that a lot of other nationalities have now been recruited to the Bahrain military and police force and being paid much more than the Bahrainis. He also didn't like being ordered upon and shouted at by these foreigners wearing his country's badge which is understandable. Why is this happening when the government can choose to train and employ Bahrainis instead of foreigners to do the policing and safeguarding their own country? The problem of Taxis in Bahrain is that a lot of people have their own cars and the expat community, which usually uses the Taxi, isn't as big as compared to Doha. That's why in Bahrain, you can hail a taxi in less than a minute. The supply is higher than the demand and taxi drivers spend more time roaming the streets than taking passengers to their destinations.

To Bahrain and Back

2005-11-10T16:00:00.000+03:00

Yesterday was a really busy day for me. I was scheduled to have my ADSL connected in the morning so I had to wake up early as the guys who do the installation can come anytime. I called Qtel just to ask them if they knew what time their technicians would be coming but was told to just wait for their call. After a while, I got a SMS message confirming that I do have a scheduled appointment and I should call a number which apparently was the number of the technician. And so I called and told the guy that I had to have it installed as I had to leave the flat at 11:30 as I had a flight to catch. By 9:30 he was there and after 15 minutes of work, was out the door. How can such a simple installation take them a month and a week to schedule? By 11:40, I was on my way to the airport to catch my 1:15 PM flight to Bahrain. The whole flight takes just 28 minutes. You spend more time on the airport, waiting and looking for a seat, than on the plane itself. At exactly 2 PM, I was out of Bahrain customs, paying 100QR for a 2 day visa. Yousef, a friend and colleague from my previous company, fetched me from the airport and had wonderful lunch prepared by his wife at his flat. It's traditional Jordanian food which I forgot the name was; but it's basically round eggplants with rice, meat and spices in them and Zucchinis filled with the same and steamed. Delicious! We went to the office at exactly 3. Everybody was surprised to see me walk in and I too was surprised at how different yet comfy the office looks like. I spent the next 2 hours just talking to friends and getting to know what they've been up to the past months; I was told the of the "Web Director" incident which was really funny, of a friend who bought a QR15,000 computer, and of two guys from the same office bumping into each others car. It's just nice to feel welcome in your previous work place and knowing that you've made good friends with the people there. I wished I could have stayed longer but had to leave at 5 to catch the opening of the bank in Exhibition road to have my certificates encashed and my account closed. I also went to an Exchange office to have the money changed to US Dollars as the exchange rate from Bahraini Dinar (BD) to US Dollars is better than BD to Qatari Rials to US Dollars. By the way, the exchange rate for a Bahraini Dinar to the US dollar is .378. I was supposed to meet with Ricardo in Seef Mall at 5:45 PM but he called me up to say that he was caught in traffic at the Saudi-Bahrain Causeway and would take him another hour or so to get to Bahrain. I then realized that people could call me up on my mobile having a Qatari Sim (Automatic Roaming) but can't send or call using the same. Anyway, having that time to burn, I decided to go to an internet café so I could send Mavis SMS messages through Chikka. After an hour, I got inside a taxi and had the driver take me to Seef Mall. It was about a 10 minute ride which he charged me for 2BD. As I was passing Marks and Spencer, I decided to buy some long-sleeved shirts for the office. Rico and I met at Starbucks but ate in a pizzeria on the ground floor. He was bringing my Webby Awards Nomination plaque which I would love to display in the office…he he he. Miraculously, he was also bringing our DVD of House of the Flying Daggers which we've always asked him to give back to us. He just always forgets. It was nice to see him as it's been 5 months since we've seen each other. I've always invited him to Qatar but he can't seem to find time for it as he just moved to his new apartment in Saudi and trying to get everything settled again. We just talked about life, work, friends, his love life, family and stuff. He dropped me off the airport at 9 PM for my 10:15 flight. I had to pay 48QR for the 12-hour parking space (4 QR per hour!). I'm not too sure that if the airport or the airlines offer parking vouchers. In Bahrain, people can leave their cars for even a month in their parking without paying extra if your return flight is more than a week after your departure. I got home safely at about 11:15PM and was dead tired. My body was aching! At least I got to settle our accounts in the bank plus it was fun to see old friends and glad that I had the chance to visit them. So I got to visit Bahrain and back in less than 12 hours. Pretty busy day indeed.

Flight Plan

2005-11-09T18:40:00.000+03:00

Philippines - I got the chance to watch Flight Plan today. It was its opening day at the cinema and the 2nd film that I’ve seen since we came home for vacation. It starred the award-winning actress, Jodie Foster, whose last movie I saw was Panic Room. As the title suggests, almost the entire film was shot in an airplane. In the movie, Jodie, an aircraft engineer based in Germany, was flying with her 5-year old daughter back to New York, to bury the remains of her husband who committed suicide. Then she wakes up to find out her child was missing. And so the film revolves around her frantic search for her missing child. It’s such a surprise to know that there are indeed areas in a plane (unknown to us passengers) where one could hide. I liked it, as I love watching suspense-thrillers. Although this one has a touch of drama to it, which I liked and can relate to, being a mom myself. It is one film that would lead to you believe something, only to give you the most unexpected twist towards the end. This too is worth your hard-earned money. I even like it a lot better than Panic Room.

The Da Vinci Code

2005-11-07T08:48:00.000+03:00

I have just finished reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. It is a good read and intriguing at most. It writes about the Holy Grail, which it was believed, Christ used on his Last Supper and what secrets it was supposed to reveal. It has quite stirred a controversy and made Dan Brown a rich guy with millions of people buying the book to know what the controversy is about. What I want to emphasize to readers of the book is that it is fiction. What made it controversial is that the Author claims in the Acknowledgement that “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” A lot of the supposed to be “accurate” descriptions have been rebuffed by a lot of historians, scholars and researchers stating that Brown is almost wrong in all his description of history and the facts that he stated in the book. You can visit these websites, here here here, just to get an idea of what Dan Brown presented and what the scholars are saying about his claims. Again, the book is fiction. But Brown’s statement the items he stated are accurate is really misleading. I wouldn’t have any qualms about the book aside from this (and the bland ending). If people buy the book because of the media coverage, I would hope that they also look into the truth behind these claims and do their own research especially if they believe that Brown’s facts are accurate as he state they are. For Brown, I’m sure that he doesn’t really care if people are being misled as long as they buy the book. A movie is even being made about the book which I’m also sure, made Brown’s some millions richer. So why should he care? The least he could do is remove that line that makes the book controversial. But again, that is what keeps people buying his book, right? By the way, Dan Brown is also being sued as some claim that he ripped off the ideas of other books and rehashed them to make The Da Vinci Code.

The Chosen One

2005-11-06T17:47:00.000+03:00

I just watched the documentary found on the Star Wars III DVD and I was right! On the Documentaries and Featurettes section, The Chosen One documentary (about 3 minutes before the docu ends), George Lucas has just confirmed that indeed, Anakin was the Chosen One, the one who would bring balance to the Force. He was saying that even though he became Darth Vader, he was still the Chosen One and in the end, killing all the Sith; killing Darth Sidious/Palpatine and killing himself. A lot of Star Wars fans have been debating about Anakin being the Chosen One. Even Yoda says that the prophecy might have been misread meaning to say that Anakin might not have been the Chosen One at all. And at the end of Episode III, it didn’t look that he was. Some fans were saying that Luke Skywalker, his son, was the Chosen One as he managed to make his father realize that he still had good in him. Now, I’m going too have to watch the film commentary and see if he has anything to say about Darth Plagueis The Wise and how he fits into the puzzle. Update soon…