HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

I finished reading HPATDH/HP7 last night (July 29, 2007). I read the book over four nights (not consecutive, with the rally last night - I read almost half of the book - when I couldn't put down the book no matter how droopy my eyelids had become. I just had to find out what happened to Harry!)

My thoughts, without hopefully being a spoilsport:

• I liked how J. K. Rowling wrapped up the Harry Potter epic/saga. It's an ending you will heave a sigh of relief over. The last chapter, actually an epilogue, is a nice touch.
  
• I hated the deaths of some of the characters. I was surprised to be touched by the death of one of the elves. Maybe because of how Harry treated it/him in death?
  
• I could relate to the dynamics among Harry, Hermione and Ron, specially when Harry seemed to lose his leadership role toward the middle of the book, and Hermione and Ron expressed their doubts leading to Ron leaving and Hermione struggling to stay in the group.
  
• J. K. Rowling obviously wanted to tie up all loose ends - some are welcome while some feel like really contrived. In the process, one must indeed have read the previous editions, to connect the dots, so to speak. The plot and subplots may appear to be convoluted/confusing at first but things clear up later on.
  
• Everyone being accounted for at Hogwarts toward the end seemed very, very contrived. Just about everyone must have a cameo at least (Trelawney hurling crystal balls, etc.)
  
• The action scenes are really dynamic; the movie version would be edge-of-your-seat excitement if the movie director would be up to it.
  
• I somehow feel Lord Voldemort was quite a letdown in this final edition - anticlimatic would perhaps be the better term. After all the build up as to his seeming invincibility that you can't even say his name out loud....


• The revelations about Snape and the last Horcrux are very plausible; the Dumbledore back story, likewise.
  
• The other back stories (the Lovegoods, Petunia and Lily Evans, etc.) add a lot of value. The love angles (Hermione and Ron, Tonks and Lupin, and even Snape and ...) are good stuff. Intriguing was the youthful bond between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
  
• The come-uppance of the bad characters (the Malfoys, etc.) are well-deserved while a few others are vaguely redeemed (Dudley, for one).


• Other characters considered minor earlier, come into their own (Neville Longbottom, etc.) here.


• This must be the edition that has a lot of spells, old and new.


• The manipulations (such as of the press) by the Ministry of Magic as taken over by the Death Eaters, and of how the Muggles were being treated due to their lack of wizardry in their blood, reminded me of how dictatorships also behave (think Ferdinand Marcos) to force its will on the people.


• The tale of the Deathly Hallows was very intriguing and interesting. And though it's in the title, it figures belatedly in the book.

BIYAHE TAYO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jyyfFiBZ8k

MERRILL COURT - Completed construction

Construction of Merrill Court was completed in early 2006. With a lot of help from Ate Mayet and family and the rest of the Mendoza clan including the Esta couple (Ger and Lani who were our chief architects, with Dennis as chief design consultant - CDC huh), as well as from friends (the likes of Ate Agnez and family who helped a lot in settling legal/deed of restriction issues during the construction). Dennis had it blessed soon after in May of the same year (I could not join him due to work commitments), with Dennis' classmate-turned-priest officiating. Housewarming (organized on my behalf by my sister Doris with Dennis' sisters) was belatedly held on New Year's Day 2007 with both the Mendozas and the Magnoses in attendance; it was timed with our annual break.

Blessing led by Fr. Bien.

The facade now.

The terrace and garage now.

The terrace now.

The master bedroom now.

The master bedroom wardrobe closets now.

The master bedroom T&B now.

The kitchen now.

The dining area now.

The living area now.

The Turkish chandelier at the living area.

Our first Christmas tree.

The housewarming crowd.

The impact of having a home I can call my own (ok ok half my own) finally did not really hit me until I saw the master toilet and bath (to me, it is the best part of the home). I just found myself shedding a tear (of joy obviously) when I realized that I have fulfilled a long-cherished dream of mine.

