Vacuum Cleaner Update

On behalf of the Truth:
And because this is really bothering my conscience, I have to admit publically that, afterall, the 2nd vacuum cleaner had enough pieces to work.

A couple of days later, I arrived home just to realise that the box that was at the entrance of the pantry, waiting for better days in my life (aka mental strenght to be able to endure another trip to Carrefour in such a short period of time) was no longer there... Opening the pantry door I miraculously found the vacuum cleaner, completely put together, "looking" at my with his angelical presence. And fully functional.

See... Miracles do happen!!

Mais um desses pensamentos aleatorios que nao interessa nada a ninguem

A vida toma proporcoes diferentes quando, antes de nos apaixonarmos por alguem, passamos algum tempo online a pesquisar o que e que aparece se pusermos o seu nome no Google. Ou quando tentamos conhecer alguem melhor pelos comentarios que outros deixaram no seu profile do facebook ou afins.

Dantes havia o mirc ou o msn. Ou, melhor ainda aquele "chat program" (como e possivel eu nao me lembrar do nome?!) com a florzinha verde e o som que nunca me irei esquecer do "oh oh".

E antes disso havia a tao ultrapassada "carta de amor". Ai que emocao. Receber uma cartinha assim em papel perfurmado com resmas de after shave rasca (que quando se e jovem, so se consegue convencer os pais a comprar Brut ou semelhante, na Feira Nova).

Um dia ate recebi uma cassete com cancoes de amor e uma rosa (que pela distancia que percorreu, vinha sequinha da silva) e agora que penso nisso acho que nem liguei muito a coisa. faltava me a via romantica acho eu, ou estava apaixonada por outra pessoa, ja nem me lembro!
Mas, se fosse agora acho que me teria metido no aviao e ido la bater a porta. Tenho quase a certeza deveria ser uma daqueles casinhas branquinhas e azuis, tipicamente gregas, assim com uma vista maravilhosa para o mar... Estaria hoje a velejar pelo Mediterraneo, com um bronze invejavel, super magrinha e cheia de plasticas.

Mas enfim, quando se e nova, nao se pensam nestas coisas...

You can quote me on this one.

Smoking nowadays is such a "bad behaviour thing", so looked down by others, that I am actually considering it.

Sim, porque ja a minha avo dizia (e diz) que eu estou sempre do Contra. Ora ai esta. Nem mais nem menos.

So eh pena eh nao poder com o cheiro a tabaco. Fogo, que a vida e mesmo injusta!

Silly me!!

About a week ago I bought a vacuum cleaner from Carrefour.

Cute, grey, good value for price, Carrefour brand.

All excited, I got back home in cheer mood, just imagining how it would work perfectly and how it would just dust away all the dust that has been spread around the house since the old vacuum cleaner died without a word of warning... (still cant forgive him!)

But all those dreams of cleanliness and happiness were shattered to pieces when I noticed that there were pieces missing from the box...

I should have known better right?! When they gave me a box that looked like it had survived World War I (and II probably) and had enough sealing tape to go around the block... It was sooo suspicious... How could I have just ignored it?

Anyway, poor me got back to Carrefour.. endured the traffic, the queues to the Mall, the hundreds of people wandering around the hypermarket, the queue at Customer Service, the non english speaking assistants, etc.... all with a brave smile.

End Result: "Sorry mam. We cant locate the pieces". "Oh, and we are also out of stock with that item. Come back in 2 weeks".

For a split of a second the entire hypermarket hold still and then started to move in slow motion, sounds included. I saw myself pulling a gun and shooting all the assistants and destroying all vacuum cleaners in display.

But then I snapped out of it, allowed two tears to roll down my face, pulled myself together and forgot about it all. No way I was going to come back to that place and buy whatever it was!!

However, since my brain sometimes works in mysterious ways... Yesterday, I found myself at the same hypermaket and decided to check if the vacuum cleaner was already in stock again. Afteral, it was soo adorable and just what I wanted. No way I would allow this type of collateral prevent me from getting the vacuum cleaner of my dreams!!

What to say... BIG BIG MISTAKE!!

I ended up buying another vacuum cleaner, since the other one was still out of stock and besides I was already getting annoyed with the entire situation and just wanted to have it and thats it. Bought it, paid for it and took it home.

