Confessions of a Shopaholic

I hope my mother doesn't visit this site until I bury this post with gazillions of well meaning, inspirational ones! =))

The impression that if I don't have cash in my wallet, I won't be spending as much is a fallacy.

NBK Laki account made it so difficult for me to curb my spending sprees because everywhere I go, it is very easy to swipe the card. Point in case the photo above.

I am literally all over Al Rai area which is unfortunately where the biggest mall and IKEA in Kuwait is located, The Avenues.

Update:

5 minutes after I published this post the office mate dragged me out to lunch to guess where? IKEA! Then we stopped by at Naser Sports where they have a "mega" sale that frankly really doesn't feel like one, where I bought a summer bag. All her fault!

Philippines Job Fair 2010 - AGAIN!

The Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines, under the patronage of HE Ricardo Endaya, Ambassador of the Philippines, will hold a Job Fair for Filipinos in Kuwait on May 29, 2010 at the Kuwait Hyatt Hotel in Maidan Hawally from 9 am till 5 pm.Human Resources Managers and Recruitment Specialists of local companies will be available to receive CVs and conduct on the spot interviews for qualified applicants. 2,000 jobs available will be posted. The event has been organized in celebration of the Philippines’ 112th Independence Day.

via Arab Times

**I know our company will be there but am not sure if I'm playing HR this time. Until further notice =D I'll drop by though! See you there!

iWant: IKEA!

I love IKEA! I want my house to be furnished by IKEA! Mostly because I love practical, rightly priced gorgeous stuff and IKEA has it all!

If ever you guys wants to send out some gifts to me, all you have to do is walk into the IKEA building and pick anything coz it will surely sell with me =D

On our lunch break today, office mate and I went to our usual hunt - The Avenues. This office mate was a vegetarian for 10 years until I introduced her to IKEA's salmon. Right then and there she turned into a pescetarian that swears no Salmon tastes right - not even Le Notre's - aside from IKEA's.

Actually, we were at IKEA yesterday too where I found out that they have a new dish to offer and those are PASTAS!!!
Of course I had the classic Spaghetti Meatballs for only 1.500 KWD in their special Pomodoro sauce. Looks yummy right?!

After lunch we usually go around the store (yes we never get tired of the place even if we're there almost every other day!) and good thing I didn't pick up anything yesterday because today turned out to be their ultimate SALE day!
I went ape crazy. Lack of salary somewhat made me conservative on my purchases.
I only bought half a dozen of these frames in pink, blue and black for my little project and vanilla scented candles in all shapes and sizes

Good thing I was stingy and didn't buy them at the 950 fils price the day before. Now that it's down to 500 I got half a dozen!

The office mate also wants to escape retail therapy and we had to get back to work anyway so not too much damage on the accounts.

The whole afternoon was unbearable as my feet was itching to around the whole area so after work, I went back.

Went back and walked around in a dream. I restrained from buying anything but took photos of what I wanted to get when I have extra moolah or as reference for those good people out there who wants to throw me some alms. Waves to the benefactor =))

For some reason I have developed a liking for Philippe Starck's clear design. IKEA has items that looks like it like this chair


and these tables.Isn't she gorgeous? I would've picked her up in an instant but the thought of shipping for the Philippines stopped me. I've been eyeing this particular piece for the longest time.
For the past several years, I have also developed a penchant for lightning and candles so when I saw this candle chandelier, I had to have it!
Wanted to pick up these candle holder that looks like it belongs to a romantic era. Plus it would be a realistic buy for me because of Philippine's history in power black outs. Despite the turd world situation we have to be chica right?
If you know me then you'll understand why a clamp head light is on my wish list. If only it's not so annoyingly expensive then it will be so perfect on my head board for those sleepless reading marathon night.

Seems like, the wish list has been broken down into 3 parts and the third part consists of clocks!
The one above is for my future kitchen and the one below is for my study. They are just so pretty!

Since lack of salary is the greatest motivator in holding back from shopping which I somewhat succeeded by IMHO, I awarded myself with an ICE CREAM CONE! It's so yummy it made me all feel better inside.

It takes 7 hours to Dubai via FlyDubai

Since Jazeera was starting to be a little expensive for my short trips to Dubai I tried the newly launched FlyDubai airlines. At 26.950 KWD round trip, I can't go wrong with that right?

0600: Eagerly packed the 10 Kilos allowable hand carry.

0830: Worked like there's wings on my heels all day and no amount of bull can get me down.

1730: Went directly from office to the airport. FlyDubai counter is in the same line as Jazeera's so naturally enough there were long lines. The counter wasn't open then but when I asked a ground crew what time it will be, he said I might as well line up because by the time that I get in, the counter will be open at approximately 1815 so I did.

1750: Got in but counter still closed. Ended up waiting for an hour.

1800+: The FlyDubai counter opened, lined up again only to be told that the flight was delayed and that we have to come back by 2100 as the new departure time is at 2200. Say what?! I asked. Person at the counter said the aircraft is still in Dubai. Great. I can't go back home as the whole family went out for Pizza and it doesn't make sense to get stuck in traffic.

