From left to right: Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, present President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who played a vital role in shaping the UAE as it is today, Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, present Vice-President of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.

This kind of poster/painting is seen at the entrance of almost every building in the country. This was taken at the entrance of Burj Dubai Hotel.

This week’s theme: Colorful

A camel with colorful headdress at Pristine’s school. She (the humped one is a she) looks pretty stylish, I just have no idea if she liked it or not.

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12 year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the cleaner would remove them and the next day the girls would put them back.

Finally the headmistress decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the cleaner. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the cleaner who had to clean the mirrors every night.

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the cleaner to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers… and then there are educators.

I’m out of the country for a month and a half and these are 13 things I’m NOT missing about Dubai:

1. Traffic

2. Dust storms

3. Long working hours I have (I work 6 days a week)

4. Mental driving of some people

5. Road diversions on almost a daily basis

6. Endless construction

7. Dirty streets near where I work

8. Overly cold malls

9. My freezing office

10. Rude taxi drivers

11. Inefficient public transport

12. The steep electricity bills due to a/c 24 hours to maintain a sustainable home environment during summer

13. The hot and unbelievably humid summer (free sauna outside)

Lovely blooms, real and fresh, I bet being replaced daily at the posh Burj Dubai Hotel.

It has been raining every single day, mostly in the afternoon since Pristine and I landed in the Philippines. It sure does annoy people who live here - how it takes forever for the laundry to dry, how small swamps and mud puddles are formed in an hour of downpour, how we have to carry an umbrella when we go out in the sunny morning because rain is highly anticipated in the afternoon.

Me? I am not bothered at all. I missed the rain when we were living in Dubai. The last time it rained there was last January. I love waking up to the sound of rain in the morning or after an afternoon nap. I have another week of tropical weather bliss. It’s hot summer in most parts of the world but here, it’s just perfect. Not too hot at maximum of 31C and the rain pleasantly reduces the temperature.

I am happy.

The familiar skies always make me feel I am home. Pristine and I finally arrived in my home town at 12 noon today. See the blue skies and the white fluffy clouds - It’s always like this every time I get off the plane.

We left Tokyo for Manila on Saturday morning. Pristine asked me over and over again when will all the plane riding will end so I promised her, two plane rides more and then we’ll stay put for 10 days and just relax and fly back to Japan again.

We arrived in Manila around noon and immediately went to the hotel. Our flight to my parent’s house is scheduled on the next day yet so we always have to stay in Manila for a night. On our way to the hotel, I was bombarded by questions by my young daughter. Why are there people selling things in the street? What are those kids doing under the heat of the sun? The sight of street children peddling all sorts of stuffs always spark curiosity among foreigners, young or old. There is an estimated fifty to seventy thousand street children in  Metro Manila alone. It’s been 12 years since I left the Philippines but they still remain to thrive in the streets, gambling their young lives and that sight always break my heart whenever I go back to my birth country.

I’m still on vacation. Enjoy this week’s joke:

***** 

An 18 year old girl tells her mum that she has missed her period for two months. Very worried, the mother goes to the Chemist and buys a pregnancy kit. The test result shows that the girl is pregnant.

Shouting, cursing and crying, the mother says, “Who was the pig that did this to you? I want to know!”

The girl picks up the phone and makes a call.

Half hour later and a Ferrari stops in front of their house. A mature and distinguished man with grey hair impeccably dressed in an Armani suit steps out of the Ferrari and enters the house.

He sits in the living room with the father, mother and the girl and tells them “Good morning, your daughter has informed me of the problem. I can’t marry her because of my personal family situation but I’ll take charge. I will pay all costs and provide for your daughter for the rest of her life.

Additionally, if a girl is born I will bequeath her 2 retail stores, a townhouse, a beachfront villa and a £2million bank account.

If a boy is born my legacy will be a couple of factories and a £4,000,000 bank account.

If twins they will receive a factory and £2,000,000 each.

However, if there is a miscarriage, what do you suggest I do?”

At this point, the girls father, who had remained silent, places a hand firmly on the man’s shoulder and tells him, “You shag her again.”

Like I needed a big shove from underground to come back from my blogging hiatus, there was an earthquake in Tokyo today, right when Pristine and I were out shopping at 2 pm. The ground shook and I felt it. I looked around, some people felt it too…we all just looked at each other. Underground train? No, because we are in Tachikawa and there are no subway stations below us!

Where’s Pristine?? She walked away to see some toys while I paid stuffs in the cashier. I left the counter and quickly grabbed my daughter and ran outside. We hurriedly went to get the train home and then I got a phone call from my husband who just arrived from Dubai saying his train stopped just before Tachikawa. The train I used was the last one to leave the station. Public transport personnel are checking the tracks and the train schedules are having really bad delays right now.

Have to end posting now, gotta look for alternative transport going to the airport. We are leaving for Manila tomorrow (to attend a wedding next week). I hope the quake was just one of those minor ones I have experienced in Japan.

***** UPDATE *****

The trains started running after less than an hour. Thankfully, the quake was not the “big one” that is predicted to happen in Tokyo so I guess it was just another of those several shaking ground phenomenon this earthquake prone country faces from time to time. It was still scary though as it felt like rocks rolling under my shoes.