Valentines Weekend Roadtrip

We spent Valentines differently this year. We went for a roadtrip to attend Jenadriyah, an annual cultural festival here in the Kingdom. Hubby finally had the courage to drive 300+ kilometers just to see it. It's our special valentines activity this year.

I've always wanted to see it with hubby and the little one coz in this one big event, you'll be able to see and experience most of the Kingdom's history, customs and traditions. It's a fun learning opportunity for everybody. 

Those are some of the photos we got. I think we are too excited to see everything and at the same time too tired from travelling that we didn't take really detailed photos. We had fun anyway and that's what really matters. 

Places to Visit

I've been wanting to visit this place ever since I first saw it 3 years ago. We pass by this almost everytime we go to the park or mall. I'm just so attracted to the architecture and wonder what could be inside.

Buraidah Museum

And today, we still just passed by it. Oh, when will I get to visit you?

You're Hot and You're Cold

When temperatures are as hot as hell...

http://www.worldweatheronline.com/buraidah-weather/al-qasim/sa.aspx?day=4

... you just want to go back to a cooler place...

not just sands

im fortunate enough to explore the wonders of the middle east -- not the famous ones or the ones you see on magazines and tourism brochures. these are way better!

 

Best Things In Life Are Free... Really

Don't you just love it when you don't have to pay a single cent for something?! Wishing it will be like this for the rest of my life. Oh, im just wishing. It just MIGHT come true.

Thank you Victoria's Secret for my new undies. :)

everything is so white

it looked the same as the postcards my cousins send during Christmas. So this is how it feels like having snow...

25000 miles

I got an email from NWA regarding giving me 25000 bonus worldperks miles after the incident last Friday. Im somewhat happy that I can travel for free using my miles. But i doubt if I'll fly again anytime soon. The accident is still vivid on my mind. Im a bit scared riding a plane again. Though I really appreciate the gesture from NWA. I hope all the injured passengers are well now.

Lucky to be Unlucky

Just before I boarded the plane, mySweetie asked me if there’s any interesting story while I was at the airport. The last time I left, there was some woman who screamed and wept just before she entered the plane. I assumed she never left and cancelled her flight. All the other passengers made their own story on why she didn’t board the plane and why she was screaming earlier. We never learned the real score coz all of us left the country anyway. So I just told him, “nothing really. Everything seemed fine.” Until I texted him a few hours later…

Sweetie, Im alright. Im in Narita already. We just experienced a turbulence or an airpocket. The passengers and some stuff were flying inside the plane. A few people got hurt. But Im really alright.

So much for the non-drama er?!

So there’s an unfortunate drama again. A few minutes before landing to Japan, we experienced a somewhat violent turbulence that made, literally, the passengers fly inside the plane. The Japanese infront of me, flew off his chair, bump his head on the luggage compartment, not once, but thrice. Books and magazines flew all over me. I sit still holding my breath & my armrest. I was almost imagining the oxygen mask popping out any minute now. Lol. After a few minutes of that unimaginable incident, the plane was a bit stable. A few seats up front, the airconditioning & light cover broke and flew on the head of a female teenager hurting her nose and later on vomited. On my side was a man asking for help coz his wife must have hurt herself or something with the cover of the airconditioner that hit her too. A man from way back was then attended by several flight attendants bringing emergency kit and piles of newspaper. Then someone asked if there is any doctor on board. Oh oh..this must be serious. Dr. Passion, A doctor from PGH came to the rescue. I heard him saying he needs a stretcher coz if the man was moved any further, something might snap. Geessshh. I looked around to further see the damages made…some carry on luggages were moved several feet from their owners, passports & boarding passes on the floor, there were some more people who had cuts & bruises on their heads. I was suppose to take pictures but I felt im being insensitive if I do that. They are all hurt and im here taking their pictures.

I just thank God im not hurt physically. However, there goes another trauma and something to be really cautious about. Last year, I was inside our house falling apart. And now, I was in a plane falling apart again. I seem to always be in a wrong place at a wrong time. But I guess my guardian angels are always on the right place at the right time protecting me. One can be so unlucky yet still be lucky er?!






