Vacation Mode for Most Dubai Folks

It is that time of the year again when most of the locals and expatriates from Dubai and nearby emirates relocate to some place cooler.

The long and extreme summer months here cast away people because the heat is just unbearable. Also, the school ends on June and will not open until mid-September. So they take that opportunity to leave the country and explore the colder regions of the earth.

Other families prefer to drive to Salalah in Oman where the weather is not harsh and slightly cooler than its counterpart in the Middle East region. The big SUVs pack the road towards the UAE and Oman border together with their trailers and RVs. I sure hope they have checked everything before setting on their long drive. It is wise and important to have a travel insurance too and to check if 5th wheel warranty is applicable on their trailers or RVs.

I would like to embark on a road journey too before I leave the UAE. Driving to the neighboring country of Oman will be a scenic and wonderful experience for us.

Setting Up A Business

My friend will leave the company in the very near future. She and her family have already made arrangement to start their home business. She has been travelling back and forth from Dubai to Manila to ensure that everything goes as planned by mid 2011.

She is setting up an Internet cafe with business services like offering photocopying services, fax services, etc. Her husband is scouting for point of purchase displays along with office furniture and fixtures to put in the shop.

There are plenty of good and affordable furniture back home and I am sure they will find the set they need as per their budget.

Lighting is also their major concern. They want the shop to be well-lit but at the same time, energy-saving too. I suggested to install floor to ceiling glass windows to accommodate the natural light during the day. That way, they do not have to turn on plenty of lights to illuminate the shop. One or two will be fine as long as the natural light gets through the glass windows.

Next thing they will have to worry about is getting their business establishment listed under the government bureau to acquire business permit as well.

Putting up a business, no matter how big or small, does take a lot of painstaking preparation to ensure that your and the government's requirements are met.

When Hunger Strikes

Who ever said that "it is all in the mind" is mistaken. My mind was not thinking that I was hungry. I heard borborgymi and I wanted to eat not for the sake of filling myself but because I was hungry.

My brother reprimanded me because I asked him to accompany me to the nearby McDonald's to grab something to munch. He said I was already good at controlling my hunger and why the sudden change. I said it had nothing to do with ruining my discipline but I wanted to eat. Besides, it was the end of the week already and we had no fillers in the ref. I was not planning to buy burger, just salad to satisfy this hunger pang.

If this continues every night, then having those weight loss drinks around may just do me good. I do not intend to derail my healthy eating habits now. I just want to silence this growling stomach.

Not Fat, Just ROUND!

Try as I might to dispel the thought that becoming rotund runs in our genes. Both of my parents are slightly round, my sister is also in the "fat" side, my brother is like a walking Buddha and one of my niece is like a ball.

So there, we are a family of round people. I used to be skinny prior to reaching mid-thirties. I even fit on pre-teens clothing until I was about 35. Then boom! All those unwanted fats started to creep in from nowhere and next thing I knew, I was wearing XL-sized clothes.

I tried every imaginable diet out there but fell flat. I even checked websites upon websites about diet pills that work , starved myself, went vegan for a while and did the no-food after 6 fad too. Some worked, some didn't so I was back to square one.

I know better now. I am regularly exercising since I already lost 4 kilos. I don't want to stop now and fall back to my bad routine of eating chips and being sedentary. I just want to move and move and lose more weight the healthy way. It may take time. I am not in a rush as long as I do it the healthy way.

Health Nut - Smart Treats

According to studies, these 3 treats can make you smart when you indulge on them regularly. The line up is as follows:

Wine, Chocolate and Tea - These trio are high in flavonoid which has a memory boosting punch, fights free radicals and enhance communication between brain cells.

Too Tired For Anything

I am willing my fingers to type right now. I just posted earlier how stressed I was today. I felt like all my energy had been zapped. I don't know where to get more for reserve.

I don't know what is wrong today. All I know is that there are plenty of work to be done and all with a strict deadline to follow. I don't know if I have enough time to finish all the pending tasks in the office by end of the week.

I missed a decent meal today at lunch because I lost my appetite. The stress at work and my lack of energy now are like appetite suppressants. I don't feel hungry anymore. I would rather sleep after I post this than eat.

I am not sure how much longer I can take all these nonsense. To think that I am very sensible enough to put my health and welfare on the fore and yet here I am, skipping meals to give way to some deadlines! The irony...

Stressful Day

I was already stressed last Thursday. And yet again, the stress saga continues. My day in the office seemed to be taking forever. I just kept working and working. Time seemed to have stood still even if I have accomplished many tasks already. I still have plenty of things to do which were left undone.

Deadlines to meet were tight. My heart palpitated. My palms were cold and I could feel my sweat trickle down my forehead even when the air condition unit was in full blast.

I don't know how long I can still do this. The stress is wearing me out. I don't have enough "motivation" and "morale" on reserve. If those two get depleted, I am in deep doo-doo!

Again, I pray for 2013 to roll in quick so I can just decide on what to do next. Sigh...

And Then There Was Light

I am so bored with our ceiling lights. They are hanging lights which look more of a mini chandelier. I think they are so outdated.

I love contemporary stuff in my living room. However, my husband is the practical one who keeps telling me not to buy expensive items for the flat where we are currently staying at because the place is not ours.

