manila vanilla (Philippines)

Kumusta ka
Hello ma'aaaaam, hello suuur

Crazy Philippines it has been;) Believe it or not, Filipinos make a large percentage of the population of Dubai. So, I am quite used to working with them and seeing them everywhere. But finally learning a little more about them and their country, has been very interesting. So, I shall share with you.

I traveled with some crew to the oldest part in Manila, Intramuros. In Spanish this means"within the walls". Philippines was colonized by the Spaniards in the 16th century. I found this out a little while ago, because one crew member with extraordinary and beautiful features, explained that if they can prove they have Spanish blood in them, they can get Spanish citizenship. They are also mostly Catholics and in and around the Intramuros area we saw a beautiful cathedral, a fort that was also built in the 1500's and colourful Spanish style buildings. This is quite funny, as Manila is a busy, heavily polluted, traffic crazy capital city.

4 things I quickly noticed about Manila: 1. The Filipino version of a tuk-tuk, is a 3 wheeler. It has a bike or bicycle attached to it.

2. They have these truck/van/bus public transport thingie, that looks like aliminium tin carriers with lots of colours. 3.They abbreviate most everything. Roadsigns might show that the TIRC must turn left here, IFW created this, your BO is strong, etc etc. I was wondering if they carry a dictionary with them to refresh their memory. 4. Man, Filipinos loooove kareoke. We already know this in Dubai. It is no surprise to be invited to a Filipino's houseparty and singing the night away on their own kareoke system. But this topped it all.... on the music channels in Manila, they show the words also. So, I got to sing along Beyonce's latest song, and some other famous artists, lol!

I braved having a haircut in the Philippines (they didn't want to charge me for the shampoo and blowdry, because they say I am beautiful, aaaaaaaaaaah bless them, lol) ,got a massage, explored the shopping centre (which had a chapel right in the middle of it!!!! -ja, one moment you walk pass a shoe shop, next you see people on their knees praying), had beer in a mall while looking for Filippino delicacies in the food court (that was cool), but since they like pork and whole fish, I settled for Japanese bento which is almost every second stall.

Money unit: piso

So now, I find myself in Cape Town for the weekend. My original plan was to travel through Jordan, but the flight was overbooked:(

I hope you enjoyed the news
Till next time

Salamat po
Hugs,
Alta

hot, cold or burned (New year, Mauritius and Munich)

Hallo mense,

for some of us, as I've heard some stories, 2009 was not a great start - but nevertheless, it's just another year to explore and create some stuff in our lives.

I ended 2008 with a fantastic time in JNB (yes, I managed to go) with my family. Param and I got to ride horses, play with the children, make food, chill and just have a relaxed holiday. It was so perfect. By the time it was midnight into 2009, I was 38000ft in the air shouting happy new year!! This was on my way back to Dubai. Oh well. It's not always a big countdown bash for all of us:)

At least on the 2nd of Jan, I was making love to the sun in Mauritius;) Two days of hot, steamy sunkissing. It's summer there. They work on Africa time also, everything is late and slow. Nevertheless, it was relaxed and fun, and I ate a lot.


Then off to freezing cold Munich after that. Good grief. A good bit of snow spread everywhere. It was personally my coldest experience so far and first time to see snow falling (if only dandruff sized, i saw it fall on my black gloves) and it was emotional. A colleague and I got lost at night (because we were chatting too much and taking wrong trams into wrong directions). We went into a hotel to ask for directions to realize that we don't know the name of our hotel and we also lost our map, hahaha. Usually you'll get panicked and freaked out, but with our shared crazy and positive attitude, we took it as an opportunity which had no name. We just laughed. Don't know how, but we found our way back after a couple of hours. In the very early hours of the morning, I went for a walk to the English garden (almost an hour's walk). Well... I won't really call it a garden...

By now I have quite a strong impression of how each different country works and feels to me. And I also notice how my news to you is influenced by my mood at the time of print. Now, while I'm in a very good mood at present, I do remember that many times, and especially lately I feel like putting a halt to my flying. And I've been meaning to share this with you. It is hard on my body, I am always sleeping for some flight or sleeping after a flight, and I miss being surrounded by a group of close friends. Despite it all, I have been making the best of what I have. Because after all, it is security. I do feel it's time to consider other things.

After much thought (and resistance), Param and I have taken some time apart. I can only speak on my own behalf that it has been one of my most challenging times. I have gone as low as seeing no light at the end of the tunnel, to motivating myself in the search of my own strength. So here I go on yet another journey, looking up, being grateful and hopeful.

Danke schoen for listening to my stories
Have fun

A