Hyperlapse - DXB International Airport

Ice Bucket Challenge

The Ice Bucket Challenge craze has reached the Philippines. While I believe in the cause and I admire the way the Challenge has become viral to benefit the ALS research, I also enjoy the hilarious Ice Bucket Fails. here are some:

Hold on buddy!

Surprise & horses? Don't go well together

Yup!

Warning adult language

For more videos go check out the Ice Bucket Challenge ALS channel on Youtube. 

And don't forget to visit http://alsa.org 

Of smallest of minds

Recently I caught the beef of one guy when I commented on a friend’s rant using a quote from Habeeb Akande: “People with the smallest minds often have the biggest mouths”. I realized afterwards, I broke one of the rules I set forth for myself while navigating social media, censure yourself. In a world of differing cultures, you just don’t know how the other person will react. 

When I thought about it in hindsight, It became apparent to me that the quote is something I live by when navigating my relationships, and rather unconsciously. Rationalize things before you say what’s on your mind, never judge a person’s actions because you don’t know what caused them in the first place, never dry your dirty laundry in public. For if I cannot understand and able to surmount my prejudices I will have succumbed to having the smallest of minds. When not minding what I say and not understanding/accepting people’s cultures, opinions, biases, I tend to say things that hurt people, I tend to disregard other people’s opinions and I often fail to recognize each person’s uniqueness and biases.

I’m not justifying the quote in the context of the post. Was I wrong in posting that? After all, I didn’t know the background. Maybe so, but in retrospect, it served as a reminder, to me, hopefully to my friend, to the guy, that what good would talking trash be if the return is feeling empty, reaping the wrath and a shallow and empty victory over the other person. 

Just another road trip

It was the first road trip we dared venture into by just following Google maps. That is one of the best parts in roaming around the UAE and checking the sights out, Google maps is on point, even if sometimes it suggests the longest way, you’ll eventually get there. The latest update makes it more dependable than before: it offers alternate routes and it tells you and calculates the faster or slower route. 

This post destination is The Cove Rotana, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE about 1 hour and a half from Dubai by car. Getting there was uneventful via Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Rd/Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Rd, then follow the E11 until you arrive at the hotel. The roads connecting the emirates are great for driving, well-maintained and well-lit. If you don’t have Google maps, just make sure to print the map and take note of directions beforehand and just follow the signs, this should pose no problem though as road signs are easy to read and even if they re-route traffic because of construction and what not, you won’t be lost. The hotel is near the highway and you won’t encounter any problems finding it.

The first thing you notice is the view. Sweeping clear, blue waters and just the general calmness of the place will make you want to stay for long periods. Since the entrance  is on top of hill, while the front desk processes you in, you can enjoy taking photos in the balcony adjacent to the main receiving area. 

The food was excellent, the breakfast buffet selection to die for. Our room was clean with a little balcony, the structures are reminiscent of the Santorini albeit of different colors. The service was fantastic (we got a busted kettle and they replaced it in the middle of the night). 

Since the beach is far from the rooms (maybe ten-minute walk), you can request for a golf cart to take you or anywhere you want to go within the premises, just call the front desk. If you don’t want the beach, they have a temperature controlled pool, so even If it’s the middle of summer, you can just take intermittent dips and relax in the water if lounging under the heat of the sun is too much for you. But make sure you take a dip in the beach though, it is clean, and if you dare to take an early morning swim like we did, you won’t regret it.

Early morning

Infinity pool

View from the main receiving area

The beach

  

The rooms from the beach side

 

Going down part

That 1,400 m Jebel Hafeet climb? Here's the going down part (at least a portion of the video, since too long to post here). 

This beach

This pristine beach in Sharjah, UAE is so clean you can see baby crabs crawling all over the place during low tide. 

It is one of the hidden gems virtually undiscovered, yet. During spring and towards winter, you can see people bringing their fishing rods and fish to their hearts content. Crabbing is also a pastime here. 

And the best part, entrance is free...for now. 

On religious exclusivity

Nice read on religious exclusivity. I admit this is the first time I've read one person's account as a member of the Iglesia Ni Cristo. 

As always I enjoy the corresponding exchange of thoughts in the comments section.

Article credit: www.rappler.com/move-ph   

Mercure Grand Jebel Hafeet

 

 

 

 

Mercure Grand Jebel Hafeet Al Ain Hotel

One thing I can say don’t go on a road trip in the middle of UAE summer, here, where temperatures can soar up to near 50 centigrade, it takes away all the fun.

But who’s to stop us when hotels go on a discount like nothing you’ve seen. So you pack the overnight trolley, slather copious amount of sunscreen, plan the route via Google map and pray that those year-old tyres do not explode in the middle of nowhere.  

It’s a nice hotel perched on top of a hill and getting there deserves a separate post on its own. During winter, the temperature drops as expected for a place with close to 1,400 m height and beware of the strong winds both seasons. When we were there, the place was quite (middle of July and during Ramadan), with only a handful of patrons. If you like peace and quiet this is the place for you.

Food: Nothing out of the ordinary

Room: Clean

Bathroom: Clean with piped-in sound system 

WIFI: Paid

One thing I noticed, for a hotel, it should be up and running 24 hours, but some hallway access are closed. That maybe because of Ramadan?

my erstwhile mobile phone wallpaper

Dubai on A Friday

I just noticed that for the past three years I post only one post and I do it every August. So, to break that inclination, I will try to begin posting more than one, starting today….

Dubai driving on a Friday

If you go out on a street in Dubai on a weekday, the streets are not empty and it is never empty up to the wee hours of the morning. But on Friday mornings, it is a different story. You can actually count with your ten fingers the cars that you can see.

Filipino FM

If you’ve been out of the country for more than five years, and going home takes one a year, all things seem to start to fade and you feel out of the loop: the latest fashion-both hip and tacky, the latest food fad, the habitual evolution of the Tagalog language peppered with the gay lingo –swardspeak according to some, the yearly (?) installment of Shake Rattle and Roll, the ubiquitous pop songs blazing from Jeepneys and almost everything Filipino.

That is why it is a welcome change that TagFM started broadcasting around here. Much to my delight, they play old OPM songs on Friday mornings! 

Charter Change

Hi there.

Been in around social media for years now and I still can’t find something that satisfies my need to express. Be it Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, I might post for a couple of days or every other day, but after sometime, the drive to communicate fizzles out. Well…

On latest Philippine update…the ChaCha (Charter Change for the uninitiated) has been a fodder for debate on Facebook among other issues. I’ve been asked, “This time, would you support Charter Change?” Honestly, amending the Constitution requires a lot of trust on the part of every Filipino, at least for those who are aware that there is a problem in the first place. Trust, is hard. Because we were so burned by what happened during the Marcos time and we bowed during the EDSA, never again.

I believe, yes, a change is in order. Yes, we can manage with changing the term of Presidents to eight years, yes; I believe we can handle changing our system to Parliamentary.

We have got to stop being afraid. If lawmakers use the Charter Change movement to further their own agenda, that is to stay in power more than they are allowed to and drive the country to further to economic rut, the new Filipino will be there to resist. We will not allow it. See what happened to Gloria, to Erap, to Enrile. Although we are still a long way from making unintelligent choices, (they were able to run for office and get elected in their respective bailiwicks), a change is happening. A dying breed of traditional politicians is on their way out. We are on our way to finally cleansing our government of the ills left behind by the Marcoses and their ilk.

We have a more vocal generation now, although we have a propensity to comment irresponsibly on social networks and hide behind “freedom of speech”, we are evolving, towards a more emboldened and opinionated Filipino.

And I thought I will never see this in my lifetime.