Thursday, April 28, 2011

Stomach Connection


KEBAB
 
kaPza & other arabian food

One of the best things about living in Saudi Arabia is a variety of restaurants and fastfood outlets available. You may have a kitchen in your home but you really never to use it unless you particularly like cooking.  In Dammam area, AL Khobar and Dharhan have a variety of restaurants to suit all your budgets, almost all of them offering take-away and or home delivery. From a humble shawarma or falefel sandwich, through international chain of burgers and chicken, to tasty Thai and Indian cuisine, to ever delicious Filipino food and of course to a very popular Arabian food, Kapsa and Kebab and I'm sure you  can find all it here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia whatever you fancy.

In most cities here in the Kingdom, there are specific areas where restaurants are clumped together. You may have many choices to choose from, it depends upon your taste. As always it's a matter of opinion. But, for a Filipino nature (like me), if we sees restaurant that is full, it must be good. And take note, Filipino restaurants here are always full and not only my KABABAYANS loved to eat PAPAITAN, PAKBIT, PUTO, KUTSINTA etc. but other nationalities as well. I remember one time when I and my friends plan to eat at the KABAYAN restaurant in Khobar, large number of people queues just to full their stomach for lunch. Gosh, we moved to Jollibee outlet inside Al Ramaniyah Mall but it seems more and more people desperately waiting for available tables. Many reasons why Filipino foods and restaurants are the first choice to everyone ravenous stomach, fisrt the quality of food and the unwaivering service, cleanliness and of course the budget. We decided to to have lunch at the Native Arabian Restaurant (no choice, gutom na kasi). Upon arrival of a sit-down restaurant, you will be asked if you would like some Saudi champagne. This is of course not champagne, but a fruit pinch consisting of apple juice and perrier which you might think a "free welcome drink" hahahahah but later it will be added to your bill at an exorbitant rate. Just a reminder, ASK HOW MUCH BEFORE SAYING YES else you will pay extra bucks as what I did.



The Power of Determination

In the end determination is what carries you towards your goals. If man has walked on the Moon or is going to land on Mars tomorrow, it is the power of determination which takes him where he wants to go. Without determination we cannot make progress. Life being so difficult, with so many twists and turns that seem to be out of our control, we cannot hold on to our dear hopes and aspirations without this valuable talent holding us firmly committed to our goals. Determination thrives if there is faith and hope, faith in your abilities and talents and your capacity to deal with problems as they arise in the absence of certainty and no guarantees. One may not may not have hope in the future, in things that are not under one’s control, but one should have hope in one’s abilities and skills to meet with any challenges. Hope is the rudder and faith is the fuel, that keep the boat of determination floating in the sea of life. If there is one gift that you can give to yourself to achieve success in life, it is the power of determination. Without it you remain a passive spectator in the drama of your life. If you have the determination to undertake a particular course of action, to achieve a particular dream, to attain a particular status or position of honor or prestige in your life, nothing can stop you and nothing can deter you. Impediments may come and delay your progress, may disturb you temporarily, may even lead you astray for some time, but they cannot withstand the sustained pressure and energy of strong determination, the power that you generate within yourself to hold on tenaciously to the course of action you have chosen and to your cherished goals. This is one of the most valuable assets you can have in your life. If you have this, you will have everything you want in your life. You are successful or unsuccessful to the extent you are determined and committed to your goals. The human mind can do anything it wants to, but only if it has the unwavering strength of determination, of the certitude to reach the goal it has chosen for itself, of the freedom of choice it exercises in deciding the kind of life it wants to pursue. With faith in God and confidence in yourself, and with strong determination, you can achieve the impossible, realize the most difficult dreams and achieve incredible success in your life. Remember this formula, write it down somewhere in your house or place of work, in your note book or diary, in your memory, or in your computer :

Success = Idea + Determination.

Idea - Determination = Wishful thinking, fantasy, a waste of time and valuable resources.

Coping with Homesick


Being homesick is very common to all people especially who are working abroad. If you feel sad and lonely, think about people at home all the time, and just feel generally depressed, then you are probably homesick. Fortunately, there are ways to cope with it.


The following tips should help you overcome your feelings of homesickness.
Get involved. Being involved in different activities will keep you busy, therefore reducing your time to be homesick. Participate outdoor activities like sports. Attend prayer meetings with your collegues, or going to the shopping malls with friends. Not only will these activities keep you busy and reduce your time to be homesick, but they will also allow you to meet more people and make new friends. The more friends you make, the less homesick you will feel.

Explore. Get to know your surrounding community by walking around. You will discover places where you feel comfortable hanging out. Once your environment becomes familiar to you, your feelings of homesickness should start to diminish.

Find a new hobby. To help take your mind off of home, get involved in a new hobby. Consider arts and crafts or an outdoor activity. Try to find a buddy who is interested in pursuing a new hobby too, so you will have someone to share it with.

Keep in touch with family and friends. Keep in touch with your family and friends from home through phone calls, texts, e-mails, facebook, twitter, etc. Just try not to call home every day because that might make you feel worse and increase your feelings of homesickness
Share your feelings with others. Many workers abroad, especially first timer, experience feelings of homesickness. If you share your feelings with your peers, you will find that you are not alone. Talking about your feelings with others who feel the same way will not only help you connect with those students, but it will also help you find more ways to adjust your life.

Keep in mind that your feelings of homesickness will go away eventually. As you get used to your new surroundings, you will grow more comfortable in your new environment.








