fil’s Blog

My wife and I opted not to watch a movie last Thursday night (night before our weekend here in Dubai); we went to the “Night Souk” at the creek, instead. Heading toward the place, which is a walking distance only, the very common ferry’s wheel can be seen already a few meters from our apartment.  From afar, we can hear screams and shouts of excitement from the people riding on the so called “hammer ride”. 

We’ve noticed many others who were just stepping out of their respective apartments wearing their thick & cold-resistant coats since it is still winter here; they are heading for the place too. We saw others who were going the opposite way, heading home with arms full of plastic bags containing shopped items from the night souk, definitely in a much lesser value since the souk is part of the famous annual “Dubai Shopping Festival”. We started to feel like shopping too, seeing them enjoying the yearly event.  Be it kabayans, Indians, locals, Britons, etc.

Upon reaching the place, we had this sudden resolution - to not spend money anymore. But while we were walking along with the crowd, we we’re tempted to buy these fresh Thai raw mango and guava fruits. We were literally salivating, seeing those fresh fruits being munched by almost everyone who happens to pass by that Thai kiosk. So?  We gave in and fed our watering mouths. How to describe it? It was “crispyjuicylicious!”

A few meters away, Celeste and I both laughed when we saw this pink coloured soft thing on stick, hehehe, the “cotton candies”. Honestly, I really can’t remember when, (during my childhood?), I last tasted that cotton candy. My word for it was, very sweeeet… an impending sore throat, that we hurriedly looked for bottled water to soothe it.

Next in line were the stalls displaying so many discounted dry goods, garments, but we we’re not shaken and tempted by those “lowest price” tags. We wanted to stick to the idea of not spending money since pay day is yet weeks to go, although technically, we have spent money already for those Thai fresh fruits and cotton candies.  Heheh…

Onward, we bumped onto this some-kind-of-a-new-to-us food. It was called, “cheapstix”. I was attracted immediately by its spiraling shape on a stick. The preparation took only 3-5 minutes. The whole peeled potato on a stick is inserted into an electronic machine, comes out in cut spiraled shape then deep fried into the boiling oil. 

When cooked, it will be garnished with a flavor of your choice.  So despite being full already with the Thai fruits, we gave in again.  Thick cheese, salt & pepper for Celeste, mine was dressed with Mexican chili flavour. Wow! Until now, I could still have that tangy potato taste… well, only on my mind now, not in my taste buds. Hehehe. It really was worth it. Something new and healthy too!  You should try it if you see one.

Meters from the cheapstix kiosk, I heard clapping and the sound from a banduria instrument. When I took a peek, I was wrong seeing that this instrument is somewhat like a guitar yet obviously not.  It’s just another new thing to me.  Curious, I asked this Arabic guy beside me if it’s an Arabic instrument and he said yes. Lute is the name.  Well, according to Wikipedia, lute is one of the ancestors

of the modern guitar.  I was still close.  Heheh…

 The player was good and the lute sounded good, (that comes from a music lover and “musician?”, myself)  . Kidding aside, I appreciate different kinds of music, from classical to contemporary. I remember the time when we used to practise Pilipino classic & folk songs for our rondalla band. I missed the sound of those bandurias and that of “bajo de arco”. Whew! That was the time when I really enjoyed music, the time when I was a full-time member of the Silliman University Men’s Glee Club.

After a moment of deep recollection of a time long gone, my wife begged for us to go back home.  My watch  struck 12:00 midnight already but while heading back home, we we’re enticed to stop by for a while and watch a dance going on, the so-called “Haryanvi dance”.  According to the Indian lady that I asked, it was like a court dance in one of the provinces of India, Haryana. It was quite similar to the court dances that we have from the natives of the Philippines, but the Haryanvi dance is more on choreography. Well, I could see how the Indians love and preserve their culture. Impressive!

Finally, 12:30 am on the clock , we arrived home, spent only less dirhams, but tasted new food, got acquainted to a new musical instrument and enjoyed a well preserved Indian culture. We thanked Dubai Shopping Festival and to the night souk for the experience and festivity.

I’m one of those who see Journey as a so/so band before but not until Arnel Pineda joined them in 2007. You know after the You tube story, blah blah blah. So much about how & when AP joined the band.

So, since Journey’s Revelation album (which already reached platinum status in the US), is not yet available here in Dubai, I asked my officemate who went on vacation in the Philippines to buy for me a copy. Fortunately, he did buy me one. The album has 11 previous original songs done by Steve Perry but nicely re-done by AP and another 11 brand new original songs done now by AP, all authored by Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon.

I’ve been following all the updates, reviews, guest performances and interviews and I was overwhelmed by the different reactions about AP fronting the band. But, after all and finally, all the doubts that AP won’t make it, coming mostly from the die hard S.P. fans and the goosebumps from all those who believe in the new band, were now put to rest.

Based on the (Europe-U.K.) & U.S. tours which ended last October 5, 2008 in Laughlin, NV,  55 successive performances all in all which kicked off in Madrid, Spain last June 8, 2008, the band proved to everybody that they still ROCK and will continue rocking. Out of the 55 concerts, only 1 that was being cancelled due to AP’s health condition brought about by the weather etc. and most of the concerts were SOLD OUT! http://www.journeymusic.com/tour_history.html  Well, Cheap Trick and Heart were there also with them who performed amazing.