Left it in the hallway until 5 minutes ago, when I finally had the time to unwrap it and to assemble it.. Simply to discover that there are pieces missing again????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why oh why?!

Memo to self: Follow your sixth sense!! Probabilities fail!! (yes... as I was leaving Carrefour for the 2nd time I did hesitate and though about going to Customer Service to check the parcel content but I was aready running late and simply thought "what are the chances of happening again, right?" WRONG.

KSA - Part 2

The rest of the stay in Saudi Arabia went quite well.

I did manage to go out of the Hotel the following day and all seemed to be "less freightning" than what I had imagined...

Apparently, Jeddah is more open than Rhiyad, so foreigners are allowed to do things that would have been completely forbidden in the capital.

In Jeddah, I could easily walk around without covering my hair and I could also have my male colleagues around me with no type of problem... not only in the hotel, but also in the car, restaurants, etc...

With regards to the city, it seems to be the typical Gulf City, with beige/white low rise type of buildings and narrow main streets. Its more like Fujairah or RAK if we want to compare it with the UAE... with plenty of villas and shops and shopping malls but nothing as big or glittery as Dubai.

It is also beautifully located by the Red Sea and it has a really pretty corniche area, with a couple of restaurants and hotels along it (also where my hotel was). Most of the time, I would think how great it would be to dive there! All the beauty of the Red Sea minus the hundreds of divers in the water (as in Egypt).

Overall, I have to admit that I really thought it was going to be a much "harder" city.. I almost felt a bit disappointed... I was prepared for the worst, but I ended up leaving it feeling it was actually a nice place... Eventhough KSA is a muslim country and quite strict in what it comes to ensure all goes by the "rules" but that "stereotype" just doesnt seem to glue completely with my experience in Jeddah, which is a good thing. I think. Definitely planning to go back! :)

Blogging from... OIL LAND!

Yes...

It is true. I am finally blogging again, and decided to mark the event by coming to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Or was it the other way around?!

Anyway.. doesnt matter. What is cool is that I type these words from my hotel room, overlooking the Red Sea, while wearing my abaya (how can I explain what it is in a simple way?.. not easy.. but lets just says its a kind of black dress/cover you wear on the top of your clothes, in order to remain shapeless and thus less attractive to men).

What can I say... after 3 years in the Middle East, I have finally made it to KSA. I know it sounds weird and awkward.. but have always felt attracted to whatever is different and complicated (no.. not talking about my love life here!)...

So, I boarded Emirates Airlines flight to Jeddah all geared up with my nice presentation about Sustainability and Green Buildings and two abayas, and here I am now.

I have to admit it was kind of strange... Definitely felt out of my comfort zone... It all started right at the Airport as I walked in to the toilets close to my gate. Suddenly all the women inside were covering up and getting ready to be "transported into another reality - literally". I followed suit as I didnt want to be disrespectful...

Took the abaya out of my Gucci bag (yes.. designer bags go hand in hand with abayas as you must have heard already) and put it on. Wow. That was strange.. but then again, one also has to look out for the advantages of things you normally consider "negative" and the fact is that.. it just felt natural to be wearing it and black does suit me, anyway. I suddenly felt part of the "group"...

I hesitated for a couple of seconds about also veiling my hair but then decided not to.. it was a bit risky, but it seemed to me there were other women unveiled too and, besides, I could always do it right before leaving the plane.

And, before I even noticed we were already landing in Jeddah.

Suddenly I actually started to feel nervous... I had managed to play it cool for the entire flight, without even thinking about it at all. But now, there was no turning back.

And suddenly all these random concerns started flowing into my head:
- And what if they dont let me in?

- And what if my veil falls down from my head - At this time I had already use the plane's toilet in order to veil my hair. But, obviously, it itsnt a natural move for me, so I was pretty sure I had done it all wrong and that it would slip anytime. On top of that I was pretty sure it would slip exactly at the moment I would be crossing Customs Security or the Police...

- And what if my abaya is too short - Another issue. Since I am a bit tall it was almost impossible to find something that would fit my height or my long harms... For a moment or two I could swear everyone was looking at my uncovered wrists. I was definitely gonna be sentenced to life and never return back. But why or why?

- What it I collapse due to not breathing? - I was so scared of loosing my veil that I hat tightened it up way too much around my neck.. I was barely breathing and barely moving my head, just trying to avoid the unavoidable.

