Leap Day in 2012!

It’s February 29 - it’s a Leap Day! According to www.timeanddate.com, a leap year consists of 366 days as opposed to a common 365 days.  During leap year, we add a Leap Day – an extra or intercalary day on February. Nearly every four years, is a Leap Year in a modern Gregorian calendar.

Personally, I don’t have any remarkable or unforgettable memories regarding this kind of occurrence. This is just another ordinary working day for me here in Qatar. And so with the people around me, they are just so busy doing their own business. But for a few people, this means a very special date for them especially those who are celebrating their natal day today. They are considered as the ‘forever young’ persons because they celebrate their actual birthday only once in every four years. For example, if one was born in the 29^th day of February 1932 (leap year), then that person is already 80 years old as of today (2012) but only 20^th time the person would observe his actual birthday. How odd isn’t it? But unluckily, I never knew someone who was born on this date. How about you? :)

By the way, this is my 11th month here in Qatar (landed here on March 29, 2011). Nothing is special on this but it's exactly 13 months to go and my contract here will officially expire. Nothing is more than special than going back to where is my true home, the Philippines! Happy Leap Day to all!!!

Nepal and the Shortest Man in the World

Chandra with his certificate (photo taken from Reuters)

My current work in the Middle East gave me the opportunity to interact with the different races and nationalities around the world such as Syrians, Lebanese, Hindis, Bengalis, Pakistanis, Qataris, and Nepalese. Sometimes I have managed to adapt their own costumes and language especially the Hindis and Nepalese because we stay in the same accommodation from the company where we work at. That’s why when I heard the news the other day that the Guinness Book of World Records affirmed, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, a Nepalese villager, as the shortest living man in the world, it caught my interest and tried to search him in the net on how he looks like and of course his odd life story.

The new shortest man in the world measured 54.60 centimeters (21.5 inches) and also the oldest shortest living man in the world to be ever recorded by the Guinness. According to the Reuters ( www.reuters.com), Dangi came from a poor and uneducated family in a remote part of Nepal and unaware of the Mount Everest as the tallest mountain of the world before as well as the world title given to him. He was just discovered when a merchant once visited his place and was told about it.

I was still in the Philippines when the Guinness Book of World Records Team visited the Philippines last year (June, 2011) to officially measure Junrey Balawing, a native of Southern Philippines to be the shortest man in the world which was co-celebrated during his 18^th birthday. Junrey is 59.93 centimeters (23.5 inches) tall (FYI: Junrey also stripped the world title that time from Khagnedra Thapa Magar, also a native of Nepal)

It’s amazing how these two countries vied for the world shortest living man record. The two may have huge distinctions in terms of its culture, costumes and traditions, religion, and the society itself but the Nepalese have fairly similarities with the Filipinos. Some Nepalese (especially those who resides in the northern part of Nepal (along the famous Mt. Everest or near the Peoples Republic of China border) have resemblance of a Filipino face. There were instances when I mistakenly call some Nepalese as “kabayan” o “pare” in the work site and only to find out they’re not when they started to talk. They too are patient and industrious. Just like Filipinos, most of them went out of Nepal to work overseas due to unemployment from their country (as young as 18 years old, their government allowed them to work abroad). However, they work largely here as laborers. They have difficult gasp of English language and usually speaks their native tongue. But despite of these, Nepalese are generally friendly, honest, obedient, and hard-working people. For as low as QR600-1200 (1 QR = 11 Php = 22 NPR), they sacrifice their lives to work as labors and be separated from their love ones just to provide them a descent life.

I might feel unhappy (as a Filipino) for the passing on of the world title from a Filipino Junrey Balawing to a Nepalese Chandra Bahadur Dangi as the new shortest living man in the world, perhaps the Nepal people deserves this kind of recognition. The record means a lot to the Nepal people for they are now the home for the highest peak and the shortest human.

As Chandra tells the Guinness, “I'm very happy that I'm being recognized by Guinness World Records and that my name will be written in book.  It's a big thing for my family, my village and my country.  I am very happy. He also plans on starting a charity to help support his village saying, "I will use this to make my country proud."


