Two heli rides in a day

Ah... I feel human again. Just had a nice and refreshing bath after a veerry long day. I was already at Kempinsky Hotel by 8:40 for the Vertu (a high-end phone who's mother company is Nokia) event which was a bit hush-hush. They just told us to bring our passports and somehow the info that it's casual didn't reach me, so I went there in a nice dress and heels. Heels! We ended up driving a 4x4 through the dunes (my first time off roading with me driving) and a quad bike (hiked up my skirt and had a go at it -- the heat from the motor left my legs medium rare). It was fun!!!

There was still the dune buggy to try out but when we got back to the camp, I was feeling a bit queasy -- I've had no breakfast and going into the desert in my heels (which sank so my feet were practically being burnt by the sand) wasn't so ideal to the situation. Helene the other girl with our group also elected to stay behind (she almost ran into a bush and in avoiding it, she swerved. The quadbike turned over, she fell and the bike almost feel on top of her! She was still a bit shaken when we got back to camp so she wanted to rest a bit).


We used the time to interview the UK reps of Vertu while we waited for the others to come back. The presentation was done earlier. Then we had lunch and then the heli ride! It was so cool, the 30-minute ride which we took by road earlier was reduced to 5 minutes. Unfortunately, the effect was ruined because we landed at the Dubai Airport and we were held up there for about 1 hour. So the time saved was also wasted.


So instead of having a bit of a time to change and freshen up before going to the next event, Gillette at 5pm, I had to go straight to the pick-up point. And again, we went on a heli to Al Sara resort (venue of Jumana: Secrets of the desert, a show with the whole desert as a backdrop which I've hear is awesome! Haven't seen it myself yet). I felt icky, a nice bath would have been my choice, given the opportunity. Anyway, we went on another heli (which was nicer than the first one. The first one didn't have AC so were sweating like pigs -- do pigs sweat? The seatbelts were just straps for the waist and the interior was like those cargo places. This second one, had plush seats, a wood finish food and drink container and seatbelts that strapped the torso.

And off we went to the desert (my second time today but in a different location) and my feet were killing me! Gillette launched their new razor, had a great presentation then as soon as it was okay which was around 9am, I joined the rest of the media reps raring to go home. The ride was a limo back to the city. My car was parked at MOE so we had to take a cab -- it was only 5 minutes from the drop off point -- to get my car.

Once I got home, a bath was the top priority. So now, I feel more human. I got home past 10... it's been a very long but interesting day. I'll add more pictures here when my colleage (who was also there for Vertu) sends me the pics from his cam.

Met Pilita Corales

I was on my second event for the day, a press conference for World Osteoporosis Day at Madinat Jumeirah, when I saw Miss (doesn't sound right not to call her Miss) Pilita Corales sitting at the back row. I knew it was her but well, I'm in Dubai and I didn't expect to see other Pinoys in attendance, let alone one of the Philippines' most popular folk song singer. Anyway, her features are so European, you can forgive me for doubting.

Anyway, after one of the Pinay hotel attendants confirmed for me that it was indeed Miss Pilita, she seems to be a representative of Anlene. She was having lunch when I approached her, the bone-friendly lunch which I had to miss cos I wanted to go back to the office immediately after the conference, closing the mag and all that... Well, I just introduced myself and wished her well. She said she's flying out tonight.

Bombing at Glorietta

I just got an email from Julls about the bombing in Glorietta - she's quite freaked out because that's where they usually hang out. So far, nine has been found dead and hundreds injured.

A powerful explosion killed at least nine people and wounded more than a hundred others in the Makati business district Friday afternoon, heightening uncertainties in a country wracked by new political scandals and fresh challenges to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration.

Police said the blast at about 1:30 p.m.--the fourth major bombing incident in Metro Manila in seven years--ripped through three floors of the Glorietta 2 mall, toppling roofs, destroying walls, and sending debris crashing onto cars outside.

Shoppers scampered toward the exits as the blast shook the mall.

At least 119 people were injured, said Makati City Councilor Junjun Binay.

Police could not immediately say who was behind the bombing, exactly what type of explosive was used, and what was the motive. - Inquirer.net

Why are these guys targetting malls? There are kids there, innocent bystanders. What good will that do?

Be careful my friends. Ingat kayo lagi.

From Regine concert to an opera to meeting a Lebanese actor

Wednesday: Regine concert

Raq is such a fan so I went with the rest of the group (Malen, Abet, Mirzi and we also saw other Upians as well, Galo, Xernes and Lucy) to watch Regine. As concerts go, I believe it was okay, but it was not spectacular. Regine's voice was superb of course, but I just felt that the whole thing could have been better.

