Be Careful

Times are really getting tough these days. 

Not only in third world countries but also in other countries as well. Dubai has now been home to more than a hundred thousand expats who have moved out of their countries to provide a better life for their family. 

Everyday, adjacent to our office, you can see a lot of people lined up either to submit for their CVs... some wait for the good news under the heat of the sun,if they are shortlisted. 

In the Philippines, news reports say that the percentage of people who are out of employment are increasing resulting to my fellow kababayans violating the policies implemented by the government - like going to countries that are high risk, security wise or paying off illegal recruiters for them to be brought to other countries wherein they can earn and send money to their families. 

Now, if you don't have money to spare or connections, you end up going after retirees or tourists. A friend of mine who has stayed in Malaysia for close to a year now, experienced his first robbery on broad daylight. 

Bev, a British expat has been in Malaysia for sometime now and is considering retiring there for good. The incident occurred on 14 August 2013. This is his encounter:- 

Subject: An Incident in Ara Damansara

H 

i Rachiel

 

I 

thought you might be interested

 

in the following

  which I sent to my local Residence Association to day 

:-

 

I wish to share with you an incident that occurred to me this afternoon, the 14th August, in PJU1A / 20b.

I am a retired UK expat who has been living in Ara Damansara for the past 3½ years.
Recently I have taken up cycling to combat the onset of those unwanted additional kilos and to build up my fitness. 

So this afternoon at around 2.30, for the first time, instead of driving down to the shops I decided to ride my bike.

I took a rucksack to carry the chain I would use to attach my bike to a suitable anchor and unusually I placed my wallet (containing cash, atm and credit cards), phone and house keys in the rucksack. I say unusually because my normal modus operandi would be to place my wallet and phone in separate pockets of my cargo pants and the keys in a side pocket. Today, however, I was not wearing cargo pants so they all went in the rucksack.

I slowly cycled down to the shops and found a suitable signpost pole located on the corner of Jalan PJU1A/20b and 20c to use as an anchor for the bike. A location that is in full view of all people in the vicinity. I leaned the bike against the pole, took off my rucksack, removed the chain and placed the rucksack on the ground directly beside my feet. I proceeded to chain the bike to the pole and had only been there for a matter of one or two minutes when I became aware of a slight draught at my ankles. I looked down to see that my rucksack had disappeared. I looked up and saw a man with my rucksack running towards Jalan PJU1A/1 where his accomplice was waiting on a motorbike so that they could make their get away. I gave chase to the thief but I never had a chance to catch him as he had at least a 15 meter start on me.

This snatch was made in mid afternoon in broad daylight, with many people present who witnessed the incident and the rucksack was taken from right at my feet. A very audacious act, by people who obviously consider that the reward is worth the risk as there is little chance of getting caught. 

I have been an expat for more years than I care to admit and have worked in many countries both in the Middle East and South East Asia. I have, with out doubt, enjoyed my time in Malaysia, which I believe is a very fortunate country endowed with friendly citizens, natural resources, dramatic scenery and for me a great climate so it is with sadness that my positive feeling for this country has been tainted by my experience to day.

I hope the above will help to make people aware of the dangers that lurk at all times and in some small way avert an incident similar to mine. 

Best Regards

Good thing is he was not hurt. I feel sad whenever I hear these types of stories wherein people think it is alright... We know there is a purpose for doing this - to put food on the table for your family (I sure hope this was the reason) but there are other ways to earn money - not by stealing things.

True, immediately, Bev was able to replace all the material things but the trauma of having to look over your shoulder again and again, making sure that you are secure with your stuff is tiring, most especially if you have to do it every time you leave the house.

This happened in Malaysia but this is a usual scene in our country and I feel sad about it. I know the government says they are trying to come up with more jobs, I hope that they are true to their word however whilst these are still rampant in the country that you live in, make sure that you be extra careful when going out and even when you are at home.

Be Safe. Always.

 

Compliments... Praises...

I was doing my usual blog reading when I saw Carla's blogpost about Praise and Fidelity, the post was actually about married couples and how to accept praises or compliments from your partner.

R and I have been together for a few years now. We had our ups and downs but most importantly, we are still together.

In this time and age, a lot of factors can cause a strain in one's marriage - technology, temptation and more. If you don't have God as a center in your relationship, all of these can kill it.

In the blog, Carla talked about receiving compliments from your partner. I am privileged that my husband is not madamot when it comes to giving compliments. He loves giving one - a lot to be honest!

He compliments me when I cook dinner, arrange something in our room and more. This is also the reason why I want surprising him - cause he appreciates!

This was the surprise I did for him on his last Birthday :) Super happy thoughts here!

I, for one, is not into giving compliments cause I show it when I appreciate a gesture. I think I still have to learn how to put my actions to words though I think in which form do you feel most comfortable - it's okay just as long as you let your partner know that you appreciate what he does for the relationship.

I know also that when I am soooo tired from work, I tend neglect giving out my gestures... and would snap most of the time -- at him  :(

It's not good and for married couples reading this blog, DO NOT neglect your husbands... always remember that the time you step out of the office, is also the time that your responsibilities should stay there and focus on what your role is in the house - a wife and mom (if you have kids).

Again, thanks for sharing that post Carla and may God bless you and your family! :)

I have lost my exercise mojos =(

If Dr. Evil froze his mojos, I seem to have lost my exercise mojos! :(

I was sooo into my game during the month of Ramadan. I was able to you know do it religiously for like at least 2 times a week and 3 times the most!

