A come on marketing strategy of a big  home furnishing store here is to offer breakfast at SR4.00 (US$1) for a plate of 2 long sausages, bacons, omelet and slices of bread.  Drinks like coffee and sodas are refillable.  If you think that won’t suffice, add-ons like cheese, croissants, boiled eggs, hams, doughnuts are all ready for your indulgence.  It is only available every Thursday (week-end) and as early as 9:00 am, people trooped to the store for their breakfast-lunch.  After meal, it is customary for us to walk around the store as they say to help digest the food fast.  That’s when you will fall trap of buying those beautiful displays for  your home.  Most often than not, you will be going home with  cart load of furnishing and decors so tempting not to buy. 

Yesterday it was our brunch date!  After a heavy meal, we  walked around and I bought only a 6 pack of drinking glasses,  scented candles and a bulb.  I resisted the urge to buy on impulse.

As I stand before the  majestic Quiapo church and marvelled at it’s facade, I can’t  help but  remember  my college years in Manila wherein my Fridays won’t be complete without  a visit to Quiapo church to hear mass and proceed to card and palm reading afterwards.    I was hooked on  fortune telling that I never missed it whenever I am within the area.  At the back of my mind, I know that this is not for real but I still love doing it.  It always give me that light and good feeling hearing interesting forecast about my destiny especially my love life.   It thrilled me no end!  And I kept coming back for more, I guess giving bright idea s and signal  for that palm reader to make her forecast more interesting because Iwas a good catch.   I was an unsuspecting costumer!  That continued for years till I stopped going there when I went overseas and that habit was cut short.

While on vacation, I had the chance to have visited  Quiapo chuch last week  for the mass but  I never even dared look for fortune tellers in the area.  I’ve realized that destiny are not foretold, it is meant to happen in God’s time. 

Nah! The last card forecast told me years back was I am going to meet and marry a chinky-eyed guy.  Wow! Chinese!  Slit eyed, fair-skinned! Not bad!   I was very hopeful and anticipated for a Chinese suitor but my destiny happened to be a wide-eyed, tall, dark and dark man.   I ended up with an  Ilocano husband.   No misgivings! 

Fortune telling?  No way!

Dry cleaning is part of our budget since my office wear consists of office suits and all of them are labelled “dry clean only”.   Though it is a bit pinch on the budget, but I know, it will help save my suits.   I remember  one time that due to economical reasons, I machined washed a favorite coat and much to my dismay, a long coat became a midriff because the coat shrunk.  What a waste!  It is  really safe to have coats professionally dry cleaned.

Two days to go and I will be back to work.  I have checked if my husband followed my instruction to have them dry cleaned and he did.  Now,  my suits are all neatly hanged waiting for me.

My basic office wear is good fitting coat and pants to match.   I believe that dressing for office doesn’t mean I have to wear boring and plain suits.  I even heightened and emphasize elegance by use of accessories to enhance my professional image and style.  However, there are certain  limitations on what we have to wear in our office.  No sleeveless or tight fitting blouses: if you wear one, it should be as inner blouse with matching office suit.  If you opted to wear skirts, you have to carefully choose a style, conservative enough, without long slits and not too tight on the hips.  The coat should cover the bottom part of the torso and blouses should not reveal the bosom part of the wearer. The hospital where I worked had leniency on what you want to wear as long as it will not go beyond the borderline of descency and will comply with hospital dress code.  Unlike in other  hospitals in the Kingdom,  those who worked in the administrative section have to wear lab coats with matching headscarf, or they wear uniforms.

Good for us, we don’t need to leave our fashion sense behind because we can wear updated office clothes that will help us project a professional and competent look despite the limitations.

It is all about fashion sense and attitude, you know!

As we age, our eyes tend to lose its sharpness and nobody is spared.  My nature of work exposed me to the use of computer all day and I believe that it is a contributory factor why my eyes have this blurred vision.   Third on my to do list is to visit an Opthalmologist and have my eyes checked and my eyeglasses refracted.  True enough, I needed a new pair of reading glasses.  I opted to order one with multi coated lenses because as explained to me, the coating will dramatically reduce the amount of glare of lens.  However, the lens  cost a bit higher than the ordinary ones.

After much thought and budget calculation, I chose the multi coated lens eyeglasses hoping that it will really serves it purpose to the max.   I feel better now doing my paperwork and reading my favorite book.   Goodbye to my cheap and ordinary glasses!

I haven’t been out of the house since Saturday simply because I wanted to avoid the scorching heat outside- 48 deg .C at it’s lowest and 52 deg. C at mid day here in Saudi Arabia.   My refuge is our flat with it’s A/C units in full blast all day.  A week more before I will be back to work and I am lazily taking my sweet time at home.

