Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

San Juan - Rueda Year End Letter 2007

As another year is coming to a close, the Rueda-San Juan year-end letter is again being sent to our family, friends and loved ones with hope that it is received in good health.

The past year has been a blur as the 3 of us were busy with a lot of things. As Xianelle was nearing her fourth birthday, it also meant the start of going to the "big school" for her. We also got busy preparing for our Hong Kong – Philippine vacation in May. Everybody was excited to go home!

The first quarter was spent preparing for Xiane's entry to the "big school". She has been going to Nursery last year and as she is turning 4, it's time for her to step up. Being an expat in Qatar means having a limited number of choices for schools and slots as there were hundreds, if not thousands, of other parents wanting a place for their kids in the same school you chose. Mavis and I decided that we'd try to get the best option possible and send her to a school that we thought would give her a better start in her education. Also, since Xiane doesn't understand Filipino yet, she would be at a loss if we placed her in a Filipino community school.  Several application forms and fees later, Doha British and Montessori School (DBMS) called to say that Xiane can start the September school year with them. We were glad that Xiane got a place and that we got this settled before we went for our yearly vacation.

We headed to Hong Kong on May 4. Our stay in Hong Kong was definitely a blast. This time was different from our visit in 2001. Back then, it was just Mavis and I, whereas this time, we were 8 in all (6 adults and 2 kids). My parents, sisters and niece met up with us on our second day in Hong Kong. Traveling as a couple is definitely much easier than being in a group with both the "young ones" and the "young once". Everything had to be done a bit slower. But it was fun just the same. Nothing compares to being able to travel and have a vacation with family. Who could forget the long walk we took going to the Victoria Peak Tram station or our frequent stops for rest in Ocean Park? Everybody got the shopping bug when we took them to the streets of Wanchai and Ladies Market. And with our entire luggage (16 of them), we even had to rent our own mini bus to take us to our hotel in Disneyland after spending 4 nights in Kowloon! There, we were able to swim with Goofy, had photos taken with our favorite Disney characters, watch the Disney Parade and be amazed as the sky lit up with fireworks at the end of the day. With all the walking taking its toll on us, only Mavis and my dad were spared from bouts of fever, cough and cold. The whole trip was tiring but definitely a trip to remember. (read more about the Hong Kong Experience)

We celebrated Xiane's birthday on June 16, a day before her real birth date. It's funny to think of where Xiane had been celebrating her birthday for the past 3 years. She was in Saudi when she had her 1st, her 2nd in Bahrain and her 3^rd in Qatar. She was turning 4 but this was her first time to celebrate it in the Philippines, with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and the whole lot. We had been preparing months ahead for Xiane's birthday in the Philippines. However, the decision for the family to be in costumes came just 1 week before the party. I dressed as one of the Dwarfs, Mavis was Mulan, Lolo was dressed as Aladdin, Mamita was Lilo, Tita Tin was Pocahontas, Tita Doc was Alice in Wonderland, Grammy was The Blue Fairy, Tita Ninang was also a fairy, and Tito Den (Tita Doc's husband) and Grandy were Pirates. Kids came in their costumes; Princesses, fairies, cowboys, pirates, Batman, Green Lantern, Angels, and what have you. Some adults asked for Tiara's so they could wear them. Others were bringing wings! The party also gave us the opportunity to see friends and relatives we haven't seen for a long time. It was well attended and everybody enjoyed the games, the food, clowns and their loot bags. No one left empty handed! And it was a sight to see Xiane enjoy her party and see her eyes gleam with glee as she opened her presents. (view the photos of Xianelle's 4 ^th birthday party).

As always, I got to go back to Qatar a month before Mavis and Xiane completes their Philippine vacation. Upon their arrival in August, no time was wasted as we went to follow up on Xiane's enrollment to DBMS, buy uniforms and prepare all the school requirements. We also had to hire a private service to take Mavis and Xiane to and from school as the school didn't offer any bus service nor would Mavis let Xiane ride the bus by herself if it was even offered.

The 3 months that succeeded were colorful, to say the least. Sure there were moments when Xiane sat on the naughty chair for being so talkative; when she came home thrice with sand on her hair; when she made her classmate cry with a pinch after being teased. But Xiane also made strides in making new friends and showed great moments as her teachers would often praise her charm, thoughtfulness, and her smartness. She got to play a Shark in their school assembly, saying the longest lines among her peers ("I am a shark. A shark is dangerous. I have sharp teeth"). And on International day, she recited "Good morning everyone! I am Xianelle R. San Juan. I am from the Philippines. This is the Philippine Flag. The blue represents peace. The Red represents love for my country. The 3 stars represents the 3 big islands in my country named Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Sun represents hope. Salamat po!"  She excelled academically as she has learned to read and write in a span of 3 months, which is a great achievement for kids her age.  I'm sure Mavis gets to be a proud mom every time parents and teachers compliment Xiane for being who she is.  Oh, and after giving up on the private transport service, Mavis now drives me to office and Xiane to school every weekday!