High School Memories

When I was still in elementary level, I was excited to enter high school life. It was hard for me to adjust in my first year. I regret being in high school, that’s what I’ve told myself on that time. I remember when Mrs. Diola our English teacher in First Year Mahogany called me to introduce myself in front of my classmates my whole body that time was shaking; I was so nervous and shy. I can’t utter even a single word because I felt anxious and worried. Really, I was about to cry because all of my classmates are laughing at me coz I have speech difficulty (yungit, nga-nga etc.) plus the fact, that high school can be scary because not all of your classmates from elementary will go to the same school as you. Chances are half of the faces in your classroom are new ones, well in my case; I am the only one from Maragatas Elementary School in that section. More anxious, nervous and a little scared to make friends that day.

High school is the most exciting time of my life. High school is where everything starts - your development from a gawky kid to a confident teenager during this stage of your education is full of exciting possibilities. High school is where lifelong reputations and images and usually made. Whether you will be a smart student, prom queen type, the nerd, campus crush, or the popular athlete, you will get to know that in high school. Schools help the students get acquainted with each other by organizing freshman orientations before the formal start of classes. This will help ease the tensions between students, a lot of them strangers to each other.

As time goes by, it changes. I was enjoying my first, second, third and fourth year in high school. “As you get older, you get a harder work”. Night after night I was hammered with brain churning algebraic equations with Mrs. Castillon (1st year), trying to excel the biology lesson of Mr. Escalante class (2nd year), the mind bugling chemistry subject with Mrs. Dugenio (3rd year), the never ending problem solving for Physics class with Mr. Alda (4th year) while I desperately tried to discover my niche within the student body in which I missed. I admit I did not make the most of my high school life. Sometimes I had been a disobedient student. I hurt some of my friends. I was not able to be the person that I can be. I've had plenty of good times, as well as just as many bad times, in high school. The only thing I can say is that I learned. And the most important thing is that, not just that I learned through the books, but I learned about life and the road ahead of me. From being an inexperienced freshman to a somewhat mature senior, things have really changed for me.
Well, Life is just LIFE. And everything changes.
To all my Classmates, my friends, teachers and to my ALMA MATER LUPON SCHOOL OF FISHERIES Thank you so much for such a wonderful memories... KITA-KITA NALANG TA PUHON DIHA SA LUPON SA TAKDANG PANAHON.

A Path of Life

“Life is beautiful and yet life is not a bed of roses. Though it is full of ups and downs it has many facets of blessings and successes.
To some people, life is hard, cruel and merciless. These set of people see life as punishment throughout their entire lives. They therefore resigned themselves to fate, believing all is finished. To them, nothing that they do can ever be good. They take delight in committing crimes and maiming others to avenge their ill-fortune. They lost every sense of direction and most times, some of them go as far as committing suicide, just to escape the injustice life has meted out to them.
But there are those who see life as a challenge, a channel of discovery and innovation, a prospect for success and a gateway to wealth. To them life is sweet, colorful and kind. No matter the situation these people find themselves, they keep pressing on, believing in a cause, a cause to succeed and get the most out of life. No wonder an adage says, “Where there is life, there is hope.”
The will to succeed or fail lies within an individual jurisdiction. You can live life to the fullest with utmost satisfaction and fulfillment if you determine with all your mind, body and soul to succeed. On the other hand, life can be miserable to you if you take everything for granted and wait on fate to play itself out.
Setting of goals and strategic plans that will strive no matter the odds which may move against you is one of the basic things needed to get the best out of life. These goals which must be result oriented, should be followed up consistently even if things seem blurred or unyielding at first.
Life is a challenge. And for anyone to succeed in life, he must be ready to show the stuff he is made of. He must be ready to sacrifice his time and build up his mind frame toward success. What is happening in our environment should not influence or affect us in our daily quest for success in life. Instead, we should control the happenings around us.
Life is so easy, yet many people rush and miss what they want to achieve in life. Don’t rush in life. Take one step at a time. Each step should be properly planned before being launched. Steady, balance, mark and shoot. And before you know it, the sky will become the beginning of your success.
All the great men of today, has one way or the other tasted the other side of life but they did not cower. Instead, they were renewed to redefine their goals; they ride on with faith, believing in their potentials, focusing their mind on something, knowing fully well that in every black cloud there is always a silver lining.
I take life to be very simple and do you know what? Life is to be enjoyed. What about you?

Monday, April 4, 2011

SEX LIFE ng mga OFW sa SAUDI

Saudi Arabia is currently the largest hirer of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW)and has the largest Filipino workers among middle east countries. Most of the workers are engineers, architect, office workers and skilled workers like drivers etc. Filipinos, whether you like it or not lived in a liberated,open-minded and modern life. And obviously it is a very opposite life in Arab countries especially here in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And that is why SEX is the major taboo in this country.

It is a nature for us filipinos to have some talks about sex, whether it is by a green jokes or serious discussion. March 29, 2011, a group of Filipino workers (including me) came up with a conversation about sex while going to our camp. We laugh out loud sharing our sex experiences and sexcapades. And the topic is "Wildest Places You Had Sex". Here are the top ten answers:

1. At the rooftop (cat style)
2. Lavatory in the Airplane
3. Public Bus going to Province
4. Morgue - with lady embalmer (parang di ko yata kaya)
5. Hunted House - Making Porn movies (binayaran daw sya ng P10,000, kaloka)
6. Underwater- with Diving instructress (sosyal)
7. Public Toilet- Bus Terminal
8. Conference Room - After meeting with secretary
9. In an abandoned shack
10. Shopping Mall- C.R

Hahay (sigh), OFW in KSA just contented telling their sex stories, sexcapades coz they knew it's a big HARAM (forbidden) here in Kingdom to do such things or else you put behind bars up to 2 years.

to be continued...