Entertainment - In the Kingdom

The life here in the kingdom as an expat can be routinary. You wake up early in the morning and go to work. After 8 hours, you go back home, eat your dinner and sleep. Everyday is a cycle except for  weekends (Friday and Saturday) for my case. Other working expats here have either one day off or none at all. To keep myself entertained, I badly need an internet connection. For now I'm using a mobily network prepaid internet which cost 130SR for 11GB data (Expensive!!!). I cannot really enjoy this connection because I'm limited to this data size- less streaming, no movie downloads, and everything you can enjoy with an unlimited connection. 

To minimize homesickness and to have a little fun here in the kingdom, I go with friends for an out of town trips, picnics and a simple get together. 

Last time, we went to the beach to spend our free day to relax and have some little twist to our routinary lives. We bought fish and marinated chicken to "sugba" and "Bihon" for our breakfast and lunch. Even though the sun is high, the sea water still feels cold since winter season isn't over yet. I took a swim for a few minutes but because its too cold for me to handle I immediately got off and dry myself =)

Beside the "sunset beach (a private resort)".

Chess game after a good lunch.

Around 2 pm,we went directly in Ramaniyah mall to eat "Halo-halo" in Jollibee. This is the only Jollibee in the eastern region. Thank God, that the mall is just a walking distance from the flat quite expensive though (Jollibee). 

Jollibee in Al Khobar :)

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Two months ago, we went in King Fahad Causeway. It's an island boundary of KSA and Bahrain. As I mentioned in my previous entry, Al-Khobar is the gateway to Bahrain. Picnics is a common thing here. In the Philippines I seldom see people do picnics, it's either you spend the afternoon with your barkada on a "tagay/inuman/drinking" session until the wee hours of the next day or spend it inside the mall.

Control tower in King Fahad Causeway

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One weekend also, we went to "half moon" beach. It's a long stretch of shallow seaside where children can go for a swim without  "threatening" their lives. I don't have a picture of the place because I took the other side of the road which is a "sand" hill! Amazing! :))  The good thing about this place is that they have a built in concrete structures for people. The amenities are good including a play ground for kids and well maintained wash and shower rooms (No pics! sorry!).

On the other side!

These are some of the things we do to keep ourselves sane in the kingdom. Being away from the family in a foreign land is a different thing. So, please be gentle with your OFWs relatives, you don't know how is life here away from you, in my case, I'm too lucky to be in this kind of situation.

In the Kingdom - the beginning

Introduction

My first blog entry two months after I arrived here in the kingdom.


After the recruitment agency in manila informed me that I need to process my requirements, I have no choice but to resign in my previous job. The thing is, I didn't expect that the job offered was "ASAP" and I planned to either resign by the end of november or end my contract by december 2013, the least.

The company sent me a "good" job offer and for a first timer, such an offer is a blessing and opportunities as they say seldom comes so I took the chance and grabbed it.

My purpose on coming here is exactly the same as the majority of OFWs, to earn - but what maybe differs me from most of them is that I want to earn not to support my family but to test and apply what I learned on saving and investing. The opportunity to save here in the kingdom is so great as long as you know how to discipline yourself and and practice frugality.

So much of that introduction, the first thing that came into my mind as I boarded the plane is that it's no turning back and I need to be courageous since this is my first time to work abroad and the place is much different from home.

The flight took around 8-9 hours via Abu Dhabi on an Etihad airline to Dammam, KSA. When the plane landed in Abu Dhabi around 5:30 AM, I met Filipinos who were like me, first timers to work in KSA, the same age as mine or much younger. I really don't know coz I look much younger. LOL

(Richard, Matt, Me and Kuya at Abu Dhabi airport)

As we left Abu Dhabi around 10 AM, it so obvious that we're on the land that's full of sand. You can barely see anything but this common color you see on films set on a desert. After an hour, we arrived in Dammam Airport and the feeling of wanting to go back sunk in.

It took us 2-3 hours before we finally got out of the airport. For first timers, biometrics were taken, the process would actually take you few minutes but this country is different. Actually, I'm not surprised  about this thing, thank you PDOS (Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar). The experience was really disappointing and that was the first test of my patience.

