my complicated life

we (me, hubby, big bro and big bro's friend) had an early swim near the Ladies Beach at the back side of the Emirates Palace Hotel. we got there at 7:30 AM and swam until 10:30 AM courtesy of kuya's friend, kuya Ed. he got a car thus we were able to roam around abu dhabi. we don't have any BBQ or any kind of food as it is still Ramadan period. anyhow, the dip has been refreshing! kakatawa... this beach has no public restrooms that's why when we were finished swimming, we dress up on the parking area just along the street. para akong lalake! hahaha. and then, a police car just passed by. buti na lang, we were finished dressing up na... =) kakaibang trip!

my hubby and i went to Hamed Center and bought a PS2 console, the slim-type. eid vacation (the last few days of Ramadan which are usually declared as non-working days in UAE) will be next week thus we deemed we need something to spend the time with. we got the unit for 690 AED including an 8 MB memory card, 1 additional joystick and 10 free CD games. the PS2 console was already modified, meaning it has the capability to play both original and p****** softwares. hehe.

the CD titles we got were mostly the violent and morbid ones. selected the list from the top-rated games in pinoy gaming console forum www.pinoypsx.com. quite a helpful site for game beginners like us.

Game list:

1. Call of Duty
2. Devil May Cry 3
3. Mercenaries
4. God of War
5. Tekken 5
6. Medal of Honor
7. Mortal Combat Shaolin Monks
8. Stealth Force
9. Black Hawk Down
10. Gran Turismo 4

i can foresee that this can be another distraction for both of us. unahan na naman ito!!! ngahaha.

went around town by myself and wired some money to evangeline. she borrowed some money since she just started at her work and has no budget for the coming month. i lent her my ticket money for the meantime. we've been friends since high school so i have no worries about trust or whatsoever when it comes to her.

while i'm in liwa centre, i went around jewelry shops and was so happy to see this bracelet! actually, i've seen it before in another shop but i have forgotten the offer. as for the shop i was in today, the vendor quoted it for 500 AED. i was able to lower it down to 450 AED. it's a 22K singaporean gold. it has some round and heart-shaped dangling studs. i liked it because the studs looked like the necklace that my sister gave me years ago, which was snatched from me while i was walking alone street near the marketplace in Bicutan. =( anyway, i got this bracelet a bit pricey than the saudi or emirate gold, probably because it is imported from Singapore! hehe. but then, i just love the dangling studs that i just couldn't let go. ;)

i bought the bracelet before i change my mind however i felt guilty when i finally got hold of it. i told myself kasi that i won't be buying anything for myself from now on since i am going home by december and needs as much money for the HK trip. pero ayun, i had let myself be tempted and uncontrollable. =( nakakainis talaga. i am so weak.... hay...

i was watching the filipino business TV program titled Kumikitang Kabuhayan when a topic about chocolate cake was featured. it looked so yummy kaya tinakam ako and decided instead to bake my own. =) well, this time i have been successful!!! i have a perfectly baked two-layered cake topped with creamy chocolate icing. everyone in the house just cant get enough. hehehe.

i had a terrible day. been working from 8:30 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. then florian has been his usual self (the "aligaga" mood) and scolded me for not attending his class this morning. i dunno, i just find it too boring for me. maybe because his teaching technique is just too boring? or because i was just so not into the rocks!!?? hay. when will they realize that it's just difficult for me to study geology and work at the same time. well, i could. but not to have a boss like florian perhaps! and then, when i got home, it's still work!!! so pissed off with my hubby because he just thinks of himself. life has been easier when i was still single. hehehe. too late for grumping now...

i then planned to either to walk by the beach or try the free cinema ticket sponsored by HSBC card. yep, i read it from my credit card statement that HSBC's sponsoring free movie tickets every saturday night in Cine Star Cinema in Marina Mall. i dressed up and got ready to leave when my hubby tried to make peace. i have two choices, either i make myself ugly due to stress or just forgive instead? i chose the first. siyempre noh! who want's to be ugly? so off we went to the mall and confirmed that there is no catch after all with the free ticket and half the price Maxi Coke and Maxi popcorn (8 AED). the only downside is that, you can't choose which movie to watch. i dunno if it's the cinema or the card's decision, but only the movie of the week gets to be the one that comes with the offer. not bad for a freebie though, especially that watching movies in UAE is a luxury.

