Aretha Franklin Covers Mariah Carey: "Touch my Body"

Watch Aretha Franklin sings Mariah Carey's 18th number 1 hit, "Touch my Body".

Mariah Carey's New Single "I Stay in Love"

Her Royal Highness, Mariah Carey has a new single called "I Stay In Love" her fourth from her latest album E=MC2. I really love it so much that i have to include it in my blog. It's a fusion of R&B and Hip-hop set in ballad, like only she can do better. Amazing song! Here is her performance in the X- Factor.

Go to her website (Mariah Carey.Com) for more information.

My little Halloween Squash!

Isn't he Scary.Booooo!

A couple of days ago , when i went to a produce store near my place to buy veggies for dinner, i couldn't help but notice a small squash, it looks like a small pumpkin and since Halloween is just around the corner, I decided to buy it and have fun with it?, I thought of carving it to make a small Jack O'Lantern, but there was a problem, I don't have neither the tools nor the skill to carve anything, then i thought that maybe i could just draw the scary eyes, the triangular nose, the over sized smile of the mouth using a black marker. It's not your ordinary Jack O'Lantern ( it's not hollow inside, can't put tea candle ) but, he looks scary enough, I think it works. Trick or Treat?!

Food Trip: Update on SHORO

Just this evening we went again to Shoro, our favorite Shwarma fast food in Tahlia, ordering the same food like we use to with three other friends, but this time it was kind of disappointing. There was nothing wrong with the food or with the beverages, they were just fine. There was this (pardon my words) stupid, rude, bigot Arab guy who was working there ( he is the guy who is preparing the shwarma), I think he's a Tunisian or Moroccan. My friend was waiting to get his order that was already paid and he was getting anxious for waiting to long, so he ask if he could get his order in a kind and proper manner because the guy was still arguing with another customer for long time, but the Arab guy replied "scoot", in English it means "shut up" and that's where it got nasty. It's a shame, i really love Shoro, but you don't say bad words or even argue with your customers, instead they should be courteous and attentive. Customers are the life of any business and they should take care of them. The management of this restaurant should take a second look at their workers and should train them properly, or better yet, they should not hire people who don't even went to school. Do not hire Barbarians!

Rating: From 1 to 5 which 5 is the highest score, I give this particular Shoro branch a 1, because of their bad customer service.

Poverty and Corruption

From Sudan in Africa, to Haiti in the Caribbeans, to Bangladesh and even my beloved country the Philippines in Asia, are just some of the countries that have been experiencing extreme poverty in our world today. Some are probably just more severe than others , but severe or not, still it's poverty and people should not be living the way they do.

Access to good health care, food, basic education or as simple as to live in a safe and clean environment for their families, are just some of the basic things that people need, to live with dignity and pride. It is the government's duty to provide all these basic but very important things to its people, but due to corruptions, oftentimes these things are not met.

In some countries, corruption has been a way of life, a part of the system, a part of their culture. It begins with greed, then lies and then it multiplies, a never ending cycle. We have got to make a stand and break the infinite cycle of corruption in our society, for as long as there is corruption , there is poverty.

To all the corrupt government officials of the world, you are accountable to all the sufferings and misery of countless people. You may think that you are the luckiest person of all, but believe me, you are just walking down the Primrose path and we all know where that path is heading. Your time will surely come, soon enough!

The Bible says:

"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows"
1 Timothy 6:10

My Early Christmas 2008!

We Filipinos, we celebrate our Christmas very early. And when we said early, we mean early. I remember when i was just a boy, i used to set up our (plastic) Christmas Tree* early in September, 3 months ahead of Christmas. Funny huh? I don't know but for me, whenever i hear that "ber" in those last 4 months of the year and smell that cool breeze of the morning, it feels so much like Christmas, even if "El Dia de todos los Santos" (The all Saints day in November 1) and "El dia de los Muertos" (The day of the Dead in November 2) plus the un official celebration of "Halloween" in October 31 are all yet to come.

Yesterday i have just set up my Christmas Tree. It's not your usual Christmas Tree, it's not even made of plastic, it's like made of coiled vine, shaped into a giant cone and sprayed with silver paint. It was actually from one of our shops which we used as window decoration for this year's Ramadan. Setting up my Christmas Tree early really gives me that Christmas spirit, especially here in Saudi Arabia where they don't celebrate Christmas, (obviously). Looking at my Christmas Tree now gives me the feeling of comfort, joy and even loneliness, all at the same time. Come to think of it, it's just wire, sticks and a bunch of pretty little bulbs with different colors, but it can really stir up your emotions.

"OH CHRISTMAS TREE"
"Oh Christmas tree, oh christmas tree, of all the trees most lovely Each year you bring to me delight, meaning in the christmas night Oh Christmas tree, oh christmas tree, of all the trees most lovely"

MY HUMBLE LITTLE CHRISTMAS TREE

*Christmas Trees in the Philippines are usually made of synthetic materials like plastic, instead of real fresh pine tree, the one they are using in Europe and North America.

Blog Action Day October 15, 2008 POVERTY

Join Blog Action Day against poverty on October 15, 2008. You can help in many ways like Publish poverty related issues on your blog, you can Donate your day's earning to charity or Promote the day by placing their banners, badges and video to help get mass participation. Get involved, click NOW!


Muchas gracias al Sr. Manolo Pérez para la información sobre El Día de Acción Blog 2008. Para ir a su blog, haga clic AQUI.

CBS interview with Journey and Filipino lead vocalist Arnel Pineda

For those of you who missed the CBS television interview with Journey and Filipino lead vocalist Arnel Pineda, well here it is. I found this in Youtube. I don't have any idea when this interview happened, may be a couple of months ago? Anyway just watch it and enjoy!



They have just released their new album called "REVELATION" which made it to number 1 in the Billboard Independent Album Chart and number 5 in the Billboard 200 Album Chart.

See some of Arnel Pineda's Photo in Los Angeles, Here, from my friend, Michael Agnis' friendster Profile.

To see more of my video collections in my Mi Gente site , click HERE.

Food Trip: Shoro Fastfood Restaurant

It was the second day of Eid and yes IKEA was open and we did went to Kalediah but I don't want to dwell on that story, this time i want to share to you one of my favorite fast food here in Jeddah. SHORO. After we went to IKEA and Kalediah we decided to try eating at Shoro. They have many branches here in Jeddah but because we are near Tahliah, we have decided to go to their branch behind First Plaza in Tahlia.

Their specialty is a shawarma like sandwich but it's not rolled like the usual shawarma that we see in some restaurants here, instead it looks more like a Mexican Tacos. They have chicken and beef, both are delicious but we ordered chicken plus Pomegranate Juice, Delicious!

Rating: from 1 to 5, i give this restaurant a 4, they should have tables and chairs for customers to sit while eating. Actually they used to have chairs and tables there, but they said the baladia* prohibited them because the restaurant is near the creek.

Note: rating is for this specific branch in Tahlia only!; *Baladia is a group of people who are working with the government that deals with the businesses and workers in Saudi Arabia.

See UPDATE, click HERE.

Eid Mubarak! (The No work, just totally having fun de Luxe Edition)

Yesterday, was the first day of Eid. And so we painted the town red, not the bloody type of course. Here are some pictures to prove it.


The new Mall of Arabia here in Jeddah

Again at "El Muro con los Mosaicos" with colleagues



We also went to the Corniche, too bad we don't have photos there because we were all busy eating and no one ever remember to take some shots. Today we will go to Kalediah and IKEA, i just hope it's open on the second day of EID.