Lesson learned: BUCKLE UP!

my feet hurts

My sisters & I were told that you have to wear everything new for the new year. from your undies, clothes and even shoes to attract good fortune for the coming year. It will only depend on the year (see Chinese calendar or Feng shui) what color will bring you luck. Even though we are not Chinese, we follow this rule, not really for the good fortune it will bring but for the new stuff we'll get. hahaha. we just need an excuse to buy new stuff despite of the down sloping economic situation (i think!) everyone is going through.

Good thing there are a lot of sales and bargains during this time of the year. To think that we need to get two sets of everything since there's two new years that we have to celebrate, the one non-Chinese follow (Jan 1) and the one Chinese's and trying to be Chinese' New Year (Jan 26), we need to spend our money wisely. We are just going crazy moving about searching for the perfect footwear, getting that fabulous dress and that perfectly fitting undies within our budget. It's kinda hard for us to get all of those since our frame is smaller that the one-size-fits-all outfits. hehehe. my feet hurts a lot of times during this shopping spree cause i think my shoes don't have this arches that lessens the pressure on the soles of your feet. (I choose aesthetics over function most of the time, my bad.) or we just spend so much time buying and shopping. hehehe. I should just try shopping online, I guess. Oh, I think i should get my dad one too. he has no time shopping for his own boots. he needs something good for his overly worked feet.

The Best Things In Life Are Free

For the past months, I've been out of work and surviving really well. I get to spend a two-month vacation out of the country without spending as much as one would have imagined. I've seen so many places, the one's I've always dreamt of and met a lot of interesting people. One thing I learned from this trip, which confirms what i believe in, the best things in life are free! i just wish i can do this all over again with mySweetie.

On Not Making the Headlines

Okay, here’s the truth, I don’t hate leaving per se (see previous post). I hate being left more than I leaving. I hate leaving because, I dread flying. N0. Im not afraid of heights. I love heights. Getting to the top & seeing everything below somewhat gives me a victorious feeling. But the descending part..argh! That’s what I can’t stand. My ears are in so much pain as airplane lands that I feel I will never be able to hear again or my head will explode any second. And worse, tomorrows newspaper headline will say, “Lady who just landed popped her ear out”. It’s not the type of news I want to make.

I was told many times before that I should chew gum or swallow as the plane lands. I did both. But not one alleviated the pain or at least lessen even for a bit the ear pain I had experienced. So how do I keep my ears painfree when flying? Why does it seem that I’m the only one who had experience that during that flight? Are my ears different from yours?

I am going on a trip in a few days and so I googled my dilemma. I'm going to share what I found. Ear pain is caused by unequal pressures that develop on either side of the eardrum as the plane descends. Sucking sweets and gently blowing against a closed nose and mouth will usually push air into the middle ear, through the Eustachian tube, equalise the pressure and ease the pain. However some people’s Eustachian tube are too narrow or blocked due to certain conditions like colds, that prevents air from going to the middle ear. That’s why it’s more troublesome for them to get rid of the ear pain. Some people who are prone to this problem take antihistamines or decongestants during the flight. But another source said to avoid taking decongestants as they have side-effects such as dry mouth and drowsiness that exacerbate jetlag. Who would want that? Hmm… ear pain vs. jetlag? You choose.

I guess I just have to try again. Maybe this time my ear won’t pop in pain. I don’t like headlines.

**********

More Tips:
1) Chew or swallow. Some airlines offer sweets for you to chew on. That's sweet. ;p
2) Blow while holding your nostrils & keeping your mouth shut.
3) Yawn but don’t sleep. You won’t be able to chew, swallow or blow when you’re busy zzzzzzzz-ing.
4) Take anti-histamine as this help in limiting mucus that clogs your airways.
5) Spray your nose with decongestant an hour before landing then after 5 mins. Then every after 20mins til landing.
(I just read these things, I’m not sure if these work)
6) Ear plugs rock too! They help in slowing down air pressure changes outside your ear so your inner ear can adjust to the pressure changes. They block noise too.

When All things Fail:
1) Earpain usually subsides quickly. Painkillers will help to ease it more quickly though.
2) See your doctor if the pain or dulled hearing persist for days.

Have a Pain-Free Flight!