She’s very much into pistachios, so I picked up a pistachio-flavored cake for her from the specialty bakeshop Bakemart at their branch in Dubai Media City,

After munching the carbonara that she had cooked, she thought that the celebration was already finished. Without her knowing, I still have other plans in store for her. An hour before the clock strikes 12, I told her that I’m going to take her out. As her birthday is a very special day, I took her to the place that was both very memorable and special for the both of us. We went for a walk at Al Qasba. Al Qasba holds a very special place in our hearts. This was where we first went to while I was still courting her. This was also the place where we had our first hair-raising and heart-pounding carnival ride. We also rode the 60-meter high Ferris wheel called the Eye of the Emirates (reminiscent of the London Eye).

That night, we reminisced while walking, remembering the moments we had at Al Qasba, joked about how we were before and of course, took some pictures! Then, we decided to ride the Eye of the Emirates once more to take a another glimpse of Sharjah from a top of the towering amusement ride. The stride and the ride took its toll on us and our stomachs started protesting. I have promised her for ages that I’m going to take her to the best Thai restaurant I know. Luckily, just days prior to her birthday, I learned from a friend that the Thai resto Lemon Grass just opened a branch in Qasba. We savored on the authentic Thai prawn and noodles cuisine that really satisfied our appetite.

As the day came to a close, Rachelle thanked me for everything that I did that day. Seeing her smile at me like that never fails to make my heart skip a beat. Priceless as it maybe, I can say that  made her birthday a happy one.

]]> http://akotosidennis.com/2009/12/07/happy-birthday-baby/feed/ 0 http://akotosidennis.com/2009/04/16/our-first-month/ http://akotosidennis.com/2009/04/16/our-first-month/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:56:08 +0000 densyo http://akotosidennis.com/?p=405 Our first month together went by like a breeze! Maybe it’s really like that when you’re happy, you don’t even notice how time flies. It was just like yesterday when Rachelle and I got together “officially” that I still remember everything so clearly in my mind. This first month is so special for us that I planned to do something different.

I thought of us eating in a posh restaurant (so common), go out of the country (so far) and take a hot air balloon ride (so expensive). But none of those I thought of were viable in the time frame I have. I was already alarmed and in deep thought when I remembered one of those talks that we had about some of the things that we still haven’t done here in Dubai. She at one time mentioned about she and her friends’ plan to go on a Dhow Cruise but they were not able to do so. That gave me the idea to take her to a Dhow Cruise by surprise.

A week before our “first monthsary“, I devised a plan on how to go about my little surprise. The “hopeless romantic” in me kicked in and with that, this plan materialized: I gave her three roses, but not all at the same time. I gave her the first rose in the eve of our “monthsary”. When the clock ticked at 12 am, together with a card, I gave her a long stemmed red rose and we greeted each other a happy 1st monthsary. I told her that we’ll just go out tomorrow and eat out to further celebrate our first month together.  What she didn’t know was I already talked to a friend of hers, Freia, and asked her to give Rachelle the second rose in the morning with a card. Inside the card, there are instructions on where we would meet in the evening and what clothes we should  wear (I still didn’t mention anything about the Dhow Cruise). I asked her to wear the clothes that we wore when we had out first date. That moment was so memorable for us that I want it to be a part of our celebration. I also asked her to meet me at Al Ghurair Mall in Deira. It was already close by the Dhow Cruise area and I want her to think that we would just eat our dinner in one of the restaurants at Al Ghurair.

When we met in the evening, she played her part well and she wore the clothes that I asked her to wear. At this moment, I gave her the third rose and another card. But unlike the other two fresh roses that I gave her, this one is an artificial rose. Of course, she asked me why. So, I told her that those roses will represent the love I have for her, that as long as one of those roses is alive, my love for her will always remain (I would no longer go into detail on the dramatics that followed that moment, I’ll just let you all play with your imagination…).

After that, we took a taxi ride towards the Dubai Creek where the Dhow Cruise I earlier booked was at bay. She was still clueless as to where we are going. She keeps on guessing on what restaurant in Deira we are going to eat. Not until we reached Dubai Creek that she realized what we were doing there. I saw the glimmer of happiness in her eyes when she learned of my plan and  that was more than enough for me, my efforts paid off, I’m sure I made her happy.

We dined at the Falcon Oasis Floating Restaurant which serves a mix of Arabic and Oriental food. While we were eating the boat is cruising the length of the Dubai Creek, which gave us a good view of the creek and Dubai at night.

It was truly another night to remember for the both of us and we are looking forward for many more to come…

The Dubai Mall opened yesterday and one of its many attractions is the Dubai Aquarium and Discovery Center. It is very much like the Manila Ocean Park in the Philippines but it has more bigger and never-before seen fishes. Imagine fitting the Manila Ocean Park inside the SM Mall of Asia, you get the Dubai Aquarium.

I watched in awe as the fishes swam inside the enormous fish tank shaped like a tunnel. I felt like a child that just saw an aquarium for the first time. The exhilirating feeling left me just staring in front of it and appreciate its natural beauty. Together with my cousins, we followed and watched as small fishes gather around a big fish, stingrays floating like kites gliding through the air and sharks swimming as if looking for its next prey.