Our Quality Manager fetch me in the airport and directly went to the lab because its 3PM and the office time out is 5 PM. I waited and they brought me to the hotel where I spent my first 7 days c/o the company.

The Place

We are working in 1st? Industrial area in Dammam but lives in Al khobar, the next town. These towns are part of the eastern province and we are around 30 minutes ride to Bahrain. We can't cross to Bahrain because our passports are submitted to the company and in return we are given IQAMA or the residence card. In this part of Al khobar where im staying, if there such an area called the chinese community so as this place for Filipinos. I lived in a flat where the Filipino groceries, barber shops, salons, shops are around the corner. Mostly, Indians are the businessmen but I'm surprised that most of them are fluent in tagalog.

(Industrial Area 1, Dammmam)

(The building where I'm currently staying, Al-Khobar)

The Food

If you have the gift for cooking and you have the necessary things for you to cook then you can do your own and spend less. But like me who for now, have no available cooking paraphernalia, except for my rice cooker and my water heater, I usually buy Filipino foods in "restaurants". They usually have combo meals ( 2-3 cups rice + 2 ulams) that ranges from 10-15 SAR (~110-160 PhP). Sometimes, for lunch time, we usually eat "broasted chicken", it's like a buttered chicken with slices of fried potatoes (french fries) and slices of carrots, cucumber etc. The other famous food or probably their national food is the "Kabsa", a roasted chicken stuffed with flavors and spices. It's more of a lechon manok in the Philippines with a distinct smell. Indian foods are also available like those yellowish thin elongated rice with sheeps meet "moton" or chicken.  I'm not a curry fan so for now, i'm not really into their food but maybe someday I will learn to love them too :)

(Shawaya, Kabsa mixed with different types of rice)

The Weather

When I arrived in december and until now, its still winter. The weather can go down around 5 degree celcius and move up around 15 degree celcius in a day. This abrupt change in the temperature made me  vulnerable to cough sickness and as of now I often have itchy feeling on my throat. My friends here told me to enjoy this weather because when summer comes, I would be wishing for this kind of weather.
 

The People

Of course, I live and work with Filipinos but in the work place we have co workers who are indians, yemenis, pakistani and saudis. I'm on this stage that I'm learning about their behaviors and their ways. Cultural differences are very obvious in this place but I guess the best thing to do is to understand and respect each other.

The Workplace

I'm working in a toy testing laboratory and we do physical and chemical testing on toys entering the kingdom. Before it could be released in the market, these toys undergoes abuse testing for potential hazard that they may pose to the children. What I like about my job is that sometimes we play in the lab with these toys before we subject it for testing. It brings back the child in me and felt sorry everytime we do abuse tests because some them will be damaged even the expensive ones.

(My Stree Reliever :D )

Conclusion

For now, these are the things that I can share with you. I want to hear from you too, things you are interested to hear from me. There are a lot of stories to tell but they're too many for me to write them one by one. Next time, i can update this entry and add some things. :) To sum it up, my first two months here in the kingdom was great. I'm on the adjustment period and its not that bad enough. There are two sides of the coin and there are things that I love and hate about my new environment. I'll write them on my future entries and join me on my new and not so boring life here in the kingdom.


To God be the glory!

Ati-Atihan 2013

Last January 19-20, 2013, I and my friends went to Kalibo, Aklan, Philippines to join the celebration of Ati-Atihan 2013. This celebration is the feast of sto. nino for the catholics. It is celebrated on the 2nd week of January together with other places in the country with the same celebration.  Ati-atihan is dubbed as the merriest sto. nino celebration in the whole country.

Kalibo, Aklan is approximately a two hour ride from Caticlan, a gateway to one of the world's famous beach, Boracay.

Please check these blogs about Atiatihan, they would tell you what the experience was all about :)

http://www.pusangkalye.net/2013/01/hala-bira-kalibo-ati-atihan-2013-photos.html

http://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/awesome/2013/01/kalibo-sto-ni%C3%B1o-ati-atihan-festival-guide.html

http://www.byahilo.com/2013/01/28/kalibo-ati-atihan-festival-santo-nino-procession/#axzz2Jc8euoZW

From Sciences to Business

While eating my "curly tops"  chocolate I bought for 37.50 pesos and sitting infront of this laptop thinking what to do, I thought of writing what I've been into lately and how I'm so excited about this.

