December Happenings

December may be my most favorite time of the year. Aside from my birthday, Christmas and New Year also comes in the same month. And living here in the UAE means that practically half of the month of December are holidays (no kidding!). This may be one of my most memorable Decembers in recent years. Much to our surprise, my aunt’s family from the UK gave us a short visit and decided to spend Christmas here. While my cousin Dingdong wasn’t able to come with them, we still had a good time while they were here. Here, I shall recount each event with a picture.

This is me blowing my 24th birthday cake

By the Christmas Tree at the Mall of the Emirates

Me with my cousin Jae and Tito Edwin

My second moms

This is going to the Atlantis Hotel at the Palm Jumeirah, I had to go there to interview the CEO of D-Link

This is thew lobby of the Atlantis Hotel at the Palm Jumeriah

This is the entrace to the lobby of the Atlantis

The poolside of the Atlantis. You can tell you are in an island when all of Dubai's skyline looks sos far away.

This is the Atlantis Hotel.

The aquarium inside the Atlantis Hotel kinda looks like the one at the Dubai Mall.

My cousins Mhalli and Jae enjoying the articifical snow at Ski Dubai.

Christmas Night, inside the church. The celebrant had a very heartwarming performance of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". Reminds me of how much I miss home. Good thing I have another family here to celebrate Christmas.

After going to the Church, we went to Al Ghurair City and ate a hefty Christmas dinner at Nando's.

My two Tita's.

This is us enjoying the dinner. The chicken was superb.

My aunt's family. Though my cousin Dingdong wasn't able to come with them.

The morning after Christmas, we went strolling around Dubai Festival City Mall.

A shot of the original Ortiz clan at the Festival City Marina.

Me and my super 'makulit' cousin Jae.

This my family here. Aunts, uncles and cousins who live all over UAE.

Despite being a muslim country, the UAE still manages to allow people to celebrate Christmas. Definitely, I'll be looking back at this month and how it reminded me that everything is fine as long as you are with your family.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone! I can't believe 2007 is almost over! But I must say, this is one of my favorite years. Never have I accomplished so much things this year. I finally decided to leave my call center job (which is no offense, I really hated), I found a job abroad that I really, really loved. I'm finally on track and somewhat know what I want in the future. Thanks to my Tita, who pulled all the stops to help me on each step I take. Thanks to my 'tatay' and 'nanay', who have given me all the guidance that I will ever need. Thanks to my family, which somehow became the sole reason why I'm doing all of these. Thanks to my barkada (ANI!) which never forgot me even we were far apart. Raissa, Beans, Noel, Nat, Onch, FJ, Bebang, Shayne and Foxy. Thanks to Densie, who has always been there for me. To Jeah, even though we're continents apart, still lets me feel the comfort of having a true friend. To Glai, whose mystery still bedazzles me, thanks for the great advices. And to everyone, just a simple 'Thank You' from me means a big thing to you. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2008, bring it on!