DIY shoe rack

I finally got the willpower to get up and do something about the piles of shoes that we have in one of the rooms that we have in the house. This room was supposed to be the library but ironically doesn’t have any books in it. So we’ve changed the name and started to call it the junk room since all types of junk can be found in there.
On youtube, I got my inspiration for a shoe organizer that I can use to neatly keep shoes. After a few videos, I dragged my ass up to make my own shoe rack with the help of my uncle. First off, my uncle and myself went to the hardware to buy some small nails, a small can of orange paint, brush, sandpaper and a bottle of paint thinner. We went home and got started right away by taking apart the wood of one of the old bed frames that has been sitting in the terrace for months. I had my uncle cut the wood into different pieces and lengths which we would then assemble to form the shoe rack. After cutting the wood into sizes, I used the sandpaper to smooth the wood and then covered it with a mixture of orange paint and paint thinner and left to dry. Then after they dried my uncle took three pieces of wood to form one level and attached it to just one piece of wood on either side (we ran out of wood). The pieces formed 6 levels that would fit 5 pairs of shoes on each level. All of this work took just half a day and more than half the cost.
And I must say, I’m proud of my amateur wood construction home improvement job.

at Ivy's

At Ivy’s house in Tung Chung, Hongkong with Ivy and my mother, Nancy.
Thanks for everythingg Ivy :) God bless you.

the rose and other quotes

I went to the restaurant (Sakura) just across the hotel Ruposhi Bangla to get something to eat for dinner. When I came back to the hotel, a lady, an employee of the hotel handed me this rose and before I could tell her that I am not a delegate or someone who is attending a seminar in the hotel, she gestured that this was for everyone and that she has no intention of taking it back from me.
I suddenly remember Shakespeare’s words, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name, smells just as sweet“. With this, I also remember one of my college professors who used to say those Shakespearean words and another quote came to mind, from the mouth of Mr. Dinopol...”I will give you wings so you can fly” in reference to his role as teacher who gives his students the knowledge and guidance they need and for the couples in class and those who have special friends, he’d say, “Tie your heart”. As if it was a kite that’ll get blown away by the wind of emotions. It was good advice at that time.

the godfather

This is a very tasty pizza (nicknamed the Godfather on the menu) at an Italian restaurant called Gotti’s in Megamall. I had the whole pizza for myself so I wasn’t able to finish it even though it was so delicious. I decided to bring it back to Jeddah. I heated the pizza when I arrived in the compound and although I thought it was a bit dodgy, I ate it. I had a terrible stomach infection a day later because of the pizza that had gone bad. It was my fault and will never ever, ever be that merciless to my body again. Sure it satisfied my craving, but the pain in my gut was all too much to do the same mistake again no matter how good and safe it might look.
I will however, go back to Gotti’s when I get a Manila layover enshallah in December this year.

beef bhoona in bangla

I’ve been to Dhaka for quite a few times now and I would have to say my ultimate favorite Bangladeshi dish is this beef dish called bhoona. I first tasted this soft meet goodness at a “carenderia” in the market where my cc friend took me for dinner. It was the right mixture of tastes for me. The hotness/spiciness, salty, sweet flavor took me by surprise the first time I had it.
I ordered this beef bhoona in the photo above from a restaurant with a really poor lighted interior (it felt like a nightclub inside with all the cigarette smoke and the men and the sofas and the darkness) called Sakura. It is just across the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, formerly Sheraton Hotel. I think it costs around 300 takas which includes the rice. Oh the rice, oh my God. There’s too much rice put in the green box and I like it. I have taken a photo of the beef bhoona many times because I didn’t want to make it look like shit on top of the rice but somehow it always manages to do that. This is the best picture that I’ve taken; I’ve given up on trying so hard. It might not look very appealing in the photo, but trust me when I say, it is really good. It never fails to satisfy my taste buds.

a birthday wish come true

I’ve just arrived in Dhaka on the eve of my birthday. My bestfriend Leah who works in Singapore has told me that she was gonna buy a cake for me on my birthday. And she did..around 12 in the midnight, Singapore time, I skyped with her and she sang a birthday song for me and presented this sweet cake that I had wished for. I was so happy and proud and very grateful for friends like herself who never forgets and who, even though they’re far, make a constant (maybe even unconscious) effort of making me feel loved.
The next day, on my birthday…we flew back to Jeddah. I was so busy that I forgot that it was my day. I thought the world was unfair but got over it quickly enough preventing a possible depressed mood. On that day, I thanked God for my health and for the love of my family and friends. I have never felt so blessed.