Though I haven’t watched any of the live concerts of Journey, I could still give my unbiased verdict for the band, as Totally AMAZING! You can see it for yourself too! http://www.journeymusic.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=52668&fpart=2

There were reviews also coming from different individuals, some were published in their local papers, on you tube and on other forums in the net. Many were again mesmerized and inspired by Journey with their songs (rock or ballads).

Okay, so why am I writing all these?  Well simply just to express / share with you the feeling of how grateful I am, as a Filipino, that again, another Filipino talent is being recognized internationally. Well accepted, loved, adored, inspired, talked about, praised and believed in by many, and that is AP/JOURNEY - Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Ross Valory, Deen Castronovo & Arnel Pineda.

This is my “Journey”, make it yours too!

September 30, 2008.

This blog entry was supposed to be done last two days but only just now i got the time and the interest to put all the experiences during my first Eid Holiday trip, into words.

Originally, the trip was scheduled for Muscat, Oman for a city tour. I woke up early that day and since i got no work, i could send off celeste (my fiancee) to her pick up point.  So there she was, taking her ride on a black toyota land cruiser prado, driven by her boss, with them are her boss’s wife, indians and sri lankan officemates.  I really wanted to go with them, but since I was informed about the trip at the last minute, I was not able to secure my passport kept by the HR of Gulf News (the company where I’m working).

My mind was set to go back to bed, again, but before reaching our flat, Celeste called up inviting me to go with them.  Muscat trip is cancelled and instead, they are going to Al Ain in Abu Dhabi wherein no passport is needed.  I never wanted to go because i don’t want to rush up, take a bath and get dressed, while they are waiting for me.  Sleeping supposedly was my plan, but still i was convinced to go with them.

Zooooom, on board with the other car, the toyota innova, in convoy with the prado.  While hitting the road heading Al Ain, we made a stop on this rest area and had some nice pasta.  Minutes passed, on the road again, making fun of the camera, aiming to guys at the backseat since I was sitting in the front.  We were awed how wonderful the nature when we saw waves of golden coloured deserts, roaming wild camels and beautifully lined-up palm trees.

Several minutes after, palm trees were everywhere, clean and wide roads, big round-abouts then we realized we’re in Al Ain proper already. Estimated 1 hour and 30 minutes travel from Dubai.

We directly went to Al Ain Zoo.  I find the zoo nice, with enough animals in it and the facilities are good.  Like this orangutan, he has this kind of a playground area where he can climb up and jump off from one place to another.  The ostriches has enough space also for them to have their running routine and the cheetah with an ala south african cage designed so suit him/her.  There were giraffes, rhinos etc.  Unfortunately, we were able to “meet and greet” only a few of the animals because the zoo was quite big and the weather was a little hot.

Next stop was Al Ain mall where we had our lunch.  After lunch, everybody was set to Jebel Hafeet.  Hafeet is located in the outskirts of Al Ain and has a measurement of 1240 meters high.  This peak became a tourist attraction after it was developed. Roads are perfectly constructed; it is being described as one of “the best driving roads in the world” and I agree.  Its steep and curves make driving more challenging.  We saw hundreds if not thousands of vehicles going to and from the peak.

While at the peak, different poses, camera flashes, honks and horns by cars, were everywhere.  You can view the entire Al Ain from up there.  Whew! What a peak or should I say, what a peek and what a view it was!

20 minutes after we went down headed to Abu Dhabi.  Had our picnic/dinner outside the Marina Mall and then went straight home-Dubai.  Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), 11:30 pm.

I told Celeste how happy I was with the trip and I thanked her for convincing me to go with them.  Eid Mubarak!

just arrived home. tired and exhausted from all the traffic, workload in the office etc., etc. tomorrow is friday and it’s my day off. so tonight, I and celeste will be having a movie marathon (simple way of accumulating another stress, hehehe). on the setlist? spiderwick, vantage point, august rush, stompyard and another movies which we’ve downloaded from limewire. we finished the true story “a mighty heart” last night, which starred angelina jolie. t’was a nice and compelling movie about these two journalists who risked their lives meeting prominent yet dangerous personalities in pakistan. the two were trying to come up with a story related to 9/11. but instead, what happened is tragedy. daniel pearl (portrayed by dan futterman) was kidnapped. pakistani authorities with the help from other organizations including FBI, immediately conducted a massive investigation and search operations. days, weeks have passed, still no traces of where danny is. mariane (angelina jolie) the wife of danny who is also a journalist and a 5-month pregnant is still hopeful that her husband is okay and alive. but she was devastated after learning the news, danny pearl is already dead. worse, he was not killed by a gunshot, he was beheaded. so depressing but inspiring how marian managed and able to continue living the life that she’s having now with her son to danny. anyway, spiderwick has a different story so we’ll see….that’s it for now.

september 20, 2008, 2:00 am, dubai time, still awake, doing this first blog entry of mine. alone, inside the kitchen of our flat, to keep my myself warm and away for a moment from the very cold AC temperature.

my fiancee is now having a wonderful dream while me, still busy typing all these.

today, tuesday, is my day off, not minding how tired my eyes are, after the stressful work yesterday (2 hours ago). but 8 hours from now also, i will be doing important things that would make my day off worthwhile.

• cook lunch for my fiancee
• go to owwa / poea dubai and have ourselves registered
• do some laundry, etc.

these are the things that i can tell you for now. there is more to come, this so called ending is just the beginning of everything.

i have to join and hug my girl now waiting for me in bed. :).