The aquarium also features feeding times for the fishes where a visitor can actually feed the fishes firsthand, even feed the sharks! Next time, I will slash Dhs 65 from my wallet to enter the aquarium and complete my experience. See more pics here.

My cousins and I have been planning an out of town trip for several months now, and the end of Ramadan has provided us the perfect opportunity to do so. “Eid al-Adha” as Muslims call it, for expats like me and my cousins, it’s just another holiday when we can take a break from work and relax. We decided to go to Khor Fakkan Beach. It’s actually still a part of Sharjah, but in order to reach the place you have to pass through Fujairah. Going there, we passed by Friday Market for a pit stop. We bought fruits and ate some corns-on-a-cob.

Along the way we also saw the oldest mosque in the UAE, and of course we stopped and posed for a few pics.

And because it is a holiday, the open beach is, as expected, full of people. We did some barbeque-ing and swam until we got fried up by the blistering sun.

Going home, I had a very good view of Fujairah’s mountains before sundown. It was a breathtaking view.

Generally, we had fun and are looking forward for another holiday.

I arrived at the NAIA in the evening of May 2. For the first time in almost 1 1/2 years I have been reunited with my family. Finally, I also saw my mother and saw her condition after her accident that broke her left arm. From the airport, I had my first meal in the Philippines courtesy of North Park at Macapagal Avenue. The following Sunday, me and my family went out for lunch at Josephine’s Restaurant in Kawit, Cavite and savoured on the Filipino dishes that I really missed. In the evening, I met with my bestfriend Caloy and congratulated him and his spouse on their wedding which unfortunately I was not able to attend because their wedding was the same day of my arrival. I was supposed to be his bestman. We already agreed before that whoever of us gets married first, the other one would be the bestman.

Me and my friends celebrated my arrival at Glorietta, Makati and ate at Tony Roma’s, the first posh restaurant we went to altogether. After which, we relaxed at Starbucks and drank our favorite Java Chip Frapuccino Venti while munching a slice of cheese cake a piece of donut. I got together with my kapilya dabarkads. I arranged for our house to be repainted. I visited Svenson, a hair clinic, and had my scalp treated for dandruff and hair fall. I finally was able to eat KFC (with gravy and mashed potato), Jollibee, Yellow Cab, Wendy’s, Brother’s Burger, Greenwich and Kenny Roger’s. I bought a Jansport knapsack bag, a pair of Hush Puppies shoes and Arrow black pants, a replica of a Star Wars Light Saber when I went to Greenhills and a bunch of shirts and polos.

Me and my friends went for a 3-day getaway to Baguio and visited some of the tourist spots there, the most spectacular of which, for us, is the open air SM Mall. We also reminisced some of our moments together at Alabang Town Center and SM Mall of Asia. My sister celebrated her better-late-than-never debut party at Circle Island Resort on the 21st of May, which happens to be my mother’s birthday as well.

I finally was able to drive again. Saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (ugh). I also had my general check-up at the Prime Globalcare Medical Center, had my dental makeover at Ka Irene’s dental clinic and had my eyes checked and a new pair of glasses made by Ka Beth.

A few days before I left, my family and me went for a dinner at Highlands Steakhouse at MOA and was blown away by the very delicious steaks.

I left for Dubai in the afternoon of May 31. One of the loneliest moments in my life. I’m leaving my loved ones again and will see them again a year later.

One of the things a Filipino should experience if they are here in the U.A.E. is Desert Safari. It’s a tour of a desert where you will ride a 4×4 vehicle. I had my own experience of this yesterday.

Our tour departed from Sharjah in the afternoon, traveling across the deserts of Dubai (actually, a part of Dubai which is already close to Oman). When we arrived at the location of the actual tour, we first embarked in a heart stopping dune drive where our 4×4 drove through the sand dunes in high speed, climbing up and down in the dunes. It could be closely compared to a roller coaster ride in a theme park. Many times I thought that our vehicle would turn over, but thanks to the skilled driving style of our driver Ahmed, our fears were not realized. We had several photo stops during the exciting dune drive, wherein the safari drivers let us capture moments of the experience having the beautiful and breathtaking desert as our backdrop. Some members of the tour (myself not included, hehehe…) even experienced the thrill of sand boarding and I swear I saw some of them have eaten some sand in the process while tumbling from the board after losing their balance.

Our drive continued across the desert where we had the opportunity to witness a beautiful desert sunset, one of the highlights of our trip to the Arabian deserts.

After the sand dunes drive, we arrived at our campsite a few minutes before sundown where we had the opportunity to ride on a camel and try out a henna design on our hands or feet.

After all that activity, we have worked up an appetite, and so we enjoyed a delicious BBQ dinner and a shisha (the famous Arabic water pipe). we also enjoyed watching a belly dancer performing her show around the campfire by starlight (except during Ramadan), before returning to your Sharjah.

According to the tour organizers, the bellydancer does not perform during Ramadan (approximately mid September – mid October).