Gothic for a cause

July 21, 2018

” Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it”

Confucius

Yesterday was an afternoon well spent. I was invited to a photo shoot for a cause. It was a camaraderie fundraising event for a family who needed some help for hospitalization. I am a hobbyist in photography mostly interesting places when I am on a trip , I like landscape and flowers as my subjects. Though, I usually do family portraits for friends, this was my first time to shoot a gothic portraiture. As an amateur I was pretty excited. I really don’t know what to expect, I was asking for a protocol so I would know what will be my limitations, will there be some tips and advice on how to take portrait with gothic theme? Will the professional guide the amateur? hahaha poor me, don’t really know what to do ๐Ÿ™‚

Anyhow, I came early and was surprised, models were already getting ready, lights were set up and registration already started. The person ย in charged for registration was giving another paper for models to sign on…Me? nope I’m here to shoot! Wow ๐Ÿ™‚ shoot? maybe just a spectator or taking behind the scenes photos. Of course! I tried my best to capture the moment ๐Ÿ™‚

and here some of my shots… models: Alda ,Janet,Angie,Alyana and Carmie

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and here’s the shot of Rommel S Jubay with model Ada

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Thank you for the invite, to the organizers, models, make up artist and to all the people who in one way another help to make the afternoon lovely. ย ๐Ÿ™‚

Cheers,

Jamilamimi@beautybeyondfifty

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early to rise, early to hike

One friday morning’, the only friday off I have ๐Ÿ™ after working for five consecutive days, here I am waking up early at 4:30 in the morning, so I can meet my friends and hike in a mountain full of dust ๐Ÿ™‚ and not to mention hills full of rocks and sands.

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but don’t get me wrong, I always looked forward to the weekend activities with friends, full of laughters and of course, our tummy is full of food as well ๐Ÿ™‚

So, here are some photos we took in between hiking up and down the hills.

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biker and hiker in tandem
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missing home?
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long walk to shopping mall ๐Ÿ™‚
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bikes on top
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sunrise
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happy

Cheers,

Jamilamimi @beautybeyondfifty

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Uber versus Careem: a review

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photo grabs at careem website

It’s been quiet long time I wanted to write a review but I was caught up with a busy schedule ย (rolling my eyes…anything new? )

If you missed my blog about uber and easy taxi please clickย Uber or Easy taxi in Jeddah, my choice?

Did you hear about the fiasco in Philippines about Uber and taxi? ย in which Uber was suspended for a month for a violation done while there was investigation going on. What? What about those taxis who over charged, drivers who are rude, was there any suspension done immediately? NONE!

We all knew how Uber made our life easy especially here in Jeddah. I hesitated for a while to use careem for a reason that I got used using Uber. But one day, there was a problem with my credit card and I can not book a Uber to work. Careem has choices of payment… either you pay cash, card or top your bank card any amount to save it in your wallet or you can even use qitaf points (from stc) to pay your ride.

And my first ride was awesome! Lexus.. yes! that was the model of the car ๐Ÿ™‚ and I was smiling from the inside because my ride was only 7SR (seven saudi riyals). If it was an ordinary taxi, I would still bargain to pay 10 riyals plus a filthy taxi and a smelly driver, though not in general, you can also find a clean taxi with a clean driver ๐Ÿ™‚

And so my ride with careem is super! I was able to experienced different car models and drivers who are not only polite but speaks english too. I feel rich having a chauffeur with Lexus, BMW, Saab etc. I was tempted to ask why they do careem when they have this big luxury cars but you know, this is Jeddah, ladies are not supposed to be friendly with strangers ๐Ÿ™‚

Today, I was lucky to ride with Mr Abduelah whose car is Hyundai Santa Fe, I forgot my eyeglass in his car and I contacted careem and it was an immediate communication to the Captain and wallah! my eyeglass was returned promptly! If this was an ordinary taxi, how could I ever retrieved my eyeglass?

So, I hope the Philippines gov’t should think about the system of Uberย compared to the ordinary taxi. Taxi owners should compete fairly with the Uber, as what careem did to Uber. I think taxi in Philippines should have an improved and reliable system so the passengers are safe and not abused by an ordinary taxis.

Ladies, let me know your experience with Careem!

Cheers,

Jamilamimi (beautybeyondfifty)

 

 

Serenata – simplicity at its best!

” nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed to be simple is to be great”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Indeed! The Serenata annual benefit concert last Saturday ,March 18,2017 was so simple in terms of the costumes and frills but the performance was superb and its charitable cause made the concert great! This was their 12th season and for the record I only missed two of their concert ๐Ÿ™‚ ย addicted!

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The Serenata Children’s Choir

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The concert was under the musical direction of ever so beautiful Ms. Sylvia Delos Santos. Directed by Mr. Jerry Lagrimas and the ever energetic host of the night Mr.Ahjid Sayas. The ever supported husband of Ms. delos Santos – Mr. Teddy Delos Santos spotted playing Cello as assistant principal.

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The introduction of all male Chamber Chorale was impressive noting that it was only formed five months ago and to gather each one for practice was challenging to everyone involve.

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All male chamber chorale

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The string orchestra was as usual in their best performance !

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The Serenata String Orchestra

I enjoyed the participation of Knight Movers with their Aladdin dance intermission

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The Knight Movers

 

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The finale

Here’s some of the clips of the performance taken by iPhone ๐Ÿ™‚ I could upload more but my storage plan is not enough..and so .. let me advise you to come and see them in action next season.

Congratulations to all!

Cheers,

Jamilamimi

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“Souk Juman” at KAEC

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The weather was beautiful yesterday, our first weekend out of Jeddah and we visited “Souk Juman” at KAEC (King Abdullah Economic City) located approximately 100 kilometers north of Jeddah. It is a crossroads between East and West, on the cost of the Red sea and less than an hour by rail (we saw the train station along the way, though as of this writing, it is not operational yet) from Mecca, Medina and Jeddah.

Souk Juman was held Feb.16-17 at Juman Park at Bay La Sun District. We got the ticket through on-line … 75 Sr per adult and 20 SR per child.

It’s a beautiful lush green environment, with a large waterfront amphitheater ovelooking the blue water of the Bay La sun canal.

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There was a mixture of small stall selling homemade goods, jewelry,abaya, fruits,popcorn and cotton candy and a lot more.The atmosphere was festive and the cool breeze wind added more vibrance to the event.

There were also cooking,fashion and art competition among the kids and young at heart

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The best thing I saw are these two guys giving away a free juice drink for everyone! What a cool way to dress and pour three glasses in one go!

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Sharab tamarhindi (tamarind juice)

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A beautiful way of serving tamarind juice

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After moving around the Juman park, we went to the beachfront dining, It was packed with people but we managed to get a table for us. There was a lot of restaurant to choose from and we settled for a burger and nachos in Bert’s coffee shop.

Ladies, it was an enjoyable bonding and hoping next year the Karting tract will be operational during the festival. ย ๐Ÿ™‚

Cheers,

Jamilamimi

 

 

Rossopomodoro – a review

It’s been awhile I haven’t eaten pizza, so when my friend came to visit , I researched for an Italian restaurant that serves authentic if not closer to pizzeria Neapolitan.

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What is Neapolitan pizza anyway? well, it’s simply made of tomato and mozzarella cheese, the dough is made of wheat flour, kneaded by hand without the help of rolling-pin, bake in stone oven with an oak-wood fire. As the waiter said, it’s kind of a “slap pizza”

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Rossopomodoroย  is a pizzeria and Italian restaurant found in Ascott centre at Sari st. besides the stars Avenue. Rosso means “red” and pomodoro means “tomato”.

It was a breezy cool night and a lot of people choose to dine outside. But we decided to stay inside and be curious of what this restaurant has to offer. We can see the kitchen which is surrounded by glass window and on one side big gold tiled wood fired oven where the pizza is made.

The price is on the mid range. the service is quick too!