Merrill Court is still a project-in-progress. There are a myriad interior decoration elements that still need to be added, as well as furnishings and knick-knacks from travels abroad. It is yet to achieve a lived-in look.

But without a doubt, Merrill Court is truly katas ng Saudi (literally, juice of Saudi - a nod to the proverbial blood, sweat and tears that Overseas Filipino Workers/OFWs like us, have to shed as we earn our livelihood away from the country of our birth).

MERRILL COURT - Under construction

The home that my Bebe and I built for ourselves in a village in Binan, Laguna (near Laguna Technopark), completed in 2006, has been named Merrill Court - after our first official feline pet, Merrill (we've had another pet cat, Pfeiffer since then, followed by doggie Myx, a mixed breed of a Pekingnese and a Tibetan spaniel, and lately, Grey, a white offspring of Pfeiffer with grayish hair on its head).

Merrill approached Dennis one time about five or six years ago while Dennis was on his way out of the office compound. Dennis picked up the cat and brought it home. It had really nice stripes around its legs, and thinking it was a female feline, we named it Merrill Stripes, after the actress Meryl Streep. It got shortened to Merrill later on, and even after the vet which neutered it confirmed that it was actually a male and looked like a pure-bred Bengali cat.

But I digress. This post is about Merrill Court. I am posting photos specially for our wonderful and thoughtful and loving foster parents in Arizona.

Dad Jim and Mom Jean, who have always been proud of our accomplishments, here's what your sons have built....

The old structure.

Pouring coins on the new foundation for good luck;
bloody peace offering for the spirits.

Facade under construction.

Terrace and garage under construction.

Master bedroom and entrance foyer under construction.

View of living area from second floor under construction.

AND SO IT CAME TO PASS...

[Or how we were able to finally watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]

... That last Thursday morning (July 26), at a little past 9, my Bebe and I drove almost 400 kilometers from Riyadh to Al Khobar for almost three-and-a-half hours, after munching on jubna (oven-cooked cheese-filled oval pies) washed down with soda for a very late breakfast. Along the way, listening to Martin and singing along with him, and sometimes to Regine and Lani, and for a few minutes, to Barbra (her Yentl Cd is really awesome; such soaring vocals).

... On arrival in Al Khobar, at a little past lunchtime, and so we went straight to our latest favorite eating place thereat, Casper & Gambini's. And met up with kapatid Chris (he of the Charmed One fame lately) and nephew Julius and friend. [Kapatid, you look even more "progressive" now than ever; hiyang ka sa Eastern!]

"Power lunch" photo courtesy of Charmed One
(at the middle, in pink).

... After the power lunch, we rested awhile.

... We then started the cross to the Kingdom of Bahrain (it called itself a Kingdom just a few years back; it just used to be simply Bahrain before then), via the King Fahd Causeway, a $1.2B series of bridges (there are 3 bridge spans) completed in 1986 at full cost to the Saudi government (could be why, it retained the prerogative to name the Causeway after the monarch at that time). It takes less than half an hour to cross the 25-kilometer Causeway but you spend quite a lot of time (this time, we were there for about an hour), at the Immigration and Customs desks of both Kingdoms, in the middle of the Causeway. The queues have always been remarkably long going into and going out of Bahrain, for the sheer volume of people wanting to spend the weekend in the island nation.

... After leaving the Causeway, we immediately headed to Seef Mall, one of the better-looking malls in Bahrain, and indeed, in the Middle East region, that could rival our very own Ayala malls. Seef Mall has a cineplex of 14 cinemas and two of them are playing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

... And so we checked which one has HP showing earlier (one at 6 and another at 745pm). Cinema 6 was full. We ended up seating almost infront. We loaded up on caramel popcorn and diet Pepsi and off we went on HP's latest adventure fighting Dolores Jane Umbridge (the wickedly saccharine Imelda Staunton of Vera Drake fame).