1815: Bummed around the airport.

1830: Ate Foccacia and Calzone at Pizza Express

1900: Bought a new wallet at Accesorize. Public opinion says that my Diesel wallet is fugly. I don't agree but I'm getting tired of the old thing anyways.

1920: Looked for new hand carry luggage at Carbon Fiber. Nothing caught my eye.

2000: Lined up for the Passport Control.

2015: Waited at the gate by reading.

2030: Waited at the gate by chatting up a fellow stranded passenger.

2050: Waited at the gate and feeling antsy. Supposed to be on the sky by this time.

2145: Waited at the gate and finished the whole James Patterson book.

2200: Waited at the gate and called the benefactor to check what's up with FlyDubai as ground crew can't give any information and the screen still says 8:50 departure time.

2205: Waited at the gate and cursing the lack of airport free wi-fi access.

2215: Waited at the gate while benefactor said that at first FlyDubai office insisted that there are on time but only until they were given my confirmation number did they say that there was some "operational problem" and flight will be at 11 p.m.

2230: Gate changed from 21 into 4.

2240: Waited at gate 4 for boarding

2250: Finally boarded the aircraft... and waited for flight time.

2320: Flight time.

Lost in time zones: Slept.

Lost in time zones: Woke up to a wailing baby. I hate children inside the airplane. Like seriously they are so noisy not to mention the chair kicking.

0200: Dubai time. Touch down. Apologies from the captain.

0205: Noticed the FlyDubai shopping magazine while the plane taxi's. They have pretty good stuff. No Can't buy it.

0215: Finally - Hello Dubai! Terminal 2 was a breeze. Probably because I arrived at a God forsaken hour and that the whole place charters for private planes.

Time I finally got out of Dubai Terminal 2 airport? See below.

Above timings are approximate except for the photo above. The whole waiting feels like I traveled to the Philippines as flight time takes about the same amount.

If only I'm not coming for a very special occasion and to The Cove, I would've said fucked it and go home.

Philippine New Government In Twitter

For the past weeks, Philippines has been gripped with the election fever and no other way to expound and engage people but on microblogging known as Twitter.

I have also been pretty noisy about the elections as this is my first time to vote in all of my 26 years. You can only imagine the self righteousness, the battle to be fair and the urge to convince everyone to vote and being annoyed when learning that at their certain age they're not even registered. Yea. I'm delirious with TMI.

Anyway, now that the election is over and thanks to Automated Election majority of the positions has been filled with declared winner, I have to learn to come to terms with the following on what Philippine Government now consists according to some Tweets:

ericaparedes: Every1 is saying how ironic it is that there was a Pres Marcos and a Senator Aquino and now it's the other way around----

ericaparedes: Y'all know what happened to Senator Aquino right?

ericaparedes: We have a congresswoman who dances on television, one who is a soon to be an ex-president everyone hates

ericaparedes: one who is a former first lady once in exile for crimes against our country her son is a senator, the world boxing champion is a congressman

ericaparedes: oursenators put together can film a movie and an ousted ex-con former president is number 2 in the presidential race.

KCMontero: Congressman Manny Pacquiao said, " Mom, can I please fight again, one more time?" somethings just so funny about this.

I used to say and until now believes that if you haven't voted then you don't have the right to bitch about your country. Now that I have, let's see if I will. As the government line up for me right now is depressing. I'd lash out at any one who looks down on the Philippines and the Filipinos but sometimes I'd think that we were asking for it. Oh life.

Labor Day Job Fair

In lieu of celebrating Labor day in the park with actors and actresses, the Philippine Embassy in coordination with various companies across Kuwait decided to conduct a job fair for all Filipinos here in Kuwait.

The crowd from my vantage point

Maxi Santiago, Jeff of Philippine Embassy and his back on you is the Philippine Ambassador of Kuwait

I played HR for our company that day so I didn't get to take much photos. What little photos I managed to take was crappy through my SE K810i.

There are literally hundreds of Filipinos who came in all levels and skills. Most are Filipinos who are already working here in Kuwait but wants to seek greener pastures in another company. I was tempted to apply myself if only I wasn't playing HR there. Hehehe. Companies who participated were; Al Shaya, Johnny Rockets, Al Ghunaim, KGL, Fit for Fun, and many many more. I wish I remember the rest thought but like I said playing HR got in the way of observing.

The Ambassador giving his opening speech. Spot the blistersister in the photo! =)

It was a successful and productive day. I'll have it over a corny dance show in the park anytime. It's like community service but fun! Well, for me anyways as I don't have the pressure of handing out my resumes and being in my best during the on the spot interviews.

All work and no fun makes us all dull so we booked a table for the vacancy below =))
We kid! We kid!

One of the great result out of that job fair was we were featured in Balitang Middle East via TFC and Maxi Santiago. Well, I was just in the background but friends and the blistersister got interviewed.

Another awesome result is that, the blistersister finally landed a job! Woohoo!