Didn't help that I got pissed off because the ticket guys prevented me from going in just because I have my digicam with me and who goes to concerts anyway without their cams? They kept repeating that digicams are not allowed. Hello! Videocams were not allowed, digicams were okay - I found out straight from the organizers mouth. Since I have the number of the organizer, I called her up asked them to clarify it with those ticket guys which they kindly did. So when I was entering, the girl who blocked me stopped me again to ask for my ticket! She already took half of it and the organizers already okayed me going in despite my cam and she was still making a fuss! wtf. I said, you already have my ticket!!! The nerd!!! (hehe, thanks Ena for 'the nerd!' and so sorry you forgot the date of the concert. blame Galo. lol.)

Thursday: La Traviata Opera

We got invites in the office to watch 'La Traviata' by the European Chamber Opera from Coral International Hotels. I was quite excited to go since I haven't been to an opera before. There was a huge problem though, dress code: elegant. Hmmm... don't have an elegant dress -- of course I was thinking of long gowns, much like what you see opera-goers on TV wear. Good thing though that in Dubai 'elegant' can mean anything. So I donned my little black dress, black heels, and went for a quicky shopping for a plain black shawl, not knowing if the place would be freezing. And from DIP, I picked up Mirzi and we headed to Sharjah were the venue, Qanat Al Qasba is. The place was lovely! A hotel shaped like an H, with the middle line a bridge over a canal with lovely abras ferrying through. It's also where the huge ferris wheel is located which we usually pass by when going to Ajman to Ena's place. The weather was just nice and cool and it was just lovely. I want to go there to have dinner or coffee with friends. Mag-miron-miron lang. LOL.

Since we travelled a long way, we got there just right after 9pm. We didn't have tickets and there was a line so we just told the ushers that we are from the media. And without asking for IDs, invites or whatever they led us to second row seats. Fab, isn't it? And just as I suspected, 'elegant' took all forms from a full regala Victorian costume, glamourous kaftans, Indian national dresses, one-piece fitting dresses, chinese tops and black skirts to can you believe it -- jeans. Sigh, Dubai really takes the cake. Malen and Abet were also supposed to join us but they were caught up in traffic.

The singers were great! I'm no music fan and it's my first time in an opera so I kind of just compared what are its differences to regular musicales which I thoroughly enjoy. So all in all, it was really great! Aside from well, little things: lighting was not good, sound system was awful and well, I expected a theater, not a tent.

Friday: Chady Haddad

Tito Dan invited us to have lunch in their home in Ajman. I said yes, and he even picked up squid on my request. Hehe. But at 11:30, I got a call from the Middle East Internationl Film Fair organizer or Pr to say that Chady Haddad, a popular TV actor in Lebanon, was available for interview and can I be there by 2pm. That would have been fine except the fair was being held in Abu Dhabi, roughly 2 hours away!!! I emailed them earlier in the week and did not get a response and anyway, I totally did not expect a call on a Friday, it's a Friday!!! But, to get things done, I said yes to a 3:30pm appointment, we couldn't do it later because Chady needed to get ready for the red carpet (it's the last night) and he was flying out early the next day. And lunch and my afternoon off shopping with friends flew out the window.

I dragged Mirzi with me (thanks Mirzi!) and we drove off to Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. Chady is a lovely man, he's like a kid under a Christmas tree when describing his passion for what he does. I literally saw his eyes sparkle as he describes what he likes in his job. He does TV series and he's been at it for roughly 15 years. As we were walking out, Chady got waylaid by people who wanted to interview him. So we said our goodbyes and we left.



We went straight to Ajman, for our late lunch. LOL. And I got flashed for speeding in the Sharjah area, near the Ajman exit! I was distracted by these motorbike riders who were showing off... there were two of them on big bikes and one took a fancy to us. He kept pace, showed off by doing hands-free and standing, talking to us through the window. At first we were laughing but I got worried too... I get nervous around motorbike riders, I avoid them as much as possible on the roads. Though these guys look very good at what they do, my driving was getting affected!!! LOL. Anyway, a few minutes more and I got flashed for speeding :(. Man, that's gonna cost me!

Today: At home, dinner at Cucina

Today, I am relaxing. I slept late, now blogging and chatting. I'll be eating lunch in a few and will be working on some artworks after. Then I might go the mall with Love, Malen and Abet later then have dinner at Cucina. Man, I wish I have another extra day off. Driving to Abu Dhabi, though meeting Chady was lovely, was not exactly a walk in the park.

