eid holidays

Eid holiday is one of the most looked forward non-working holiday in Qatar. why not, there are only 3 public holidays that we can enjoy, First is the Al-Fitr, 2nd is what they called again Eid-Haj and 3rd is the Qatar Independence Day.

so far this is the 3rd time that I spent Ramadan season in this country and every year, there’s only one destination for working class, the beach! Its hard to believe how full resorts at this time especially the public beaches and since, this is a male dominated country, you can expect a ratio of 1:50 for man:woman, gosh, its tough to go swimming in long shorts (and sometimes trousers)…lol!

This year, I spent the holidays at my friend Mijie’s place. We ran out of ideas where to go so we decided on a day to day basis…First day, we went to a public beach in Al Khor and had grilled seafoods, stayed up to about 9:30am and transfered to a panoramic resort nearby.Check out this site : www.alsultanbeachresort.com. we  freshened up a bit had some milkshakes, had some photo sessions and left for simaisma area. The sight was gloomy, it was almost a deserted place had i not see a camel…we did not bother to go out of the car and we headed home to get some sleep because we planned to go to sealine…

We continued eating our grilled fish and squid at home and took a rest. But sealine didnt push through, so we went to the Aspire Park and just had an idle moment at the benches until we called it a day and dropped agnes and joey home.

Second day was mostly spent sleeping but we went out late afternoon to check out the Museum of Islamic Arts, however we changed our minds and decided to go Sealine instead. But we got tired sick of long traffic so we cut short our trip and returned back to Doha and had some coffee  instead.

  Tomorrow, there’s a high possibility that we will spend the rest of the day in sleeping…inshallah!

year 2

Today, July 29, 2009 marks my 2nd year living and working in doha.  I remembered the time I left Philippines with all my friends sending me off in NAIA. It was not a tearful scenario because we were all cramming for my show money hehehe… I was a bit short of 300 dollars and George had to use his father’s standby cash for operations to lend me so I could just pass through the immigration.

I had mixed feelings when the plane took off.  I was so sad to leave my comforts but was also looking forward to better opportunities. I can’t help but cry. I was praying to be happy in my new endeavour.

When we had a 4-hour stopover at Bahrain which gave me an opportunity to call my friend MJ in Doha,just so she’s sure that I was right on schedule.

My first few months was a mountainous stress. I think Ive spent a great amount of courage to keep me going until I got a more stable job in October. The rest is history.

As I’ve said in my previous write ups, wherever you may go there will always be good and bad side. I’ve experienced mostly bad but I know in time, good things will come. Keep on hoping *sigh*

I’m still in search for that elusive happiness and contentment and I’m quite sure I’ll find it somewhere far away here. Now again, I’m making a sweeping statement. Still, congratulations to me to have endured 2 years of ups and downs.

almost there

It could have been a perfect 2nd year in Doha but no, it seems that frustration and heartaches have found a home in me.

I got lucky to have been accepted by two prestigious companies I applied with but unfortunate not to be released by my current employer.

Personally, I find the Labor Law on sponsorship kinda unfair and all for the interests of the firms only. It is understandable for companies to put their employees on hold because they spent for the visas and also for the plane tickets to hire them but I still believe it should not be for life. If the employee served his/her contract period, say 2 years (or they can make it 3 or 4 but not forever), I think they should be given an option to seek for companies that can compensate them better, afterall, expats are here to work only for a certain period only and I guess getting a good package is something that they aspire.

I’ve heard a lot of people saying that local hires can transfer to a better company and be given a No-Objection-Certificate (NOC) but in my case, being a local hire, I still didn’t get it. My boss’  main reason was that he doesn’t want my case to be a precedent. He thinks that all of his employees will do the same, scouting for better opportunities and he will have a hard time finding for another secretary. I understand his point but I can’t help but be disappointed for I know everything would still be under his judgment. It was something that I didn’t expect from a boss Ive known to be a nice person.

For 2 years, Ive learned to love living in Doha, at some point, Ive even regarded it as my comfort zone but now that my future is grim and my opportunity to progress is also questionable , its high time to think. Fight or Flight? Let’s see….

wishin…and hopin..and prayin…

today is the day….i hope everything will turn out fine…

best times

It’s now signal no. 2 in Manila and i was on the phone with my friend George talking about how i misses what we usually do during bagyos etc where classes and work are suspended. He said those times were one of the best times of his life and to think that we were surviving with our meager salaries, he added…we don’t have to be rich to be happy.

I really like George’s attitude towards everything, so full of optimism and gratefulness.