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Here’s our order and everything was super delicious. well, not the Tiramisu, it’s not really something that I would say, different and authentic!.

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img_9058The drinks were also superb!

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Ladies, would I come back? yes! of course, let’s go!

Cheers,

Jamilamimi

Wagamama – a review

#late post

Part I

Wagamama in Jeddah had open recently and my friends and I were there during the soft opening. It is located just at the back of our clinic in Tarik Nadat St, Ar Rawdah dist.near thalia walkway.

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I tried Wagamama in Heathrow and it was a good experience, more of oriental noodles and I love the fresh vegetables. If you would like to know more, click the link below.ย https://www.wagamama.sa/en/about-us

Anyhow, so we went to the soft opening, as excited as we wanted to try, we found the prices too high and the food were not really so exciting , the taste was bland. We asked, where the noodles? they said, it’s still coming from London. We gave it a thumbs down with some reservation as we said, it’s a “soft opening”. They don’t have a proper menu list and most of the dishes are not available yet.

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We ended eating at Yemeni restaurant to filled up our frustration. It’s a favourite “comfort food” for the group ๐Ÿ™‚

Part II

After two weeks, my brothers and I tried Wagamama again, same place but it’s more frustrating on me because I was expecting a bit more, hence this is my second time. Though the starter was good (chilli squid),the noodles was not even cooked well. The taste a bit improved but still it doesn’t compared to what I had in other Wagamama branch.

Don’t be fool by the photos, the taste is not really that good!

The noodles are not cooked well, sticking in one piece and we did complained, and it was removed from our bill.

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I know, I am complaining a lot about this place, but someday I will try again for the third time ( I’m not rolling my eyes up) seriously I want to give this place a chance because my first impression in London was satisfactory, hoping Jeddah branch will be the same.

Ladies, I may not be lucky at first maybe on the third I will be ๐Ÿ™‚

Cheers,

Jamilamimi

Weekly Photo Challenge : Frame

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Honolulu Hawaii

 

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Seattle Washington USA

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Jeddah Saudi Arabia

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natural rock formation made a guitar silhouette

Madain Saleh Saudi Arabia

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Lucern, Switzerland

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narrow passage (siq)

Petra Jordan

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Le Bouveret Switzerland

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Boston USA

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Dubai UAE

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Catanduanes ย Philippines

<a href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/frame/”>Frame</a>

Serenata – Beyond the Horizon

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Once again, I have the best moment to witness the 11th season of Serenata, courtesy of Mr. Gerard Cua. This is also the first time in 29 years, my big boss and I took time out from work to watch a concert. See ? This is really the best moment ๐Ÿ™‚ ย We always took turn to attend to personal matter so as not to close the clinic but tonight was different, we went together to enjoy the concert and we did!

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never mind his expression in this photo ๐Ÿ™‚ he was amazed by the performance and even took out time to take photos and records some songs

One thing though, my camera didn’t work well so I ended up taking photos by iPhone.Good thing, our seat is in the 3rd row and because I wasn’t into taking pictures, I enjoyed the show better than as a guest rather than as a photographer ๐Ÿ™‚

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“into the woods”
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“Spiderman”

opps..I missed the action!

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“Chua Ay”

This a cappella rendition of “Chua Ay” is spectacular, though I didn’t understand the meaning, it was so amazing to watch. I guess this is an Igorot song (a northern tribe in the Philippines).As much as I enjoyed another folk song “Paruparung Bukid”,the performance of the Knight Movers was also breathtaking!

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“Singkil” performed by The Knight Movers

The second part : Serenata String Orchestra

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under the musical direction of Ms. Sylvia Delos Santos
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“La Cathedral” a solo guitar performance by Ms. Nadine Cua

Here’s a sample video of her performance ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

The finale

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“Somewhere” a joint performance of Choir & String Orchestra with Ms. Precy Ann Cua (Soloist)

 

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A plaque of appreciation to the sponsors

Thank you All!

Cheers,

Jamilamimi

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