Twist of (Flick) Fate -- Part II

The connection in Twist of (Flick) Fate:

1^st week
Theme : Mongol Warriors

2nd Week
-- The Museum of Natural History were both featured in Movie 1 & 2
-- Chris Evans starred in Movie 3 & 4

3rd week
-- Laura Ramsey stars as a love interest =)

And by luck another "coincidence" in my hubby's film choices on love, deception and house swapping =):

Tara Road
The Holiday

Bait

Twist of (Flick) Fate

My hubby watches flicks to pass time. He is not one to enjoy, criticize or analyze films. I let him choose whatever he happens to pick up at the DVD shop. By sheer coincidence whatever we watch for the week are connected to each other in some way. Can you guess what these flicks have in common?

1^st week

Movie 1: Nomad

Movie 2: Afghan Knights

2^nd Week

Movie 1: Night In the Museum

Movie 2: The Nanny Diaries

Movie 3: Fantastic Four

3^rd Week

Movie 1: She’s The Man

Movie 2: The Covenant

.

Bahrain registers at 12C-18C today. It is overly chilly and moderately windy as I stepped out of home today. I feel the cold piercing while i silently reprimand myself for not wearing a long-sleeved shirt underneath. The wind continues to howl albeit a little softly unlike the raging moans that kept me awake last night. The cold must be contagiously lethargic because the roads are clear despite being a Sunday and the first day after a long weekend.

It's only 8 am but already I'm looking forward for a nice sleep snuggled under thick covers tonight. I smile at the thought of the Bahraini men who have long replaced their relaxing "ghahwa" parties by the roadside with a larger gathering of shisha parties inside the comforts of their homes. At night, young people I haven't seen from the time I moved here congregated by the roadsides with their jackets and scarfs. Aahhh..., longer and colder nights are here.....

Joke Time!

The Difference Between Irritation, Aggravation and Frustration

Two friends were in a bar, drinking and they were arguing about the difference between irritation, aggravation and frustration.

To better illustrate his point, Bill cited an example. "I will show you an example of irritation. Bill looked at the time, saw that it was 2am and he dialled a random number. After several rings, a sleepy voice at the other end answered: "Hello?" Bill said; "Hi, may I speak with Jones?
The other person angrily answered; "there's no one here named Jones!" then slammed the phone mightily. "That my friend, is an example of irritation.

An hour later, 3 am, Bill picked up the phone, dialled the same number and again after several rings, the same sleepy voice answered; "Hello?". Bill said; "Yes, can I please speak with Jones?" The other party at the end screamed; I told you there's no one here named Jones!" and slammed the phone again. Bill said; " that my friend is an example of aggravation.

Then again, after an hour, 4am, Bill picked up the phone again and after several rings, the same sleepy voice answered; "Hello?". This time, Bill said; "Hi, my name is Jones, have there been any phone calls for me?" Now that my friend is an example of frustration! He said as he heard the
other party groan over the phone.

The Philippine Chili

photo courtesy of my brother and my Dad's garden

Thou Shall Not Break The Chinese Toilet Rules

taken from here

Calamansi - The Philippine Lemon

photo courtesy of my brother

Getting Ready for Bahrain National Day

Something new seems to come up on the highway nowadays. My short trip from Busaiteen to Sanabis is now worth window-watching. Rather than catching up extra sleep I find myself marveling at colorful posters, the Bahrain Flag scattered all over, adorning light posts, fences, buildings and everywhere else. At night the highway looks livelier with all those dancing lights they draped over the fences and trees. Competing against the number of flags and lights sprouting overnights are those massive billboards of the ruler. I smile in amusement to see fellow commuters raising their hands with a smirk, sometimes a look of disgust or equal amusement at the sight of the boards which seem double in numbers overnight. A week more to go, I bet more lights and flags and huge photos to come. =)

Manic Sundays

In Bahrain (and most of the Gulf) the busy week starts on a Sunday. I hate Sundays. That’s when the traffic jams starts as early as 7:30 am. I hate manic drivers who speed like they own the road, doesn’t use signals and swerves in and out the lanes. And I throw dagger looks on our driver. He has the habit of swerving the car almost out of the line in the hope of changing the lane and swerving it fast back when he feels like he couldn’t make it. I hold my tongue and keep my counsel. I take comfort in the fact that I always been an anxious passenger although I am also manic driver.