If i have to make a list the “best times of my life”, I bet it would be a long list too…which only proves that I generally lived a happy life despite of failures and heartaches that pulled me down some time ago and the memories that once in a while visit me .

To name a few:

1. Weekends with friends-it will always be on top. Being together with my friends in foodtrips and laughters were really priceless. I have a lot of sets of friends, those from college years are my closest and those from my previous jobs, etc.  Mallings, movies, dvd marathons, out of towns and long trips.  I really miss going on a long trip to Baguio, Banaue, Sagada on a holyweek, also in out of town beach resorts or just even spending lazy days in DAP Tagaytay. I could never exchange them for anything.

2.Official Travels- even if its work related, its really an energy-booster to be away from the office and work on the field. My Japan trip is something that I will always cherish.

3. Celebrations. May it be birthdays, christmas or new years, promotions, anniversaries, reunions…basta kahit anong holiday a…its wonderful good to celebrate.

4. Being in love. Its damn hard to take this out. It will always be included minus the heartaches.

new address

We moved again *sigh*. I didn’t know our present address yet but its still within the vicinity of family food in Al-Nasser. Malayo lang at mainit lakarin kahit gabi waaah!

I realized how nomad I have been and the rest of my housemates. I already have a bunch of keys which confuses me all the time .  I wonder why I can’t let them go.

Almost 2 years in Doha, I had a record of 5 house move outs and a total of 5 room swaps. The transfer will always be stressful and tiring plus it takes time to go back to normal after disturbing my comfort zone…not to mention the money involve

Happy father’s day

to my tatay and the rest… happy dad’s day!

PS mania

ei, I’ve been out of touch lately. Jomar got me into another past time, fortunately I enjoyed playing it on the web. Pet Society is a big hit. I’ve been reading blogs about it and can’t believe that even “poopoos” were a major concern among pet owners.

PS reflects my character as a person.  Here are the proofs:

1. I am an impulsive buyer. After buying some stuffs for Chuchi, my pet, I have the tendency to resell it. Too bad, the depreciation cost of each item is more than 33%. I’ve wasted a lot of coins. In real life, I get easily excited when shopping and most of the time I end up buying some things which I really don’t need.

2. I am fickle-minded and indecisive. Waaaaaaah! I always change my mind and I do a lot of rearranging in Chuchi’s rooms.

3. Obssessive-Compulsive – whatever I want, I’m always trying my darnest to get it. Sa PS din, may mga bagay na nagrereflect ag pag ka OC ko hehehe, from details ng color, types ng doors and windows pati yung activities, mystery and shopping,  kailangang maperfect and race and hurdles, ball games, frisbee etc, etc.

4. I am generous I give lavish gifts to friends hehehe.

Thats all for now, will update you more of Chuchi’s activities in the coming days!

to all moms out there…

to my mom and the rest….happy mother’s day!

pacman aftermath

it is undeniably the hottest talk of the town.why not, every Fipilino around the globe is standing tall because of Pacquaio and even if you are not a boxing fanatic, you can’t help but join the festivity.

On an early Sunday morning, i got a text from an officemate asking who won the fight. I should have been upset because it snatched me from my much needed sleep but instead i got excited and texted my family in the Philippines. We didn’t subscibe for PPV since we can’t take a leave from the office and we’re kinda sure that minutes after the fight, we could already take a peek of it through the youtube. Although, iba pa rin talaga pag live. A little later nag flash report sa ANC na panalo na si pacman. What a relief! Feeling ko kasi di ako mapakali pag di ko pa nalaman.

So the whole day of sunday at the office was spent browsing and watching the fight, reading forums, posting shout outs sa facebook, twitter at kung ano ano pa. Grabe! I was overloaded with information but I was still wanting of any newsbits, anecdotes and reactions of all people. Its the time to connect with friends elsewhere and chat about the experience. It was really a universal celebration.

My sister told me that our town was affected by electricity black out the week before and all people were really problematic where to watch the boxing match. Its really of national concern! Since we have a generator, most of our neighbors flocked in our little house to watch it and my sister described it as almost chaotic the whole time.

Last night, di pa kami nakuntento, Nanood pa uli using a projector. Ang saya, para na rin kaming nasa ringside hehehe…

Its really funny everytime something victorious for the Philippines happens especially if its about the Pacman. I think it will last for weeks or so. During our luchtime, we talk about the same old stories that everybody knew but still its good hearing it mga adik!

I’ve said this I think a lot of times but still can’t get over it… Galing talaga ni Pacquaio! Mabuhy!