- And what if they lock me up because I am travelling with a male colleague and not my father/brother nor my husband?

- And what about my makeup? I remembered not to put it on, but I think there is still a bit left of mascara from last night (dam those water resistant mascaras)...

All completely unnecessary worrying. All went just fine. No one said anything when my veil did slip out of my head (!!!) nor they questioned my short abaya and provocative eyelashes.

There were some problems with emigration which could have turned into a big problem and me actually getting deported back but it was all swiftly taken cared of within 30-45min. Basically someone from my company called someone who knew someone who (luckily) was at the airport at the same time who called someone else who then came and delivered a mobile phone to the Emigration police officer so they could then talk to someone else. By the end of it, all solved, and I could officially walk into the country. No big deal they said. I smiled and walked away with my triumphal walk, my cute eyelashes and Karama abaya. Sweet.

Anyways, already at the hotel now.. Which is this beautifully, huge, brand new hotel facing the Red Sea.. In the picture you can see the view from my room.

I will stay in tomorrow due to my big presentation but hopefully I will be able to explore the city further before we go to the airport the following day.

Cute!!

Some things are just soo cute, that you just have to share them with the world.

Took this picture last week in Egypt.. how cute can it be? Almost tried to buy it and bring it home, for a couple of oil barrels. But with the current oil prices and the dollar falling, too much of an investment. Besides, my balcony is not that big! :)

Thailand in 15 Days - Day 3

Day 3 ? Time to wake up early and fly to Chiang Mai (Northern city, quite important for Thai people). The flight is really fast (1hour) and I liked the fact that the "Domestic Flights Area" at the airport had this sign saying that you should report to the airline in case you would like to travel with weapons. :)

So, and there we were in Chiang Mai. Once again, Lonely Planet is not very accurate about "how to get out of the airport". There were almost no alternatives when we got there besides going into this ?red van?. We paid 60 Bahts for both and that was it. He left us exactly where we asked him to leave us and headed to Sara Guest House since it seemed to be an ok place accordingly to Lonely Planet and quite central too.

Once we got there the first thing we noticed is that Chiang Mai is actually quite a small place and that the map on Lonely Planet just makes it look huge! (well, we could have also simply noticed the scale line on the map instead of keep accusing the guide, but what to do now?). We checked the place and actually didn't like it that much, a little bit too old and musty and it didn?t seem to have that many people, and we wanted to make friends! ;) (me and my need for being social!) So, we ended up walking back a little and stayed at Tana Hotel. Although we didn?t even noticed it in LP as its description was quite plain, it is quite a nice place. They offer different type of rooms for different types of budget. At the time we were there, just to give you an idea, it was 700 Bahts for the "hotel type of room", 400 Bahts for the new building rooms and 350 Bahts (with AC) or 250 Bahts (no AC, just fan) for the main building rooms, the ones in which we stayed and that were quite acceptable. Plus, they have this open area on the ground floor where you can just chill out and talk to other backpackers. And they also have a swimming pool too.

Yes, I did force Nadine to pose for this picture, anticipating this posting!

Funny thing is that most of the people staying there are Israelis and they even have poster frames of Israel on the walls! :) Apparently, the hotel has this big deal with a youth tourism agency in Israel, coupled with the fact that all Israeli have to attend 2 years of compulsory military service (both men and women!!) so majority of them choose to have one year off, simply traveling, once they finish it.

I have to admit that after being in the Middle East for a while, you end up talking about Israel much more often that when being in Europe but at the same time you never really hear about what is happening socially in the country apart from all the Israeli-Palestinian conflict topics. So it was quite interesting to meet Israeli people and get to know them on other levels besides war and regional conflicts.

Back to Chiang Mai "topic"?It is a cute "little" city with lots of backpackers and activities especially addressed to them. It is quite relaxed and chilled out and I would definitely recommend it. Since we had 6 full days in town, we had time for lots of activities and now that I look back I wouldn?t even mind staying one more day or two.
Our first day in town (actually, half day, as our flight arrived after lunch time) was spent crusing around the city and checking out the main Wats. Since it was Sunday, it was also "Sunday Market" day and I would also recommend planning your stay in Chiang May in a way that you get to see it. Majority of the products are hand made sold by hill tribe natives, to provide extra income to sustain their families.