Traffic light or not?

In Al Khail Road, the road running almost parallel to Sheik Zayed Road and Emirates Road, there used to be no traffic lights in roundabouts, especially in the big ones which is really dangerous. A lot of drivers take too many stupid risks just to get ahead. In the smaller ones, things were pretty much okay and traffic flowed quite smoothly. But about a month or two ago, whoever's responsible in installing traffic lights did so in the smaller roundabouts. I was kind of surprised because it was the bigger roundabouts that, for me, needed the traffic lights, not the smaller ones. But it was the small ones that got 'em and they showed only the flashing yellow lights... until about two weeks ago when they actually used all three colors.

And the traffic started. It was the first time I saw a line of cars leading to the roundabout without any accident! In the afternoon when I took the same road, it took 45 minutes just to get to the roundabout which used to take 5 minutes at most (given that there's no mishap anywhere). I know having the traffic lights is safer, I'm just wondering why it was placed in the small roundabouts which were safer to cross than the gigantic roundabouts which up to now doesn't have any. Well, it's probably in the works. But though I know its safer (to have t.lights installed there), now I'm wondering too if having t. lights in those small roundabouts are indeed better.

In life, it's nice to have traffic lights -- very specific signals that tell you when to go, stop and slow down. There's no guessing, no gaging the situation. Yellow means slow down, red means stop, green means go. Clear cut. It's like that missing instruction manual when we were all born...

On the other hand, having no set signals to follow hones your skill in reading your environment... it sharpens your powers of observation, allowing you to take in everything and judge from what you've seen without even analyzing every detail (think 'Blink') unlike when you've got the signals and you're reduced to Pavlov's dog...

Signal lights -- it's really got it's own advantages and disadvantages... in life, on the roads...

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Bank woes

I've only got two banks now: Citibank and Rak Bank. I've also been with Masreq Bank and ABN Amro before but I wanted to consolidate my finances so I chose the two last two banks to stick with. (Wow consolidate -- the things you learn when you have to.)

Within the last two months, I've made complaint after complaint, practically emailing novellas to their complaint departments. I even complained (at least to Citibank) about the character-limit of the emails to them (it was way too short, unless you email from the generic complaint form in their website). Anyway, both banks have called me back regarding my complaints.

Citibank took the longest, weeks in fact. After I withdrew my request for a service because of so many difficulties entailed and the time involved in fulfilling their requirements, I emailed them and laid out every bit of my questions and complaints. After some time, I find that they went ahead and approved the request which I've already withdrawn. It was not quite satisfactory, that eventual success, because I went through so many hoops to get there.

With Rak, it was a matter of days which I was both surprised and pleased with, considering that my email was not really a complaint but a request for consideration which means the fault was entirely mine.

You know how anger can be, you get outraged at something, call in a huff, get angry and relieve yourself by telling everybody willing to listen to you recounting every detail of the gruesome tale. For me, a call saying that they're looking into the matter is enough water to douse my fire. It automatically made me shift perspectives and think -- 'Wow, they're good. They actually called and will investigate my case!"

Isn't that how it's supposed to be? Especially with big companies which has dedicated customer service departments? It makes you feel good and well cared for. Makes you feel that you really want to stick with them. And with Rak, I must say, my hats off to them (and to Scott Bilker who said you should contact your bank and if they are not willing to listen to you, look for a manager. Well, the call Rak center rep I spoke with just said 'no' to my request so instead of asking for a manager, I emailed them and re-relayed my predicament).

Here's a bit of what happened, I made a mistaken when I paid my credit card, having doubled the payment in one billing statement because of a few days difference before the next billing cycle is due. So, thinking that I've already paid for the current month, in the records, I actually did not pay and so incurred a late payment fee to my dismay. Late payment fees are pretty pricey. I emailed Rak and requested for their consideration and reversal of the fee. Last week, a rep called me to clarify the matter and the ending was, the rep said she will forward the request. And today, a Rak rep left me a message saying that my request has been granted and the reversal will be shown in the next statement. That's a total 'wow' in my book. Thanks Rak Bank! And on top of that, Rak cards are free of annual fees and actually offers the lowest interest rates (lol, this is fast becoming an ad, but that's what happens when you're pleased with service, right? You extol their virtues to high heavens). So instead of cutting up my card, I've decided to keep it after all. But it's only for emergencies now. Since these bank thingies came up, I've decided to live a mostly cash-based existence. Have no money, will stay at home and blog.

Better copy of KD

Mirzi recorded the show again. This is a slightly better copy of the first one. :D

Thanks Mirz!