There’s Angelina Jolie’s full pout, Julia Robert’s wide smile, Jack Nicholson’s devilish grin, Robin Padilla’s twitched smirk, there’s Kris Aquino’s half open-mouthed scripted pang-BEAM toothpaste-commercial smile, then there’s Tina Bacud’s-walang poise-can’t-contain-my-enthusiasm-mouth-wide-open-smile. I noticed, that’s how I am in most of my pictures when I get extremely excited seeing how things I only get to see in my dreams before unfold before me. Miss Toni whom I have been with in my 5-day business trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi was tolerant enough of how often I get so giddy or what I dub as, my exclamation point happy emotion.
Beautiful Colorful lamps sa tabi-tabi lang, exclamation point nasobrahan-sa-buka-ng-bibig- overjoyed smile!!!
Illustrations:
Burj Khalifa, OMG, kinikilig ako!!
Dubai Train Stations, super clean and mukhang space shuttle, so out of this world!!
Souk Madinat Jumeirah, I feel so sex-and-the-city, I’m the happiest girl alive today!!!
A camel, a real live camel!!!!
Disyerto, this is heaven, ang ganda!!!!
If only the world sees its everyday through a first timer’s eyes, a pleasant mix of fear, excitement, gratitude and appreciation. Things are seen and experienced a hundred times more beautiful, a thousand times more wonderful, a million times more breath-taking.
Illustration
First Timer: Hi Sir, can you give me directions on how to go to the Union Train Station?
Old Timer: Three blocks from here you’ll see a white building, turn right, go straight,
you’ll find the entrance to Baniyas Station linked to Union Station.
Fairly easy to understand. But the first timer sees everything else differently. On the corner of the first block is where a simple yet elegant mosque stands. Three men dressed in white robes are removing their slippers as a sign of respect to the sanctity of the place. An Indian man crosses the street on his bicycle, expertly driving his way through the pedestrian traffic. The street has a confused smell of shawarma and sweet perfume. The Nepalese, Indians, Thais, Filipinos and the locals and believe it or not, even the tall and blonde Europeans blend seamlessly in the street, all melting into the mini-United Nations that is Dubai. The first timer turns right as instructed and sees a white building with a sign written in Arabic letters. The letters look like frosting in a cake, all wavy and artsy. And the doors, oh my God the doors. In Dubai Souks, no two doors are alike and every piece is a bit of history taken out from a museum or well preserved from several centuries ago. A garden leads to the train station and entering the train station abruptly changes the scene from old-and-everything-is-made-in Gold Arabian market to the future where everything is automated, enclosed in glass, blinking in different colors of LED lighting, voice overs translated in different languages, wide-spaced fast trains; there was a brief moment when the first timer wanted to go back to the Philippines , grab Noynoy Aquino from his Malacanang seat and bring the president to Dubai and say, “Di ba ako ang boss mo? Puwes, gawin mo sa Pilipinas ‘to!!” I will run out of adjectives in painting a picture of this adventure, yes adventure, which the locals will easily qualify as a routine.
May dalawang pinto sa paligid-ligid lang, exclamation point nasobrahan-sa-buka-ng-bibig- happy smile!!!
Oh, pati isang pinto sa tabi ng paligid-ligid lang, exclamation point nasobrahan-sa-buka-ng-bibig- WOW smile!!!
Burj Al-Arab kahit sa malayong point of view, exclamation point nasobrahan-sa-buka-ng-bibig- gusto-kong-mag-tumbling-smile!!!
Sa wakas, nakakita na rin ako ng desert kahit wala akong makitang camel sa paligid, sige pa rin, exclamation point nasobrahan-sa-buka-ng-bibig- jump for joy smile!!!
To many many more happy exclamation points moment!!
Shukran Universe!!=)
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