... We finished after almost two-hours-and-a-half and just decided against watching another film (only Pirates of the Carribean - Dead Man's Chest seemed worth watching but not quite) and just went malling instead. Dropped by a bookstore to get my fill of Oprah's magazines (O and O At Home, which surprisingly, are not available in Riyadh) and this interesting lifestyle mag, Real Simple. I heard the salesclerk tell an obviously Bahraini couple with their kid in tow that the HP and the Deathly Hallows book is out of stock and will possibly be available again after a week.

... We drove back to Al Khobar at a little past 10 in the evening. And after a so-so meal at the newly-opened TGIF at the Al Khobar Corniche, we called it a night.

... The next morning (Friday, July 27), saw my Bebe and I driving through almost 400 kilometers of beige sand, rusty-colored sand, grazing camels, pockets of greenery, and amazingly quiet road back to Riyadh, still singing along to Martin. And because I finally picked up my bilin (from my nephew Julius who was in the Philippines a few weeks before for a break) of Kuh Ledesma, Josh Groban and the Dreamgirls, we listened to them too.

MY YEAR OLD BLOG

Happy birthday to my blog!

My first post appeared on July 19, 2006, stupidly titled, "My First Time." He he. To date, not including this one, I have posted 143 blog entries, and counting.

SOME THINGS ABOUT US FILIPINOS

I'm giving way to two articles that say something good/nice about us Filipinos -

Enjoy, be Pinoy; Bahala na si Batman
By Gilda Cordero-Fernando
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines -- Pinoy is what Filipinos call each other, a term of endearment. You're Pinoy from Pilipino just like you're tisoy from mestizo or chinoy from chino. It's a nickname just as Minoy is from Maximo, Ninoy from Benigno, Tinay from Florentina and Kikay from Francisca. But now they're Maxi and Ben and Tintin and Cheska.

You've been called indio, goo-goo, Negro, flip, noypits. Or Filipino, a Spanish biscuit that is brown outside and white inside, or a word stricken from the dictionary which means domestic.

Ay, lintik! You're Juan de la Cruz or Mang Pandoy. You're common tao, masa, urban poor but also Cecile Licad and Don Jaime, Jose Rizal and Tony Meloto, Shawie and Pacquiao and Nick Joaquin, galing galing.

Born June 12, 1896, the Republic of the RP is a Gemini, good at connecting, good at loving-loving, good at texting and interpersonal skills.

Filipinos like to yakap, akbay, hawak, kalong, kalabit. We sleep side by side, siping-siping, we go out kabit kabit.

There's lots of us to go around. Someone always to listen to a sob story, even in a jeepney, to share-a-load or to share a TV. Everyone's tito, tita. Who has a hipag, a bayaw, a bilas, a balae, a kinakapatid? Who has an ate, dete, diche, kuya, diko? The maids call her ate, the driver calls him kuya and everybody is tito or tita. Who has a Lola Baby, a Tito Totoy, a bosing called Sir Peewee, his wife Ma'am Lovely and their kids Cla Cla and Cring Cring?

The Pinoy lives in a condo, a mansion, an apartment, a bahay na bato, ilalim ng tulay, Luneta, Forbes Park, and Paris too!

He's a citizen of the world, he's in all the villages and capitals, colonizing the West, bringing his guitar and his bagoong, his walis na tingting, his tabo, his lolo and lola.

Where there's a beat, there's a Pinoy. You'll find her singing in a nightclub in Tokyo, a musical in London, the Opera House in Sydney. Sure, they've got the infrastructure, the theaters and architecture. Who but Pinoys direct their plays, or trains their company managers, and imports our teachers, by the way?

Viagra to Victoria's Secret

Look at that baggage-all pasalubong, none for herself. From bedsheet to hair color, Toblerone to carpet, Viagra to paella pan, Victoria's Secret to microwave.

Hey, Joe, don't envy me 'cause I'm brown, you'll get ultra violet from that sun and turn red not brown. Just lucky, I guess. God put us all in the oven, but some were uncooked and some were burned, but me, I came out golden brown!