we got to see Four Brothers, a drama genre. rating? good enough. not too dull, yet not too grand. a drama, with a little comedy and a little action. it is about four adopted brothers to come together to bury a dead mother. later, they found out that their mother has been murdered and they seek revenge. i liked the way the bond between brothers were showcased in the movie. plus, that being the adopting parent, you can also be loved like the real biological parent and vice-versa as to being the adopted child.

this is a photo of the chicken that i baked. it doesn't look so yummy because the picture was taken using my xda and after the chicken has been taken apart already. hehehe. pano ba naman, as soon as the chicken was placed on plate, hands were already dunking its way into it to disassemble every joints it have. with the "almost" successful chocolate cake that i made a couple of days back, i got kinda inspired to bake some more. =) so, this is my first baked chicken! tinalo nya ang lasa ng andok's, promise!!! haha.

what's the secret?

1. the chicken has to be rubbed with rock salt first to take out the bad smell. however, since there's no rock salt in UAE i just rubbed iodized salt on it and crossed my fingers that it'll make wonders. and it did!!! =)

2. i rinsed it afterwards and let the liquid drip so the chicken will dry a bit.

3. then i poured bout 1/4 cup soy sauce, pepper to taste, squeezed in some lemon, put some lots of well-pounded garlic and a teaspoon of hot sauce. it would be best to put pandan leaves as well inside the chicken. i couldn't find one in the market yet i still managed to do without it though.

4. i let the chicken soaked in this mixture for a day, tossing it each side within the soaking period.

5. after the marinating period, i wrapped the chicken in aluminum foil and cooked it in the oven using 180 degrees Celsius heat. wrapping it in aluminum foil makes the heat be concentrated all throughout the chicken and ensure that even its inside will be cooked as well. plus the meat will be really, really tender!

6. when the chicken became tender, the process is done when one wants to have a tender and juicy chicken. however, i removed it from the foil and baked it again to make chicken's outside crisp!

viola, we had a delicious chicken for supper! the three of us (me, my hubby and my big brother) had a sumptuous meal today. i owe this recipe from my friend istanli, who claims to make the tastiest turkey. come Christmastime, there will be two of us who will stake that claim! haha.

after we were able to clean up the table, me and my hubby went to church for the 3rd day of the Tagalog Mission. the topic for tonight was about FAMILY. about how filipino families were so close-knitted and how each pinoy values his/her own blood. i took my hubby to church hoping he will like this Filipino Abu Dhabi tradition, amongst many of course!

this is the first day of the ramadan period. at this time, the muslim people prays a whole lot more than usual and were forbidden to eat or drink when the sun rises. therefore, they only gets to eat after sun down, they call it the IFTAR. with this, all shops and restaurants opens later lasting until about 2 a.m. the next day. alongside with this, offices both government and private were only required to work 6 hours - muslims or non-muslims! in my office, our timing from Saturday to Tuesday is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., while on Wednesday we only work from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in my case, i report 30 minutes before those timings and extends during Tuesday as i attend lectures in sedimentary petrology. aahhh.... kainis nga eh.

ramadan period lasts for a month. to pay our respect for this muslim tradition, we do not eat nor drink in public. as we know they are not allowed to eat nor drink when the sun is up we therefore, do not eat nor drink in public because doing so will only make them hungrier or thirstier. in addition, it is more of a prohibition by law. thus, we only eat in our own home or lock ourselves inside our office when we are to take a bite in the workplace.

i usually get home about 3:30 p.m. and my hubby is already home by then. as his boss is a UAE national, they only work from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lucky him! hehehe. me and my hubby can now stroll around the city more often as time is in our hands! hehehe. above is a photo taken in Marina Mall during one of our casual "walks". sporting my shorter haircut which was now 1 month old.