Back

i came back from Qushm Island (Iranian territory) last friday. well, yes, it wasn't planned that i would be going there but it was good enough that i did. there are a lot of stories to tell - mine, the place, the people around me, the people i stayed with and the experience itself. but still, i cannot get my thoughts. it's probably because i have to go and continue working. i wanted to write down the things around me, inside me for i know that i would never pass this way again (as they say about life). and i know that a lot - if not all - of pinoys here in dubai would agree with me if i say that i wouldn't want to go through it again given a choice.

but, after all this, it still is an experience. and that is what i want to write about. and that is what you would see in the next coming days.

Exiting

i will be exiting today. this might take a few days depending on how fast my employer would be procesing my visa. i might spend the weekend there. but i REALLY hope NOT.

Exiting

i will be exiting today. this might take a few days depending on how fast my employer would be procesing my visa. i might spend the weekend there. but i REALLY hope NOT.

6.20

This morning is probably the coldest morning I've experienced here. Though the water is hot enough for a bath, it is still cold when you get out on the streets. I had to stick to my routine so that I wouldn't miss the 6.20 bus, but I wanted to be at the stop not too early and wait out in the cold. Still, I had to wait for about fifteen minutes. But had I missed this bus, the next one would be at 7.10. It would have been a longer, coooolder wait.

I have two bus mates whom I haven't seen for two days now. I kinda wonder where they are. It is not too often that one gets two days off not on a weekend. Then I came to think maybe it was just a part-time job for them. I wondered, too, what kind of job do they hold. Just this morning, there are about 15 resumes sitting in our company's inbox. Unfortunately, only two of them meet our company's requirement. I wonder if they'd make it pass the interview. The average applications I get everyday is 10. Half of them are Filipinos. My boss is looking into hiring three or four more Filipinos. But so far, no one made it through yet.

I am also a bit surprise that there are people here who are actually walking-in at offices and asking for help. Just yesterday, there are two ladies who came in having this paper in Arabic that looks like a prescription. She's asking for some MAFI (money) to help her BABA (father) get medicines. The other one doesn't have anything. She was just asking for some money. Almost everyday, I see things that a lot of our kabayans think only happen in our country. If only they know that there are a lot of things that are not-only-in-the-Philippines. Also, how lucky we still are in a lot of ways.

SiLog

Last Thursday was an easy day. With Friday being the off here, I wasn't worrying about getting home early and sleeping early. But I do worry about my laundry since I want to finish washing at night so that I can get the whole Frdiday sun dry my clothes. Then, I can iron it Friday night. And it went exactly the way I wanted.

I thought of going to the grocery since I am craving for fried eggs. If I am not mistaken, the whole Emirates is suffering from egg shortage since mid-December and prices rose drastically. I heard that people even book for eggs at their favorite grocery stores to make sure they have their weekly supply. Also, we have been looking into buying rice since Wednesday last week and there wasn't any. We particulary like the jasmine rice but they only have the 10kg pack. We weren't into buying this though. But my room mate and I didn't have a choice but buy it since it's hard to have no rice... LOL... But we opted to pass on eggs since it doesn't have the price. All I know is that what used to be Dhs 12 has gone up to Dhs 15 but we weren't sure of the price.

So, we had to put off our plans for HotSiLog on our day-off. We just had my favorite food here... the Paratha... LOL...

I Saw The Sign

there were a lot of questions as to the reasons why i left the call center industry. well, i had that questions, too, before i decided to leave. i had answers, and a lot of those who asked may not have believed what my reasons. i couldn't blame them, because i found it hard to believe as well.

now, this article came from cnn. philippines and india are two of the countries where other countries go to outsource. and here is the impact to its employees. this is not meant to apprehend anyone who might be interested in becoming a call center agent. this should serve as a warning as to the long-term consequences.