It already has been 2 and a half years since we first landed in Qatar and we are actually enjoying it. You don't get a lot of places to go to nor things to do but we still find ourselves lacking time for our daily activities. Looking back, it has indeed been a wonderful year.  We are grateful to God for all the blessings that He continues to shower us every single moment. Taking a piece from our year-end letter last year - We thank the Lord not only for material abundance but most of all for our loving and supportive families; for wonderful friends who make life away from home less sad and lonely; for old friends who have remained to be good friends through the years; and last but not least for the gift of health. We hope that we all are showered continuous blessings in the coming year and be stronger in faith and love.

If you want to keep up with what's happening with us, you can visit our blog (http://www.lifeonthespot.com) which gives you a peek at our life in Qatar and our photo gallery (http://gallery.lifeonthespot.com) which you may want to check out. Let us also cheer you up with our little dance by clicking here.

You can always send us your thoughts through the following contact info:

Christian San Juan                        Mavis Rueda San Juan
Email: xtian001@gmail.com           Email: mavisrueda@gmail.com
Yahoo ID: xtian001                       Yahoo ID: voluptuousmavs

If you do get to Qatar, you can always call us at:

Chris: (974) 5030141
Mavis: (974) 6831219

 
With love and prayers,
Christian, Mavis and Xianelle

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We had wanted to spend some more time in bed but we all had to get up early for the 7:30 am Christmas mass at the Parish Center.  Xiane had a pleasant surprise when she got out of the bedroom though, a present from Santa!  Just before we left for church, we allowed her to open her gift.  She was so happy! 

To my surprise there were so many people who attended the mass.  I was thinking there wouldn’t be a lot of church-goers since most of them had either attended the midnight mass on Christmas Eve or would be attending the mass in the evening.  But I was completely wrong.  The parking lot was filled with vehicles of all sorts and the Parish grounds with people of various nationalities.  It was a windy and freezing morning but we were lucky enough to get some seats.  Although we were wearing jackets, it was still hard to get warm under that condition.  But when the mass was over, I felt so thankful to God for having allowed us to attend mass that morning.  It was such a blessing!

After mass we immediately went home since we still had to prepare for lunch.  Xiane had a moment to open some more of her gifts, those coming from her grandparents and aunts.  She was a picture of happiness and joy. 

Then it was off to the kitchen, non-stop!  As we were preparing, he was telling me that this will be the last time we’re cooking for Christmas.  But I know that was just the exhaustion talking.  For when the guests arrived, he was more than happy to do the entertaining.  2 families, Mel and Tito Milo came.  All-in-all it was a happy celebration.  The kids enjoyed playing with the Wii.  The grown ups enjoyed having a chat with each other.  They all enjoyed the food that we prepared: baked macaroni, bbq spareribs, roasted chicken, fried chicken, potato salad and brazo de Mercedes which by the way was made by a good friend of mine.  The brazo was so good, so if anyone is interested just let me know. 

Our guests spent practically spent some good hours with us, when it was time to go, I gave them some baked mac and salad to take home.  When all the guests had left, we went out.  We dropped by Zamzam Pharmacy to give my friend Ate Ochie some food.  We also gave Tian’s barber some.  Their appreciation for that very small gesture means so much, something that money can’t buy.  Then we proceeded to return Tian’s Xbox 360 since it had the TRL (three red lights).  According to him if it has that then it’s defective. 

So that was how we spent Christmas.  Until now we still have a hangover that we wish it’s always a holiday.  But sooner or later, everything will be back to normal- back to work and school.  Nonetheless, there’s still New Year to celebrate and 2 weeks more of rest for me and Xiane, I guess we’ll just have to enjoy it while it lasts.

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We’ve had the privilege to be invited to a friend’s Christmas party last Sunday, December 23.  The previous Thursday we invited them over for lunch.  We’ve known Chiclet and her husband since we got here in Qatar, when we lived in Al Bayyan Gardens.  And although, they have often invited us  to their children’s birthday parties, it was only lately that we’ve had the chance to invite them.  I was so happy when finally that long overdue invitation finally took place.

We were bringing some macaroons that I ordered from my friend and presents for her three girls whom Xianelle is so fond of, especially Jenelle.  When we arrived there were just a few guests but after some thirty minutes, the guests started coming.  There were a total of 50 guests, children included that night.  Well they had a very spacious and nice place to accommodate all those guests.  There were a lot of food, some they prepared personally and some they ordered.  It was truly a feast!  They even had this humongous turkey which was prepared by the man of the house himself.  It was so good, now we’re thinking of having turkey for New Year. 