Hey, Kristoff! Hey David and Ann! Your Pinoy yaya makes your kids gentler, more obedient, she teaches them how to pray. Hey Big Brother! Hey Grandma Moses! Who but Pinoy nurses make your sick days easier all the way?

We made the jeepney, the karaoke, the fluorescent bulb, the moon buggy. We invented People Power and crispy pata; popularized virgin coconut oil, scaled Mount Everest and made it with Cebu furniture abroad among the best.

Ever trying for the Guinness World Record-with the longest swim of a child, the longest kiss, the longest longanisa.

Linguist

The Pinoy is a linguist. As in. As if. For a while. Open the light. Close the light. Paki ganyan naman ang kuwan sa ano. Tuck in. Tuck out. Don't be high blood. If you're ready na, I'll pass for you. Hayop; Hanep! Bongga ka 'day, feel na feel kita, kilig to the bones ako. Don't make wala, don't make tampo. Taralets na, babes, let's go, nababato na ang syota mo.

I'm inviting you to my party, please RSVP. Oo means "yes" or "maybe," or "yes if you insist," or "maybe if it doesn't rain." "Yes" is also a nice way of saying "no." Yes, hindi kita sisiputin. "No," eto na ako at ang barkada ko. Please don't ask a Pinoy a question like that!

Just flows

She's not so exact, not so chop-chop, she just flows and flows. Filipino time? Naku, huli din naman ang Kano!

The Pinoy finds time to be nice, to be kind, to apologize, to be there when you're depressed, to help you with your utang and your wedding dress.

The Filipino is a giver, never mind what it does to his liver, never mind what it takes. Hardships of the Third World don't dry up his blood, they just make him more compassionate, more feeling, of the other guy's lot. Note that the maid sends all her wages home to ailing daddy. She is the OCW [sic] whose labor of loneliness created the original katas ng Saudi.

'Bahala na'

The Filipino is fearless, bahala na si Batman, which actually means Bathala na or "leave all to God." Okay lang if I die by bitay, okay lang if I live, okay lang if I survive by the skin of my teeth.

Saway ni Inay: Di ka naman Bill Gates, di ka naman French, mahirap nang magbuhat ng sarili mong bench.

Be Pinoy! Enjoy!

24 of 30 Manilans returned 'lost' cellphones: Global Courtesy Test
Ronnel Domingo, Inquirer News Service
Arab News, 25 July 2007

MANILA - Manilans are in league with New Yorkers and Mumbai residents when it comes to looking for the rightful owner of a cellular phone lying unattended in a busy public place.

This was the finding of the recent Reader's Digest Global Courtesy Test - the second in as many years - about which the widely read publication was quick to describe as "informal" and "not scientific."

In this year's test, researchers intentionally left 30 brand new, mid-priced cell phones with available credit or "load" in public areas like restaurants and commuter trains in 32 cities around the world.

The researchers then called up the "lost" phone to see whether finders would pick up and agree to return it; find the owner later by trying the preset numbers on the phone; or keep the gadget for thmeselves.

In Manila, Reader's Digest researchers recovered 24 of the 30 cell phones, compared with 29 recoveries in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and 13 each in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which tied at 31st rank.

"What we found out surprised and intrigued us," said Conrad Kiechel, RD's Editorial Director. "Despite the temptation that people must have felt to keep the phones, and the fact that the test imposed on everyone's time, the average return rate was a remarkable 68 percent, or about two-thirds of the 30 phones we dropped in each city."

Besting 31 other cities was the smallest of all test locations, Ljubljana with a population of some 267,000.

Still, honest people in metropolises like Toronto, Canada (28 returned), Seoul, South Korea (27 recovered), and Stockholm, Sweden (26 given back) took time from their busy days to "do the right thing."

According to Reader's Digest, age did not matter when it came to honesty even if, in many countries, people believed younger people would behave worse than their elders.

Still, many of those who returned were adults accompanied by children, who were keen on making a good example when confronted with such a dilemma.

