Saturday, May 16, 2009

COLD STORE, lets push it!

Cold Store. The first time I heard it, I thought it is a store where they sell frozen stuff. But I was wrong. The truth is, they not only sell frozen items but they sell anything that you could imagine from phone cards, vegetables, toiletries, cosmetics, school and office supplies, etc. It is a convenience store that is within your reach, just around the corner so to speak.

Bahrain's cold stores are the equivalent of our friendly neighborhood sari-sari store in the Philippines. The only difference is that they have a wide variety of commodities to sell. If you want a nail pusher, you guess it right, they also have it. Would you like to buy one?

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Old Palace Road

One of the busy streets of Gudaibiya and a favorite hub-spot for many Filipinos working here.


The road has many connecting side streets where most of the Filipinos prefered to reside in because of its proximity to many commercial establishments.


Every morning, many bus stops along this street are filled with Filipinos awaiting for their respective transport services.


WOW Sarap: Quick Stomach

A small Filipino restaurant somewhere in Gudaibiya best known for its authentic la paz batchoy. The cooks were direct hired from Iloilo, one of which is a friend of mine. One day we invited him over in one of our group gatherings and had him cook la paz batchoy for us. He was so cautious that no body sees him as he prepares the secret ingredients.


The other day, a co-worker treated me for a free dinner in gratitude from a small favor I had done for him. So I brought him here at Quick Stomach and ordered for their Fiesta Meal (sorry I don't feel like having la paz batchoy) which is too much for me to eat all in just one sitting. The meal has a cup of garlic rice, 2 pcs. meat balls, a springroll, chicken barbecue, and pancit canton with a glass of iced tea and tiny servings of macaroni salad. At the current exchange rate (as of this writing) it will cost you at around Php 254. WOW sarap! Kain na tayo!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

only in Bahrain: Lets ENTER the ENTRANCE

Metro Markets. A small grocery store in a community where my flat is just a walking distance away. The acrhitecture is unique with its intricate geometric facade details. Though the clock is out of scale with respect to the whole structure, I like everything about it, except for this one foible.
Come, lets ENTER the ENTRANCE and see it for yourself.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Marcus Gabriel's Dedication Day


This is my son, Marcus Gabriel at seven months old.

Though his name is of ancient Roman pre-Christian origin, my son's name should be associated with the Gospel writer Mark the Evangelist. And the suffix name Gabriel refers to the angel of God that apeared to Mary.

My wife has been referring to him by his petname Tatus.

"Si Tatus ang lakas uminom ng gatas."


"Si Tatus tinotopak na naman."


"Si Tatus ang lakas umiyak, ayaw magpatulog."

That's how my wife would refer to our son in her usual SMS everytime I checked-on how he is doing. I don't know how it came to be that way. Pero para wala ng mahabang diskusyon, nakiki-Tatus na din ako...

"Hon, musta na si Tatus?"


Last month, Tatus went on sickbay and was diagnosed with amoebiasis. He was confined for almost 10 days at two different hospitals. We were both so worried of what might happen to him. But with much prayer everything went well. Praise God!

Soon after that, the old folks has been harassing my wife regarding the reason why my son got sick. They were saying that it is because Tatus hasn't been baptised yet. With those kind of people around her, my wife got so paranoid and so worried that Tatus might even be possessed with evil spirits which according to her are very prevalent in their place.
So finally, after the long wait, Tatus was dedicated to the Lord last April 19 at the San Miguel Christian Church in Bulacan. With Tatus in the picture above was the Officiating Pastor Wilmor Trinidad.

en now presenting da Mommy en da Baby but wer is da Dadi?


WELCOME TO THE CHRISTIAN WORLD TATUS!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

FLASHBACK MANILA: Nadia's Theme

Thanks to the wonders of Youtube. I am able to tracked down many old songs that I came to like from my childhood days. One of which is Nadia's Theme. It was a piece of music composed by Barry de Borzon and Perry Botkin, Jr.

The melody was originally composed by the American duo as incidental music to the 1971 movie Bless the Beasts and Children and was originally titled "Cotton's Dream." Two years later, Botkin wrote a reaaranged version of the piece for the American soap opera The Young and the Restless. The show debuted on March 26, 1973 (wikipedia).

It was only during the late 70's that I came to hear this masterpiece. My mother was an ardent radio drama series fanatic at that time when we don't have a television set yet. I could always hear this song being played in between drama sequences as it fades slowly in the background. Malungkot 'yong melody. Parang matutulala ka kung papakinggan mo s'ya. Pero at the same time nakaka-relax din the longer you listen to it.

Back then I don't know what was it called. I guess it was the least of my concern, I am too busy running around the neighborhood of Sampaloc District. But the melody got stucked on my mind since then, until just recently that I came upon this Youtube channel and saw this song among the uploaded videos. And when I played it on, YAHOOoo!

I immediately sent a private message to the channel owner and I asked for the mp3 file of the song. He was kind enough so I got it the following day. Thank you very much kabayan :)

At ngayon ko lang nalaman na Nadia's Theme pala ang title ng kantang ito. Natanong ko tuloy sa sarili ko kung sino ba itong si Nadia at nagkaroon pa s'ya ng sarili n'yang theme song.

It turned out that the melody was renamed "Nadia's Theme" after ABC television network Wide World of Sports lent the music for the montage of Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci's routines during the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, but Nadia never performed her routines using this piece of music (wikipedia).

About one month after the 1976 Olympics, the song was released as a single by A&M Records. It soared up to number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by December of 1976, in part because of its association with Comaneci. The following year it received a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement (wikipedia). O di ba panalo talaga.

You can download the music from here and see the Videography below:

1971 - Theme from Bless the Beasts and Children



1973 - Theme from The Young and the Restless

1976 - Nadia Comaneci Montage, Montreal Summer Olympics

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

i miss u:)

Kung kayo po ay napadako sa banda rito at kayo'y nanggaling mula sa link na aking ibinandera sa FRIENDSTER bulletin na may naka-pang-aakit na title gaya ng nakasulat sa itaas, ipag-paumanhin po ninyo at kayo po ay nawalan na ng pagkakataon na ito ay mabasa sa kadahilanang tangging ako lamang ang nakakaalam (secretttt).....

At sa mga nakabasa na, ang suwerte n'yo naunahan n'yo sila.

At para naman po sa inyo na nagbabasa nito (oo, ikaw), sorry ha. Di ka kasi nagbabasa ng bulletin sa friendster mo eh, kaya ayan di mo tuloy nabasa at nahuli ka... Pero di bale, baka naman sabihin n'yo eh napaka-unfair ko naman, basahin nio na lang itong private message na natanggap ko mula sa isa sa mga sandamakmak na tagapagbasa ng blogs ko, at bahala na kayo mag-imagine kung patungkol ba saan ang blog na pinamagatang I MISS YOU :)

Dahu (read:the who) ang ng e-mail ng message na ito sa akin.....
"hahahaha. ty bro. edwin sa blog mo!! nag-enjoy ako sobra. Nawala ang antok ko kakatawa ah. Ty ulit..God bless."

edsabhrain HEADLINES

The Bible at Your Fingertips