Do OFWs today know how to handle money better? How can we manage our personal finance well while working abroad?
Here’s financial coach Randell Tiongson ‘s insights on these matters. He also shares interesting success stories of Filipino expats from the first time he visited Dubai until today.
For the first time, an official Metro Manila Film Festival movie will be shown in UAE cinemas. Anne Curtis’ latest thriller, Aurora, which received numerous awards, including Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Design and Best Cinematography, will be shown starting January 3, thanks to Front Row Filmed Entertainment.
Aurora is also reconignized as the second best picture in this year’s line up.
Anne has underwater scenes because the movie’s story takes place in an island where the passenger ship named Aurora crashes into rocky coasts.
Her character, Leana, is a young innkeeper who helps recover the bodies of the missing passengers for a promised monetary reward.
Aurora was filmed on a cinematic location in Batanes
Here’s the trailer:
Here’s our very own Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes invitation to watch the film:
For showing dates and cinemas, please follow Front Row Films in Facebook.
This 2018 we saw a quick rise on the number of bloggers and vloggers in the community. This is definitely a welcome development. I remember 10 years ago, we were only about 10 and we don’t have the same opportunities as much as what we have today.
I love the diverse content each vlogger has to offer – comedy, lifestyle, inspiration, education, food, travel, beauty, etc. It’s like having a more accessible multichannel cable TV at the palm of our hands. The variety is good.
As one of the “pioneers” in Dubai, I am often asked of advice for beginners. Here’s what I always say:
Fellow content creators, you are far greater than the number of likes you get. Do not associate your worth with the number of followers or views or likes you get.
If your motivation to write or create videos is the number of social media reactions you’ll get, you have a problem.
Don’t worry about starting small. Don’t worry if no one likes your material in the beginning. We all have to start somewhere.
Take my case, I don’t mind if I only have 10 followers. If there is at least one person who finds relevance in what I do, I will keep doing it. One changed life is always better than none at all.
Recognize that we all have different paces. Not everyone’s success story follow the same timeline. If you succeed in a short span of time, good for you. Keep it up. And if you may, reach out to the new ones and mentor them on how to be successful. That’s community. And that’s how you become a thought leader in what you do.
If your success comes a little slower, don’t worry. Life is seasonal. One season you’re at the bottom, the next time, you’re a champion.
Keep growing, not in likes, but in virtues.
Lastly, maintain a good relationship with your fellow content creators. No one grows consistently on top in isolation.
Measure your success by the number of respect you receive – unfortunately this cannot be reflected in likes and analytics.
Appreciate. Stop the hate. God bless.
Here are some reactions to the post on Facebook
—
NBA champion Lamar Odom will play for Mighty Sports Philippines side in the 2019 Dubai International Basketball Tournament scheduled February 1 – 9 next year.
Lamar played in the NBA for 15 seasons, most notably with the Los Angeles Lakers where he won back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010 alongside Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher.
He also played for the United States in the 2004 Olympics and the 2010 Fiba World Championship.
Odom announced he will be playing for Mighty Sports in a post on Instagram, saying that the competition will also be a good warm-up for him when he plays in the Big 3
“I’m excited to have Lamar on the team. Obviously his game and his career has proven itself already. He’s a winner and a champion. He’s been through a lot lately and wanted to make a comeback and we are excited to be the ones to give him this opportunity.”
– Coach Charles Tiu
“…so same challenges for us; Not enough preparations going up against professional clubs who have been winning and playing together for long.”
– Coach Charles Tiu
One thing for sure, this team will show the same heart, grit and might the Philippine brand of basketball is known for.
One of the simplest way to have fun in Dubai is to go to any of its many green parks and spend ton of fun in the playground – especially in cool weather.
Here’s one weekend morning we went to Al Nahda Pond Park in Qusais to sweat out a little.
Many Filipinos abroad are starting to realize there is a huge potential for them to become entrepreneurs and not remain OFWs forever.
A former SEO specialist of a leading airline company, Jon Edward Santillan left the corporate world to pursue his dream of having his own company. Here he is sharing his story of challenges and successes.
This is Walk-in with Boy Dubai.