expats

With Gail, at Jollibee Balad, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We finally met.

eritrea

In one of my Cairo flights, I had an amazing experience. Sitting on my exit row in the mid cabin is a dark skinned man travelling with his mom. He looked young and spoke very good English so I made him sit right across me and appointed him as my ABP. The guy didn’t look like an Egyptian so I asked him where he is from. He told me that he is from Eritrea. I didn’t hear him quite well, im sorry is that a country, I asked. He goes on saying yes, Eritrea is a small country near Sudan. Ahhhh…I have always prided myself with my above average knowledge in geography. I felt humbled and made a mental note about googling Eritrea when I get back to base. Clearly I know nothing about the places in the world. And then it dawned to me, this is what I like about my job. This is for me one of the best rewards of being a cabin crew. You get to meet different kinds of people, learn and have worthwhile conversations with your passengers and hear different view points of different issues. This Eritrean though doesn’t live in his own country anymore. He has migrated to Australia, thus the good English and the accent, with his mom and probably the entire family. He and his mom were just travelling and visiting friends and family in Africa and the Middle East.
Whenever I feel like my job doesn’t give me any growth and is making my brain shrink. I just remind myself of the time I met and talked to a guy and his mother who came from a country that I didn’t even know existed. And I’d feel encouraged and lucky again and convinced that I made the right decision to fly.

thrill at the hongkong airport

my mom and i arrived at around 1am in hongkong from cebu. we had planned to stay in the airport until it gets bright outside. the international airport in hongkong is one of the best if not the best, airports in the world. it has most of the conveniences that a traveller needs. the restrooms are kept tidy and neat. the lobby is spacious and signs well placed. the waiting areas/benches are comfortable enough to sleep in (which we did at some point). security measures are in place and there was even a security officer who went around handing leaflets to travellers sitting in the waiting areas. the leaflets tell about the same thing that the airport authorities keep reminding passengers about, to watch over their luggage and stuff.


i dont mean to be judgmental but there were about 4 guys who looked suspicious and one of them tried to distract me. i was thinking to myself that these could be those guys that the airport authorities are warning passengers about.
so it was around 3am and i was getting tired. i was still enjoying the free wifi connection in the airport that i tried as much as i can to stay awake. i was seated next to my mom but a steel barrier (the arm of the bench) separated us. our luggage were on the floor, i got my shoulder bag on my lap. my mom has laid on the bench with her bag on her side and one arm over it. i was getting sleepy, id occasionally close my eyes for a few moments before going back to my phone and doing whatever on the internet. when i looked to my side, my mom had fallen in deep sleep and was no longer holding her bag. i thought to myself, this is an easy target for thieves. anyone could just grab the bag and walk away and my mom wouldnt know about it. therefore, i had to keep my eyes open. i wanted to put her arm back around her bag but thought that it might wake her up. i was so tired that i closed my eyes again for about 2 minutes and opened them again slightly thinking about my mom's bag. she'd be so mad and sad if somebody takes it away. this would become the worst vacation ever if that happened.
then i saw 4 guys walking into the airport through my peripheral vision. one of the guys looked to where we were and stopped the other 3 and they were looking at me. i looked at one of them, who was intently looking at me and mouthed "what". he just smiled. the guys were dressed neatly, have just the right height for a man, and were not at all bad looking. the best looking of them 4 came up to where i was sitting, paced in front of me back and forth, and kept fondling with his cellphone as if he was trying to call somebody. then finally he came up to me and said, "do you have phone signal?" i said "yes. the signal's very good here. i have my roaming number". and he said, "i dont have signal". i raised my shoulders signing i dont know. then he went on with "are you from here?" i said "no, im from the philippines" then he said, "do you work here?" i said "no, my mom and i are vacationing". he kept on and i was getting suspicious. he said, "if you need anything you can call me, can i have your number?" i said, "i have no hongkong sim and i have a friend here in hongkong." he goes, "well, i can give you a job. how long are you staying here in hongkong?" i told him that we're not staying in hongkong, we go straight to macau in the morning. i didnt tell him the whole truth as he was becoming suspicious. he said, "just take my number and call me when you need anything" then i asked him, "what do you do?" he said, "i work here in the airport? see?" and he showed me his id, that he wore around his neck. i wasnt able to take a good look. then he insisted, "okay take my number" so i unlocked my phone and typed his number. then he said, "let's go to this side and talk about this in detail" he was pointing to an area where there were restaurant tables. the restaurant is way past its operating hours. i said, "no im fine i'll stay here". and he'd insisted on having a conversation in that area and i repeatedly told him that im staying where i am. my mom woke up and the guy started his exit. his 3 friends were sitting two benches behind us and looked like they were waiting for something to happen. when the guy went up to his friends, they all got up and left.
i think that these men are thieves. like i said i dont mean to be judgmental but they were just too suspicious and frankly quite a bit obvious. i think that their modus operandi is to target people who are unaware of their things and will easily take these away from them. they operate during late night hours looking for tired and sleepy travellers (especially tourists/vacationers who have just arrived, theyre just sweet targets arent they, of course theyll have at least a bit of pocket money to go around hk)who are waiting for flights or just waiting for the daylight. the most good looking of them all is set out to go and distract one companion if there's two targets, like in our case or distract a victim on her own. then he'd get into a conversation with her and convince her to get up or at least look where she cant see the other 3 guys moving in to get what they want, in this case,my mom's bag. he had told me that they are airport personnel but they werent wearing uniforms and also, after about an hour from when i was approached by one of them, i saw all of them laying on the restaurant benches. i thought maybe theyve become so tired and sad because they werent able to take somebody's valuables.
my mother has a different theory. she said, aside from thievery, they could also be involved in human trafficking. offering help and jobs to young women, and then making them work in bars or night clubs. im just glad nothing bad happened to us. the men looked like south asians.
and by the way, he told me i was beautiful..which is true after all ;) but then could be part of their stealing operation. be aware.

