U2 Moments
Michael and I were in Virgin Store just looking around when suddenly Michael got excited when he saw a DVD of U2's Under the Blood Red Sky concert (sometime in the 80's)...
Michael: Jaaaa!!! (pronounced as Yaaaa!!!, German for yes). I do not have this DVD yet. This will be the second best thing that I'm taking out of Qatar
Russel: (in a very clueless tone) What is the first best thing you're taking out of Qatar?
Michael: I am not talking to you anymore.
Russel: Ay.
(he was giving me a compliment and i was clueless. poor guy.)
That same night, while he was watching the DVD, this was our conversation:
Russel: Who's that guy?
Michael: He's the lead singer.
Russel: Is he still alive?
Michael: (looking at me strangely). That's Bono.
Russel: Weeeellll. How would I know. He doesn't look the same now. He's old. I told you i'm not that much into music. hehehe
Michael just shook his head.
side bar: while he's watching the U2 concert on his laptop, I was watching Mama Mia! on my laptop (just figure out how we did it - haha). Whenever he asked me for the title of the Abba song in the movie, my constant answer was: "i know that song. just can't remember the title" haha (and he knows the title eventhough he's not a fan of Abba)
How do you travel?
One night, Michael and I were watching a video on YouTube about the difference between men and women. One of the differences involved traveling which showed that men travel with just one luggage, while women travel with one luggage in their hand plus several luggages behind them.
This was our conversation while watching that part of the video:
Russel: I'm not like that. I can travel with one only luggage
Michael: Yes, that's true. Because you put the rest in boxes and send them by cargo.
At that time, I have two boxes full of things to send home plus one empty box waiting for more goodies to bring home.
hahahahahahahahaha
Sweety, do you know the way?
One of the things that I have learned about Michael was that he is a veeeery patient person (at least when it concerns me). I have tried his patience so many times and he almost (almost) lost it only once (hehehe). Most of it involves directions. I have lost count of the number of times that we could not find our way and most of it was my fault.
Here are some examples of how (and why) we got lost.
1. Land Mark
We could not find our way home from Land Mark where we had dinner after a long day at work. Reason: instead of us going back from where we came from, Michael decided to follow my advise after I BRAGGED that I know the way if we use a certain road. I was wrong. It took us 2 hours (or was it three?) to find our way home. And all through this ride, I kept saying/asking these:
"honey, haven't we passed this way earlier?"
"i've seen this building a few minutes ago"
"hey, there goes that same building again! we've been here before"
"honey, are we lost?"
...and in between asking questions, I was singing (songs that he could not understand since they were Filipino songs) and telling him stories while all he wanted to do was to concentrate on driving and find our damn way home so he can sleep and rest (hahaha).
2. Ric's Kitchen - a restaurant that serves steak somewhere in Doha
R: Honey, I'm hungry. Where are we going to eat?
M: We're near City Center (a mall in Doha). Would you like to eat there?
R: Okay.
As we were approaching a roundabout (rotonda to us Filipinos)...
R: Honey, there's a nice restaurant somewhere near here. If we turn right on this roundabout, we'll be going towards this place
M: Do you know the way?
R: Eh, no.
M: Okay. Then we go to City Center (he turned left on the roundabout)
R: hahahahahahahahahhahahahahhahahaha.
You should have seen his face as he said the last line. He was veeeery serious (although he told me that he was waiting for me to flare up after he turned left). He can be masungit (grouchy) when he's hungry or when he's tired from driving (and we drove around Doha A LOT!)
3. New road
R: Honey, there's the new road that Hilmi (our company driver) uses in the morning from the villa to the office.
M: Do you know the way?
R: Of course! I did not take my usual nap in the car this morning just so I can show it to you. We just go straight
M: Okay. Then we'll use this tonight
R: (a bit worried now) Are you sure?
M: You said you know the way.
R: Weeeeellll, yeaaah. I think so. hehe. Okay just go straight.
As we got near the first roundabout, a few meters after entering the road...
M: Sweety, where do we go from the roundabout? Straight, left or right?
R: (not looking on the road). I told you just go straight
M: Are you sure?
R: Of course! (then on looking up) Wait! Honey, where's the road?! How come there's no road here? Hehehe.
M: You said go straight
R: Yeah. But there's no more road here. he-he. I should have said right. he-he. Soooooorrrryyyy!!!
M: I knew all along that there was no road there. I just wanted to see your reaction. Now, on this second roundabout, do we go straight?
R: Yes
M: Are you sure?
R: This time, I'm sure
This kind of conversation (straight, left or right, are you sure? etc) went on until we neared the turn that will lead to our villa compound...
R: Where is that turn? I know it's near here somewhere. There should be a house that's being constructed but it's so dark in here I could hardly see anything
M was quiet...
R: Hmmmm....Honey, turn left here! Now!
M took the turn and...