The children had a few games before dinner.  Too bad, they couldn’t have more after dinner since it was very cold that night.  But surely they all had fun with the few games that they had.  After dinner, the “videoke” was set up.  But of course, I was one of the main singers, hahaha!.  Tian didn’t have to remind me to give others a chance though of course I knew I had to.  Then some guest started dancing while we were singing, so we chose some fast and upbeat songs.  Then later on, I found myself dancing with them as well, to the tune of YMCA!  It was so much fun.  I had a drink.  It was a pineapple-flavored alcoholic beverage.  You wouldn’t taste the alcohol but you would yourself get warm as you continue to gulp on it.

We left the party at around 8pm.  Although we still wanted to stay, we had to go home and take a rest.  Xiane got some gifts from Tita Chiclet which made her very happy.  She opened them up on our way home then she fell asleep halfway home.  Chiclet kept thanking us for coming but we are more thankful for the invitation.  We met a lot of people there but most of all we were happy with the warm reception that we got from Chiclet and her husband.  The next day she was calling me to tell me that she forgot to give me my gift.  It was really sweet of her.  On the other hand she was able to make Tian promise that he will help me cook some “halayang ube” or purple yam jam. 

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My Xbox 360 Falcon has the Red Rings of Light out-of-the-box!


The 175W indicates it's a Falcon

I bought my Xbox 360 in PC One on December 24. After hooking up all the wires and turning it on, what greeted me was the 3 Red Rings of Death (RRoD). I told myself that it can not be! This is a Falcon and out of the box, it already has the RRoD. My Xbox 360 Falcon has the Red Rings of Light! I turned it off and turned it on again, giving me the same Red lights. The third time was a charm as it booted and I was even able to play and update the system through Xbox Live. I knew that it would be temporary and would have to return it back to PC One but never the less; I was still able to play some Call of Duty 4 (COD4) in the evening. On the morning of 25th, I tried booting it up but out of 20 tries, it must have only booted thrice. I even took photos of it since it might boot up miraculously when I return it to PC One. So after the visitors left that afternoon, the 3 of us went straight to PC One to return the Xbox 360.

What’s good about PC One was that within 3 days of buying an item, you could return the product and ask for a refund. This, of course, is limited to certain items and does not cover DVDs, CDs, and others that you might be able to duplicate within those 3 days. The Filipino guy at the counter asked me if I wanted a refund once he found out that I just bought the item the other day but told him that I wanted an exchange. I was passed to one of their technical guys and went to their gaming room where he tested the 360. Once plugged, it did show the RRD and was passed to another guy who took care of the paperwork. I was given the replacement, another 175w Xbox 360 Elite Falcon box. Same manufacture date as the previous one and was told that I have a year warranty. I was surprised as the guys who sold me the 360 on the 24th told me I only get 3 months warranty! Wow! That is all swell!

Anyway, upon reaching home and setting everything up, it booted flawlessly. I have been able to update and connect to Xbox Live and have spent about 4 hours straight playing COD4 online yesterday and 3 more in the evening, all without any hassle.

So for any of you guys wanting an Xbox Elite with a Falcon motherboard, head to PC One as I only saw 2 boxes left. Great warranty and they’re the only one who has the Flacon Xbox 360 Elites in Qatar. But this also only goes to show that the Xbox 360, Falcon motherboard or not, still suffers from the Red Rings of Death.

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We spent Christmas Eve at home just us three.  A friend of ours whose wife and daughter are spending their break in the Philippines was supposed join us for dinner. But he canceled since he had to go to work that night.  I was going to prepare steak, potato salad and fried chicken but since it’s just us three, we settled for “nilagang baka” or beef stew.  It was a tasty and satisfying meal nonetheless.  Then Tian and I spent the rest of the evening preparing the food for lunch the next day since we’ll be having some guests.

But of course Christmas won’t be complete without making calls to our families.  It was so nice to be able to greet them and talk to them for a much longer time.  We can also sense in their voice how glad they are to hear our voices, especially Xiane’s.  She was even able to sing to them her favorite Christmas carol, “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer”.  Sadly, we couldn’t join our families but we sure hope that they felt us with them during this season.

Before dinner we decided to give Xiane our gift.  Tian reckoned that it was better to give her one that night rather than give everything to on Christmas day itself and get overwhelmed.  I guess my husband was right, at least that night she had a blast playing with her new toy.  Then she fell asleep before the clock struck 12.

At 12 midnight, Tian opened a bottle of champagne which was a present he got on his birthday last September.  I’ve never liked any liquor as much as I did that night.  It was perfectly chilled and was so good to drink. After sometime, I got groggy and went to snooze. But before I did, I greeted my husband a Merry Christmas with a warm hug and lots of sweet kisses.  `

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