It’s almost my bed time. My eyes feel heavy and about to close any minute now. But before I call it a night, I wanted to post this entry using my sister’s new laptop. It’s sort of my welcome gesture to her first techie buy.
Tomorrow is weekend yet just like any other day, I get up at five in the morning. This time so I can leisurely handwash my business clothes and hang it outside the veranda as soon as the sun rises. Sure, it would save me time had I use the washing machine but I don’t want to risk the quality of any clothing that I own. It might not last a year if that were the case.
Speaking of which, I’m in dire need of new office clothes that are conservative, stylish and has a professional look. I’m not in the loop of any promo/sales updates now that Kuwait Style seems to be currently on hiatus. Online is the closest thing I can get to window shopping. I have to wait till my dad gets here for some major shopping. I cannot wait!
I normally watch Tyra Banks Show for the latest fashion and hollywood trend, and Oprah for anything that is insightful – books to read and basically everything else that comes out of her mouth.
Everyone knows that anything Oprah endorses becomes the next big thing. And this is only one of them. On one of her shows this week, she promoted “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man” by comedian Steve Harvey which is now New York Times #1 Best seller.
Beneath his quirkiness, I can tell he was really passionate and serious about the subject. His bluntness made me think about my past. Then I realized he was so absolutely right. I’d definitely like to getmy hands on a copy of this really intriguing book that sure looks like has a lot of tips and advices to disclose!
If you are looking for great suspense and non-stop action, this is one amazing movie you cannot miss. My family was quite taken by the acting performance of Liam Neeson as the main character and of course, the twisted plot. The movie was interesting, realistic to the issues surrounding the world today and fast-paced, keeping everyone glued till the very end. Even I had to put my ironing duties on hold at that time for another day. The movie was just too good to pass up for another time.
Unbelievably, this is the second Friday the 13th this year. I’ve known about this myth for years yet I don’t really pay attention to it. I have my fair share of bad luck almost everyday that this day can’t possibly top. It’s after all weekend! Nothing, that I know of, can ruin my mood or go possibly wrong.
The past week has been far too long, too draining and too stressful. Need I say more? I’m keeping all work-related issues bottled up because the last thing I’d want to hear is ‘I told you so’ from my sister. Anyway, she made me watch the following clip from youtube late last night with Beyonce and Justin Timberlake on it, and it cheered me up a bit.
For the full clip, watch this as the embed code was disabled by the author.
Before my parents left, dad brought home a box assortment of Indian sweets courtesy of his secretary. I was a little skeptical at first because none of it looked appealing nor tempting to my taste. But after eating one from the box just kept me reaching for more until I ate all of it the same night. One box only had five mini sweets mind you and I don’t even know what they were called.
I tried to research them online but I can’t figure out which one is which. Just goes to show that Indian sweets aren’t that popular yet online. I have a vague memory of the last three desserts that I ate but the first two really stuck in my head and.. in my taste buds.
The first was orange in color, shaped like a coiled spiral and is overly sweet! I even felt the syrup dripping as I took my first bite. It’s definitely a great sugar fix for someone with an insatiable sweet tooth like me.
The other, however, was color white and box-shaped in appearance. I first thought it was all made of flour and not supposedly part of the box. But surprising this plain dessert had sugar in between. These two are my ideal comfort food that I wouldn’t mind eating it again if I only knew what they were and where to get them here in Kuwait.
As I type this, my parents are already in the airport waiting to board their much awaited flight to Philippines leaving me, my older sister and ‘uncles’ here at home. I hope they get to do everything they planned to do back home without the drama, disappointment and headache relatives bring when they come to visit.
I’ve been down this road before but somehow being far from them this time around is different. In terms of place, Kuwait is not friendly to single women, expatriates or not, so I’m confining myself to stay at home from today until they return in a month’s time.
I don’t plan on going out anytime soon unless really necessary. Thanks to my ever thoughtful parents, I have everything I need at home. Our refrigerator and cupboards are full of a month-long supply of food including my personal favorite snack – apples. Besides, I’m saving up for something that I’ve been wanting for the longest time and also for my future MBA in UK. Just wish there’s an easy way to study abroad on full scholarship other than paying it on my own.
