Passionately M

Many people in the UAE are excited to welcome September 2022 and this excitement, for almost half a year, has greatly rippled that definitely stretches outside the country. Few months ago (April), the UAE Cabinet approved some visas with a new system of entry and residence, which is considered to be one of the biggest overhauls in the visa residency system in years, according to "The National ".  The aim is to attract and retain global talents and skilled workers. It further says that flexible visas will boost "competitiveness and flexibility of the job market and foster high sense of stability among UAE residents and families".   People on visit visa can stay up to 60 days, instead of 30 days only. A f ive-year multi-entry tourist visa was introduced in addition to the regular tourist visa. The tourist can stay in the country up to 90 days in a row, and can be extended for another same period, so total of 180 days in a year. No sponsor is needed. A proof of havi...

  Those with at least a basic gadget that can connect to the internet, are privileged to have an access to unlimited information available on the web. Everyone is a student who can learn many things in the Information Age. The challenge is how to filter that vast information so that what comes into our minds are verified true and correct, particularly if they have something to do with important / critical / sensitive issues. Since childhood I have been hungry for information and when I learned how to generate money at an early age, I used to subscribe to some leading newspapers and Reader's Digest. I am interested in current events and creativity of advertising agencies when they put their AIDA concept in print (get the a ttention, i nterest, d esire and a ction of target buyers) . Some of my roots were / are authors / writers and as such, it runs in my DNA . Writers read a lot to know more about life and their subject / s.  To come up with a newspaper, printed or digital or b...

  I set my alarm clock at 8 AM, as it was announced that the funeral mass for a dear friend, would be at 2 PM, Philippine time. She died on 4 August 2022, after several hours in comatose. The cause was a bleeding in the brains after she got out of balance in the toilet and fell down on the floor. I do not know yet the exact medical findings as of writing. There was no online funeral mass. I just said a silent special prayer with a heavy heart. Few days back, my son always told me to go home, repeatedly saying the same line. He did not say other words to me. Perhaps it was the time that the mother of his close friend who was like an elder brother to him, was in a critical condition, and he was feeling his pains.  He did not tell me anything related to this. I learned the news from my youngest daughter who advised me to talk to my godson, for comfort and strength, while the mother was fighting for life in the hospital. It was a devastating news. Last month she celebrated her 71s...

One of the laundry challenges in a shared flat is the once-a-week schedule of washing clothes. I have few pieces of clothes only (the Filipinos call it 'PirmaNa' brand  -- always wearing them) so if I cannot wash on my scheduled day, I have to repeat wearing lightly soiled clothes. I am chubby so I perspire a lot. My room has a huge glass window and the building has an idle lot beside it, so there is no structure to block the sunlight coming from the east. Put something on the wall, and later it will be cooked in summer days. The kitchen has no hood over the gas stove. There is no electric fan for proper ventilation so I sweat a lot when I go there to cook (not to mention the smell), hence, there is a need to change clothes after going there. Sometimes I just hang them in my room for reuse when dry when I have not taken a bath yet. We were asked to choose our preferred day in a week to wash our clothes. My friend and I wash our clothes separately, so we got two (2) days, Monda...

  According to Khaleej Times, one of leading UAE newspaper, "Just 100 days of Expo 2020 Dubai left: 10 things you must check out". I have not gone to the Expo 2020 Dubai yet but my daughter and her boyfriend from another country in the Gulf Region, together with their friends from Abu Dhabi and Dubai have already enjoyed visiting there even in few days. I said I would just spoil their trip if I go along with them due to my calf strain and I did not want to be a burden to these adventurous, fun-loving young people. This Expo 2020 Dubai's theme is "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future" which is very timely. The leaders of Dubai always think beyond here and now, and desire to capitalize on the power of mind connections in the building the future today. Many people thought it would not happen this 2021 because of the pandemic challenges, but there as the organizers committed, one year after the scheduled start date, everything opened with a big bang on 1 October 20...

  And so I am now again drinking a lot of hot lemon tea with ginger. It will help improve my health immunity .  WebMD.com says, " Lemon is a rich source of vitamin C and antioxidants, which both have immunity-boosting properties. Ginger also has immunity-boosting properties and can guard against some bacteria." Am coughing when my back is sweating. The air conditioner is switched off again. If you are in the Gulf area, even if it is December it is still hot. There are times when it is even hotter inside my partitioned room with a window facing the sun, no building near ours to block the scorching heat -- than the actual temperature outside. I have a temperature app in my mobile phone and I regularly check it. When I switch on the air conditioner, somebody else switches it off. (I remember when we transferred to the our previous flat and I was told that the A/C was centralized, 24/7 on. I was grateful because the heat of human bodies, the lights, their gadgets -- laptops and m...

  It is great to witness a great milestone in the history of a nation --  United Arab Emirates . Imagine being in the Land of Opportunities, in the City of Gold , as it turns 50 in just few days, on 2 December 2021 (Thursday).  I have been here for more than 15 years. Life has its ups and downs, but to survive all and remain standing on a safe ground is something to be grateful for. The UAE ranks FIRST with 95% score in the   Gallup Global Law and Order 2021 report . This is a great attractor to investors, and yes, to families particularly for women.  The picture I inserted here shows high-rise buildings that get through the fog, and seen above the clouds. Everybody and anybody can dream high here, and many people so far have reached the heights of success they have chased with great determination and enthusiasm. Am toying the idea of 50 in my mind and here are my thoughts in random, and I will add more later, just to make the number more meaningful for me...

When there are life storms bringing you pains so overwhelming that you just want to vanish for some time, the line "EVERYTHING WILL BE OK" even if it is just a post, means really a lot. In this pandemic-hammered period, the average normal life span of 65 years old is no longer true. Many lives even of those in younger generations were claimed by COVID-19.  Sometimes anxiety attacks and depression hit me hard. But I have such a big faith in our merciful God that no matter what happens, He is true to His promise. Every single day of being alive is a big miracle for me, knowing my situation. I want to believe that I still have a mission to accomplish. I have support of some family members and close friends that keep me going. My 54-year old husband and 10-day old granddaughter died last year when COVID-19 was at its peak. I could not fly home. The loss of loved ones can be very devastating. Time heals. For how long, I do not know.  In the last quarter of 2020, I was supposed to ...