They're Watching Us

The thing with our office (Al Ustaz Educ. Centre, see pic, click to enlarge) is that our internet connection is hooked up through LAN via the computer shop next door. So while the speed is fast, the internet connection also observes office hours. When the computer shop closes, all of my LimeWire downloads are put on hold. And that is why last night when the PCGuys decided to close early, I watched Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly, one of the movies I have previously downloaded.

I have been excited about the movie since I heard about it last year mainly because of the animation (a style called Rotoscope ie A-ha's Take On Me Video where actual film footage is traced over to create an animated effect). It has been done before (like Linklater's Waking Life and even in some Disney movies) but I think it's the first time that big stars were cast in this kind of animation style.

I did not have great expectations for the movie because I had no idea what it was all about. So when the film bluntly gave the storyline in the first sequence I was all ready to be blown away. Drugs in future Los Angeles and in Rotoscope.

I was so glad the movie didn't become a Hollywood cliche, rather it stood its ground and just let the darkly funny narrative flow. It was so sarcastically witty and wildly comic that it's almost hard to tell whether you're supposed to laugh or genuinely feel sorry for the tragic characters.

The actors were so good you could almost forget they're animated. As usual, Keanu Reeves was at his best because his character only required so much from him so there were a lot of "whoas" and "hummms". Robert Downey Jr and Woody Harrelson stole the show for the most part and Winona Ryder stole jewelry. Aw! She needed to work but had to disguise herself in an animated film so people won't recognize her from the wanted posters. Aw! Seriously, I'd say Winona already redeemed herself when she appeared as a flamed actress in Simone and with Darkly, she's off to win our hearts again or the Heart of the Ocean (jewelry again? Aw!). Ok enough Winona jokes.

Before this post turns into a full blown review allow me to change the subject. I only meant to say I watched A Scanner Darkly and I loved it. It made me wonder if the paranoia that the characters displayed in the movie were because of drugs or if close surveillance is bound to happen in the future. Wow, six paragraphs before we got to the topic of the post. Sorry I got carried away with Darkly.

Anyway, in the movie, Keanu Reeves played a cop who monitors junkies Big Brother style with people caught on cam trippin on a new drug called "D". I thought man if this was possible I'm already listing my channels now. Channel Cruise and Holmes. Channel Pitt and Jolie. Channel Oprah, oh wait, she's already on Star World.

The idea of people watching your every move is scary...and perhaps a little kinky (the exhibitionist in me! =) so today I tried to look for GPS thingies and the best one I could get my mouse on (freeware of course) was Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/). It's not a live cam thing so don't run out of the house just yet and wave at the sky. Yes Google Earth shows pictures of the earth from space such that potholes from your street can be seen. It's a cool program and I've already located my places in Bacolod, Davao and Qatar. Aside from viewing an actual map of your locale you also get to see what kind of trash people keep on their rooftops, and yeah it brings nostalgia to the homesick OFW because you get to see your street back home.

I hope someday soon we could get live streams from around the world for free (or if it exists already would somebody please tell me how to do it?) that way we, people who are far from home, will still get to see our neighborhood in action.

Somebody out there is watching us. The junkies of A Scanner Darkly were not just being paranoid.

After pinning locations on Google Earth, I decided to take a quick walk. I stared at the night sky and tried to look for the camera among the stars. The world is so big. How did it become so small? Yes, somebody out there is watching us and He knows the answers to all our questions and He's not battery operated either.

But the answer did not come tonight so I decided to go back inside the office. Just when I was about to get in, the PCGuy from next door called me and asked if I had been downloading stuff from the internet because it was slowing their connection. I stared blankly and said "no". I thought to myself, Oh boy, looks like my LimeWire days are over. He smiled and said "Oh ok. Just as long as you're sure." and jokingly added "I'm watching you." I smiled, went inside and resumed my download for Saw 3. Watch me. OUT.

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Leave Your Footprints

This is just a quick note to those who stumble across this spot and more especially to those who are kind enough to post comments.

Please sign your comments with your name.

Just include it in the message before you hit submit/publish. I can still play a guessing game for the first three who have already posted anonymously but the game could get harder in the future. So please, while I appreciate your comments such appreciation will be put to waste if I don't know who posted them. Thank you and hope you check on me once in a while.

Just
Jap

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Are We Racist?

"Davao is
a melting pot of cultures. "

I've written that line in several scripts and I'm officially taking it back now. Now, it's "Doha is a melting pot of cultures."

Only over a month and already I have met people from all over the world. It's hard to determine if it's a person's cultural background that forms his character or simply the handiwork of his parents like how he was brought up during childhood. But when you get to meet two or three guys coming from the same cultural background and who are not necessarily relatives it is easy to form a stereotype. I don't care, I'm human. And for whatever it's worth, one bad stereotype for Filipinos living in Doha is that they're gay.

I felt the urge to write about this after several funny events that occurred this week, thanks to my good friends, the Chinese from mainland China. One has to stress that they're from mainland China because you don't want to get the Hong Kong Chinese to get offended.

My boss employs around a dozen Chinese men and women. Most of them are above 30 years old so one would think that they're fairly intelligent. Not.

Case Number One: The "Have to Eat" Episode
I took a shift in my boss' internet cafe when the supervisor called in sick. I didn't mind taking the job for a day because I am familiar with how the inet cafe works anyway (remember Ventana?) and I already know the people working there including the Chinese cook Bin Chang. I don't want to explain why they serve Chinese food in an internet cafe so let's move on.
Bin Chang can't speak English. His English vocabulary consists of under 10 words including Hi, Oh and Haha. So when someone orders food from me I have to point at pictures from the menu and show them to Bin Chang so he'd know what to make. Yes, he's pretty smart when it comes to that. But lunchtime came and some people wanted to order. I told Bin Chang to make some tea for a couple of customers and he smiled and motioned something that seemed like "No way, Jose, it's lunchtime and I need to eat. Making tea for customers will take up 2 minutes of my time and I can't afford that delay for my lunch."
Oh my gawd. Is he stupid? If I were the boss I would have fired him already. Jeez. He's not making tea just cause it's his lunch hour. I mean I've heard of unions in the work force but this guy is just being inconsiderate. I think he's just stupid for saying that.

Case Number Two: To Billiard or Not to Billiard
I share a room with two other Chinese men Yang and Chun Yang. Jimmy, our Chinese driver, came to the Education Center the other day and asked me, Yang and Chun Yang to go with him to the internet cafe because the boss apparently told him to move some computer tables upstairs and move the billiard table to make room for the computer tables. Sounds simple? You wish. And by the way, don't bother asking why, aside from serving Chinese food, they have billiard tables upstairs.
The second floor of the internet cafe is divided into two rooms. The billiard hall (that has two pro billiard tables) and the internet room. Basically, what the boss wanted was to move the computer tables to the billiard hall. They took me there for the extra hand. I just lifted whatever they wanted me to lift. I can't join in with their discussion because it's in Chinese (how did you guess?) So when they started taking apart the billiard table, I just said to myself "wow, what a waste." They wanted to destroy the billiard table, take it into bits and pieces so they could move the whole damn thing into the other room. But guess what. When we finished moving it, the boss called and asked for updates. I told him what we have done, I said we moved the billiard table to the next room. He asked how we did it granting that the door is too small for that massive thing. So I said we deconstructed it. And he said "WHAT?!" And I just thought "Oh my gawd the Chinese are in deep shit!". Whoever said three heads are better than one ought to make some exceptions.

Case Number Three: The Early Bird Catches What Exactly?
Last night Jimmy told me I have to wake up early today because I'm joining three other Chinese guys to go to the Criminal Evidence Department to verify our records and for fingerprinting (it's a Qatar ID thing). So I got up promptly today. I'm just following these guys because I'm new here and they should know better right? So we went there early as planned and when we got to the gate the guard told us to come back on Sunday because it's the freakin weekend (Thursdays and Fridays form the weekend in Doha)! Early for nothing because someone didn't stop to think what day it was. Yeah, including me. So I guess it rubs off. Arghhh.

Suffice to say that because of these latest events from the Great Wall, I have to say that the Chinese, well, particularly the ones I'm working with, are dim witted. I know I am wrong. I know that there are probably more smart people in China than there are stupid ones but I'm just talking about the guys in my backyard.

Am I racist then because I formed a stereotype based on what I have personally experienced? Is it only racist when it's a negative stereotype? If I said that the Chinese play Mahjong really well, am I not being racist then?

I'm spending the night at my boss' house because it's the weekend, and so I'm staying in my boss' son's room. Although tonight, I'm not sharing the room with his son, but with this black kid from South of Sudan (a guest). He's extremely black. And my boss' son and daughter freaked out. My boss daughter said she's not racist but the guy's just too black. Could one say that he's not racist and then remark that someone is too black all in one breath?

As I am writing this, the black kid is on the bed behind me. I don't mind being around him. He's black but I don't think it's abnormal. It's just how he is. He probably thinks I'm too pale. Anyway, I guess I'm not really racist, just someone with enough bad luck to be surrounded by stupid people. OUT.

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Stifling and Stiff New Year

Just like Davao City, Doha greeted the new year silently--making me feel like I'm home away from home.

We didn't have Christmas (surprise surprise, and for those who still don't know, Yes, Qatar is a Muslim state). No Christmas. And the Arab world probably thought "hey, since we're at it, let's not celebrate the new year too".

The whole city was silent on new years day. Davao didn't have fireworks but people found ways to make noise. Here, it seems that every home has been stifling any sound that dared to escape the premises.

It's ok. We had a long holiday instead. Around five days of no work because of the Eid. So my amo thought it would be nice to give me a gift for Eid, two Jarabiyas (spell check please). You don't know what that is?

<--Here's me in one of these Jarabiya thingies. Damn, I look so stupid in this pic! Lol. Anyway. So I wore this during Eid as we went to two houses for breakfast and lunch. Amo says I almost look local but I refused to wear the head thing because I was afraid people might think I'm a poser when they find out I can't even speak Arabic. The Jarabiya is ok. I could wear it but it's not practical clothing at all. I can't imagine how the locals could wear this everyday! It's hard to walk up stairs, you have to watch your step cause the length of it could sweep mud or camel dung or whatever, but you can't nod down to watch your step either because your headdress will fall. If you want to practice modelling wear this and your runway walk will improve. Yeah, it can turn you stiff, not in an arousing way no. Just look at my pic, don't I look stiff? OUT.

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A Month in the Desert

Armed with courage, hope and my new (but rickety) Walkman Phone, I boarded Qatar Airways bound for Doha.

When I touched ground, everybody here said I came at the perfect time--Asian Games, cool weather, and fasting season done with.

That was November 27, exactly a month ago. I mentioned the walkman phone purposefully because I love music and I find it amusing sometimes that half the songs on my playlist have been accurate enough to speak a part of what's been happening in my life here so far. So here's the buzz on my first thirty days in the desert and the songs that helped rubbed my fate on my face.

"You say the word you know I will find you
Or if you need some time I don't mind
I don't hold on to thetail of your kite."
-"Sleeps With Butterflies" by Tori Amos

I've posted this song before (see "Fly Then Boy" post) and yes I know it's really about this girl who got laid and promised not to do a Fatal Attraction on a guy but I see it in a different perspective. I mean, on the guy's part--that I am leaving loved ones, family and friends, but I want them to be there when I get back. I played this song over and over again before I left Davao and played it one more time before the plane left Hong Kong for Doha ("Airplanes take you away again..."), talk about great musical scoring! (Oh and probably because this was the track I used for Apple's (Martin's sistah) wedding vid [sorry Apple, had to put that song in, hope you like it].

"Hey love,
I am a constant satellite
of your blazing sun.
My love,
I obey your law of gravity;
this is the fateyou’ve carved on me,
Your law of gravity..
this is the fateyou’ve carved on me.. on me."
-"Gravity" by Vienna Teng

My first few days here was terrible. Before I left my "comfortable" life in Davao I demanded from my mom that she make sure that I'll earn at least twice of what I earn in Davao, have my own room with toilet and have a car or a car plan. So imagine my big Big BIG disappointment when I found out that none of those ever existed, or would seem to exist as of now. The night I arrived here they left me in a newly renovated building that has around 16 rooms up and down. All rooms were empty and the Arabian interiors have that Cosmopolitan look (and I'm not talking about the modern city, I'm refering to the funeral parlor). And (pun alert) dig this ...my room had to be at the very end of the second floor so it's like a stupid horror movie setup where the audience asks: "why does the damn room had to be at the very end of the hall?". Creepy. Nobody stayed with me that night, my FIRST night and I just thank God that I was so tired cause I would've freaked out if I had the strength left to imagine even Casper the friendly ghost floating about outside my room.

My room is not that big. Technically it's not a room, more like a stockroom because it has no windows. A slave area save for the old rusty AC that's positioned exactly below a rain drainpipe so it gets really noisy when this desert gets a "blessing" ie rain. But it's not just MY room because I'm bunking with a 50-year old Chinese guy. There are two double decks so we assume that two more poorly accomodated people may soon join our happy little place in the desert. I remember my mom saying to me: "yes, of course you will have your own room, I made sure of that." Right. Strike One.

"It wastes time And I'd rather be high
Think I'll walk me outside And buy a rainbow smile
But be free
They're all free"
- "Maybe Tomorrow" by Stereophonics

It's become a habit of mine to walk here. Everyday I walk around the neighborhood just to entertain myself. Sometimes the walks are short, at times...let's just say at times people think I'm stupid for not taking a cab.
My first few days, I had to walk for miles like you won't believe! (well, except for PJ maybe) At least 2 hours of walking to get to a place then 2 more to go back. I had to . Doha is so rich that not so many people need public transportation. And gasoline is only 80 cents a liter--almost everyone would rather have a car than pay 20 bucks for a cab (which are as rare as the national animal Oryx). So I walked. And that's how I learned about the way of life in Qatar and saw for myself first hand that this place is in fact a gem. Simply beautiful in its own modest way.

Thus the song by Vienna Teng up there ^. It was on one of those loooong walks that I truly listened to the song and it humbled me. I forgot all my disappointments and just accepted my fate. Law of gravity, you can't do anything about it...besides, I heard those zero-gravity boots are way too expensive.

"Any minute now,
my ship is coming in
I'll keep checking the horizon
I'll stand on the bow,
feel the waves come crashing
Come crashing down down down, on me...
I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin"
- "Waiting for My Real Life to Begin" by Colin Hay

I was walking along Doha's bayside Al Cornich one night when this song played exactly when I reached the spot where the old Arabian boats docked. So now you see how man forms a religion. It takes proper timing (song with "ship" for a metaphor + a boat visual = proper timing) and I'm left with two options: either I call it coincidence or divine providence.

The Al Corniche walk lasted for over an hour. That was my last long walk so far. Those walks helped me accept my fate and formulate a plan while I'm here. The plan is to just go with the flow and aggressively step up the ladder once in a while. Get a job, have a business on the side, build that business slowly and hopefully hit it big someday.

Which brings me to a rather sad note.

"You've got your love online
You think youre doing fine
But youre just plugged into the wall......
Well I know what Ive been told
You gotta know just when to fold
But I cant do this all on my own
No, I know Im no Superman
Im no Superman"
- "I'm No Superman" by Lazlo Bane

The song sounds happy but I get a big lump in my throat everytime it gets to the "I'm No Superman" part. I am strong (I think) and I have big plans but I can't do this all on my own (for lack of a better phrase).

Anyway, my first two weeks was basically touristy-sentimental-get-over-it episode. Two weeks is all you need to establish a routine. So basically, my "work" is this...I wake up at 7am. I have to because the only shower room is downstairs and people come in to work at 8am (it sucks living in the same building where you work).
Doha has its way and here work stops at noon then resumes at 4pm to 7pm (that is if you are working at a normal workplace).

But here in this building, people leave at 10pm-12midnight. We can't sleep until everyone has left cause we need to lock the doors. No, Im not a security guard, but staying up a little late affords me to watch the only access to television that I have: YOUTUBE and of course the chance to get connected with the people I love, cause I need love, I'm no Superman.

I'm no computer technician either!

My boss told me that the occupation written on my Work Visa says "Computer Technician". What?! How the hell did that happen? The only technician-ish thing I can do is clean the dirt off the mouse ball. The deal was for my amo to get me into Al Jazeera Network for a training at least, and now it looks like I'm never going to land a job that is remotely close to my expertise, not with a "computer technician" tag! And until now it looks like nobody plans to give me any sort of compensation here. Strike Two. So yeah, I can also forget about the car. Strike Three. Out? In a different sense but no, I'm still in the game. (That's the spirit!)

And what the hell?! I'm no security guard!

Like I said, I'm not a security guard nor a janitor. Sometimes I wish my occupation was as clear as a guard or janitor because right now, I have no idea what I am doing here. This building is a newly opened Education Center. It's weird because my amo and his comrades are leasing out the rooms in this building for those who are interested to run a training school of some sort (so that's what all these BBs are for harhar). So I'm stationed at the reception area because apparently I'm a "computer genius", after all I'm a "computer technician". Yey, I get to use the computer! But I also get to stand up and shake hands with every single Arab who comes in. Since I don't know these people, I assume they are important businessmen and offer them a big smile. The next day the same people come in and bring cans of paint and used rollers. Some people in the
office are annoying and think I'm their secretary they ask me to do emails and letters for them, print out reports and teach them how to surf the net. Some people also think I can make them tea or coffee, but I smile and say "you want to make tea? go make some, it's for free." Yes, I can dare to say that because nobody pays me a single cent until now.

"So I turn to you and I say
Thank goodness for the good souls
that make life better
So I turn to you and I say
If it wasn't for the good souls,
life would not matter"
-"The Good Souls" by The Doves

Everyday it's Babel in this building. A Chinese guy, some Arabs, a Sudanese, a Syrian and a Filipino, any other race interested to join the discussion is welcome. It's fun at times to exchange languages but it's often frustrating. Even the sign language gets confusing. One time I asked this Sudanese woman if she has eaten already signalling with my hand and she just stared at me blankly. I found out later that in Aladdinland that hand gesture meant "wait". I must've looked stupid. The good thing is, even though he hasn't given my salary (yet...I hope), my amo treats me like family (I sleep at their house on weekends, whew! Thank goodness for the good souls). He has a 14yr old son but he takes me to his weekend lunch instead cause the kid doesnt like to wear skirts in public (the boss speaks arabic of course so I have no idea if he's introducing me to friends or just bragging about his new slave, kidding! hehehe). I
stay in his son's room on weekends by the way, and it's cool cause the kid speaks English so after a week of silence with a 50-year old Chinese, I get to have interesting conversation with a 14-year old kid! Back to the lunches--facinating. I've been to one that had 30 guests, all men of course, cause females are in hiding. We all sat and had tea in this big sala and ate in this really long table. And I've said this before but I'll say it again, though the food is good, there's just something weird about how Arabs eat. Let's just say that for people who don't eat pork, they certainly make up for it with the way they eat...gives pig-out a whole new perspective. Don't get me wrong, I don't see anything wrong with how they eat, it's just different and they seem to love eating, like it's not a meal if it's not a feast.

But Arabs are really cool guys (there are rude Arabs but then I'd like to call them rude people) They all look like Jesus. Every time they talk, it's like from the heart, so just imagine how sincere sounding they are. It's common knowledge of course that Arab men speak softly but carry a big stick. But let's not get into that. However, I will testify that I haven't met an Arab nor even passed by another one who stunk. Unlike what we always thought, Arabs are actually nice smelling (but they say wait till the summer when the desert heats up, then say "nice smelling" again in one breath). They love designer perfume and I even have a mental guessing game as to what scent they are wearing when I get a hint.

I'm getting off track. It's supposed to be all about the routine. On routine days, I wake up at 7, do normal office work til noon, have a quick lunch, YM from 1pm-4pm, back to work at 4pm, have my nightly stroll around the block at 7pm, entertain visitors who keep coming in and out from 8pm til 11pm, have a late dinner and watch Youtube til I get sleepy. Some days I get to go out, on birthdays, meetings, errands, etc. On weekends (Thurs-Friday) I spend it at my amo's house with his kids. I usually watch a movie before going back to work on Saturdays. And yes, I do my laundry and ironing without the help of a maid.

The month went by fast but it was very eventful even in the most boring days.
The highlights?

• The extremely long walks.



• Giving the Chinese guy the silent treatment.



• Exploring the culture.



• Meeting interesting people and friends.



• Meeting the Mentor Tim Tayag (on foot haha yourself).



• Having a taste of the Doha party scene.



• Buying Robbie Williams' Rudebox.



• Getting Qatar-style medical check-up.



• Soaking in the Souq (old downtown).



• Not-so-impressive but fun buffet at Ponderosa with the foster family.



• Processing my Qatar ID.



• Watching the Asian Games soccer finals Qatar vs Iraq.



• Watching the boss' internet Cafe for a day.



• Sealing my first month with two cans of Heineken on a cold night at Al Corniche.

That's about it. This has been a long one. I'll probably blog more from now on since I'm fairly settled. Not fully settled, but settled enough.

"I know I can be colorful,
I know I can be great.
And I know this loser's living fortunate
Cause I know
you will love me either way."
- "Colorful" by Verve Pipe

Oh I could just cry with this song. It starts with "Show is over close the story book". My show is far from over I know but guess what, a month has passed and if my stay here in Qatar is a story, then Chapter one just rolled by. Eleven more chapters to go before we close this story book. In the meantime, I know I can still be "colorful" in an otherwise anti -"colorful" society. The best line in Colorful is "you stayed for drama though you paid for a comedy". I say that to all who stuck with me even when times were and are tough. Thank you all. Love you all. Miss you all. OUT.

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