my complicated life

Sree, a fellow lab technician, and me were busy beavering down at the thin section laboratory when our department director popped in and asked me for the status of the laboratory requests at hand and how will it be when he allowed me to go on a month-long leave. i answered him that i have everything under control and will ensure continuity of everything. he blurted out that he got the answer that he's looking for. he liked my use of the continuity word. hehe. and so, it's finally settled. assuming i do get everything on schedule, i will be on leave from the 8th of July till the 8th of August. now the question is, how will i survive that long, summer break in the UAE???

sigh. i really, really hope i could go out of the country. well, i could but it would only be an added expense. secondly, who will i go with??? tagging hubby will be an impossibility since he's not up to wandering around when tons of work is at his desk.

sigh. a month. against the heat. against boredom to the max. well, some things i could do are:

hanep sa title! haha. correct, today's my hubby's birthday. straight from work, i passed by Hot Breads bakeshop along Electra Street and bought a chocolate cake. ito na birthday gift ko sa kanya. hehe. it was a lovely choco cake adorned with fresh fruits on top. i certainly hope the taste live up to my expectation. well, for a 60 AED cake... it better be! =)

when i got home, i prepared squid as a cameron-rebusado-like pika-pika. as for the tenticles of the squid, i sliced it for pancit garnishing, too. i cooked pancit canton and it was the best pancit that i have cooked so far. =)

when hubby got home, he was surprised and thankful for my efforts. dapat lang noh! hihi. he thought kasi that i will just treat the day like an ordinary one and wouldn't even cook for him. mali siya dun! i was more excited of this day than him pa nga eh! =) anyhow, he phoned some friends to come over and share a booze with him. bong, dennis, mandy, dantes, and willy came. they drunk a bottle of Fundador over the tasty squids. hehe.

the session ended right before 12 AM. just before me and hubby dozed off, he thanked me once again. =) you're welcome and happy birthday!

it has been a year since i have given up calling my hubby's mother, nanay rita. however, today i tried phoning her mobile number once more and viola, she answered! we had a rather long updating of things. close talaga kami . she's not your usual malambing na nanay but amidst her rather supladang tone of voice, are words of concern and guidance. although we haven't personally met, we converse like we have known each other for so long. we had about an hour of talk and she's sincerely glad i became her daughter-in-law.

when hubby arrived from work, he suspected that i have something naughty in mind. galing nya huh! i have this wicked smile daw kasi. well, to give justice to his guess, i called nanay rita again. hehe. they talked for quite a long time, too. i am happy that they have finally spoken to each other after a long time and because of my intervention pa. =) they have talked about the same things nanay rita told me. no mushy stuffs.

after their conversation, my hubby tried to convey what they have talked about. however, he was shocked that i already know these things. he is happy and i am happy for them. =)

a memo has been released in hubby's office requiring them to wear polo's at work and shirt IF and ONLY IF they would have to go on-site. with that, problemado ang mokong because he has a few sets of clothes. he claims he doesn't need as much clothes, more so branded ones as he has face value which far more important than these. may point siya. although may pagka-mayabang nga lang. hehe.

anyhow, we went out tonight in search for polo along the shops in Najda Street. we were able to bump into Bong (a choirmate) along the way. our first stop has been the newly-opened RED TAG store. it was were Sana store used to stand. my hubby was able to get himself a checkered- and blue-colored polo. blue na naman!!! yep, yep. ewan ko ba, all his polo shirts were of blue in different shades. he prefers light-colored clothes. ngayon, pati ako nai-impluwensyahan to convert from the flashy dark-colored fanatic to a subtle light-colored gal. ang nagagawa nga naman ng pag-aasawa. hehe.

after Red Tag, we went to the old Sana store located at the far end of Najda St. found nothing that tickles our fancy though, so we left. it was a long walk to and from that shop so we decided to eat in the Lebanese resto which we nicknamed "the garden". =) meron kasi siyang kainan outside its enclosed area and it has trees all over and the open space gives. a non-choking ambience. hanep sa desc. it simply means, it's along the street and dusts can freely season your food without you feeling bothered. =)

he ordered grilled chicken with hommos while i requested for a chicken shawarma. while waiting for our orders, we heard an explosion of some sort somewhere outside the kitchen area of that resto. dedma lang kami. then, we saw some resto staffs splashing the outskirts of the resto where the stove(?)/aircon(?) area was. we weren't sure what really the thing that was burning eh. as soon as our orders arrived, we heard another explosion. this time, it was quite louder than the first one. then, fire broke off the oozes out to the exhaust atop the building!!! grabe, it was so shocking!!! everyone panicked, including us! my hubby snatched me up. i stood up, with my shawarma at one hand, and rushed with him to a farther area. within the vicinity pa rin naman, safe but near enough to view what was happening. hehe. mga uzi ba. for the third time, i was so inis i left my jam again at home. kainis talaga! another mega event left undocumented! hehe.

soon after, firetrucks came. some splashing here and there. so exciting! hehe, sama ko. while i was munching my shawarma, i watched how the firemen conquered the blazing fire. gleng-gleng! =) they were able to bring the building down to cooler temperature after about 15 minutes. my hubby and i approached back the waiter of the resto. my hubby offered to pay for the bills, etcheng lang yun syempre. hehe. but then, the waiter with a permission from the resto owner did not let us pay the meal. a fireman smiled at us and said sorry for disturbing our supposed-to-be quiet dinner. hehe. no problemo, sir! =)

we trodded back along the length of Najda St. and came to National Cinema. i urged my hubby to check out the new chinese resto. it was at the 2nd floor of the said building. we entered, got curious, and ordered a hotpot! =) it was OK, not the usual food we eat here. however, hotpot restos in Manila were far better. syempre, pinoys were very particular with food eh so they better be good. anyhow, we were still able to enjoy the joy of cooking at one's table. the plok-plok of the soup, the meat slices, the seafood thingy. for 25AED dinner, it was not bad after all.

before hubby left for his second shift at work, he informed me that we will eat out tonight. with that, i need not prepare dinner of any kind. buti naman, hehe. i was spared! or was it, he was spared??? ngahaha.

it was around 8 pm when he called up and he wants us to meet in Mubashir. it's a small resto right around the block that offers arabic specialties. he ordered hommos with meat while i ordered mixed grills of lamb, kofta and a pita-like bread with meat fillings. he asked me to taste hommos. i obliged but told him that i am not fond of eating the said appetizer. i have tasted it once but never liked it. that was, when i was still very new here in UAE. however, seeing him eat it with such gusto has made me crave for the different taste as well. now, i'm a hommos fan as well. hehe. inggetera kasi.

hommos was made from chick peas. it has a bitter sweet taste and was topped with olive oil when served. it is usually served with hot unleavened bread and is eaten by carefully dipping the bread into the sauce. yum, yum!! ;)