a preview of Fujairah
I’ve been traveling to the different emirates of the UAE to attend meetings/visit project sites with my boss. Basically, I am just a companion and a secretary. We visit Abu Dhabi(UAE’s capital) most of the time. But last week, we went to Fujairah (one of UAE’s 7 emirates). This is where pristine beaches and 5-star hotels are located.
A shot from the 15th floor of Le Meridien Hotel. Notice the very big pool & oh-so-inviting beach. But with 40 deg C temperature and a humidity of 62%, no way will I dip myself in.
Much to my surprise, I find these people, a good number of them. And I tell you, this is taken at around 12 in the afternoon (we were looking for a restaurant to have our lunch after the meeting, 10-11am). I can’t believe, these people actually exposed themselves to too much heat of the sun combined with too hot water (I’m sure).
Anyway, this is what we had for lunch- salad and a plate of hummus (blended chick peas + olive oil). Of course, we had something else but I was too hungry to remember taking a photo.
Tomatoes & Cucumbers go well with hummus. Promise.
interview with the boss
Hubby and his employer were scheduled for a meeting in Abu Dhabi (UAE’s capital). Curious of how Abu Dhabi looks like and bored at home, I asked hubby if I could join them. He’s hesitant to let me for various reasons. About an hour after that, the boss called him and asked if I wanted to join them. Funny! He actually knew I would love to. So, we woke up early yesterday and traveled to Abu Dhabi.
He actually invited me to work for his company. I knew all about it since I came here but we (me & hubby) were not so up for that because of the possible complications (when couples work for the same employer, it surely is complicated). But having experienced the rudeness of my previous employer made us decide to just accept the offer the next time the boss would open the topic.
I knew we’d discuss it. He then said I was gonna be a part of the meeting. So, I joined. I was tasked to communicate with the client (in a friendly way) and sense our chance of getting the project. Ohhkay… So, I did. It’s like, befriend the client and work our way to winning the project.
Meeting only took less than 30 minutes. And then off we drove home. On our way back, we discussed about salary and the role I am gonna play in his office. We discussed about possible issues, office politics and the like. Then he shared how he started as an employee, opened his own business using loans, got screwed by a business partner and ran away from a bad debt. But it didn’t end there, he came back to start a business again. His bro came first to settle his debts before he came. So, he’s reached this far. But he lost a lot. He said, he lost about 10M dirhams (about 2.6M USD). And it took him 8 years to achieve a break-even. I salute him for not giving up on his second try. For me, 8 years is such a loooooooooooong wait. I would probably just quit after the second year to minimize my loss. But he’s so positive.
What took him so long to reach a break-even? He isn’t educated nor knowledgeable about running a business. He just knew he wanted to get the business going. And he trusts too much. Yes. Until now. And that’s where my responsibility lies, on educating him, on helping him figure out mysteries in the office. Interesting. Challenging. This will surely be a lot of headaches especially because I am just a newbie, while the rest are experts and, for sure, already hardheaded ones. They surely wouldn’t like me there. But I’ll take it slow.
And he asked, “Why are there only very few Filipinos running their own businesses in the UAE (considering there are quite a number people from developing countries too who own their businesses here)? Why are you Filipinos almost always (just) employees?“ Ah… that question. I’ve noticed the situation and asked myself too long before he asked me. I told him, “It’s because we take calculated risks. We are safe-players. We play it safe. For some, it’s just not part of their goals. “
“Yes, it’s always nice to play safe. I’ve learned my lesson. I’ve had sleepless nights.“
In conclusion, I’d say it’s good to play safe. But then too much of it can be a loss too (that’s when we don’t play at all).
finally, prison break is over!
“If I could do it all over again, I’d do it different.” Remember who said this? If you’re watching Prison Break, then I bet you do.
I was addicted to Prison Break and now that it’s ended, I’m happy than sad. Usually, it makes you sad to say goodbye to a thing you’ve already considered a part of your life. But not this one. You see, when you’ve agonized a lot, you’ve suffered a lot, you want that suffering to have a good end. And it is what happened. It had a good end in me.
One big thing I’ve learned from the series: Start things right so that you don’t keep looking back and wish you could undo things and start anew. At times, it’s gone too complicated that you could only wish for that.
So, to all of you who have been good, keep doing good. To all of you who have been bad, take a shift before you reach the borderline between having the chance to actually start anew and of merely wishing you could undo things. You know very well that when you cross that line, things get a lot messier, a lot complicated.