In addition to the sumptuous seafood dinner in possibly the longest table ever, it is the FUN that I am most excited about this festival – the fun dining, the fun of meeting new friends, and the fun of sharing the culture of boodle fight to the larger international community of Dubai.
Boodle fight is a Filipino style of eating a meal without the use of cutlery and china. Diners instead practice kamayan, or “eating with bare hands”. Typically, the food is placed on top of a long banana leaf in a long table and in the true military practice, diners do not sit in chairs but instead stand shoulder to shoulder in a line on both sides of the table. Eating, or “attack” begins on a command of the leader.
Showcasing our very own culture to the world stage is huge. How beautiful it is to see people from all walks of life share a table and share a meal? This is the good essence of this Guinness world-record attempt.
 |
| Photo by When In Manila |
On December 1, dinner time, Seafood Fest UAE, as part of 47th UAE National Day celebration, aims to gather and feed participants up to 27,000 from different nationalities at Dubai’s new Waterfront Market in Deira. The meal preparation will be spearheaded by one of the most loved and most successful Filipino celebrity chef Boy Logro of Paluto Restaurant.
About 4,700 tables representing the colors of UAE flag will be setup.
Other records such as ‘Largest waving human UAE flag” and “Most number of people lighting a glowstick” will be attempted.
The previous record for the longest seafood boodle fight was set, where else, in Laoag City, Philippines in 2015. Participants tool 30 minutes to finish the food on a table of 4.858 kilometers long.
These fun world-record setting activities is just an ushering event of what could be an annual seafood festival in the country.
So if you are free on December 1, and fancy having a boodle fight with a twist, head on to Deira Waterfront Market. There will also be food shows, play areas for children and entertainment.
A ticket costs AED 50 inclusive of welcome kit, shirt and cap. For more info, follow Seafood Fest UAE on Facebook.
I am a proud 90s kid, a big fan of everything 90s – especially music.
Without any major personal influence, I was integrated to the kind of music we’ve had in the decade. This was the time when Filipino bands consistently create unforgettable music with uniquely distinguishable identity. Tunog Manila, tunog kalye, and rakenrol were very popular then.
Back then, jamming was a lifestyle – whether in school, office or even in jeepneys. Feel good songs fill the air.
Tapsilog na naman? Pagkatapos lumaklak? Cool ka lang! Habang may buhay, pagsubok lamang yan.
These are some of the tunes that defined the 90s.
I’m pretty sure many OFWs share the same sentiments. How would you feel about the chance to hear all these greats again live under one roof?
90’s UPLOAD is happening. December 28, 2018 at DUBAI WORLD TRADE CENTER, SAEED HALL 1.
Lead vocalists Wency Cornejo of After Image, Glenn Jacinto of Teeth, Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink, Cooky Chua of Color It Red, and Naldy Padilla of Orient Pearl will take you back in time.
COOKY CHUA
The promising, woman-in-black alternative pop/rock vocalist that gave us “Paglisan”
Many bands have come and became defunct, but not Cooky’s Color It Red which is still around after 26 years. Up to this date, the band still performs in gigs, mixes genres and produces albums. Its most outstanding one under Alphanumeric Records entitled Hand Painted Sky went platinum and placed the band in the OPM Map, largely due to Cooky’s sigh-singing style.
WENCY CORNEJO
The 90’s alternative anthem song-maker of “Next In Line”
Undoubtedly he is known for creating immortal tender love songs that become movie soundtracks. He is the lead vocalist/songwriter of the defunct band Afterimage which ruled the music charts of the 1990s. “Habang May Buhay,” “Tag-ulan,”and “Mangarap Ka” are just a few of those songs strummed popularly in guitar sessions by most Filipinos up to this day. The bands album “Tag ulan Tag araw” was awarded a Gold Record and was named Album of the Year at the 1995 Awit Awards.
GLENN JACINTO
The rock and grunge vocals behind the drinking anthem “Laklak”
At a time when phenomenal rock bands dominate the still-profitable music boards, Glen Jacinto formed Teeth, a band that has become the item in the general drinking and barkada sessions in the local areas. The song “Laklak”was and still is a representation of the reality of youthful lavishness. Up until this day, Filipinos are very familiar with the song and probably head-bangs to its beat. It was chosen as Song of the Year at the 1995 NU 107 Rock Awards.
