my complicated life

got up around 7:15 AM. pupungas-pungas pa... i heard the sound of flowing water from the shower as my hubby prepares for work. i rushed to the kitchen and prepared sauteed corned beef and fried rice for breakfast. i owe that to him as he always prepare my breakfast this past week. =) we had our breakfast around 7:30 AM, satisfied and full kami pareho. i cleaned up the kitchen right after he left and i had a quick shower as well. i did some last minute phone calls to friends (Charry and Eric). aba, i heard from Charry that Nelson was able to go back here in UAE sometime between August and September pa. ni hindi tumatawag! <inis> anyway, eric promised to relay the message as to how disappointed i am dahil nalimutan na nila ako. **sniff, sniff** arte!!! hehe. charry and me had a serious conversation regarding our friend tina. i won't divulge the details as she might go back and re-visit my blog sometime. hihihi, tamang guilty daw ba. peace tina!!! ;P

so, right after the phone calls, i went out around 10 AM and strolled along hamdan street to mashreqbank to pay my credit card debts. the weather was kinda nice these days. nde na masakit sa balat ang araw plus it's windy now! sarap nang namnamin ang pagdampi ng hangin sa pisngi! =) after i paid my bills, i passed by a grocery shop and bought some in by the nice weather. i saw some pinays working for Bhs (department) store setting up the Christmas trees by the store window. wala lang, the scene made me miss our Christmas tree back home in the philippines. =(

when i got home, i rested for awhile before starting to prepare lunch. instead of steaming the tilapia, i opted to cook it in the oven. less grime, less work. hehehe. that's what they call, smart cooking! =) i also prepared fruit salad for dessert. everything turned out to be tasty!!! sorry, i wasn't able to take some snapshots as proofs because i was on a rush and the fish was now flesh and bones that i won't consider capturing how the two of us enjoyed devouring the poor animal. btw, i had lunch by myself since i couldn't wait for hubby anymore as i have an engagement to attend to in the church. he just ate his meal on his own today as well.

i arrived 10 minutes before 2 pm in St. Joseph's Church. the choir was just starting to have its last minute practice. the wedding ceremony started a quarter past 2 pm. it was the most organized, solemn and elegantly celebrated and decorated wedding ceremony i was able to witness here in abu dhabi. despite the small number of gfc members who was able to make it, the choir's performance for this wedding was superb, too. feel na feel! =)

the photo above was taken by the sweet young white lady (american?) who volunteered to take the shot for us. she's sweet alrighty, but she also has shaky hands... bad ko... hehehe. actually, she already caught my attention when we were singing during the ceremony. she loves singing with the choir kasi while she sat back on the seat near the couple. we just waited for the ceremony to end before we posed below this arch decorated with so much roses. too bad, considering almost everyone has a digital camera of his/her own, no one brought one today. bad timing talaga. ayan tuloy, we just contented ourselves with a mobile phone cam. we used my mobile phone, by the way, which was admired by the white lady. <yabang!> the photo below was supposed to capture only the arch. anyway, as you can see there was an abundance of flowers in this wedding.

as we went outside when the ceremony adjourned, we saw that the bridal car was a two-seated top-down sportscar. we later realized that when the owner pulled the top down, of course! pero hanep talaga! we couldn't resist to have a photo taken with it as souvenir. ganda talaga eh! oh well, even the idea was great! as it was a two-seater car, only the bride and the groom will drive away! now, i just dunno if it will be the bride or the groom who will be behind the wheels.. hehehe.

i went straight home after i bade goodbye to my choirmates. we were still supposed to go to Taza food store in hamdan. well, they did went but i passed on the invitation. i was kinda shy kasi... asus!!! hahahaha. anyway, all's well that ends well.

my hubby and i joined the filipino Manila Ecotourism Club (MAETRICS) in the tour they organized, called "Lakbay UAE". assembly time was at 5:30 AM infront of Abu Dhabi Mall. since there wasn't any cab yet at that time (muslims [including taxi drivers] were celebrating, EID), hubby and i walked from our flat to the mall. we left the house at 5:00 AM and got to the meeting place exactly 5:30 AM!!

the buses left Abu Dhabi at exactly 6:00 AM. two of kuya's officemates and their husbands were on the same bus as we were. we had breakfast on the road. we headed first in Burj Al Arab and Wild Wadi.

after that, we went to Al Wasl Park to have our morning snack and before heading off to a long travel to Fujairah.

i wasn't able to keep track whether it was a two-hour or three-hour trip from dubai, as i dozed off occassionally. =) however, i was able to take note that there were fewer and fewer buildings as we got to Fujairah. the first laps were mountainous regions. UAE mountains were inclined 45 degrees and rather pointed and slippery. it was in Fujairah mountains were i saw examples of "fanning" and "bedding". terms i learned from the sedimentary petrology classes i attend to (omigosh, i sound like my boss now!). from a climber's point of view, climbing UAE mountains would be a nightmare!!! either you die from sliding from the top down to the foot or you get punctured from sharp protruding rocks. however, i definitely look forward to climb one. ngahaha. tigas talaga ng ulo!!!

upon reaching the town proper, we noticed that they also have KFC, Pizza hut and Golden Fork restaurants. not bad... =) however, it also caught my attention that there were some houses which looked like Iraq villas. not that i have been to Iraq, but the way some houses were built in Fujairah really looked like the small box-lix houses i saw on CNN when they feature news in Iraq. we reach Khor Fakhan beach just in time for lunch. we had picnic together with the other pinoys. only the little ones took a dip as grown-ups were not enticed to the water anymore or should i say, to Fujairah amenities. =(

we left the beach area around 2:30 PM and stopped by to Al Badiya Mosque, the oldest mosque in UAE. after taking photos, went off to the market to buy souvenirs. the road has been congested this time as people were coming and going in & out the different emirates in time for a workday tomorrow (does not include me and hubby, though!).

"outside the Al Badiya Mosque"

"towers above the Al Badiya Mosque"

after Fujairah, we had another long travel to Al Ain's Jebel Hafeet mountains. my hubby and i were not ecstatic this time, as we have gone even to a grander part of Jebel Hafeet before. at the top, i even had a feat with some arab women. pinainit nila ulo ko!!! i raised my voice and scolded these hard-headed arab women, saying "don't you know how to fall in line, people!!!". they really got into my nerves! after that, ayun, i was finally able to take a pee in peace. hahaha, line pala sa comfort room!

our last destination was in Green Mubazarrah Garden Park. the park has hot springs and green grassy areas. however, i have a feeling that these were just man-made though. i'll check out with the professors when i get back at work on Monday if my guess was right. however, had fun climbing the high areas. proving i really miss mountain climbing!!!

the pack was able to reach abu dhabi at 2:00 AM. my hubby said that i slept like a baby on the bus so i have no absolute excuse to claim otherwise. =) the tour has been memorable in itself except for the fact that i have been disappointed with the organizers. maybe because i do organize events myself and for them to have tours like this on a regular basis, the way things went on today hasn't been a superb job for nth-timers. just my piece of honest-to-goodness view.