MOVIES AND ME

I love movies. I love watching them. Sometimes alone, and sometimes with company, specially if the film is so action-packed you sit at the edge of your seat. I love watching them in moviehouses, infront of a huge TV screen and on my laptop.

I even love most of the celebrities that movies spawn. And so naturally, I am avid reader of celebrity magazines although I have this strong affinity with People magazine, even if I also don't pass up the chance to read Premiere, US and Entertainment Weekly, if I get my hands on them. Vanity Fair's annual showiz issue is also something I always watch out for. Online, I always read CNN. For Philippine showbusiness information (information daw o), I always read Ricky F. Lo. I also read Butch Francisco sometimes. And of course, Dolly Anne Carvajal.

I'm your true-blue middle class movie fan, I think.

Over the weekend, my Bebe and I hope to cross over to Manama (Bahrain) so we can catch "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and whatever else/new releases that are still showing at the Al Seef Mall cinemaplex. I heard that "Ratatouille" is excellent. CNN/Rotten Tomatoes list it as the top highly-praised movie of the first half of 2007. Ditto for "Hairspray!" CNN's film reviewer gushes over John Travolta's Edna Turnblad, and Nikki Blonsky as her daughter Tracy. I know "Simpsons The Movie" might be on but I am not particularly inclined to watch it. I hope we can also catch "Ocean's 13" and "Spiderman 3". Otherwise, it's back to pirated copies which Kris Aquino would certainly not like.

But what to do, what to do? In these parts, if you can't cross to Manama or get pirated copies, you can always buy from amazondotcom. It has its risks however. Some titles never get past the Ministry of Information censors or are targetted by Customs personnel for their own use/gain.

My taste in films can be described as eclectic, although I tend to watch more romantic comedies (think Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock). Action-packed movies also do it for me. Dramas/tearjerkers or horror/mystery films also appeal to me but only when I'm in the mood for listening intently to dialogue, for brooding and for getting scared. At other times, I hanker for the classics. Otherwise, I love my movies light. Or uplifting.

I would love to get my hands on so-called indie movies, specially Filipino indies since I have been reading a lot how excellent they are that they now appear to be the saving grace of a moribund movie industry in the Philippines.

I have also started collecting DVDs of movies I love. Funny thing is, without so much time to be watching movies, I have copies of movies I still have to watch and their DVDs are just collecting dust.

Good thing DVDs are now forever. I'm going to watch them in my retirement.

HARRY POTTER

I'm not going to play coy and deny that I love the Harry Potter books and films. I actually now have all seven books (hard bound no less, all with the covers by Mary GrandPre - trivia: there are 3 cover versions including US child, UK child and UK adult - see below photos from MuggleNet.com).

My sister Doris bought for me the first six in the series in the Philippines. She had to badger National Bookstore just so I could get the same edition - the one with the Mary GrandPre covers.

I also even have the companion pieces: Quidditch Through The Ages and Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.

I have yet to collect the DVDs because silly me thinks all seven films must be completed and available in a DVD collection before I get the collection myself. But after buying HP and the Deathly Hallows from Jarir Bookstore today (July 22, 2007) here in Riyadh, I was given a SR20 gift voucher which will take off SR20 from the SR199 price of the 4-DVD collection of past HP movies (excluding of course the latest - HP and the Order of the Phoenix). The voucher is valid up to September 30, 2007 only.

Should I buy the 4-DVD set now?

My nephew James thinks the HP saga is for kids. He admits he likes the latest HP movie precisely because it is not kiddie-ish (?). I quite agree with him in that the books seem to target children but I think this was just a marketing ploy. I think the HP saga must appeal universally as it tackles the proverbial good versus evil storyline. Besides, J. K. Rowling's greatest strength as author of the HP series is her talent for synthesizing myriad elements of myth and literature from various sources including J. R. R. Tolkien (of The Lord of the Rings fame) and even Star Wars. These stories might seem for kids but their themes certainly are not kidstuff.