I was sweating and was also seeing the fruits of my labour. Apart from that, I was also able to watch what I eat. I started having salads at night and was not caving in to my cravings. Overall it was all good.

Then Eid came.

Imagine what the 3 days could do --- wreck you completely.

Now, I have not exercised for two weeks now. I have given in to sweet tooth cravings -- chocolate and all...

Since we are now back to the full day of work, it has been a battle to eat and not eat.

I don't think I am stress eating. Instead of eating, I take in fluids - like water :)

However, I know I have to be creative with my eating or else I will fall back into the trap of eating too much!! :p

I have to think... think... think...

Can you help me? ;)

Chatty Me

I have met two of my friends this week and just noticed that most of the conversations are one-sided.
Now I wonder, am I just chatty or do they have a lot on their minds?

   

   

**images from www.sitepoint.com and www.clipartof.com

Life in the Blogging World

I usually go through my blog every week (when I say "go through", I check who my audiences are, where do I get link back, my top posts, etc).

What I do notice whenever I check my blog is that I never have any comments in. From the time I have started this blog, I only have two comments - one from a friend and the other one from me (because I answered her query).

I am not sure if this is because most of my posts are personal and not a lot are into reading what I have to say or it could be because there is not a lot of substance?

Years back, blogging was all about personal things. Most of my friends saw this as a venue where they can vent out, tell a story about their relationships and more. After reading the posts, we would comment endlessly about it until we forgot what the topic was really all about. I wasn't sure if this was because we were all just starting out and everyone needed all the support you can have. Fresh out of college, the real world is sometimes not kind to newbies.

The blogging world was a friend - a network of friends for that matter. It can be someone you know or someone you just met through a friend or a total stranger.

I guess this platform was left behind due to a more advanced way of socialising - Facebook and Twitter.

from www.topnews.ae

It has kind of put blogging behind, same as what I did. I got myself busy with Facebook and Twitter too. It must be the hype but still it led me back to blogging.

from http://technorati.com/social-media/article/twitter-fakes-tweets-to-promote-twitter/

After coming back, I noticed that blogging has transformed itself. From being personal, it became commercial. It has become an avenue for PR practitioners to use blogging in promoting their show, restaurants, etc.

Blogging has become the new "word of mouth" 

Instead of talking about it, they blog it with pictures as testimony to prove what they say. Again, bloggers decided also to group themselves - mommies together, blogging fashionistas and more.

Still, I am waiting for posts that have emotion on them. Sharing a piece of their life that is not due to a product or a restaurant experience but more of about them - what was their day like, what influenced them to write about it today.

I hope I see some of you behind your mask.

=)

Ramadan Stress and De-stress

The holy month of Ramadan started on the 10th of July.

It is during this month wherein we (meaning everybody who is working) gets to work for shorter hours -  6 hours to be exact. Though to be honest, some do stay longer in the office (an unspoken rule for senior management and some instructed by their bosses to stay) while others, they leave the office to continue working at home.

The timings are actually welcomed by everybody but the pressure - not. Since people work on shifts or some their regular working hours, we get requests and queries even if we are not in the office.

Every morning, I think we would see about 10-20 unread emails waiting to be answered. All about follow-ups, new requests and more follow ups!

Now, I understand the phrase,

so little time so much to do... 

And because of the timings and whatnot, it makes me want to read more of my e-books (through my Amazon Kindle) after an exhausting day so that it can take me to a different place, time and sometimes, era. I was able to finish a book (yey!) and am reading the second one.

Unfortunately, we are already on the third week and this will soon be over. Back to normal timings. Sweet.

Ramadan Kareem

Do you have the ___________ dream?

In between having my brunch and reading an e-book in my Kindle, my housemate joined me in the kitchen to have his breakfast as well. 

Sensing, I need to have some manners and strike a conversation with him, I decided to put down my Kindle and chatted a bit about things happening around. 

We went to the topic of our friends and families going to Canada. We talked about their struggles and also how their start up is the same as ours here in Dubai. 

I then asked him if he is also planning to go to Canada soon and he said no. He further explained that if given the chance now and choice, he would go back home to the Philippines. 

I thought to myself, I share his sentiments. Though travelling or visiting is not a bad idea but to live there? I am not sure. 

I just realised, a lot of people in the Philippines have the (             ) dream. It can be interpreted in different countries / regions: It started off with the American dream next the European dream, the Canada dream and I think a few have the Gulf dream. 

When I was a kid, people talk endlessly about how having an American dream can solve all the problems they had then. Being in the US, where the money is overflowing, your dependents will also be part of the pail of money that you have. 

Suddenly, the attention was directed to the European dream. Since most of us Pinoys are accustomed to skilled labour, we got the idea that this dream will help us fulfil our wishes to our family. 

Another country would come out and you'd see Filipinos striving to go there and start building their dreams.... what about the Philippines? Doesn't anyone have a Philippine dream?

I ask myself the same thing. 

For one, I did not have a Gulf dream. Being in this country was merely a step. A step closer to going for my true love, R. However, if you will ask me, I have not really seen myself having any of those dreams. 

Sure, I may want to visit those places but the comfort of being in your country is different. The Philippines is not perfect and so is in other countries, it has its ups and downs but nevertheless, it can still shine like the rest. :) 

Now, writing about this just makes me all the more excited to go back! :) 

from http://www.marsman-tours.com.ph/map_philippines.htm