What about you? What have you learned? What striking statement can’t you forget? And yeah, who said that striking line at the beginning of this post?
dreams do come true
Almost exactly a year ago, I made this comment on my dear friend Grace’s blog. (“oh my GOD! what an experience! i’m envious grace, can i join?”) and she replied on email that if I was with her, she could have invited me. I was in Japan then.
I never thought, it would come to this. I never thought I’d actually get to visit the cruise ship that I thought I could only see in movies (such as Titanic).
Right before climbing up (with hubby, grace, grace’s mom & grace’s daughter p).
Crystal Symphony is the name of the ship. The small boat in front reminds me, really, of Titanic. They had to fight hard to get a space on that small boats.
After a little tour inside the ship, Stacey(band leader/pianist of the ship-obviously the one who looks so imported among us) brought us to the dining area where we had our early dinner. I love my tacos! No, that is not everything we had. We had rather unhealthy options too, we just did not take an evidence of it!
The ship has its own casino, pool, movie theater, playroom, bars, entertainment center (where Stacey and her band had a show). It even has jewelry stores. I think it’s really a lot like the Titanic, very fancy and very huge.
Behind us is the pool. It’s not very inviting though coz it’s too hot and I bet it would feel like dipping in a hot spring!
We had the famous “Jack & Rose” pose but I guess the pose wasn’t so nice so, I’m posting this instead. This one’s taken after Stacey’s performance. See? She is so gorgeous here.
We ended our day by going to Dubai Mall and watching the spectacular show of the newly-built fountain. I’ve read that it’s the world’s biggest. Well, knowing Dubai…
A lot of first times today. The cruise tour would probably be first & last (depending on whether or not Stacey would come back & whether or not I would still be invited by Grace).
Photos are all taken from Sandier Pastures. See more of the Dubai Mall Fountain here. Visit Stacey to know more of her travels and the Crystal Symphony here.
Yeah. Dreams do come true. Wishes do come true. Say it. Just say it. Who knows it will come to a reality. As for mine, it did. Today.
sometimes, there are only 2 choices
If you have read of my previous posts about my ex-boss’ housemaid who is also a Filipina, you will know that she is in a seriously negative situation. The couple (bosses) are very cruel – get angry at her for crazy reasons, do food inventory to clearly know if she took something from the ref, give no day off, slap her, allowed her not to own a mobile phone, etc.
But still, she was able to get one (mobile phone), just recently and of course, without the knowledge of her bosses.
And we communicate through that. Or sometimes she calls from a landline using a prepaid card.
And guess, what I’ve learned just this morning! It’s even scarier! She’s sleeping with a knife under her pillow to protect herself in case (from? different possibilities, including rape).
There are a lot of housemaids out there who committed crime because of their bosses’ cruelty. And I’m scared for Lisa.
You commit the crime or it is committed against you. Sometimes, you only have these two choices!
happy mother’s day ma!
mama dearest,
i want to thank you for being my voice, every time i run out of words.
i want to thank you for fighting for me, every time i choose to be coward.
i want to thank you for seeking for what’s mine, everytime the world does not give it to me.
i want you to know that i feel bad knowing you did not buy the dress you wanted because you had to buy me a new school shoes.
i want you to know that i feel bad knowing you did not eat meals with us because we must eat first and you’d be fine with whatever was left.
i want you to know that i feel bad knowing you’re alone in the farm or at home or anywhere doing something for us while we enjoy our time with friends and teachers at school.
i want you to know that i feel bad knowing i couldn’t protect you from the feeling of losing papa because you have every right to feel so bad about it.
i want the world to know that i always pray for you just before i sleep and i ask HIM to always protect you from any hurt or harm because i want you to live a long, happy and healthy life, hopefully, longer and healthier than mine because I don’t want to live a life without you.
mama. i love you. always. forever.
i miss you. i miss our long chats over our fave food – pizza! you take care always.
hugs and kisses,
rose
resigned from work
So, I finally said goodbye to my cruel bosses. No one month prior notice. I was supposed to receive my salary end of April but the owner did not give it. May 1st was a Friday, a holiday here. I thought I was gonna receive it on May 2nd. But no, I did not. I asked in the morning of May 3, if we’re gonna receive our salary that day. The answer was “yes”. Before leaving the office, I was handed with my much awaited salary.
Relieved, I spent my night creating my resignation letter. I had my hubby fax it the next day.
Fortunately or unfortunately, I left my mobile phone in the company car. Since we’re friends with the driver I told him to just keep it until he’s got time to hand it back to me. For 2 days, I was unreachable. The boss called me up but since I was out of reach, he called up hubby. He was casual, according to hubby. I find it very unusual, he’s normally angry. But maybe because hubby is not his employee.