As an article in CNN mentions, "[Rowling] is an excellent writer and one more attuned to her audience than almost any other writer... "[And] ... more adeptly than any other popular fantasist, she has shown herself adept at using fantasy to address social issues that frame her readers' experience and doing so in ways that are well suited to her core readership. Her books imaginatively raise issues of gender equality, social class, race, media culture, the self-serving nature of many politicians, the potential flaws of justice systems and a host of other satiric targets."

The final installment in the HP epic is more than 700 pages long (total page count for the US edition which I have: 784; while the UK edition has 608 pages) and about two inches thick. But just as I sat through the first six installments, and enjoyed every page, I would too with this one for I long to know if Harry Potter indeed dies in the end.

There, I did not spoil it yet for you, did I?

HIGH SCHOOL LIFE - The Vignettes, 2

Here's the second installment of high school life vignettes...

JUNIOR-SENIOR PROM
On our Junior year, we were the organizers of the annual Junior-Senior (JS Prom), which was (still is) a big deal in the Philippine educational system, despite efforts by the Philippine government (through the Department of Education) to economize, so that JS Proms fall under school extra-curricular activities that are classified as extravagance.

Anyhow, I found myself part of the organizing committee (with Dennis Raposa, et al). We decided that the venue was going to be the La Trinidad Hotel which by then, was among the newer and posher (?) locations in the city. Our committee almost single-handedly did everything - decor, invitations, programme, King and Queen, catering - the works. The most unforgettable part was working with the hotel's directress (who turned out to be the mother of one of our sophomore students) for events who was so classy and so professional that dealing with her, and coming up with the JS Prom without any major hitches, made us so confident in our capabilities that we thought we could take on the world.

It was Ms. Bongon (our English teacher and class adviser) who pulled us back to Earth. When she found out that we listed school personalities on the programme without bothering to invite them nor to inform them of their inclusion in the programme, I swear she could have hit the ceiling with her anger (and what a temper she had!). And we all learned the meaning and value of observing protocol.

GRADUATION DAY
We were quite an independent batch that we also organized our graduation ceremonies almost single-handedly as well. It is to the credit of our teachers that they let us be, except for the fact that they decided that the procession would not be led by the honor graduates. They decided we would be last, thereby ensuring a truly dramatic entrance for us.

The most I remember about our graduation day was that there was a lot of crying, specially when we sang our graduation songs, one of which was "Softly". I remember Gerry Estevez and gang (Moppet Buenviaje, Edward Esquivel, Angie Sabater, Ray Ricario and maybe even Marlon Zabala), shaking their heads and trying to suppress a smile, not really understanding why some of us or most of us were crying.

And oh yes, lest my classmates forget, I did the stage - wrapped it in green cloth and put up cardboard letters wrapped in silver foil. I thought it was simple but elegant-looking.

FOOTBALL/SOCCER GAMES
More than basketball or table tennis, our batch was so enamored of football. I even once tried to be part of the team myself and found myself in a sports competition! All I could ever remember was me so out of breath from all that running to and fro on the field, that I was ready to collapse anytime. Thank God I didn't! Can't forget this Thai football coach whose English accent was so difficult to understand. But at least, I experienced how it was to stop the ball, dribble it and do a header. I realize now that I am more afraid of handling a basketball than a football. Must be my high school training. He he.

One funny/amusing incident that has been with me all these years: When we play football after school hours, we simply change into our football gear (actually, just shorts and a shirt and socks and sneakers) just about anywhere we can except at toilets - beside the ubiquitous agoho (pine) trees, between building facade walls, in empty classrooms....

One time, I saw Gerry strip to his undies which was a prominent torquoise jersey. I was quite far away from him and his gang but he must have been the butt of jokes among them so that he quipped by way of a smart retort, "At least, my p_ _ _s looks luminous" or something to that effect.

Don't ask me (nor Thiele Topacio, he he) why but I remember a lot of things Gerry. He he.