I hesitated and dragged myself out of the bed when my husband phoned me earlier in the day to dress up and accompnay him to the supermarket to replenish our almost depleted food stock.  I was always giving him excuses everytime he asked me to go out and shop.

Fearing sun exposure, well, I lavished my body with sunblock lotion to counteract the harmful UV rays.  I trusted it’s efficacy and I believe that nothing is more important than wearing sunscreen (I am using SPF 50).  At my age, I no longer have the liberty to expose myself to UV which will cause changes and lead to more wrinkles and sunspot.   It is called “aging” rays.  I am preparing for our next High School reunion and wanted to show off a still -wrinkle free skin (fingers crossed). 

In the supermarket, I went straight to the sunblock section and got a handful.  Well,I guess I am now UV obsessed.

Nails somehow give away our personality.  A well trimmed nails are good for the sight.   Even if our nails are not manicured, it is necessary to keep it clean and trimmed even without polish.  If you will have the luxury to spend for a good manicure and splurge on nail art then go ahead.  Women who are adventureous somehow expressed it by ornamenting their nails with different colors and designs.  Nail art dated back in the heydays and it is getting to be the lastest craze among teenager and the fashionable ones.

Well, it is over the place now.  Nail art is already a part of salon service.  It is funky and fashionable.  My daughter loved to patronize nail art regularly.  I haven’t tried it yet but I guess I will go for the conservative, simpler designs in case I will dare try it.

I am fine as long as my nails are not chipped or unkept.  Have you heard about HHWW?  It’s an acronym  for Holding Hands While Walking.   My husband and I always do.  It is good that I make sure my nails are in good condition.

Seated besides a man snoring loudly on a plane made my mind wander why and how people snore.   That became my assignment to research about.  Actually, it is not an extra ordinary thing for most people, especialy males do snore.  I should not be complaining because my husband of 24 years has  been giving me that orchestrational sound every night that we are together.  Orchestra sounding because it is already music to my ears.  If I complain, my husband will also point out that I also snore, which I won’t admit.   However, I think I do if I am really exhausted. 

As per my research, snoring is the vibration of respiratory structures and the resulting sound, due to obstructed air movement during breathing while sleeping.   Sound maybe soft but generally and unpleasant.  And true, male and females snore.

We can read about a  lot of snoring remedies and most people care less because it is already a part of their sleep.   Annoying it may be but snorers don’t realize this because they are fast asleep.  It is the one who sleeps with the snorer who can only attest how unpleasant the sound is.

Well, it is up to us on how to enjoy the sound.   Plug your ears with cotton or better sleep ahead of the snorer.   Or if you can’t beat them, then join them.  That’s it!

65

Yes!!!  For a month I was able to dress freely while on Phiippine vacation.  It was 30 days off in wearing abaya.   For information, abaya is a loosely black robe worn by Muslim women often matched with headscarf.   We are not exempted from wearing it since, we are based in SAudi Arabia.  It is a garment worn to hide the ladies figure and those who wanted to hide their full figure must be very happy about it.    I had resentment on my first time to use it but on the long run, I saw the advantage  of wearing one like it saves us from buying fashionable clothes knowing that it will only be hidden underneath that black robe.  So, nowadays abayas are keeping up with fashion, embroidered, appliqued and colorful because it serves as the primary garment.  Unlike before, it is a simple black robe, drab and uninteresting.  However, the downside is that you tend not to be figure conscious for you are wearing abayas anyway.  And you got used to wearing one that sometimes it is too late to find out that you have gained weight and will regret for the added pounds  on occassion that you need to take off your abayas. I realized that during my last swimming get together with my friends. 

Hmmmm. I am back now to wearing one.   No choice actually!

Owning diamond I must say is every girl’s dream and when my husband brought me to a diamond shop so I can have my choice, I was really excited.  Knowing that diamonds is expensive, initially I hesitated and suggested him to buy gold instead.  But since it was my 5oth birthday, he wanted to give me something very special.

I was in awe when I saw wide array of diamond stones laid in intricate designs in earrings, bracelets, rings, pendants.  I was dumbfounded and really overwhelmed of what was showed to me.   In my heart, I know I wanted to get the choicest piece but I have to consider the budget of my husband, although he assured me that it is fine with him whatever I chose.   It was very heartwarming to hear that but really, I wanted to be practical.  I settled with a consesvative pair of earrings, reasonably priced and affordable.  Anyway, I will only use it on special occassions and that is not often. Gold pieces and fancy accessories are part of my everyday wear and my diamonds are reserved for my socializing.  I am already contented with what I have right now.  

I treasured it so much that when I carelessly misplaced it, I was really worried sick.   And when I found it, whew!  I almost jumped with joy!  

Diamonds are forever.. that’s very true… And I love my husband forever and ever!