My hatest part of working, believe it or not, is going to and from work. I don’t own a car (not yet though) and taking the bus is a dangerous option. I’d still have to walk roughly fifteen minutes and cross the road twice before I’d safely reach my workplace.
If only I weren’t wearing heels everyday and this country isn’t known dangerous to women, I might have consider commuting to cut down my expenses. But with all the rumors around, I decided not to risk it and got myself a regular transport to answer my everyday problem.
Now you know where my salary goes! It’s so expensive that even my transportation allowance is not enough to cover it. Nothing good, to my disappointment, came out of it. I’m five to fifteen minutes late everyday and I’m always the last person to be dropped off to my designation. It’s really irritating considering that I’m the first person to get on the transport most of the time.
After weeks of riding with four different drivers under the same transport, I’m back to where I started – searching for a good transport. My dad picks me up after work in the meantime till I find another regular transport again, peferrably one that doesn’t have an existing of ten or more passengers. If that is not possible, any vehicle would do as long as I get to my destination safe and on time.
I didn’t really mean to put this blog on hiatus just like I did. There was just really no time and effort on my part to update this. So am I ending this? I thought about it during the past four months but after thinking it through, I decided to keep it and wait until I get into ‘blog mode’ again. Which I eventually did and this time, I’m promising to keep this updated. I may post just a few in a month or none at all but it doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned this blog for good.
It’s a public holiday today in Kuwait. So is tomorrow and the day after that is my day off. So all in all, I have three days off from work. Sweet! Thank you Kuwait Liberation Day!
I started working a month ago in a private company. It is not exactly the type of work I would have had I stayed back home but it has always been something I’d consider.
Working in Kuwait is different and not even comparable to the working environment back home. Everything seems to be all work and no play. I’m still getting used to all of it – my new hands-on boss and to constantly hear my colleagues converse in a language I don’t understand. Not completely but I’m working on it. A colleague of mine is helping me out with a few words per day. It’s just good to have work to take my mind off things and the best excuse to put every ounce of my organizing and writing skills to good use.
Adapted from Laura Rebecca’s Kitchen, I made these Cinnamon cupcakes for our afternoon snack a few days ago. I did however make a few changes. The recipe calls for yogurt which I didn’t have, so I omitted it and the topping as well to cut back on sugar. I’m glad I did because it turned out very moist, creamy and not too sweet. My dad even brought six of these to work the following day. As my first attempt at cupcakes, I must say it turned out rather well than I expected.
For over a month, I’ve tasted and encountered first hand a lot of what this little country has to offer that are just worth writing about. Here’s a random dose of Kuwait:
Dates have now become my latest fruit addiction. If you’d asked me to eat this four years ago, without a doubt I would probably say no. That’s how much I hated this middle east staple fruit before. Well surprisingly, I’ve come to love them. So much that I’ve won’t stop eating unless it’s not within my reach, I’m already full, or every last one is gone.
Whenever we get hungry on the road, we would just pull over by the nearest store to buy shawarma. It’s becoming the family’s favorite snack. For only 250 fils, its a great hunger fix for those people who are always on-the-go, like us. Ironically in many of the streets here, you’ll find stores side by side selling the same thing. So by the time my dad parks in front of one of these stores, a waiter from each of these stores would come rushing to our car asking for our order. It takes about ten minutes for our order to arrive and we don’t even have to get out of the car the whole time. This is what I call customer service at its best.
We went shopping at Al Kout then had dinner at Kudu sometime last week. Located at the mall’s food court, this middle east fast food chain serves healthy food choices at a reasonable price. Not much has changed over the years. Special Lunch tasted just like it used to and the portions are still huge. We live so close to this mall so I’d definitely be coming back for more of their delectable menus.
Just by looking at stores and signages, I can tell that correct spelling is not an issue around here. The word ’shawarma’ can be spelled in three or more different ways. It can be ’shawarmah’, ’shawerma’ and many more as long as it’s pronounced the same.
…this list will be updated each time I discover something new.
If you are looking for great suspense and non-stop action, this is one amazing movie you cannot miss. My family was quite taken by the acting performance of Liam Neeson as the main character and of course, the twisted plot. The movie was interesting, realistic to the issues surrounding the world today and fast-paced, keeping everyone glued till the very end. Even I had to put my ironing duties on hold at that time for another day. The movie was just too good to pass up for another time.
