food sampling committee (daw)?! :D

22 feb. 2011

after the interview in karama area, where we waited for some time (actually super tagal kaming naghintay!) i went back to my old office in al hana with my colleague - kyut and hanged-out for the rest of the afternoon; accompanied my friend to the bank to clarify something concerning her account, already there i inquired also about closing my account with that bank , which i did closed, and ...opps reminded me now that i have to follow up on that!... after work, gratz asked me to accompany her to check the venue at rydges hotel - the restaurant on the 9th floor with a videoke - hehehe.

we went there with kyut & kres, checked the menu and their package, and decided to have dinner there na lang. ordered the usual fav of the boys - crispy pata and papaitan, with mixed fried rice and adobong kangkong ... sadly .. no photos of the food .. sa gutom nagkalimutan na ! hehehehe

the area is open and would only be enclosed by a wooden divider should we choose this place. ok na sana ito kasi - malapit to all, kaso lang they are already booked for the date we wanted. :( sayang.... - so need to check other places ... :D

romz did mentioned some place in al diyafah - but nobody from our group has tried that yet - will check it out anyways...

ohh ... yes .... we are scouting for a place to hold the "Videoke - Post Bday Dinner/Get together RGG & Quad Friends" of gratz...

23 feb 2011

my friends gratz asked me to accompany her to check this restaurant in deira (they have videoke room :D) and sample the food they serve. i've been here before like 'sometime ago' hehehe and have sampled their food - they are nice ... 'tho i was not able to attend the bday bash of another friend that we helped arranged there..

neweiz - there we are: ako, si gratz & si eric, ordering ... with so many choices - hirap tuloy pumili, we wanted to order more kaso we cannot finish naman all the food .. so we just settled for some few items on the menu:

while eating we were also checking some of the items on the menu - noting what to order for 3rd march get-together-sort-of-reunion-cum-post-bday-celebration of gratz... hehehe.... some of the guys/gals already confirmed their attendance and hope all would be there... it would be great fun - with all the singing to abound - i heard they started "rehearsing" their song selections ahahaha..

hmmm.. i hope too that my pretty-little-friend-lumix would cooperate for the night and take good photos of the evening! well pretty sure kres would be having his cam with him - and romz too and rodel as well.... oh well then that would be good - i could just grab theirs while they would be singing...

would be definitely posting crazy pics !!! hehehehe

just walking ...ala samuel bilibit ....

15 February 2011, tuesday

i got up early, decidedly going to the bank to clear my accounts - i'm still receiving statements despite the fact that i have closed that account like ahh.. one year ago!!! and it shows now that i still have to pay them something for some charges???? aba.... naman !!!!

but then i got into bbm with my cousin, yay, hehehe and was able to leave the house like uhh .:D 11:00am hehehe .. niweiz - recharged my NOL card (bus card - these days they don't accept cash - you gotta have that NOL card which can be used for the bus and metro train rides) - mahirap nang pababain sa bus! me thinking ...... i would simply take the bus - no rush

so i arrived at the bank went to the counter - the lady was gracious enough to check my query and told me that the account is in fact already closed and that i wouldn't be receiving any more statements and that i need not pay anything! wow.. great ... done in a few minutes - my bus travel took even longer .. hehehe

as i was going out of the bank i was thinking of where to go next - i don't want to stay home - coz i will end up eating again .. ahahahaha... hmm.. so DFC or DCC .. hmmm before i knew it i was walking, walking and had walked past the bus stop .. oh well - next bus stop then.. but my feet took me somewhere else!!! i was walking .. literally walking - i guessed my mind was somewhere else and then i realised i've walking na pala for almost half an hour and was near the bur dubai bus station na. o siya, take the bus ride home .. okey - but my feet just continued walking and took me further ... passed the station and towards the souk area.. i found myself looking at some tourists feeding the seagulls near the creekside and taking pictures of them once they fly away.. i groped into my bag - :D great i have my pretty little friend - lumix! ( and yes kapatid - nakakabit ang battery heheh)... took it out and started taking shots din - feeling tourist din ba daw ako! ahahaha

i noticed there were some kabayans mounting their big cameras too.. ahh siguro mga estudyantes ito ng OPPPS (Overseas Pinoy Professional Photographers Society)... taking pictures of the seagulls and the creek views. medyo nahiya nga ako bigla kasi liit lang cam ko - pero - bakit ba? heheheh .... walang pakialamanan di ba?