The Philippine economy starting mid last year has been showing a good performance due to the government's effort in fighting corruption, inviting and a more conducive place investors. I was quite optimistic about this, since I've been following the state of the economy since I was in college. Just simply looking at the exchange rates, I know that there's something going on with the economy. Foreign Exchange isn't really an indicator, there are a lot of factors affecting it, but to my simple understanding, that's how it works.

Late last year, I was amazed how foreign corporations and business analysts projects the Philippines in the future. I've been watching  videos about businessmen talking things I really don't understand but as how they presented it, it sounds optimistic.

Days before new  year, I retweeted (@rjei - my twitter account) a report about the PSEI reaching it's 6,000 goal. I reposted it just to share that the economy is really doing well and so that everyone will know that there is something like that. A friend replied to my tweet and asked me if I'm investing  in stocks. I answered that I wasn't and I'm just observing the economy. This is where it all started. She shared to me that shes investing in the stock market through an online broker. At first I was a little confused how things work that way but from then on, I started to read about the stock market.

She gave me the website of her online broker ( www.colfinancial.com/), read about it and actually thought of filling it up for submission. At that time, I was on a vacation, so I decided to finalize things when I get back to work. After a few days, I'm back in work and continued reading, I found out about other online brokers and I decided to choose www.bpitrade,com since I have a savings account on that bank and money transfers would be easy.

I filed my application mid-January and up to now I am waiting for my approval. My investment money is ready, not too big though but I think this is enough to try this new instrument for investment. Actually I'm quite optimistic about this and I'm pretty sure that this my way to become rich (hahaha).
One thing that made my mind up about this idea is beacuse i've been following astrology and numerology reading. Not a really a fan but it's fun to read things that somehow you could sometimes say that "yeah, this is really me!" My numerology and astrology readings are a perfect match because they coincide with my personality. There's no harm really in trying this kind of things, they're just guides anyway and not sort of religion.


Well, that's it!  Wish me luck! :D

The Asik Asik Falls Experience

The newly discovered tourist attraction of North Cotabato is located at Brgy. Dado in the town of Alamada. From Midsayap town, the center of commerce of the PPALMA (Pikit, Pigkawayan, Alamada, Libungan , Midsayap and Aleosan) Alliance,  we traveled by a private car to the town of Alamada which took us about 30 minutes.

Another way is to commute through public transport, which is composed of “Double-tyre Jeepneys” which will take you to the town of Alamada or directly to Brgy. Dado. From the town of Alamada, we left our private car in a police station and negotiate for single-motor drive which will take us directly to Asik Asik falls. The standard price is PhP700 and we ended up to 600 per motor. Each motor can carry up to 3 to 4 people but it is recommended that 2 passengers should be the maximum since the road is not that good and to prevent accidents.

The ride directly to Asik asik falls took us about an hour from the town proper of Alamada. The road way up is composed of dusty and rocky parts. Inclinations are about 45-50 degrees, that’s also the reason why a maximum of 2 people are allowed.

After an hour, we arrived in the jump off point. The local government has developed the place where there were already some stalls selling local delicacies like Patil, a rice with chicken toppings covered with banana leaf. There were also soft drinks and other food items.

From this point, we walked down in a hill where the falls is hidden. The walked down is composed of about ~300 steps in a half developed stairs. The local government improved the trail path after people all over the province began to visit the place.

After a few minutes, we arrived in the majestic asik asik falls. The falls looks like a curtain of falls adorned with green wild plants. The source of the water is still unknown at this time since the water is coming out of the rocky wall at the top. The current of the water is quite strong indicating a possible bigger water body source. As I would assess it, I think there exist a “Tinagong Dagat (Hidden Lake)”  up in the mountains which is a possible source of the water.

There‘s no existence of huts in the area, this is to prevent people to stay long in the area where possible accumulation of garbage can happen. It is suggested that you bring your own food to save money. The water is freezingly cold and there are deep parts but composed mostly of shallow parts. The current of the water also depends on the weather.

Generally, Asik Asik falls is a beautiful and breath taking place to visit. It is worth the effort to go there.