GERRY
Other things I remember about Gerry:
- He and his brother played the violin one time at a school-wide gathering. It was like a case of the parents being proud of what their sons can do that they asked their sons to display what they were capable of. I could sense even then that Gerry and his brother did not enjoy their performance one bit.
- He authored a quote in time for a children's week (or something of that sort) competition. He wrote, "What the children are, the future is" which I thought (I still do), was just f___ing brilliant.
- Though rich (his family owns a hospital and his clan is considered old rich) and somehow, "unattainable" for someone like me, he turned out to be so grounded. We once walked home from the University campus to the city center, along with other classmates. We fell into conversation and I spoke most of the time that we were walking. He simply listened. Never knew if he was really just keen, or he was just being polite. Another time, I went on a bike ride with him (he was the bike driver, I was at his back, standing) and though I was so scared, we arrived at his place in one piece. Whew!

FAREWELL NOTE
Before graduation day, some of my classmates and I passed around special notebooks (in lieu of the "annual" or class yearbook which remains unprinted to date!!!) so they can scribble the usual farewell messages. The most memorable for me was written by Art Lorete. It was so touching and so unexpected. I even remember he quoted lines from the Kenny Loggins song, "Whenever I Call You Friend". I have since lost the notebook but his message still rings loud and clear in my memory.

More in my next installment...

CAIRO STORIES

Here are my Cairo stories:

ONE
I never did venture out of the hotel and environs that much. Was kind of wary going to the city center on my own since I would have to deal with taxi drivers and vendors who I know will try to make a killing out of tourist me. So I was content to walk around the shops at the hotel and at the nearby Meridien hotel for my souvenir shopping. It took me two trips to the Meridien to finally decide I wanted to buy Egyptian-inspired pendants. I eyed a gold key of life for my Bebe.

On my first visit, I thought I would try to get a handle on the price range and asked about the Nefertiti pendant. I was told I could buy it for about 250 Egyptian pounds or so (or roughly 55 US dollars). TRIVIA: Stores would accept Egyptian pounds, US dollars or Euros. They will also accept Saudi riyals if the situation warrants. I thought it was not a bad deal. On my second visit, I finally asked about the key of life pendant. I was told I could buy it for 100 US dollars. Thinking the pendant looked lighter than the Nefertiti, I tried to haggle so I will only pay about the same as if I was buying the Nefertiti. I only wished to pay the equivalent of 200 Saudi riyals. The seller would have none of my wish and told me that if I can't afford it, I should just not buy it. So I decided I wouldn't, primarily because of the way he treated me. To add insult to my injured buyer's pride, he even derisively repeated the words, "two hundred riyals, huh," loud enough for me to hear it.

I let it pass and just moved on to another shop, where the vendor was pleasant and even though it meant, I had to buy pendants in silver. I ended up buying four and spending more than a hundred dollars for them! I thought I should parade infront of the gold pendant store and gloat but decided against it.

I told the silver pendant seller about the rudeness of the gold pendant seller. He told me that he hopes I don't think all Egyptians are like the gold pendant seller. He said that just like anywhere else in the world, there are many kinds of people - people who are educated and not educated. And there are the less-educated among the educated. Surprisingly, he apologized to me on behalf of the gold pendant seller. I told him it was nice of him to do that and thanked him.

TWO
On the way from the airport to the hotel (and back), we travelled along the ring road and passed by miles and miles of highways with unfinished brick buildings on each side.

We tried to ask around why the buildings are unfinished even if some units have residents/ tenants, but we never did find out. It was intriguing to say the least.

THREE

There were a lot of box-type cars on the streets. On closer look, they turned out to be Lada cars, and of Russian origin. The cars certainly added a lot to the 3rd world ambience of the city.

FOUR
On my second day at the hotel, the hotel decided it will work on its atrium. Workers had the area stripped to the wooden flooring, taking out the cushions and other seats that were there before, and started to polish the wood with grinding machines so noisy. The exercise left a lot of places near the atrium covered in white fine dust. It was quite difficult to breathe.