sige klik-klik-klik din ako .. (lintukekong naman itong mga seagulls na ito! pakipot! hirap kunan ah! ahahaha ... pilit ba daw habulin with my pretty little lumix! more tourists pa further down .. natuwa naman ako.. wala lang .. natuwa lang ... then.. i started walking again but instead of taking an about-face - i continued forward till i reached the entrance na pala ng souk... eto i took pic din (and i grab a photo of the front from the net - i was not able to take the shot eh!)

the pic on the top is taken by yours truly... ay readable ba yung notes?!? :0

and this one was the one grabbed (and borrowed :D) from www. dubaiwall.com - nilagay ko naman dun sa pic yung source eh .. :D

i walked passed through this souk (market) to go to the abra (water taxi) station that would take me across to deira side.

here are some photos i grabbed from wikipedia showing the before and now, well that photo was taken 2007 still - and some more developments has been done to the area....

Dubai Creek - 1964

Dubai Creek - 2007

the abra ride cost 1AED (US$ 0.27 /Php.11.50) and took about 10 minutes to cross. this is better than taking the bus to Deira side which would normally take you like 30-45 minutes depende sa traffic, or mag taxi ka which would cost AED. 25/= (mahal!)... and during the ride klik-klik ulit ako sa camera ko.. a lot of changes na talaga!!! (it's been quite some time na rin na ndi ako nag-abra kasi!)

view of the Deira side of the Creek - doon ako papunta - pero sa banda pa roon.... pero further down the creek towards the Maktoum bridge you will see more landmarks of Dubai (sa susunod - turista talaga dating ko .. will set a day para talaga maggala heheh)

when i reached the other side, isip na naman ako saan ako pupunta?! when i chanced upon these cuties perched on the wooden railing....

.. cute talaga .. ndi lang ako nakalapit masyado kasi baka magliparan... ahahaha

lakad pa rin ako - i don't know nga where i was going eh .. then i saw these 2 hotels .... The Riviera Hotel and the Carlton Hotel - still standing ... brought back some memories of my early years in Dubai .. :D

then, this building - the Twin Tower, Deira also known as the 'Rolex Tower' - obviously because of that big Rolex writing on top of it! This a res/com building and houses a couple of well-branded shops/boutiques, good restaurants and a fairly good foodcourt... where we had our 'shabu-shabu' dinner ... will be going back coz the food is really nice ...

so there i was .. still walking with feet aching, was deciding to take the metro or taxi na lang pauwi .. but wait! i haven't had lunch pa pala! ... ahhh .. great ... walked past the metro station onwards to Al Ghurair Centre .. i saw McDo!!! .. hmm been craving for a burger so straight away to Mcdo - ordered.. no not beef burger - fish sandwich meal hehehe ... shackkkkss after walking for nearly 2 hours from bur dubai to deira - i ended up with mcdo meals .. ahahahaha

you might be wondering why i wrote 'samuel bilibit' on my title - hehehe .. kasi i felt like samuel bilibit - ohh in case you don't know this guy - he was cursed to walk the earth daw till he dies - a myth of sort - alam mo naman ang mga oldies. my lola used to call my cousins na gala na 'samuel bilibit' daw sila!

i took the metro train ride back to satwa, got off at jafliyah station - the feeder bus was taking ages to arrive so finally .. yes.. i took the taxi! waahhh .. AED10/= (anlapit-lapit lang - i could have walked sana kaso my feet really hurts na!)

in almost 4hours - i used 4 modes of transpo pala: bus - abra(water taxi/bangka) - metro train - taxi ... hehehehe... mura rin lang pamasahe ko.. AED. 15 something... but my mcdo meal was even costlier at AED14/-per meal ++ .. shhhhh i ordered extra apple pie (take away) and ice-cream cone (lang naman) which i bit n licked while walking to the train station .. :D

nice to be a 'samuel bilibit' for once in a while - helps you clear your mind off things .... :D

Night at the Burj Khalifa

14 january 2011

my cousin Marie came back from vacation in Manila and visited me in Dubai a week after but that time we were not able to book for the time we wanted at the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa. so she came again the week after - we managed to reserve for the 5:30pm slot :D and below are some shots taken from the observation deck, 124th floor of the burj khalifa.

it was very cold - chilly cold actually up there! and with my 'little' camera with me .... i tried to take these photos .... :D

At the Top, Burj Khalifa, the tower’s 828m-high observatory deck.

We watched the Dubai Fountain from up there and it was awesome - but when we took the picture, it didn't turn out good - so better not to post any heheheh ..