a dhaka night

dhaka, i was told by a bangladeshi friend, is the most densely populated city in the world. well it's not hard to believe when you see it. i have never looked outside the hotel window and see a street not filled with people and moving vehicles. it's always busy.
it was a privilege to be with my bangladeshi friend. he knows so much about the place he lives in and showed me around with such grace and familiarity. i thank him for his time and for sharing his knowledge. here are some things that we did the night we met:

we walked from the hotel to where the rickshaws are parked. not very far about a 2 minute walk. i told him that i wanted to buy clothes the cheap overruns much in supply in dhaka. so we headed for that place with our rickshaw. the traffic is just crazy. everybody's just moving everywhere. amazingly, we didnt get into an accident. the vehicle to your left, right, front and back are just inches away. the rickshaw is a better mode of transpo in my opinion. you can really feel the soft night breeze, as it not enclosed like the tuktuk which looks like a mobile prison cell. it's not expensive in dhaka. we took a rickshaw ride and just rode about the university area for 20 to 30 minutes and paid only about 70 takas. from the hotel area to the clothing market (bongo plaza) only cost about 30 takas, it was like a 10 minute ride.
the clothes are cheap too. theyre overruns from factories of h&m, zara, topshop etc. but you always got to check for defects. i decided not to buy coz i know its going to take a lot of time from picking out which ones id like, trying em out and to haggling for the price. and i didnt like the fact that my guy friend will have to wait for all of those to finish in the sideline. so i decided that we go have a bangladeshi dinner.
i told him im up for anything so we went to this bangladeshi eatery. well it wasnt the nicest diner to be in. i believe it was like in the middle of the market area. i put all trust to my bangladeshi friend so i didnt show any hesitation. my colleagues have been telling me that i shouldnt eat food outside the hotel but there i was. okay the place looked kinda dirty. we ate using hands. it feels awkward at first. its been years since i used my hands directly on food during meals at the table. i very rarely use bare hands during eating cos i have this bad habit of not washing before eating and ive learned over the years how to use the spoon and fork without my fingers ever ever touching the food. the place had a faucet and a soap bar for washing hands. every time i look up from my dinner plate, at least 3 bangladeshi men were staring at me. my dinner was delicious. i had beef which was very spicy and rice. and some side dishes, one was a mashed potato with crushed chili, another was spinach and bitter gourd that wasnt at all bitter which was good. my friend got himself a snack that was made of bread, he finished it quickly. he asked me if id like to order bottled water or the filtered one, the type that he was going to have..tap water. and i said i'll have the same as youre having. but i know next time im having bottled water. although i dont feel anything bad yet, i just cant help but get paranoid about the things that ive eaten especially that ive got a chest and throat infection 2 days after that food fest. its a chest infection not a stomach infection so maybe im fine. and the throat infection was probably because i ate too much sweets before going to dhaka and got tonsilitis and never gave my vocal chords a rest. but i really do want to go back there. i really do think the dinner was delicious.
anyways, after that we just chilled and toured around the university area on a rickshaw. we passed by the monuments of the martyrs, the science dept of the university, the arts building and even the dormitories. outside the dormitory for girls, lovers scatter in pairs around the park area.

unfinished...