my complicated life

1. you work your butt off, but is still justly compensated and you don't have to share your salary with the BIR.
2. you get to work or go home in 30 minutes or less (for most workers).
3. there's independence! you get to do what you wanted to do as long as it's not against their law. =)
4. you will learn to be responsible as you decide on your own and suffer the consequences all by yourself, too.
5. you have access to different types of food and brands (haha, at gawin bang panglima yung pagkain talaga). not only that, you can actually buy it if you want to. for some that are really costly, you can buy it by saving from a few months salary instead of saving for a year or two.
6. you live in a building and your house/flat have less dust to clean up. hihi.
7. you don't complain of how expensive an LPG or gasoline is.
8. you have a water heater! nice ito, especially for someone like me who can't bathe with cold tap water. =)
9. just by seeing the number and the quality of cars on the street, feeling mo, mayaman ka na rin. hehe.
10. you are spared from mga nakakainis na relatives, inlaws or neighbors. =)
11. you can talk to your kid in english without your neighbor thinking na ang yabang-yabang mo. yun nga lang, nosebleed ka talaga kung ipagpapatuloy mo yun. hehe.
12. aminin... hindi ganun kabigat ang trabaho sa office saka parang ang tali-talino mo dito. hihi.
13. you can save for your next trip and you can get visa approval easier.
14. you can send money back home instead of borrowing from your parents or siblings. may bonus pa, you can send christmas gifts in big balikbayan boxes. isn't it something to look forward to? enjoy kaya mag-ipon ng kung anong anik-anik to toss into that brown box.
15. lagi kang naka-aircon. you don't get that sweaty feeling na parang mamasa-masang pandesal (i miss pandesal, though).
16. walang baha. sunshiney 350 days of the year!!! 5 days for occasional rainshowers and 10 days of sandstorms.
17. your pasttime as a single person may include malling, bowling or clubbing. as a yummy mummy/daddy, you may be busy shopping, baking or perfecting a dish at home, go to gym, engage in a hobby, etc.
18. you have officemates of different nationalities that no matter how weird they are, at least may excuse sila.
19. you can sleep late at night and still catch your bus or taxi early in the morning. okay lang, because you can still take your breakfast in the office while infront of a computer. makakapag-blog ka pa nga eh. minsan nga, may bonus ka ring kotse thay you pay in installments or if you can any luckier, a car issued by your company. kung hindi ka naman talaga sinuswerte!
20. you can stretch your 24 hours. hindi ka umuuwi ng bahay na parang basang-sisiw. you can go to work and can still have time to go to the grocery, cook, watch teleseryes, mess around with your kid, chat...etc. all in one day.
21. hindi ka paranoid to have your celfone snatched, be kidnapped, have your throat slashed, be mugged.. while you walk the streets daytime or nighttime.
22. you can have leisure walks along the beach everyday, if you want to.
23. you don't need to present many documents when you want to apply for a credit card. credit card companies actually looks for you.
24. girls or ladies get separate queues or seats in public transports.
25. less pasyalan, less gastos. hehe.
26. no dogs to be afraid of on the streets.
27. hardly any flies, ants, cockroaches or rats at home or in the vicinity. except yung mga tao that resembles like them. peace!!
28. no need to worry of stray bullets during New Year's Day or any police rub out on ordinary days.
29. you get to eat chicken almost everyday, as in, malapit ka na ngang tubuan ng pakpak eh. uy! free ride home na yun eventually! ngehehe.
30. you get to use your passport bago pa ito mag-expire. =)

this list may seem "mababaw" but these are the positive things that can help one to see the brighter side of things. let us enjoy our stay here as long as we can. hindi naman tayo welcome dito for long eh. we will eventually go home where our hearts truly belong. kaya love the place, love the situation while it is still loving us back.

1. Invitation, Lootbag & Tarp - i have drafted the invites already but i wasn't able to print it out yet. hindi ako maka-timing sa office. hihi. i also have to scout for lootbags. i was thinking of having a plastic colored bag and just print a sticker outside. yun nga lang, wala talaga akong makita nito dito. waaah. another bad news is, i don't have a tarp design yet. waaah ulet... cramming na ito talaga!!!
2. Food - i have a menu list in mind already, which is a typical birthday party food. wala pa nga lang akong nakakausap who will cook it. however, i plan to cook the children's food myself and bake the cupcakes. as for the cuppies, i have already printed the toppers. =) hindi ko palang nala-laminate. i still need to bake and perfect the chocolate and cheese-flavored cupcakes pa. haha, under experimentation pa pala! then, i'm still on a lookout for a cake supplier. i plan to buy a small one lang naman just to have something na pang-cake blowing. parang ayaw ko na kasi bumili sa La Baguette. we went there this afternoon and the saleslady wasn't that helpful in my inqueries. she made me feel na parang hindi ko afford yung cake nila. hmp. badtrip siya talaga.
3. Decor - i plan to make balloonderitas, balloon pillars, building blocks and swags. i still need to buy balloon pieces and chinese paper for the swags. as for the blocks, dalawa pa lang ang nauuwi kong box galing sa opisina kaya hindi ko pa maumpisahan yung pagdi-DIY. hehe. pero nakabili na ako ng balloon sticks. yippee. 10 lang kasi hindi naman lahat ng bata ay mag-uuwi ng balloons eh.
4. Entertainment - i plan to show Little Einstein movie on the background. i might also show an AVP, if time permits me to make one on time. if not, i might just have a creative area for the kids then some games. now, who will be our Emcee??? ewan ko lang kung may helping hand na mag-volunteer. hihi.
5. Prizes & Give-away - of all these backlogs, dito lang ako happy. just today, i was able to discover a mala-divi store here in abu dhabi. yiipppee... a binocular toy, some rocket pocket gaming device, microphone pen, rubik's cube, a calculator, a study set, a musical set, and a twisted pencil set. ito ang mga happy finds ko today. hehe. i am still undecided if these will be direct-to-kids-type of prizes or if i will set up a mini-tiangge store. just like what my fellow GT sisses have done with their kiddos parties. bahala na si batman. =) as for the give-aways... i have drafted the CD cover already. CD and cover are still for printing though. i will give this to kids 3 y/o and below. kids 3 y/o and up will either have lootbags or take-home prizes. whatever.

these things are keeping me uber busy these days. aside from feeling physically, emotionally, financially and mentally drained, having this creative things to do somehow lighten things up. sana lang talaga ay matapos ko siya on time. *hopeful*

ooopss.. not to mention i have one on-going student research assistance, piles and piles of work backlogs, immigration research to do (and should be done before the month ends!), help marvin with his english exam review, outreach coordination with Phil-based friends and who knows what else will turn up one of these days???!!!!!!!! daig ko pa ang juggler. no, i am not complaining, i am just overwhelmingly pre-occupied.