If you are curious to know, the following are the reasons I listed that caused my decision:
(1) I can’t live with constant shouts and blames especially when I don’t deserve them.
(2) I don’t tolerate diabolical insults, unreasonable judgments and biases just because I am a new employee and very much inferior.
(3) I don’t think it’s right to outsmart anyone all for the sake of money. I will have to do that for the business and I never intended to. I know I will have to lie, call people crazy (or idiot or stupid or fool) and I so much hate that.
(4) I want to look forward going to work, to be with people who are well-aware of the existence of their hearts in their own system despite the situation (whether we get busy, pressured and some things aren’t so right).
This is kinda weird resignation letter but this is a lot like what I’ve written because this is what I wanted so much to say.
Am I relieved? No, not completely, because, I am gonna be jobless again and jobhunting is really hard nowadays. But I guess, I just had to save myself from the situation. I can’t live listening to everyday fights, lies and being one of recipients of those foul words/acts myself. And I don’t think I ever wanted to lie or outsmart anyone for the business or else, I’d have to pay (yes, he makes his employees pay for transactions that fail beyond the employee’s control).
I just had to call it quits while it wasn’t too late yet.
summer in the UAE
So, now I know what SUMMER feels like in the UAE. It’s freakin’ hot – like a hair dryer operated all around me, just an inch away. When the wind blows, it gets even crazier. I feel like running everytime I’m outside. It’s hot, flaming hot! But it’s the kind that makes me even drier, instead of sweaty wet.
little more expose’
So, he went to the airport holding the controversial promotional E-ticket. The driver, after sending him to the airport, picked me up for work. After 5 minutes, he called up the driver, asked where we were and commanded us to stop. So, we did. The driver suspected that the ticket failed and so, maybe, he had to go and pick him up. We’re kinda excited to know this. Hoping. But no, not this case. He had a little problem with the baggage. He exceeded the baggage allowance by 4kg and he refused to pay. He had to act so disappointed to be asked for an extra amount for what he thought was a considerable excess baggage despite his being a frequent flyer.
He won.
He certainly has a way with things. But believe me, he’s so wealthy. I’m thinking he’s not aware that all his wealth will do nothing to him when he departs.
While at home….
His wife informed us that her car’s tint got damaged. The driver said, maybe it’s because she had it cleaned everyday. So, she scold the maid for not cleaning it the right way. And GOD knows what else did she do to the maid. The driver, then, brought the car to a shop and had it done. When she tried to drive and examine the work done, she felt that the tint was too dark. So, the driver went again to have it done again. But guess what? The driver had to pay for the retouch. Why? Because the wife is never willing to pay for it.
Gosh! Even the driver! What a shame!
the promotional offer trick
Another expose’.
The Managing Director flies to his home country, very often (once a month). He was booked for a promotional offer which requires a minimum stay of 7 days (I think) in his home country before he goes back to the UAE. They(he and the Manager) booked for that flight. But he originally intended to be back after 5 days. Anyway, they booked the flight for the discount. And then they played tricks.
They called the Emirates to change the return flight, to shorten it to 5 days, according to the original plan. The employee (Emirates call center agent, I guess) did not notice this and so, the promotional offer was still considered. No extra amount asked.
Trick works.
Then, the Director, changed his mind and decided to shorten his stay further- to two nights. So, the Manager called the Emirates and then made this request. But the agent, this time, discovered that the price should now be increased to the usual. He mentioned that the amount should have taken effect the first time they changed the flight schedule. So, the Manager, after talking to the Director decided not to change the flight schedule anymore. Leave it, as is. But, still, they have to pay the extra amount because the existing schedule, was still not within the promotional conditions.
But no, they are not that type. The mistake has been made not on his part but on the Emirates, therefore, the Emirates should handle it. The change had been made prior to the latest request and it was fine. No way shall the Director change his flight to make it to the promotional condition nor shall he pay the excess amount.
The agent, searched on the record and put the guy who made the mistake on the line. He was made to answer our Manager and then, he admitted his mistake and pointed out that our company had to pay the extra amount. Manager was shouting, calling everyone on the other line idiot and refusing to settle everything in our side. The agent was very apologetic and said that the only thing that could be done was for our Manager to make a complaint against him for he admittedly made a mistake.
But the Director said, “No, why would I make a complaint against him? He’s got no money. He’s nothing to me!“
The issue went higher to the Supervisor and I think, to the Manager of the Emirates. In the end, the Manager and the Director got what they want.
I’m wondering if the agent had to pay for the required amount. I pity him.
When you make a mistake, be sure to suffer from it. That scared me even more. I’m not perfect. I’d commit a mistake how careful I may be.