Note: QR - as Qatar Riyal, Php - Philippine Peso, and NPR - Nepal Rupee

Pagkatapos ng EDSA I – May Pagbabago ba Kabayan?

photo taken from http://www.stuartxchange.org 

Parang kailan lang ng maganap ang unang makasaysayang EDSA Revolution I (o People Power Revolution I) noong February 25, 1986. Pero ngayong 2012, ika-26^th year na pala ito ng pagdiriwang! Ang bilis talaga ng panahon.

Pero.. kung gaano katulin ang takbo ng panahon, ay kasimbagal naman ng pagong ang takbo ng pagbabago sa kabuhayan ng mga Pinoy, lalo na sa mga masang Pilipino. Mailap pa din sa ating kababayan ang tunay na pagbabago sa lipunan – ang pagsugpo sa kahirapan at kriminalidad.

Kindergarten palang ako noon ng maganap ang rebolusyong ito. Di ko ma mawari sa aking murang isipan ang ipinakitang pagkakaisa at kabayanihan ng mga Pilipino na makawala sa tanikala ng Batas Militar ni Marcos. Base sa mga kasaysayang nakasulat sa libro, ito ang kauna-unahang matahimik na pakikibaka ng mamamayan sa rehimeng diktadura tungo sa demokrasya at malayang pamamahayag sa buong mundo.

Ngunit, ngayong batid ko na ang aking pakinabang sa lipunan.. hindi ko maiwasang magtaka sa kinabukasan ng bansa. Nasaan na ang ipinaglaban ng mga mamamayan noon EDSA I? Nawala nga ang diktador, pero hindi ko pa din maramdaman ang tunay na pagbabago dito. Nakatali pa din ang bansa sa mga problema ng korupsyon sa gobyerno, kriminalidad, kahirapan, kawalan ng trabaho, at kamangmangan.

Nagtapos ako ng kursong Nursing na walang kasiguruhang trabaho o sapat na sweldo na naghihintay sa aking bansang tinatangi. Pero imbes na magreklamo at tumambay, nakipagsapalaran na lang sa ibang bansa para naman maitaguyod ang sarili at ang mga mahal sa buhay. Hindi lang ako nag iisa sa ganitong sitwasyon. Batid ko, madami kami. Napakadami! Doctors, engineers, teachers, accountants, skilled workers, at domestic helpers ay ilan lang sa mga bagong bayani ng Pilipinas “kuno.” Kahit saang bansa, makikita nyo kami.

Napakasalimoot isipin kung bakit ang Pilipinas ay naghihikahos pa din sa gitna ng mga naggagandahang mga tanawin, likas na yaman, at yamang tao.

Ang mga nasa katungkulan, mga mayayamang negosyante, mga pulitiko, mga may ari ng hacienda lang ang patuloy na yumayaman.. samantalang ang mga mahihirap ay lalong naghihirap. Mga iskwater sa kamaynilaan at patuloy na dumarami. Ang populasyon ay mabilis na lomolobo. Ang krimen ay laganap sa buong bansa. May rally dito, may rally doon. Walang makuhang trabaho ang mga bagong graduates. Libo-libo ang umaalis sa NAIA para magtrabaho sa ibang bansa. Bigas, tubig, kuryente, at gasolina ay di na mapigilan sa pagtaas ng presyo. At higit sa lahat, lantaran nang ginagawa ang korupsyon sa gobyerno. Hay.. ito ba talaga ang tunay na dulot ng EDSA I?

 Tunay ngang kaaya-aya ang Pilipinas pagdating sa malayang pamamahayag at demokrasya pero iilan lang ang nagpapahalaga nito. Mismong ang mga nasa may kapangyarihan ang nagsasamantala sa kahinaan ng demokrasya para pansariling interes. Nakakalungkot isipin pero ito ang pagbabagong nararamdaman ng masa pagkatapos ng EDSA Revolution I.


Ilang EDSA Revolution pa kaya ang kailangan ng Pinoy para maramdaman ang tunay na layunin nito?

Freakin' Friday Night

photo taken from http://spookymrsboo.tumblr.com

Last  Friday night, after watching a movie of Jackie Chan’s “The Spy’s Next Door,” I spent a couple of hours playing the Tetris in Facebook, read some current news events and watched some popular music videos of Whitney Houston in Youtube. It was past ten o’clock PM when I turned off my loppy and decided to sleep. Normally, I turned off all the lights whenever I am going to sleep so that my roommate and I could fall asleep easily. But only few minutes later or so after I closed my eyes, I heard something which is like a “Filipino” conversation in a TV program in the other room. Then, I tend to listen tentatively with the conversation going on but I couldn’t comprehend. At that time, the voice became louder and louder and I began to feel uneasy by that so I opened my eyes right away. I tried to turn my head to see where the voice was really coming from but I couldn't move my head and my body except my eyes. All I could do was to look around with my eyes - as far as up, down, left and right. It was like I am a total paralyzed you know? Then I tried to be aware of my surroundings; I know I was wide awake at that time. However what made me freaked out was that there were changes inside the room – my single bed seemed like a very large sofa and I noticed there was a small square opening in our room’s wall where the sound was coming from (which is none, actually). I tried to move my body again and again but I couldn’t.  I shut my eyes and tried to relax and moved my toes (I usually did this during my previous episodes). However, when I opened my eyes again, a white hazy shadow forming a human appeared right in front of my vision – staring at me! I closed my eyes and struggled and tried to scream out loud to ask help to my roommate but nothing came out. All I could hear from myself was only murmur. My heart beat was racing and tried to move my toes and fingers as quickly as I could. I was not sure how long I laid there trying to break this horrifying experience but eventually I could move my whole body. As soon as I opened my eyes, I hurriedly reached my cp which was placed at the right side near my head and turned the lights on of the cp to look for the white hazy shadow; but I couldn’t see any – it was gone!

Now I was very much awake and aware of my surroundings’ and I know just experienced another spooky nightmare this time or what they termed as sleep paralysis. Few years ago, I have been experiencing this weird nightmares or dreams any time at night back in the Philippines. This thing started to happen more or less 10 years ago when I was still studying my nursing degree. But for quite some time now, I never had episodes of this until this year and last Friday, February 24 was the most recent one.

I hate this kind of experience. How I wish, it wouldn’t happen to anyone. What a freaking Friday Night i had!

Meet the Doggies!

For years, I always have been a PROD advocate (Promoting Responsible Ownership of Dogs) in my own way. I considered them as my best bet pets, so far. I don’t know for some people how they take care of those kinds of beings. I am usually delighted whenever I meet dogs. I can’t resist tapping them or comforting them. Sometimes, I really don’t care if they are some kind of cute or huge, a street dog (Askals) or a breed one, a domestic or stray one, a friendly or aggressively dog that might bite and infect you anytime with rabies virus. They just naturally charms my heart to like them. Here are some of the precious dogs with myself:

This is Pepito. He is a breed of Chihuahua with a combo color of black and beige. He is a year older in this picture. He is really smart, perfectly cute and very playful. He is fond of doing things that will surely catch the attention of anybody; in other words, the dog with an Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)! For example, if your attention is not on him, he will approach you and bite your slippers or toes, and or sometimes, drag anything he could bite and swing it uncontrollably to get your attention. I find him really funny and cute when he is doing this. Hey, look at this, he is biting my bracelet! 

And, this is Agta, Pepito’s playmate. Also a breed of Chihuahua; a purely black and awfully looks like a bat! And unlike Pepito, Agta is quite ill-mannered. She drops her shits anywhere on the floor, whenever she feels the urge of the nature; and she doesn’t care - in the kitchen, in the living room, under the bed, over the floor mats, near the fridge, or even in your arms (unluckily, that’s happens when you’re cuddling her hehe).  However, Agta is more energetic than Pepito. She frequently runs back and forth on the floor even with no direction at all. 

Meet Ben, also. He is of pure Belgian breed – Belgian Malinos to be specific. Naturally with huge body, long and sturdy legs, large paw and quite pointed black nose. He is a kind of dog whom every child might fear of. Adding more fright to that is his very deep and loud bark - one of the traits of being a naturally protective dog and exhibits territorial instinct. But, once the person is none stranger to his eyes, then he wouldn’t care at all. He would just look and stare at someone and that’s it. No barking, no nipping on the heels, no threat or any act of hostility coming from him. 

Introducing Athena! She is a cute Japanese Shih Tzu (Shiatsu) covered by abundant lengthy hairs of white and few black in her ear sides and some parts of her body. She is typically alert, lively and active little doggie and sometimes a couch potato. Athena is the kindest among them all and the most patient as well. She loves to be cuddled and touched even for a long time or as long as you want – maybe in the dog’s mind, “the longer it is the better.” 

This was taken when Baste is still few months old. Born to pure light beige Askal (mother) and an all black half-Labrador Retriever (father) descent, he is the most silent but the most hard headed among the dogs I mentioned here. He likes playing outside rather than inside the house. That’s why he always gets grimy. Unfortunately, when he turned almost a year older, he got sick and passed out some bloody stools. It’s maybe he had eaten bones (especially the chicken bones) wherein it troubled his stomach. From then on, his vigor faded as days passes by. He got weaker and weaker until one day we saw him unconsciously lying near his favorite place – on the grasses.

Another Labrador Retriever, Spartan, as we named him, was a descent of black half-German Shepherd mother and black half-Labrador father. This picture was taken when he was still less than 2 months old. With an appearance of his father’s breed, he has also large paws and sturdy legs. He is very friendly and playful - bites anything you throw to him, loves to be touched and caressed, and very easy to please. Hmmm, I’m looking forward to play and swim with him in the water!

True enough, as what Alfred Barbou said, “The dog has been esteemed and loved by all the people on earth and he has deserved this affection for he renders services that have made him man's best friend.” Indeed, man’s best friends are dogs. Hope no one disputes this!

Another look: These are other solo pictures of those lovely pets. Oh, by the way, did I mention here that I never own those breed dogs but Spartan? All but Spartan is owned by the Bichara Family. I personally thanked them for letting these cute dogs share their lives with me. :D

For online info about different breeds of dogs, visit this: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/

A Bliss to the Family

me and Jacjac when she was only
 few months old

Oh, let me first greet here my one and only niece, Jacqueline Rae (JacJac as we commonly call her) on her 4^th birthday, today – January 17. She is really an angel and more than enough-blessings to us especially to Ate Jean (my eldest sister is her mother) and Kuya Ritchel (her father).  May u always wear the cutest smile as we always witnessed during your 2 years stay with us in San Ramon. Your tito really missed you and I am looking forward to see you on 2013. We, your Tita Mean, Tito Mike, and I, your cousins and your Lolas love you very very much. Have a happy birthday and always be a good girl to your parents. Again, have a wonderful celeb in uncle Sam's place! ♥♥♥

Why not try Qatar?

To be exact, I have been working in the State of Qatar for 9 months and 15 days already. I worked here as an occupational health nurse in a certain construction company. This was my first time to work outside the Philippines. My first few weeks here were kind of awkward, I was very cautious, and I rarely went to the city proper to roam around and make friends to some fellow Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).  My mindset for Arab countries such as Qatar was extremely strict in terms of their culture and religious laws. However, this proves me wrong during my early few months stay in this country. Qatar is not like any other Arab countries in the Gulf. This is an open Muslim country just like some other republican or democratic countries we known.

Just an overview, the State of Qatar is ruled by the Al Thani family since mid 1800’s. It has a population of 848, 016 (July 2011, estimate) excluding the expatriates. Mostly, expatriates here are Indians, followed by Pakistans, Syrian and Iranians, then Nepalese and Filipinos.  When Amir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani overthrew his father in a bloodless coup in 1995 and resolved its border issues with the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in 2001, the progress of the country tremendously grew up due to gas and natural oil revenues. In 2007, the country was among with the highest per capita income in the world. It is interestingly to note that, Qatar was never affected by the uprising political turmoil happened in its fellow Arab countries like Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Yemen, Libya, and Syria and so on in 2010-11. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, Qatar has now the richest country in the world in terms of gross domestic product and per capita income surpassing the Luxembourg in 2010. Besides, Qatar has been tagged by the United Nation as the safest country in the world (together with Malta), according to its Annual World Risk Report for 2011. And how about knowing this little country is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022?

Personally, my stay here as a company nurse is generally safe and easy. I have to work eight hours for six days in a week and an off during every Fridays. That is the Muslim’s weekend. Every days off, I have the chance to visit my friends here or do some relaxed walk in Doha, buy some good stuffs in the Souq (market), eat biryanis in a Turkey resto or “nilagang baka” in a Filipino resto. Most of the time, I do this with a company, but sometimes I do it by myself. That’s the good thing here; you could walk around the city alone without the hassle of being robbed, without any security threat. People here, especially most of the expatriates would never do harm against you. They rarely steal others belongings. But, since this is a country of expatriates of different races, there are very few incidents of racial discriminations, some robberies, and isolated rape cases. Some cases were resolved and some were unresolved. Most of the expats involved in such offensive doings were the Pak*&$@ns (I am not generalizing them). On the other hand, local citizens (Qataris) were also involved mostly in traffic violations and confrontations with other drivers. Other than that, the state is generally peaceful and orderly. 

Taken near City Center, Doha at 5pm. People are still at work
that's why no  people could be seen in the highway.

Are you a Christian, or a Buddhist or Hindu? Then, Qatar may be a good place for you to exercise your religion even in public. The government respects each and every one’s faith to God as long as you have to respect also theirs. As a matter of fact, they made one place where all the religion’s churches/temples/shrines were built. Here’s a glimpse of the Holy Rosary Church in Qatar:

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, Qatar

Different races of the same belief gather here every day. Different languages were also delivered in a scheduled-mass basis. Thus, no one is deprived to his own religion. Last December 2011, I attended the Christmas mass in the Holy Rosary and I saw a large volume of people (mostly Filipinos) inside and outside of the church. It’s a great feeling to express my love to God wherein no one hinders you from doing it so. Feels like I am home in the Philippines.

How about transportation and communication? Public transportation here is solely run by the government. It’s called Karwa-Mowasalat buses and taxis. There is no light rail transit here. So obviously, if one doesn’t have a car, one may take a karwa bus or taxi. Fares are accepted either as cash or as by smartcard. Smartcard is a fare card pre-loaded with certain amount of money and is swiped in the computer (near the driver’s seat) before and after riding the bus. Once you ran out of loads, one may go to the nearest authorized card re-loader. Trips to all destinations by buses lasts only until 10 at night while taxis are available 24/7. Waiting areas are designated to a certain place for picking up and reloading of passengers. This policy lessens the traffic and gives orderly to the streets. Personally, I usually use the Karwa bus whenever I go to Doha because it is much cheaper and safer than metered taxis.  By the way, take extra caution in riding to car lifts (private vehicles hiring for passengers) with Pak*&$@n’s driver (as what I have mentioned earlier, they are mostly the law offenders here). Usually, I do prefer Indian and Filipino drivers. Indians are very kind and polite while Filipinos make your trip safe, always. These are how buses and taxis look like:

nature-inspired Karwa buses and taxis 

There are only two mobile network registered in Qatar. The most widely used is Qtel and the other one is Vodafone. The mobile code of the country is +974. Personally, I am using a Vodafone sim because of their free internet mobile usage unlike Qtel’s which charges for every minute of internet usage. Text messaging (SMS/MMS) and calling are almost with same charge, locally and internationally. But when it comes to wireless broadband internet, Qtel’s service is widely used by the people. Presently, I am using the Qtel’s mobile broadband internet USB. This gives me the chance to be online wherever I go.

Why not try Qatar? To my fellow Filipinos planning to work overseas, I highly recommend giving a shot to the Qatar. Especially the engineers of all fields, nurses and other medical practitioners and skilled workers, the country may be the best place for you to start and build your dreams. Due to Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the infrastructure and construction here are on the boom. Hospitals, football stadia and gymnasiums, commercial buildings and apartments, the new airport and proposed light rail transit are on the rise. These are only few of the many opportunities the country has to offer which is worth grabbing for. Inshaallah!

Population and other Qatar facts were taken from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/qa.html