R: Honey, there's no road...again! hehehehe. Sorry! It should be that way (pointing to a turn about 3 meters away). he-he soooorrrryyyyy!!
Now, you decide. Is Michael a patient man or not? haha.
what's up?
It has been a while since I last posted here. I could say that I have been really busy with work (and with something...er, someone else) but this will just be an excuse. The real reason behind my lack of any new entry in the last few months was that I am too lazy (and I also had a lot of things on my mind...really).
Anyway, here are some updates about me. In the last four months...
1. I have fallen in love with a wonderful (eherm) man
2. He proposed and I said yes
3. We have been getting to know more of each others' quirks each day
4. I have recently resigned my job and is looking forward to going home (and getting pregnant...este...getting married -
insert big grin here)
That's it...more to come later
i wanted to share my thoughts and feelings about a recent development in my life. but words evade me at this moment. i think i am still overwhelmed (and still in a state of shock..haha)
so...allow me to keep these to myself for now...and let me savor the feeling of being in love (and loved in return)...drama queen that i am.
Lessons in Filipino culture (?)
This afternoon, my fax kept giving off this irritating sound because it ran out of toner. A representative from one of our partner companies that is based in Switzerland could no longer stand the noise that he had to ask me...
Rep: What is that sound?
Me: It's coming from the fax machine (which at that time I was trying to fix)
Rep: What do you say in Filipino in situations like this? Aside from sh*t.
Me: F*ck?
Rep: ha-ha-ha
Me: Okay, sometimes we say leche
Rep: Ley-che?
Me: Leche. Spanish for milk. Or when you're in a really bad situation, you can say putangina
Rep: What? putanina? What does that mean?
Me: Motherf*cker? (i know that wasn't the correct translation but it's shorter and easier on the tongue than prostitute mother which is the literal meaning...hahahaha)
* * *
My boss and two other officemates were in Tita Tess' office just hanging out. As I walked to Tita Tess' table, I bent a little since I was passing in their midst. My boss suddenly asked me, "why did you bend? Are you walking in front of a TV?"
(hindi ko lang siya masagot ng, "ganyan lang kami magpakita ng respeto pag dadaan kami sa harap ng mga tao")
* * *
Boss ko uli. Pinatawagan sa akin yung isang tao na nasa Germany. E sabi ko patay pa rin ang telepono. Iritado na ang boses nung tinanong ako ng, "what number are you calling?!" So sabi ko the one with the many twos (e ang last five digits nung tel number ay 2). Bigla ako nakarinig ng hagikhik sa telepono (boss ko humagikhik?!). Sabi nya, "too many T's?" Sagot ko tuloy, "no sir. two."
Sagot na lang nya: "aaahh" sabay tawa ng malakas.
(hindi ko alam kung ano ang joke dun)
Usapang Mag-ate
chat ng dalawang magkapatid na baliw:Bunso: ako muna ligawan nya kamo
Ate: hahahahaahaha!!
Bunso: pag pumasa sya sa akin amf tapos n laban. hahahahaha
Ate: tama bang ibenta ako?!
Bunso: tangek hindi benta un pamigay na
Bunso: sa edad mng yan potek mamimili ka pa hahahaha
Ate: tama ba naman yun?!
onli in my pamili.
I have been in Doha exactly a year today. Time flies...when you have a lot of work. I look forward to having fun when I go back to Manila.
La lang
After a long hiatus from blogging, I suddenly felt the need to write. It seems that I'm inspired...by what, I do not know.
Okay, one reason could be the fact that I started reading again. Books are hard to come by here in Doha. English books, i.e. There are only a few bookstores here and the prices could be very steep.
Thank God for yard sales. For the past few weekends, Nikki, Tita Tess and I have been going to yard sales where we can find second hand books (and DVDs). And we bought a lot of books (happy).
Not reading everyday was one of the major adjustments that I had to go through when I first came here. Call me crazy but I even missed the textbooks, journals, articles and technical papers that I was forced to read in grad school and in my previous work.
For one who reads before going to bed at night, or not sleeping at all because she couldn't put down the book she was reading, not being able to do this is sheer torture (okay, I'm being melodramatic here, but it's my blog not yours...so bug off).
I have read and re-read Nikki's Harry Potter books and some of her collections during my first few months in Doha. I'd even read Tita Tess' recipe books out of boredom (with emphasis on read, i didn't try the recipes out). After I had my own computer, I downloaded some e-books from the internet but reading from my laptop is not the same as holding a book and flipping the pages (it's difficult to read in bed with a laptop on your stomach).
Last weekend, I finished The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Last night, I started reading The Devil Wears Prada but I couldn't go past page 2 so tonight I'll start on Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret Senses.
Fave tomes:
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The Hobbit
Harry Potter Series
Celestine Prophecy
The Alchemist
By the River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series
The Da Vinci Code
Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles
