I first encountered a unique shade of faux snakeskin back in April 2008 while I was shopping for clothes for a trip to Bahrain. It was light, brownish peach, with black patterns.

The fake snakeskin pattern was on a handbag, shiny-new back then on the shelves of Muscat City Centre’s Mango shop. I found the color scheme, design and overall look of the bag so gorgeous and unique that I shelled out 15 Omani Riyals (around 40 US Dollars) for the item. Naturally, it was my staple accessory during the said Bahrain trip.

Late last May, more than a year after I made my purchase of love at Mango, I found a wallet on display at Muscat City Centre Centrepoint’s Splash store. It was in exactly the same pattern as my handbag, which surprised and delighted me to no end.

The wallet was not from Mango, but Paprika (a bit lower on the fashionista’s fabulousness scale than the former). However, both the bag and wallet looked so irresistibly coordinated.

Thus, a shopping expedition was in order as soon as I received my paycheck. My acquisition mission was set for Thursday, 4th June 2009.

Shi with Mango snakeskin handbag, posing in Mark’s & Spencer after watching Push at Markaz Al Bahja. The top is a gift from my friend Grace’s UK holiday, while the leggings are Adidas. The princessy golden sandals are from Muscat Fashions in Ruwi!

Mango snakeskin bag, purchased in April 2009

Paprika snakeskin wallet with golden buckle lock, purchased 4th June 2009 for 5 Omani Riyals (around 14 US Dollars)

Exterior of the Paprika snakeskin wallet

Interior of the Paprika snakeskin wallet, a matching peach-toned faux leather

The snakeskin bag and wallet – together at last!

What can I say, even in the ever-changing world of fashion, there are matches made in heaven, by different brands.

I just heard over the news that the Filipino nurse reported to have carried swine flu into Saudi Arabia has fully recovered from the illness and has even gone back to work at the King Faisal hospital in Riyadh.

However, reports on TFC have also confirmed that A (H1N1) has reached my hometown, Iloilo City. The initial case involved only one person verified to be carrying the virus. I hope the spread will not be rapid and rampant.

I am praying it will not infect any of my family or friends. With times being hard economically as it is, getting sick is out of the question, especially with the strain it will put not only on our bodies but also on our meager budgets. Not to mention the social stigma it will carry at work and with other people!

On the Gulf front, swine flu has reached Oman as well. I got this piece of news from two sources – (1) local news and (2) word of mouth (no pun intended).

From the first source, it was reported that there were three Omani students who have been infected by the virus. It is a good thing they were identified and subsequently medicated, but no other details were given as to who and where they were.

These people arrived from the United States, where they caught the illness. In addition to the summer vacation and the corollary influx of students coming home, lots of people have been going out of and coming into Oman for holidays.

The second and more intriguing news source relayed to yours truly that a Philippine national working at a popular American fastfood chain in Al Khuwair caught A (H1N1) while out of the country and only discovered he or she (gender not disclosed) was a carrier while already back at work in Muscat.

What’s more, the fastfood’s aforementioned branch was closed for half a day earlier this week as a precaution, presumably for some quick-fix disinfecting and to make sure all their other staff have not caught the virus.

However, I must emphasize that the second case remains unconfirmed by local authorities and media as of this writing.

Given the pandemic levels that swine flu has already reached, it would be better to err on the side of caution.

On a lighter note, Diana Vilibert shared this swine flu shirt at Nerve Blogs: The Modern Materialist:

And, no, I will not mention anything about its medical and factual veracity.

I never really realized how much I miss my home country until I read this nostalgic entry from my friend Genefel’s blog. I have been away from the Philippines for nearly two years now. Come the first of October 2009, it will be exactly two years to the day.

To be honest, I miss so many things from my hometown, the beautiful coastal Iloilo City, foremost of which are my family, friends, old colleagues, the accessible public transport system, and the delicious, affordable food.

I am dying for a piece of Jolibee Chicken Joy or a slice of Andok’s liempo. Or at least a proper KFC Original Recipe meal, with steaming-hot gravy and a cup of rice.

However, I miss my pet Japanese Spitz doggie, Pikachu (yes, shamelessly named after the perky, literally electrifying Pokemon), much, much more than all the aforementioned Pinoy culinary delights combined.

Pikachu up close

Pikachu from another angle

Pikachu giving me a wet kiss on the cheek!

The above photos were taken back in 2007, give or take few months before I left for Oman. I found all these files from the memory card of my trusty Nokia 6600. Apologies for the not-so-high quality of the images!

Pikachu is not a pure Japanese Spitz. Her mother, Choco, was, but her father was apparently a strapping poodle. Thus, you can see that Pikachu has inherited her sire’s big eyes and floppy ears.

My doggie has been with me since May 2003. She was so tiny when she first arrived at our home, being only a few months old back then. She didn’t know how to eat from her pet bowl, but would guzzle milk like there’s no tomorrow.

Pikachu grew fast and shed and grew back her thick, fluffy, white fur even more quickly. She liked to eat my favorite food as well – chicken liver, baked ziti with mixed tomato and carbonara sauce, roasted and butter-fried chicken, among many others.

