LP 66: Tuyo (Dry)

Tuyo sa ingles ay "dry". Kaya ito ang naisip kong ilahok sa LP ngayong huwebes, ang mga naglalakihang tuyong isda o dry fish dito sa Bangladesh.

Kuha ito sa Cox's Bazar. Isa lamang ito sa hile-hilerang tindahan ng tuyong isda o shutki sa Bangla. (Taken at Cox's Bazar. Dry fish or shutki is one of the main products of this district)

Ang lalaki di ba? Natulala na lamang ako sa laki ng mga ibang isda na halos kasinglaki ng 2 taong gulang na bata. (I was in awe to see these big big dried fishes, some shutki's are as big as a two year old kid.)

Narito ang ibang "tuyo".

My Favorite Space

It is only here in Dhaka where I was able to finally have my own room with no one to share with. Thanks for living alone in a three-bedroom company own apartment. The apartment is my own space, my own world. I have the freedom to walk around my apartment regardless what I’m wearing or if I’m wearing anything at all. In this apartment, I am the queen and the master; I can do whatever I want. Eat inside my room, in the kitchen or in the living room. But, there are two rooms that I really consider my favorite place or a place where I can really relax:
1st, is my bedroom: according to my colleague who stays with me whenever she is here in Dhaka, is my cocoon. I go straight to my room once I reach home, open the laptop and browse the net while sitting in the beanbag. During weekends, I stay almost the whole day inside my room and go out only when I have to grab something to eat. I like taking naps also in the afternoon together with my furry roommates sputnik the turtle and Happy Gilmore the bear. By the way, Happy Gilmore is celebrating his birthday on the 25th too because he was given to me as a birthday gift last year.

2nd is the kitchen: I love cooking (for myself) and baking for my guinea pigs. In here, I learn how to cook new recipes and experiment some recipe too. One wedding wish gift will be a kitchen showcase with all the hi-tech equipment that can help me in my cooking and baking. But honestly, nothing can top my favorite place, and that is in the loving arms of H. :-)

I'm sharing my favorite place to join Caryn's Birthday give away. Who knows? I may get lucky this time since it's my birthday month too :-)

P.S.
I met Caryn here in the blogosphere because of her Creative Swap which I intend to join regularly.

LP 65: Basa (Wet)

Kuha ito sa Cox'z Bazar noong nakaraang taon.
(This was taken last year at Cox's Bazar.)



Sa gabi, kami ay nagpalipas ng oras sa paglalakad sa kahabaan ng dalampasigan. Nagtampisaw lamang kami dahil ayaw naming mabasa at "low tide" din.
(At night, we spend our leisure time at the long stretch of the seashore, just waded because we don't like to get wet and it was low tide.)

Pero kinaumagahan, ayan!(But when morning comes, dyaran!)

Basang-basa na dahil sa lakas ng alon kahit nasa dalampasigan ka lang, paghampas ng alon, ikaw ay mabubuwal at mababasa ng todo. (We are so wet because of the strong waves, even if you are just at the seashore, once the waves hit you, you will definitely fall down and get so wet too!)

Narito ang ibang lahok! (Here are the other entries.)

Bangla 101 B

my handwritten bangla numbers, vowels and consonants

Updates on my learning the Bangla language.

I was able to memorize the numbers and alphabets in one hour :-) the other day. And yesterday, i started trying reading the ads in bangla. So my staff were amaze that I learn so quick. The problem is, the pronunciation of this alphabets. I still find them all sounding the same especially the four Ta (to) and the Da (Do) plus the three Sha (sho). In time I will learn them. I really have too.

Lp 64: Kandado

Ang Kandado...

Alam kong magtago ng sikreto (I Know how to keep a secret)

Bigay ito ng aking kapareha sa Creative Swap. Ang ganda niya ano? Sayang nga lang at hindi nakarating sa akin ang susi nito. Binubuksan kasi ang mga package dito mula sa ibang bansa, paraan ng surveillance dito.

The lock/Padlock
This is from my Creative swap partner. Beautiful, right? Too bad, the key didn't reach me anymore. As part of surveillance here, the postal/courier services can open all the packages that are coming in from abroad.

Ating buksang ang ibang kandado (let's open the other locks)

LP 63: Dito Lang (Only Here)

Noong bata pa ako, lagi kong pinapangarap makulong sa loob ng SM at manirahan sa loob ng isang gabi na libre lahat ang pagkain at pwedeng gamitin ang mga paninda sa loob. Katulad ba ng mga nasa pelikula na yun mga bida kapag nakulong sa loob ng malls ay ginagamit ang mga paninda doon para sa kaligtasan nila. Hindi ko lubos akalain na mangyayari sa akin ang makulong sa loob ng grocery, at dito lang yan sa Dhaka nangyari.

When i was a kid, i always dream of getting stuck inside SM mall, and stay there for a night where I can eat the foods for free and use the merchandise also. Just like in the movies where the characters can use all the things inside the mall for their survival.I never expected that it will happened to me. I got stocked inside a grocery store and it happened only here in that Dhaka.


Kuha ito noong nakaraang Setyembre 2008 sa loob ng grocery.Pangalawang araw palang ito ng ramadan. Sa panahon ng ramadan, ang oras ng opisina ay mula alas nuwebe ng umaga hanggang 430pm lamang upang may oras pa ang mga empleyado na makauwi at makarating sa kanilang tirahan para sa kanilang "iftar" o "breaking of the fast".

This picture was taken last September 2008 inside a grocery store. It was just the second day of the Ramadan. During Ramadan, the office hours are shortened ffrom 9am til 430pm to give time for the employees to go home in time for their iftar or the breaking of the fast.


Kaya naisipan kong mamili sa grocery. Ang hindi ko alam, sa oras pala ng iftar na kadalasan ay 30 minutos, ang lahat ng tindahan ay nagsasara pansamantala upang magkapag-iftar din ang mga trabahador at empleyado. Kaya hayan, naiwan ako sa loob ng grocery. Ako lang ang nag-iisang kustomer sa loob at ng mapansin ako ng mga empleyadong nakaupo sa sahig at kumakain ng kanilang "iftar meal", ako ay kanilang inanyayahang saluhan sila.

So I decided to buy some groceries. I didn't know, that during the iftar break which is usually 30 minutes long, all the stores and shops closes to give the employees time to have their iftar. So, i was left alone inside the grocery. When the employees who are already seated on the floor and started eating saw me standing alone in the aisle, they invited me to join them.


At dito lang sa dhaka ako nakikain sa mga estranghero, sa loob ng grocery, ng pagkain nakahanda sa dyaryo at kumain ng nakakamay.

It is Only here in Dhaka where I accepted an invitation from total strangers to join them in eating, stock inside a grocery store, with the food that was served in a newspaper and eat by hands.


What an experience!

Narito ang mga ibang kalahok

Mission Accomplished

Finally, after one year and 6 months, I was able to visit our Sylhet showroom. This is the only showroom that I haven’t visited yet since I started working here. FYI, our company has 14 showrooms aside from the dealers and franchise-dealers showroom plus one in Kolkata, and all this, I have to re-do their planogram and VM them and have regular visits in order to maintain the set-ups.

We started early from Dhaka, around 6am. During this time, you will see a different Dhaka. Roads are free of jam; except for the main road entering and exiting Dhaka which is 24/7 always jam.On this part you’ll see the busy wholesale markets for flowers, fruits, veggies, fishes, meats & live animals full with people specifically men in their longgis, buying crates by crates and bundles by bundles of fresh produce.

One thing that you will notice here in Bangladesh, they have lots of rotunda. And in this rotundas stood monuments both historical and sculptural, others had fountains and gardens on it.

It was a long drive and luckily the roads are all good. It’s like going home to Ilocos because you see miles and miles of rice paddies and other crops. It’s a respite from the busy and congested Dhaka. When we are near Sylhet already, we notice that the cows are free to roam on the roads since the farmlands are just beside the highway. So we say “rickshaws are the king of the road in Dhaka, while cows are the king of the road in sylhet”.

After one rest stop, a brunch break, we reached our showroom around 12nn. We started working right away knowing that we only have limited time to fix the showroom because our CEO doesn’t allow me to stay out of Dhaka for the night. It is always a round trip for me whenever I have to visit our outside Dhaka showroom.
We didn’t have much time to roam around sylhet because the showroom is two floors and we have to finish fixing the accents & decors before 7pm, we just went to Shah Jalal Shrine after lunch (which was at 3pm) as a special request of my girls. I have to cover myself also so that I can enter the compound.

Around 8pm, we started our journey back to Dhaka and we arrived Dhaka at 130am.