It’s the start of my one month vacation from my retail job! After living for a year in Dubai and working as a sales attendant inside a mall, I’m finally going on a 30-day leave. I’m excited because it’s been awhile since I last had a long break.
Here in Dubai, everybody’s life is all about work. If you belong to a great company, you can spread your vacation leave across the year. Otherwise, you have to work for a year first (sometimes even two) before granted a vacation.
The Waterfall in Dubai Mall
Adjusting to Life in Dubai, UAE.
Initial Plan
When I was browsing through jobs before, I only wanted a job that would let me stay in the UAE regardless of what position it was. I kind of bit my words in the process because I didn’t think that it would be much of a challenge in the beginning.
I used to have an office job that required only 8 hours of duty, 5 days a week and I would also sit on a desk most of the time. I would only have a computer station to work on my daily tasks. Now, my job ideally requires me to stand at least 8 hours everyday for 6 days straight. It’s a little physical but I’ve managed to get past it.
My Daily Commute
Dubai Metro
One Day-Off a Week
The biggest factor were my days off. I didn’t think having one day off a week would have a big impact on me. That I would crave for these moments where I could just sleep the entire day or travel and go somewhere.
I’m not complaining though. I’m thankful that I have a job that pays the bills and keeps me afloat. If I gave up that easily, I would have gone home and just go back to my old lifestyle. The reason for my being in Dubai in the first place is what inspires me to do better and to strive harder in achieving my goals.
Dubai Desert Safari Adventure
Short breaks in the city.
Plans this Month
Work! Work on my online projects and building my sites to their full potential. Now that I have more time on my hands, I set bigger goals for myself. This might be too vague so let me break it down a little:
Work on Online Sites
- Edit Theme Templates of Websites
- Set up a Forum for Community Site
- Write a Short Ebook Guide to Dubai for Filipinos
- Outsource an Employee
Others
- Learn to bake a cake
- Explore the City and Nearby Places
- Meet Bloggers in the City
Bought a Planner
New Goals this 2014
Why am I still thinking about work when I’m supposed to be on vacation?
Actually, the whole blogging thing does NOT feel like work at all. I enjoy watching things unfold before my eyes after I work on them. I don’t know if it’s wrong but developing something from scratch gives me a certain kind of high. I feel empowered and it boosts my confidence that things will be alright because I’m not relying on one aspect to satisfy my daily needs.
What about Travelling?
This soloflightEd blog was a normal personal blog before it became a travel blog. It’s going on a transition stage again where I don’t know if I’ll be able to write more old adventures or even new ones.
I still value travelling. I will tour other areas in the city or head to the nearest beach to get some sun. However, this blogging and creating something online excites me more. For now, let me shift my focus so I can achieve more goals I’ve set for myself.
Almost but not quite. Handstand attempt.
Can’t seem to keep my energy down.
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soloflightEd.com is a travel blog by Edcel Suyo. He enjoys performing headstands and crazy stunts during his trips in the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Now based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and working to earn a living, he takes time to enjoy the city and travel during weekends.
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For questions, advertising, and other concerns, shoot an email to ed@soloflighted.com.
bake a cake! wow!
gusto ko yung effect ng photos! =)
hi chyng! tagal kong di nakadaan sa site mo. lol. dadaan ako… now na. hehe
yep, skip muna ako sa pagluluto. sayang din ang oven pag di nagamit dito. hehe
Woot. Hurray sa more income streams! 😀
Talagang sabay-sabay tayo nag-iiba ng goals sa buhay hehe 😀 Keep it up!
haha, noticed that too. haha. let’s make more money mica and we’ll share more tips! Thanks for being generous pala with information. Keep it up din! you’re a good job! lol.
Yun oh! Bake a cake! Hahaha! Grabe time flies so fast, parang kelan lang yung Bantayan Island adventure natin. You in Dubai, me, fulfilling my ATC dreams, and etc. Traveling has indeed changed us for good and made us into a better person. Dati kasi gusto ko lang yung pa petiks-petiks lang. Siguro if I didn’t chase my dream, I’d still be stuck at home, hayahay man ang life pero meaningless, and you get what I mean. HAHA! 🙂
Forever na ba ka in Dubai? Naa koy balak muadto dira ba! Magpa-tubo sa kog bangas aron mag blend in ko sa crowd. HAHAHA JOKE. See you the soonest, Ed! Cheers to us!
hi renz. haha. yep. one of the things that keeps me grounded is learning how to cook. congrats on fulfilling your ATC goals! Really proud what you’ve achieved.