We found things for sale here that we didn't see anywhere else and I actually regretted that I didn't buy a couple of things as I wrongly assumed they would also be on sale at the night market (yes, Chiang Mai also has a night market) or in any other store in Chiang Mai. Some things you can also still find in the night market, but without so much variety and more expensive too?

That night, we headed towards the river (10-15 min walking from the guest house, on the other side of the bridge) and once again enjoyed some nice cocktails - If you are used to pay 50 Dhs for just a simple drink in Dubai, then you will understand why I say Thailand is heaven? On average, we paid about 10 to 15 Dirhams for our drinks!! :) There are 3 or 4 nice places right on the riverbank which are quite nice.. I guess we ended up staying in the "poshy" one, but it was also the one that clearly didn?t look like an English pub so it easily won the battle against the not so fierce competition. Ahah. For location's reference, I think it's the third one, but anyway, it is not difficult to find.

After a couple of drinks, we simply headed home. Big days awaited us!!!! :)

Parallel Lifes

If all was as one wanted it to be, I would have been in Portugal this weekend. And the weekend before too.

Today I wonder to which point the sacrifice of living a parallel life is worth it.

I know I will be fine tomorrow. But today I miss my friends, their laughs, their everything. And not being able to share all these special moments with them just makes me feel like an outsider, wondering if I will ever be accepted back into the circle.

Thailand in 15 Days - Day 2

Available soon...

Thailand in 15 Days - Day 1

Day 1 ? As we arrived to Bangcok airport, the craziness begins. As expected, everyone wants to be your taxi driver and take you to your hotel or help you make reservations for all you might need. Just ignore it and go straight to the public taxi line. There will be some people at a desk, asking you where you going and writing it down in Thai so that the taxi driver knows where to take you. They will probably also tell you how much you will have to pay? Ideally you should simply ask the taxi driver to put the meter running and add 50 Baht to it in the end (airport fee). He will also ask you if you want to take the highway or the normal road... Up to you, toll fees are about 60 Baht if my memory is not failing me and it does get you quicker into town.
For a clearer idea, the first time we took the taxi from the airport we paid what the guy at the stand told us to pay (without meter):550 Baht and we didn?t take the highway ? which was actually cool for the fact that it took us ages and I actually slept for the most of it. Next time, by the end of our trip, 2 weeks after our first taxi ride and much more ?taxi experience? :) we just asked for the meter and ended up paying something around 300 Bahts + toll. So, we ?saved? about 10 Dhs (2 Euros) which is really not that much! That brings me to the point that sometimes you will find yourself in a situation that you don?t really want to bargain or go through the hassle for just some bucks ? and this comes from a Portuguese person (we just love to bargain) so you can imagine! This also reminds me that in Bangcok many taxi drivers will simply refuse to start the meter, especially at night or if you are near touristy places. Obviously, they prefer to simply quote you a price and try to get a little bit more out of you, you rich tourist!! :) Once again, up to you... at one point we had to go through 4 taxi drivers until one accepted to use the meter. Needless to say that at that point Nadine and I were already melting due to the heat, desperate to just go and would have probably paid twice the normal price to get there, but luckily the next taxi guy was a nice one and we gave him a nice tip, so all ended well :)

Moving forward... Accommodation: For the nights in Bangkok, we decided to stay in Khao Sao Road (I swear, for some reason I kept forgetting this street name? the stupidest things would came to my mind every time I was trying to mention it: Cola Cao - a chocolate drink, Dartacao -Portuguese name given to that cartoon in which D?Artagnan was a dog, Cao San - cao means dog in Portuguese, so I guess this means son of a dog. Anyways, I know.. its not relevant but just felt like sharing. And sharing is caring :)

So.. where was I? Oh, yes.. Th Khao San. Basically it is a backpackers hangout area.. you will see 99% of the people on the street and surroundings are young people just like you, just cruising around, having some beers, and doings loads of shopping?You will get loads of fake t-shirts, flip flops, Lonely Planets, bracelets, fake IDs (yes!! You can get student ID?s, driving licenses, etc etc.. all in 30 min and with quite OK quality), paintings, bags, henna tattoos, hair extensions and dreadlocks, and so on. Its pretty cool and just cruising around and seeing people walking by is quite an experience.