As I stood on a balcony overlooking the atrium, another hotel guest (who was obviously a Scot or an Irish by the way he talked), fell into conversation with me regarding the renovations. I asked quite rhetorically why the renovations were taking place at that time. He in turn also asked why the workers never bothered to at least cover the area with plastic sheets to trap the fine dust. We both shrugged at questions we did not have answers to. But just when he was about to turn and leave me, he said, "They're Egyptians after all!" Whoa!

FIVE
On my departure, I lounged around the departure area (with WiFi spots, the usual duty-free shops and some really spunking new eating places). Had to pee and went to the nearest toilet. A young Egyptian was cleaning it when I got inside. When I was done and was just washing my hands, he engaged me in small talk, starting with the Japanese greeting, Kunichiwa. Told him I was Filipino and that I was not a tourist but in Cairo for training. After a few more silly exchanges, he handed me wads and wads of toilet paper which I gratefully accepted. Then he asked me, "No money?" I had to chuckle at that and told him that I no longer have Egyptian pounds with me.

The ubiquitous McDo and Starbucks, and two other outlets quite unfamiliar to me, at the departure area.

A really unique motif for a store, at the departure area.

SIX
On my 1996 trip, when I was touring the grand Cairo market, I heard shouting akin to the Native American yell. I asked what it was all about and I was told it meant that a wedding was taking place.

I heard the yell again during this recent trip. My colleagues and I were having dinner (it was past 9 pm already) at one of the hotel's restos (the one nearest the lobby). Suddenly, loud band music (with flute music predominant) reverberated through the lobby and into the restaurant. A crowd had also materialized near the lobby atrium. And really bright and harsh light illuminated the crowd, meaning a video was being taken of whatever was happening at the lobby. Curious, I left the dining table and went to the lobby and saw this couple go down the circular staircase from the balcony overlooking the atrium. At the foot of the stairs and around the atrium, the couple's friends and presumably, families, were clapping and dancing to the band's music. Some women and even some men, were dancing (more like belly dancing ala- Shakira) around the couple, who by then had stopped at the foot of the staircase. In between the clapping and the dancing was the yelling.

After about fifteen minutes, the wedding party went around the atrium like it was on parade and out of the hotel lobby to the banqueting hall.

And all was quiet again at the lobby front.

TRIVIA: On my 1996 trip, as I returned to Riyadh from Cairo, one of my co-passengers dressed in full wedding regalia, sat with us on the plane. I was told later that indeed, Egyptian brides do that when they join their husbands (either Saudi men or other Arab men) in Saudi.

IN CAIRO JULY 8-11

Was in Cairo July 8-11, 2007. Wasn't really looking forward to the trip. Had to make it though since I needed the training from colleagues based in our Cairo office (which is actually the regional headquarters; it used to be that our regional HQ was in Abu Dhabi).

Been to Cairo in 1996, for CairoTelecomp - a telecom exhibition that then-Lucent participated in, in a big way. My boss, who was with me on the trip, made sure, I at least went to the pyramids in Giza and to the Cairo Museum. My guide also took me to the famous market (the name of which escapes me at the moment).

Even if I did not look forward to the trip, I must admit to a few pleasant surprises:

1. I liked the food served at the hotel's main resto and also at the regional headquarters' canteen. Loved the rice and the humus with eggplants.

2. Our colleagues at the regional HQ were nice.

3. The regional HQ also looked nice and modern.

4. The sun set after 8 pm in Cairo so the days were quite longer.

5. My co-trainees and I bonded quite a bit during our training days.

I still didn't like:

1. The pollution.

2. The traffic.

3. The dirt on the streets.

4. The 3rd world ambience.

Got me some photos; hope you like:

The pyramids are visible from the road just infront of the hotel I stayed in (Hotel Sofitel Le Sphinx) in the Giza district.

I took this shot of the three pyramids from atop one of the restos of the hotel.


My hotel room also had a view of at least one of the pyramids. What was nice about the room as well was it opened to the green courtyard which was quite refreshing.

Me at the hotel lobby.




Me at the regional headquarters:
outside, at the reception, and at the Alcatel-Lucent University wing.