I AM AN EXPAT

I am working in a car trading company here in Dubai, I am the only Filipina here, and I can say I am lucky as they are treating me as their own family.  I am always with them during special occasions and celebrations like, Onam, birthday party, and so on.   And one of my colleague will get marry this December 2014, literally I am also invited to attend his ceremony, as a special request from him.  So, we all decided to go and for I am the sole Filipina colleague I need to process my VISA a month before my departure.  Yes, for us Filipinos, we need to get a visa travelling to India. so I searched the internet how to process and where are the locations here in Dubai.   As per Consulate General of India website, there are 16 BLS Centers  (click to find locations) here in U.A.E. where we can process the visa and passport applications, they were a trusted partner of Embassy of India and Consulate General of India here in UAE.   I filled up the form online, and for thi

One day, a good friend of mine ask me for a favor, "Ate, I have an assignment in my English class, can you make a speech for me? What you think will be the topic?" then I looked to her deeply, this girl takes her pictures and everything all the time.. So I replied, put OFW SELFIES.. LOL!!! And so I taught, why don't I write also about this? It is trending worldwide, taking your own pictures which the social media calls it as "SELFIE",even celebrities make songs out of it, getting the right angle of your face, in different places, situations, scenarios and even emotions. In fact I am one of the guilty person here.  We often post our pictures like this on our own social networking sites like facebooks, Instagram, twitter, wechat and so on.  And hundreds or thousands of our friends see these, take a look, click like, post comments, etc.  We, as an OFW, oftentimes or most of the times actually post the places we've been visited, posts good looking pict

I am not that techie type of person, But honestly I love gadgets. Before, I am always updated with all the latest mobiles coming out from the market (updated in a sense that I am doing research about their features, their looks and so on) colleagues will usually ask me how or what's better before they decide to buy their own, and somehow I used to have my "expensive one".  Until that became less priority, when you started your family and the budget is so tight. :b When I was still staying and working in the Philippines, I am contented with my old model of "Blackberry", the important thing for me there are, at least you can send SMS, phone calls, and some IM.  Frankly, I still have that "fondness" when I see new devices in TV commercials and malls, but (sigh) I just ignored that. :)  When I arrived here in U.A.E., the only gadget that I have with me are my blackberry and an Apple iPod touch.  For a year that I am using that, even most of

Broken Marriages, is this a common thing now? As we hit the new generation, more and more cases of broken families are there.  As if, it's already normal for people to marry then divorce or get annulment/separation after a while.  This is not common in the Philippines before, as much as I know when i am still a child, couples tries to save the marriage as much as possible, for the sake of the children, reputation and so on. But as time passes by, separation and annulment in my country became a normal thing..  What are the common causes of this break-ups? The number one cause of it is: 1)  INFIDELITY  - or cheating, or adultery, or having an affair. Call it whatever you wanted but still it's the same.  The most excruciating feeling a partner could ever feel (believe me it is), is to be in this situation.  I don't know why this one becomes a common thing to couple, maybe because    a) LOVE IS GONE ? - There could be a lot of reasons why someone falls ou

Leaving your country for the first time would be very, very hard.  Just like what happened to me.  I've been working in my country for more than 10 years, leaving your comfort zone would not be as easy as you think.    Your family, your friends, neighbors, colleagues, the life you've been used to, your routine will change instantly. Before my flight, I am too much excited and nervous as well.  But as the day of my departure is almost approaching, the butterflies in my bellies are moving more and more, hahaha.  And when that day finally came I can't move my feet, leaving your family behind.  I told them not to bring me to the airport because what I've heard from people leaving the country, it is much harder if family are with you to say goodbye (our place is 5-6 hours land travel to NAIA - Philippines). So literally, I was crying so hard, so painfully that I need to get my things, put it in the car and release my arms from my sleeping angels.  There's no