Accommodation wise, there are loads of guesthouses and you will not have difficulties in finding something for your taste. We ended up staying at this really nice place called Mango Lagoon Place which is listed in Lonely Planet (its located at Soi Rambruti) and paid 700 Bahts a night. It is now a 3* place and it is quite ok (own bathroom, pretty clean, A/C, electric plugs) which seemed like heaven after we checked another guest house in which we would pay only 300 Baht but for a really dirty room, with no window or AC, would have to use a public toilet and bathroom and leave anything that we wanted to charge (mobile phone, camera, etc) at the reception as there were no plugs in the room. Basically, my suggestion, as Lonely Planet also mention is to just check a couple of guesthouses and then decide which one to go for. Most of them are within walking distance and all in the same area.

Walking around ? From Khao San you can easily walk around the surrounding streets and also walk into the ?historic? part of the city, which is quite close by. During our first day in Bangkok we basically walked around Khao San and then walked towards the river? There is a pier nearby and we took the public boat (there are also private tourist bots you can take, obviously for another price ? I think we paid 4 Bahts) all the way to the last station (well, its actually station no1 - Lumphini) which allowed us to get an idea of the city from the river and just chill out and enjoy the day. Once we got there, we took the monorail into Siam area. As Lonely Planet will also tell you, this is pretty much a shopping mall area, which is normally full with young Thai people just walking around and socializing after school. Its quite interesting to walk around and once again just check out people and the way they interact.. You can simply cruise along the streets with all the shops or actually get into the shopping malls. We were not in a ?high fashion? shopping mood (we do come from Dubai where we get enough of that) so we decided to stick to the streets and this shopping mall called MBK (quite a big one, but for me it just seemed that all the shops were selling the same over and over again, a bit like Chinese shops). After, we got into the closest pier, Ratchathewi ? not at the river but at the khlong (small canals, that flow through the city) and just jumped into a taxi boat. It was definitely a crazy experience as these boats go crazily fast and are essentially used by Thai people, so it was nice to get away from the ?tourist? way of moving around? From the boat you can also notice the ?other side? of Bangkok as you can see many old houses, where people live in really poor conditions. We ended our ride, once again at the last stop and then realized we were really close to the Golden Mount, so we went and checked it out. Unfortunately it was already closed (8am-5pm) but it was still worth to go all the way up as it offers an amazing view over Bangkok. After, simply grabbed some fresh sliced pineapple from one of the street vendors and walked back to the confort of a nice shower and some AC. After all, we had to get prepared to our first night in Bangkok! :)

Thailand in 15 days - Intro

Oh my God! Thailand was amazing? Obviously, every country is something different for every person, and it impacts you in different ways at different times of your life.. But I have to say that this trip was definitely all that I needed, even if I didn't even expect it to be so good.

After some investment in cute backpacks (and yes.. for all of you now worried about me becoming so superficial, I also looked into the practicality and space/weight aspects of it?) we were ready for our backpacking trip. Its important to mention that we were not exactly the best example of backpackers? we were kind of a "half half" - half backpacker, half "I already own loads of money (ahahaha) and want to have some comfort and avoid bugs in my bed type of person".

Oh, and obviously we also bought a Lonely Planet. Actually, we had to buy it at the airport, as we forgot our first copy at home ? which actually represented two mistakes in a row! Once we got to Bangkok there were loads of them being sold on the streets, new ones, second hand copies, all for half price! Oh well?

Anyway? obviously Lonely Planet was a great help, but I found it to be a little bit outdated (it was printed right after the tsunami and things changed quite a lot since then) and sometimes not very helpful either? for eg it?s not very clear in best ways to get from the airport somewhere and it will spend half a page telling you where to play tennis when you are in this amazingly beautiful northern city with loads of nature and adventures, just to give some examples.

So, for the following paragraphs I will try to give you an idea of our trip (lonely planet way) as I think it was quite a nice itinerary in case you are in a similar situation like ours ? only 15 days to spend and looking for some good combination of nature/beach/chill out/history/partying under a moderate budget and a young spirit! :) So, apologies to all of those who just wanted to know how my trip went? All the below must be really boring unless you are planning a trip to Thailand soon. Or maybe not. As they keep saying it Thailand it might just be "same same, but different".