Not sure about forever in Dubai but I’m thinking of this in the long-term. agi diri ba! daghan work opportunities especially with your work experience. the airports here just keeps on expanding! 🙂
Mag earn sa kog 5 years of experience (more or less), kay open ko sa idea na mag work abroad. Mas marami pa ngang Pinoy ATCs sa Dubai Control Tower kesa sa mga Arabo. HAHAHA! We’ll see. But I might visit there soon, wala lang, lakwatsa2x lang.
yep, that’s right. gain experience renz, mudato kag sayo arun. haha. sige sige. drop by one of these days. and meet-up nya ta. 🙂
I would love to be a part of that “meet bloggers in the city”. I’m a fan! Magpapa-autograph ako. :-p
uy salamat! pinay flying high! Kenneth (kenneth surat) left a comment about meeting up in my previous post and saw you and ladyandhersweetescapes na nandito din sa Dubai. hope jana and i can meet you all. 🙂
ayun naman pala! Tara na..meet-up! I love the idea of a Dubai ebook for pinoys. We can use this as a collab project with Pinay Flying High and Lady. I think with our combine knowledge (naks) we can come up with a good one!
Tara?
Plus we can do a taste test on you baking stint!
Haha. will taste the cake first myself. lol
I’m actually writing the ebook for another site of mine. Thinking of asking you for an interview feature din dun. Will PM you sa FB, kenneth! Definitely let’s do the meet-up! 🙂
Miss na kita Ed! Charz! =))
You’re still one of the most hardworking guys I know so you deserve that break. Tama rin si Renz, a lot has changed in our lives since we all met a few years ago. Pero nasa dugo pa rin ang paglakwatsa!
hi robbie! lol.
Thanks for the kind words! Tagal ko na rin di nakakapagbloghop sa mga blogs nyo. Hope to meet you again one of these days! Libre ka ha. hahaha.
Ikaw ang nasa Dubai so ikaw ang manlibre! Hahaha.
A friend and I are planning to go there by 2016 siguro. Tour us around if ever! Hahaha.
naks. may “a friend” ka na. hehe. – binigyan ng malisya? joke.
sure sure! siguro by that time di nako nagbebenta ng tsinelas so makakapaglibre na ako. hehehe.
Feeling ko nag s-sync talaga yung developmental stages natin. Not a surprise since we of the same age.
Just keep on inspiring us! Wish you the best on your endeavors.
Thanks Marcos! tama yan and I’m thankful that you’ve been very generous in sharing your knowledge to those who are interested to learn. I haven’t reached your level pa but I’m happy that somehow, there’s progress. Thanks for the support Marcos!
inspiring! one year down, more years to go!
ako kaya paano? hehehe! ang sarap sigurong makilahok sa expo2020!
see you later, ed!
kaya yan doc! mabilis lang ang panahon. we just need to remind ourselves every now and then what’s the purpose why we’re here and let it be our inspiration. let’s conquer the UAE! see you again, doc! Nice to meet a blogger here in Dubai. 🙂
Good luck with the baking, Ed! After cakes, cookies naman! 😀
haha. thanks Nina! Just trying some ready-to-bake mixes. pero natatakot pa rin akong galawin ang Oven. Never operated one in my entire life! hehe.
One month VL will just be a breeze. I had a six month hiatus between jobs and looking back, I felt like I haven’t maximized it. Pero knowing how great a planner you are Ed, I am sure you will accomplish great things in one month.
Bilis ng panahon no? Parang kailan lang nagkikita pa tayo ditto sa Manila pero ngayon nasa Dubai ka na after your south-east asian adventures. 🙂
thanks for the positive vibes, oman! yes, kelangan natin i-maximize ang oras. sana marami akong magagawa in two weeks time (na lang pala! hehe). yep. bilis nga, sige-sige, daan kayo dito one of these days. 🙂
Naks layo na ng narating mo Ed a! And good for you that you are still able to find time to do your more passion-oriented interests kahit na as per Mica’s comment e nag-iba na ang priorities ninyo. Ayos yan. Best of luck and hello kay Misis hihi!
Hello Drew! Yeah, need to work on our passions since not enough ang current work to sustain myself and this is still the direction I’m heading in time. Nice to see you’re blogging again. Thanks for visiting this blog kahit wala na masyadong updates. 🙂
Hahahahaa bake a cake.. Gusto ko yan..:)
Thanks for the tutorial Ma’am! hahaha. teacher na teacher ang dating. lol