I've been thinking a lot. (Image from Andrew Mitchell Photography c/o Pinterest)
If you've noticed, I haven't been posting a lot lately. I've been quite busy, the good kind of busy: some thinking, some planning and a whole lot of doing. Hence, I've been thinking about this blog for some time now. I have a lot of plans and am not quite sure if this is still part of the big scheme of things. The big question in my head now is "Shall I go on or move on?"
Read more on So is this the end?…
Our first New Year's celebration was straight forward and simple. We both wanted a nice view of the spectacular fireworks display from any of the fireworks hotspots in Dubai: the Burj Al Arab, the Burj Khalifa, Global Village, Bab Al Shams, or Atlantis Hotel. (The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi also had their share of 2012 fireworks) So after the Thanksgiving mass at Jebel Ali and a patay gutom Mandi dinner at the restaurant across our apartment building together with our good friend and neighbor K (*wave!*), we trooped over to the Meydan Hotel, where they had a viewing deck for those who wanted to enjoy a good vantage point for the Burj Khalifa fireworks.
Read more on Happy New Year from Dubai!…
Ending 2011 in the desert…Al Hadheera style!
2011 is coming to a close…a year which started with an old flame, but with a new love. 2011 was certainly a milestone year of CHANGE. I wished for change on our LDR anniversary and I did get all of them.
First off, for those of you who are still oblivious to the news, Dodong and I got married! It was an intimate and very happy celebration with close family and friends after 9 long years of being together as boyfriend and girlfriend. And after three years of being in a long distance relationship, we finally put this chapter of our lives to a close. Inday I. Nagintay is now Inday Nag-arrive because I definitely arrived in Dubai. This is the second major change in my life this 2011: a new life in the desert with Dodong, a new chapter of my life with learnings, adjustments here and there, plus loads of adventures and misadventures (a luxurious Six Senses Zighy Bay honeymoon here, here and here, an epic fail Britney Spears concert with new Dubai friends, my first Christmas away from family and our first Christmas as husband and wife, among many others).But ultimately, with the changes, I am loving every waking moment with Dodong beside me.
So last night, because we had a sweet The Entertainer voucher discount (discounts always count in an expensive place like Dubai!, we travelled deep into the desert for an Arabian feast at Al Hadheera restaurant at Bab Al Shams resort hotel…
Read more on Celebrating the close of 2011 in Al Hadheera, Bab Al Shams desert hotel style!…
Print from Barn Owl Primitives (http://www.etsy.com/shop/barnowlprimitives)
Last night, Dodong and I hosted a noche buena for a few friends, who were also left in the cold desert to celebrate Christmas, in our shoebox of a flat. We had a humble Noche Buena feast of pork BBQ, crispy pata, kare-kare, chopsuey, hammour in oyster sauce, palabok, rice (of course!) leche flan and a few bottles of beer. I say feast because the food was good enough to feed a good 20 people when in fact we were only 8 ravenous people! It was a merry night of good food, stories, Christmas carols (alongside boy band songs), and drinks in our little home. We did have a merry little Christmas indeed! Or so I thought…
Read more on Our First Merry Little Desert Christmas…
Thanks to www.flickr.com/kudaker for the image
Homesickness really has kicked and bit me in the a$* quite hard this Christmas season as this is my very first OFW (Overseas Filipino Wife) Christmas, a holiday away from my family and friends. But thank God for the gift of visiting friends, I received a taste of home, my very first Kabayan Padala care package. What the heck is a kabayan padala package anyway?!?
Read more on The joys of Kabayan Padala…
You say, Me say