LEI BAUTISTA
The girl-power lead singer and guitarist of an all-female pop-rock band that produced “Cool Ka Lang”
The frontwoman of the girl-band Prettier than Pink, who is known for her “cool”-themed songs. Her and the members of the band do not just sing as what is usually common for most sing-and-dance girl bands, but each one of them played instruments. Lei wrote and composed the single “Cool Ka Lang” and reached no. 1 in the OPM charts in 1995.
Tickets can be purchased at PLATINUMLIST.NET , and select PLATINUMLIST ticket outlets in 7-Eleven and UAE Exchange branches.
So, titos and titas of Dubai, bring your millennial pamangkins. This is gonna be classic.
If you live in Dubai, you have at least one item from Ikea in your household (or you have tried a bite of the famous AED5 hotdog bun). You’re not a true blue UAE expat if you haven’t been to the blue box at all, or graced the cover of their annual catalog.
 |
| Nixon and Jenny Borbe and kids, residents of Sharjah, happily posing for Ikea souvenir catalog |
And you might never ever have to put another Ikea product in your balikbayan box again because their biggest store is opening in our homeland.
Here are some facts about this groundbreaking milestone:
Biggest in the world
Covering a total land area of 65,000 square meters, the 2-level complex will be equivalent to 150 full basketball courts. It will be located at SM Mall of Asia grounds. This size also covers the store’s warehouse, e-commerce facility, and integrated call center.
The store will be linked to the mall through direct walkways, making it super accessible to mall-goers.
Among its 422 stores across the world, Manila’s will be the biggest.
“We will open an Ikea store to give millions of Filipinos easy access to a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low almost everyone will be able to afford them”
Opening by end of 2020
Although there’s no date yet of its groundbreaking, it is targeted to finish construction by end of 2020. So by that time, many Filipinos will have their old furniture broken.
9000 products
There will be around 9,000 well-designed, functional home furnishing products that can help Filipinos make everyday life at home a little better. All at an affordable price.
There are more than 50 room settings where you can touch and test the furniture.
500+ new job opportunities
More jobs for everyone. On top of spin-off jobs, the company is set to hire at least 500 personnel within the Philippines. Check this careers page or follow them in LinkedIn to get updated.
So you better start practicing your assembly and disassembly skills okay.
Business partnership
Ikea is also looking for local suppliers for food (Hotdogs, ehem!), security, housekeeping, printing, and other services.
Ikea Playroom
While you’re busy shopping, you can leave the kids to a supervised soft play area.
Online store
If you are overwhelmed by its gigantic size, don’t worry as they will also launch an online store, ikea.ph. And will deliver across the Greater Manila Area.
 |
| A jeepney delivery? Lol, why not 🙂 |
You know what I’m sure of? People battling out the right pronunciation of Ikea. So, for the record, ist is, “ee-kay-uh.”
One of the most influential motivational speaker today, author of Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last, and 3 other powerful books, will be lecturing Dubai.
Simon Sinek will share the stage with these equally positively influential forces:
John Maxwell
Leadership Expert, Best-selling author, coach
Angela Ahrendts
Senior Vice President of Retail, Apple
Sheila Heen
Triad Consulting Group Founder
Harvard Law School Faculty
Danny Meyer
Restaurateur, TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People
Strive Masiyiwa
Founder, Econet Group
Philantropist
The website though mentioned that lineup is still subject to change.
UPDATE: The site also mentioned that “A selection of these speakers will be presented at the Dubai GLS by videocast.”
Happening on 2nd February 2019, Saturday, at Gloria Hotel, The Global Leadership Summit Dubai features FRESH, ACTIONABLE and INSPIRING LEADERSHIP CONTENT from world-class lecturers.
Simon is one of the inspiring speakers I look up to. His audio books are great companion while driving. His video Millennials in the Workplace is one of the most viral video content this year.
Tickets for early bird buyers cost AED 200 (until Nov 30) or AED 250 (until Dec 31); and AED 300-350 for regular price.
You can register here: http://glsdubai.org/
Watch this preview of what the summit feels like:
