Moroccan Experience

It was a tiring day, woke up at 3am to catch my flight in Morocco. That flight was very memorable, had some my very "first" experience. It was my very first flight together with my mom and fiance. I had this excitement to see my cute nephew, adam, and see my sister after almost 4 years.

9am, Moroccan time when we landed in Casablanca. My sister and Adam were there, waiting for us. After a 40.min drive from the airport, we finally arrived in Essada, Fouad's hometown.

We were warmly welcomed by Daoui's family, though we had a huge language barrier, coz nobody from us can speak Arabic except my sister who knows a bit and served as our interpreter to communicate with them. Luckily, we were suprised to know that one of the family could speak a bit of Italian.

A warm mint tea was served in the table together with some local Moroccan delicacies for our late breakfast. Members of the extended family were there too, including some neighbors to meet us.


While they were preparing lunch, Cathy and Yacine brought us to the central park of Essada to get some fresh air. There, you can see the lone Catholic church in Casablanca. We took some pictures and walked headed to the seaside then went back home.


A sumptous lunch was ready in the table. Fine meat cooked with herbs and spices, topped with almonds and veggie salad for side dish. Mint tea was served again.


We were having our siesta when we heard loud noise from outside. There was a procession of wedding gifts in the street. They called it "zhagarit".


Due to lack of planning and some changes in itinerary made our first day stay a bit of mess. Timetable of train in the internet is outdated and so we missed the train for Marrakesh. We went then to a bar as I called it, coz i dont know how to describe the place. It's a place with a pool where u can drink and relax, while having a view of the sea. It wasn't the best time though when we went there coz the sun was still high. But it was indeed a relaxing place for sipping my unalcoholic drink.


By plan, we should go to try the hot steam of bath of Morocco,called Hammam in Casablanca. But since we had pretty much little time on that day, we went to a near one in Essada.


We brought with us our own stuffs, soap, shampoo, brush, scrubbing mitt, and towel. It was 22 degrees outside, and so, when I entered the spa, I felt the sudden change in temperature, from 22 deg to i dunno, maybe 40. We left our bags in the counter and entered the spa. Most of them do their bath "rituals" by themselves. But knowing nothing about how to do it, we had to hire someone from there to do it for us.

First step, pouring hot water all over you body.. then use their "pure" soap. Then the lady came and started scrubbing my body. It was really painful though I am used to scrub my skin everyday. I got worried about my fiance, who is in the other part (men's place) thinking how could he resist the pain of this so-called hammam scrub. Wheeew, it was really painful.. but after the bath, I felt so clean and highly-refreshed! What an experience, I said after!

After the bath, the only thing I wanted to do is to go to bed and sleep. But the day didnt end there. We had to dress again and went out for dinner. The place is good. We had seafood dinner with fine moroccan music. Some couldn't have resisted to dance with it.

6.20 am the next day, we had our train ride for Marrakesh. There we met a Moroccan lady with hands painted with henna. My fiance was amazed seeing the paint and asked politely if he could take a photo. It was a long travel, from Casablanca to Marrakesh but I didnt get a wink of sleep. And so, finally we arrived to our destination.


Marrakesh experience is another long story to share.. I need to park now before I miss another train tonight.

Marrakesh pictures up next..

The Rubiks Cube

One Saturday morning, I was sitting in front of my computer, browsing, playing some games on FB then I noticed the Rubik's cube collection at my side..

I paused for a while.. I remember, I was in college when I get hooked of solving the cube. Not being aware that time about the puzzle's tips and tricks, it wasn't easy for me to get it solved. It took me several nights to learn the logic and finally solved it!

While looking at these puzzles, I realized that life is like a Rubik's cube.. It is colorful and full of twists and turns. There is no easy way to solve it unless you already mastered the strategy. We learn from experiences in life, from its every twist and turn.. From our every move, we make a decision on how we want our life to turn out to.

Sometimes, in solving the puzzle you have to make it worse first before you can make it better. Life is complicated indeed.

Happy Heart's Day

Droppin by and sending to everyone my very warm greetings for this special day of love. Affection and love should be expressed and celebrated not only on Valentines but in every little way.. and in every moment you possibly can.

"I am in love and am proud to be!"

I Can't Live...

I can't live.... if living is without these stuffs:

1. Cellphone. I wake up every morning with the "siren" theft sound of my cp's alarm. Its sound gets louder and louder and you dont have any choice but to get up.. snoozing wont help coz it will ring more loud after 9 mins.

I used to keep my mobile fone on the pocket of my pants so I could respond to any call from anyone. I hate to remember the argument I had with my mom for not responding to her calls.

Here is also where I keep my thoughts.. I use its calendar like a pocket diary, I write here down small details of my daily life.

And when I can't sleep at night, I browse on the old messages, INBOX and SENTBOX.. recorded conversations and photos taken. Sometimes, it feels good to remember the old feelings looking back at the time you got those messages. Good or bad memories, I used to look at them back ..

2. Mosquito net (AKA Kulambo). I can't recall anymore the first time I get "addicted" with this thing. I can't sleep at night without my feet feeling its roughness. I used to wrap it around my feet and it gives me an unexplainable feeling why I need to do this.

I remember my first college days in Manila, how many sleepless nights I had without my "kulambo" with me at night. During overnight group study, my classmates used to tease me seeing this stuff wrapped around my feet while solving problems on engineering electronics subject. Beh, I feel damn comfortable that way!

Would you believe I've sent back my sister at home to get my "kulambo" coz I had to stay in the hospital for 3 days? And of all the stuffs I've packed that day, I forgot that one! The nurse was a bit shocked when she removed my blanket to give a pain removal shot on my leg.. saw this funny thing wrapped down there..

I dunno how do I call this strange behaviour..it's a psychological thing! During this winter season, I seldom use it coz I have to put on socks to keep me warm so it's kinda useless not to feel it directly touching my skin. I could sleep well enough but it really does make a difference regarding my quality of sleep.

3. Perfume . This is one of my favorite addictions and something I could never miss to wear before leaving the house. I have a specific brand of preference (Gucci) but I must say.. they are all addicting! I have Gucci Envy, Éclat d'Arpège by Lanvin, and Armani Diamonds for everyday use. I used to wear at night Gucci Envy Me, Kenzo Amour, Calvin Klein's Eternity and Gucci by Gucci. Summer favorites are Pacific Paradise by Escada, Cacharel's Anais Anais and Polo Blue. Unfortunately, these bottles are finished and need to grab one for summer..ooops, may be not! I still have one unopened box of Be Givenchy I grabbed from Duty Free late last year. And in addition to my collection og Gucci, Andrea gave me a bottle of Gucci Flora!! I sooo love the scent. Thank you amore.. :)

4. Body scrub and lotion. I have a very sensitive skin and so I take good care of it. I love to be free from the feeling of oil and dirt so it is my daily habit to have a light scrub all over. Right after bath is the perfect time to put on the lotion while skin is still moist of water to lock in the moisture. You will feel your skin so soft and smooth.

When weather starts to get hot, I use less of body lotion or replace it with a lighter one to prevent my skin from being greasy. I sweat a lot during hot season so I usually dont put lotion on hands at daytime to avoid "fountain-like" sweaty palms.