I always remind him that we can take whatever we bought back in the Philippines. I can always rent for a big container if I have too.

I just feel like the lights are so old-fashioned. I want hanging spotlights just like the hanging lamps I saw in the mall last week. They are sleek and uses energy-saving bulbs. I will have to convince my husband though since we are updating the living room; maybe we can also include the lights.

Sweat it Out

The weather is awful right now. I miss running outside. I think I will not be able to stand the heat outside for a minute, what more an hour? It is like walking past an open oven door. That is the kind of heat we experience here in Dubai.

So, last Thursday, I decided to use the building's gym. The feeling I have when running outside is never the same when you do it indoors. However, I just have to do it than miss my regular exercise regime.

The air condition unit was already on in the gym and yet the heat outside seeped in. It is like being inside a hot sauna. Well, the plus side was, it gave me a quick weight loss boost because I perspired a lot.

I used to dread the idea of me getting soaked with my own sweat. However, perspiring is our body's natural way of releasing our body heat or else we suffer from heat stroke. Sweating is also a good way to release the toxins in our body. It also improves your skin by washing away dead cells and helps unclog pores.

Happy Millie

Hubby and I decided to have a breakfast at the nearby McDonald's. We took Millie along. We haven't walked Millie for sometime now because of the extreme weather. That won't be too good for her and for me too.

I just noticed how Millie loves to go around for a drive. She prefers sitting in the car rather than walking. She always sit in the middle of the road after few minutes of walk and loves to be carried. Such a diva!

We sometimes take her to our family outings but Dubai is not too pet friendly in most public places. So, what we do is just tag her along and let her see the beaches and the neighborhood.

This was taken last year on our trip to Atlantis in The Palm, Jumeirah. She had fun! We did too :)

Updating the Living Room

We went to Ikea last weekend to check out some nice contemporary sofas and other trinkets to display in our living room. Ikea was on "part sale" so my husband decided to purchase a black coffee table to replace the old, white one we have.

There were so many nice sofas and tables that made us reconsider updating our old furniture at home. I am sure there will be further reduction at Ikea since it is Dubai Summer Surprise until August. Most shops in Dubai during this festival offers huge discounts on their merchandise.

We know exactly what I want from Ikea. We are just waiting for the big, big sale.

My Husband's Netbook

My husband normally does not purchase any gadgets above US$200. He sees buying as a task that he will only do when required. However, since he has seen his friends with netbooks, he purchased one for himself as a gift. I really do not tell him what and what not to buy because he is good handling budget. I let him do his thing.

He and his Lenova netbook has become inseparable ever since he bought it last year. That netbook is very lucky because it has travelled with us during our trips outside the country. Lucky netbook, it has even crossed the Atlantic Ocean! He even bought it with him on our trip back to the Philippines and Thailand. I can tell that he loves his netbook so much. It is lightweight, compact, easy to carry and small enough to pack inside your hand-carry bag.

Now, who wouldn't love that?

Car Scratches and More

I knew the time would come when our pristine Hyundai Tucson would have its baptism of fire in terms of nicked paints, scratches and dents.

My husband has managed to avoid all possible bodily "harm" to our 3 year-old vehicle. However, last December 2009, we got hit on the rear on a "full-stop" zone. Imagine that! So, the first dent on our hood has been marked. Then, early this year, I accidentally hit the electronic gate of our building and caused a very huge paint scraped from the right door. It is a good thing that our vehicle is properly maintained and we still go to the Hyundai Service Center to get the work done. It is a bit costly when doing the repair work outside but at least we are assured that the tools and body kits used for the repair are all authentic. My husband is very keen on getting all the job done properly and materials are original and meant to be used for Hyundai only.

The paint-scrape incident was not the last though. We had the right back door re-painted and few weeks later, some inconsiderate driver opened his or her driver-side door so hard and slammed on our right passenger door. Now our Hyundai has a dent and not just one! I almost freaked out because we just had the paint redone on the back door and now the dents are on the passenger door. I remember those cars used in the Mad Max movie. Won't it be nice to install those sharp things on our Hyundai? I am sure that no one will dare touch nor go near our Tucson.

Going back to reality, I have already accepted the fact that no matter how careful we are as vehicle owners, other people will still cause harm on our car. I just have a quick ocular check every morning before we drive to work on what mark has been left on our precious Hyundai. I just hope they don't nick our car!

My Photobucket

I have been an account holder in Photobucket for as long as I can remember until last year or the year before when it decided to charge.

I stopped temporarily and searched for other viable electronic album sites to hold my photos. Unfortunately, my search was futile so I ended up paying for a year's worth of storage in Photobucket.

I am not sure if I searched hard enough or just felt lazy to browse more or Photobucket does offer great features I cannot find elsewhere. Hmmm... So, next year, I will have to shell out $24.90 for a year of premium usage.

What a Sting!

Summer is here! Most of the people will head to the beach this weekend to cool off. However, you may want to check the shallow waters first for some jelly fish floating nearby because summer waters often attract a lot of water species.

A giant lion's mane jellyfish was spotted today at a state park beach in New Hampshire by a lifeguard who immediately requested the beach goers to get out of the water. Many reported they got rashes and felt stinging sensation. More than a hundred has been reported stung by the giant jelly fish.

The jelly fish broke into pieces after officials removed it from the shallow water.