A new restaurant called At.mosphere, conceived as a complete lifestyle destination, is described as ‘The Centre of Now.’ At 442 meter on Level 122 of Burj Khalifa, the restaurant is located only two levels below ‘At the Top, Burj Khalifa,’ the tower’s 828m-high observatory deck.

For more details of the Burj, see: http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/
For more details of the Dubai Fountain: see: http://www.thedubaimall.com/en/entertainment/entertainment-section/the-dubai-fountain.html

"just go with it" .....

18 feb.2011 : afternoon, was heading to the mall with my friends gratz and mai ... was supposed to (only) buy the mp4 player that gratz and another friend ivy bought the day before. but mai saw that the movie 'just go with it' is now showing in the cinemas and asked if we wanted to watch the movie... well nothing much to do that afternoon - so why not ..

so off we went to the DCC (Deira City Centre) and first checked the movie timing - ohh.. we missed the 7:15 showing!.... 9:15 still available so we bought our tickets and made way to the restos first -what we first thought of - just coffee - turned to a hearty dinner at TGIF!!! ahahaha anyways - it was gratzie's birthday so .... and this is what we had ..

the food is too much for the three of us - we even had 'take outs' hehehehehe ... after the foodie, we went to Carrefour to buy what we were supposed to (and the reason why we were there in the first place!) ... this ... MP4 PLAYER - and yes... in pink :D

that goes with a freebie ... reasonably priced - i wanted to take all colors but then.. what will i do with it???

and i got this one too ... mp3 player in pink! now hmmmm - to whom shall i give this to!?!?!?! ahahaha ... impulsive buying again ..... :D

we first put the stuff in the car and headed to the cinema.. just in time - previews are just about to start... :D i love watching previews ... hehehehe

so finally - the movie went on .. and i tell you - it is a very nice movie .. awesome!!! i had fun and good laughs (which i really needed in this time!) ... the guy seated in front of me was having his good time too - he was laughing and laughing and i was really amused by the way he laughs .. well i think the guys in the cinema was laughing more loudly than as girls! ahahahaha

another nice movie for jen and adam .. i love the kids' actings too - Maggie with her 'british accents' and Michael with his dramatics.

we reached home almost midnight and had our coffee and cupcakes at my place!!! we had really great time !!! will be looking forward to another great night out with friends next week!!! :D

as the movie title says: Just go with it ... i guess i will likewise 'just have to go with it' ... with what is happening in my life now hehehehe ..... i simply have ... just go with it ... :D

my friends .. the 'tourists' :D

early today, we went to the airport and sent off two of our friends ... they are traveling to Europe - entry through France - first time for them so they were really excited... we were likewise excited for them! we wished we are altogether traveling but then ... :D... next time maybe ... ahh hope our planned group trip would push through - that would be great! just have to save, save... lots of mulah! hehehe

anyways - our friends checked-in early and came out again - they are starving they said and wanted to grab something as their flight is still at 11:30am and it was like 9:30 only .... so up we went to the departure lounge to grab something to eat and we ended up ordering breakfast from Mary Brown.

i had a not-so-good experience last time i ordered from MB and was hoping that i will not go thru that again.. luckily the crew this morning were very friendly and chirpy as well... even sang 'happy birthday' to my friend gratz when they heard us teasing her ... thank you guys!

their breakfast is nothing fancy but was okey (to ladies of grumbling tummies!).. :D

to my friends... ives and zah .. enjoy your holiday .... !

fun times with friends

03 February 2011, Thursday, we decided to go out after work and try the recently opened Fish & Co. outlet at Dubai Festival City. We've tried the one at the Al Ghurair Centre and food was really good. So off we went to DFC and was thinking of taking the outside seating but the weather change was unexpected and it was really cold that night - we settled instead inside (bit warmer). We had a good dinner together and fun ... fun it was !!!

As it was the DSF time, fireworks displays goes on every 8:30pm on week-ends ... and when the clock chimed at 8:30 we were asked if we wanted to watch the fireworks outside, which of course we watched and took some pics .. that was our intermission :D and then went back to our dinner.

It was a great night and we had great fun.. despite of what happened to us in the workfront - we still managed to laugh the blues away!!!!

It was also a good thing that - that time we were having fun taking photos of ourselves, the 'conservative ladies' were not there yet ... we were done by the time they came in - otherwise no shoots would have happened... hehehe .. they do not want any cameras clicking anywhere near them :D

We would be definitely be coming back for more of the fish & co. yummy dishes... and more fun.