I intend to go home early next year, perhaps sometime during the first calendar quarter. I will finally see my pet in person again, not just from a fuzzy webcam feed.

My mother always tells me over the phone that my baby has gained lots of weight because she now has even more food to eat, what with yours truly working abroad and all!

Congratulations to Rubilen Amit for winning the first ever Women’s World 10-Ball Championship.

The pool tournament was held during the first week of June this year at Metro Manila and concluded today. It was broadcast over TFC Pay-Per-View here in the Middle East.

Rubilen, a young Filipina, was a dark horse in the contest, but her keen eye and steady hand even in difficult angles at the table gave her the much-deserved victory.

Before competing in professional billiards leagues, Rubilen was a consistent winner in Pan-Asian events, such as the Southeast Asian Games. She was also a very good basketball player, but she eventually chose billiards as the sport to dedicate her time and effort to.

Mabuhay ka, Rubilen!

A visit to the Al Falaj Hotel in Ruwi was in order today for business reasons. I was there for a few hours in the early afternoon.

I was able to get neither a decent breakfast nor lunch, so I decided to have a late brunch in the hotel’s Coffee Shop, which has a regular breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet.

However, since it was a bit late, the lunch buffet was finished and a la carte was the only option left. I went through the menu and selected an iced fruit juice for my drink.

For my main course, I asked what kinds of spaghetti they had available, because I was actually craving for some Spaghetti Bolognaise. The waiter responded that they only had Spaghetti Napolitaine.

I had spaghetti with plain tomato sauce back in the Philippines from the Sbarro restaurant chain, so I assumed this would be more or less the same thing. Besides, having something vegetarian for a change would be healthful.

The service in Al Falaj’s Coffee Shop was efficient and professional. A short while after I placed my order, I received my drink and this hearty bread basket:

There were various types of bread: sticks, garlic, whole wheat, white, Arabic. A generous amount of butter was also provided. I enjoyed eating these as appetizers along with my cold fruit juice.

After only a short wait, my main dish was served:

It was tasty and different from the usual flavors of spaghetti I am accustomed to. Overall, I had a very nice meal. I definitely plan on coming back another time, for their buffet selections.

Iconic actor David Carradine, 72, best known for his work in the Kung-Fu television series and the Kill Bill movies, was found dead in his Thailand hotel room earlier today.

A maid reportedly discovered the actor’s naked body hanging inside his hotel room closet. He was in the city of Bangkok for the filming of the movie Stretch.

This is an end that I never imagined for one of my favorite actors and martial artists.

David was fairly successful in his acting career – with hundreds of film, television and stage performances to his credit. He is also famous for various Tai Chi instructional videos, enabling the ancient Chinese martial art to reach millions of people, from all walks of life.

I was very young then, but when Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues first aired on television, I followed the series religiously because of him. There was something irresistible about his calm aura and quiet yet compelling voice. He also performed his martial arts sequences with grace, ease, and confidence in his abilities.

When I heard that David was selected to play Bill in lieu of Warren Beatty in Quentin Tarantino’s action-packed, blood-drenched revenge feature Kill Bill, I was so happy that the former was given another shot at mainstream movies in his later life.

David’s mysterious death was most unexpected. Police and investigators believe this to be suicide, but his manager thinks otherwise.

The actor’s personal life was arguably more volatile than one would expect from his serene, charismatic onscreen persona. He had a history of alcohol and drug use, and had time and again entertained thoughts of taking his own life. He was married and divorced multiple times.

Rest in peace, David. You are a legend who will continue to live on the screen and in your fan’s hearts.

The whole world has been running scared of the Novel influenza A (H1N1) virus, more commonly known as “Swine Flu“, for several weeks now. What reportedly started in Mexico has spread all over the globe.

Probably the biggest swine-flu related news in my home country right now is that De La Salle University, based in the Philippine capital Metro Manila, has declared that classes are suspended until June 14th at the Taft campus. One of their students, a 21-year-old Japanese man who came into the country for a foreign exchange program, was found to have been infected by the virus.

The student did not exhibit the symptoms until at least a week after classes began at DLSU. The university’s school year started early, on Monday, 25th May 2009.

This foreign exchange student, apparently, was able to pass through the thermal scanners at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal during arrival. He had attended four classes during his first week at school, interacting with at least a hundred students, not counting DLSU faculty and staff.

As of this writing, the student’s roommate has already checked into a hospital to self-quarantine, as a precautionary measure. The Department of Health has already begun a trace on all the people the infected girl had somehow been in contact with.

DLSU is currently at Alert Level 3, hence the suspension of classes. All other educational institutions in Metro Manila are at Alert Level 2, with classes still ongoing.

As for the Middle East, I picked up from ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel (TFC) news that a Filipino nurse working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has been found positive of carrying the A (H1N1) virus. This person has just come back into Saudi after a trip home to the Philippines.

So far, Oman’s Ministry of Health has been reporting through various media (newspapers, SMS, television, etc.) that the Sultanate remains free of Swine Flu.

I hope this will not change until the epidemic scare abates.