It Ain't Friday the 13th Yet!

Today's a bad day...
It started at exactly midnight when my laptop just refused to cooperate. I have deliberately delayed my reformating schedule so I have to suffer my laptop going bonkers. She just shuts down without warning when she feels like it. Most of the time she just stood there graphically frozen and belting out like a "sirang plaka".

I tried to read instead. I picked up "Mother Without A Mask" and started reading 3 pages back from my bookmark. I barely finished 5 pages when a she-cat started screaming like a banshee. I think she's about to get cat-raped. I tried to ignore her cries until I decided to let the coward in me takeover. It's 2:30 am and I certainly don't want to be dreaming of her blood-curling cries.

My hubby as usual is so busy and focused with his work he forgot to call me. He seems oblivious to the fact that his dearly coward wife is home alone..

I switched on my Ipod to drown noises but after a few minutes the battery blinks. I remembered today is one of my friends' birthday. I scrolled my contact list and found out she's not in my list. How can I be so unlucky todaaaaaaaaay???

Finally I drift into oblivion and woke up dreaming about ghosts and evil. I literally jump out of bed to see the time: 8:15!! WTF!!!?!! I got more frenzied when I recalled today is the first day for our 5th Leadership Training and I am supposed to coordinate with the Trainor in setting up the venue. I curse myself for asking our driver to pick me up at 8:30 instead of the usual 7:30. I picked up my phone and once again throw expletives at myself when I saw 3 missed calls from my manager, 2 from the training coordinator and 5 from office.

I barely have time to catch my breath when I my rude colleague asked in his normal rude high-pitched voice: "Where is my USB? I have work to finish at home also" I flung the USB to his direction along with mild expletives. I then kept silent from then on and wore a permanent scowl for the day. He did not dare talk to me again. I normally ignore his poor communication skills but today I am in my worst spirits. I wanted to lash out and point out that his Flash Drive is old and worn and slightly faulty and bulky and has a mere 512mb capacity. I, on the other hand have 3 branded Flash Drives in 1, 2 & 5 G. I held back myself and decided to keep my scowl.

My colleague, despite his mathematical prowess, is very rude. He is actually not being rude. It's just his way and tone of talking and explaining is almost akin to arrogance and rudeness. I am a normally calm person but in time I hear myself speaking to him in the same manner. We say in Tagalog "pabalang na sagot/tono". We talk and discussed in raised voices and I usually end up more frustrated for being in this damn office. I silently recall the circumstances which led me to stay in our Bahrain office along with this autistic rude man, the lazy "mudir" (manager or boss, you can say) who spends more time on tea and cigarette breaks, the lady skeptic who have long been frustrated with these idiots that she simply won't give an extra mile at work, and the Bahraini who resents the fact that we are her superiors and tells everyone she has a psych degree from Egypt and she shouldn't be doing these lowly clerical duties. I so long for the appropriate day I can throw my degree certificates in her face - & also that for the rest who have likewise earned their degrees, contrary to what she thought. Welcome to my chaotic world!

I took a peek at YAP to see how my "other world" is doing. Things are even crazy over there. Trolls are staging their mighty troll wars. I am amused at all the cloning and figured that one legit account will get suspended and things will be back to normal. That until a new set of TC-hungry newbies and troll masters will come to wreck havoc. The last one is over 6 months. So I guess this will come to rest on 2nd quarter 2008 and start again on the 4th quarter of 2008. Everywhere is crazy. I think I shall fly back to Pluto =)

Rainy Days Are Here To Come

waiting for the dark clouds to pass over in UAE and Bahrain =)

Indian 12 Days of Christmas