PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America

Dubai, UAE • September 2021. Bhing's Birthday Party in an OFW Apartment in Dubai — Isagani, Bhing, Dennis, and a Hogan Reunion Moment. dubai birthday party ofw, filipino ofw apartment dubai, khristine salazar dubai, glenn victa hogan spartans dubai, bhing birthday dubai 2021. Dubai • September 2021 Bhing's Birthday in Dubai: A Night Inside an OFW Home Lunch with my fellow Hogan Spartan Glenn Victa turned into an evening at Isagani and Bhing's family home — shared with just one other adult, not the crowded bedspaces many OFWs bunk with in Dubai — celebrating Bhing's birthday with friends old and new. L to R: Dennis, J.F., Glenn & Isagani. Bhing's birthday, Dubai, September 9, 2021. By September 9, 2021, I was more than two weeks into a 39-day stay in Dubai — long enough that the city had stopped feeling like a layover and started feeling like a second address. The day began with lunch and ended in a stranger's ...

Dubai, United Arab Emirates • August 2026. Maligayang Bati Khristine! HBD — Five Videos From Dubai, for My BFF. Khristine Salazar, Dubai birthday, UAE diaspora, OFW Dubai, Expo 2020 Dubai, Bangkota pavilion, Bamboo Manalac Jubilee Stage, Khor Fakkan Sharjah, Gulf of Oman, Coral Dubai Deira, Filipino-American travel, Fil-Am Dubai, DXB arrival 2021. Dubai, UAE • August 2026 Maligayang Bati Khristine! HBD — Five Videos From Dubai, for My BFF My BFF turns a year older today in Dubai, where the calendar runs ahead of California. So here are five videos from her city — an arrival at DXB, an umbrella against the August sun, a drive across the country to the other sea, and Bamboo playing for the Filipino community at Expo 2020. Eid meelad sa'eed! Atamanna an tu'amali kal-malikah fe yawmik-il-mumayyaz. Happy Birthday! I hope you are treated like a queen on your special day. Photo in Dubai Mall after dinner. By J.F.R. Perseveranda. In Dubai it ...

An old BFF called me yesterday We chatted for a little over 20 minutes. Once bitten and twice shy I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye Tell me, baby, do you recognise me? Well, it's been a year, it doesn't surprise me "Happy Christmas," I wrapped it up and sent it With a note saying, "I love you," I meant it Now I know what a fool I've been But if you kissed me now, I know you'd fool me again George Michael - Last Christmas (Live at Wembley Arena, 17th December 2006)

Deira, Dubai • September 2021. Strawberry Corner: A Late Lunch in Deira, Dubai. strawberry corner dubai, deira dubai, al muraqqabat street, coral dubai deira hotel, khristine salazar, 31a street deira, uae diaspora, ofw dubai, dubai photo essay. DEIRA, DUBAI • SEPTEMBER 2021 Strawberry Corner: A Late Lunch in Deira, Dubai A quick wait on 31A Street turns into a late lunch at Strawberry Corner — just down the road from the Coral Dubai Deira Hotel. Left: 31A Street, Deira — 2:37 PM. Right: the Strawberry Corner menu, Al Muraqqabat Street — 2:49 PM. Tuesday, September 7, 2021. 2:37 PM, 31A Street, Deira. I was standing on the sidewalk with my camera up, waiting to pick up my best friend Khristine — the ordinary kind of waiting that turns into a photograph only because you happen to have the phone out already. Twelve minutes later we were a few blocks over on Al Muraqqabat Street, looking at the menu board outsi...

Downtown Dubai, UAE • September 2021. 106 Degrees, First Look at Burj Khalifa: An Evening at Souk Al Bahar and the Dubai Mall. burj khalifa, souk al bahar, dubai mall, downtown dubai, dubai heat, ofw dubai, filipino american dubai, khristine salazar. Dubai, UAE • September 2021 106 Degrees, First Look at Burj Khalifa: An Evening at Souk Al Bahar and the Dubai Mall A blistering afternoon, a mall directory, and finally — up close — the tallest building on earth. Left to right: 106°F on the ground at 12:17 PM; the Dubai Mall directory at 7:51 PM, right before we took the escalator in; Burj Khalifa and the Downtown Dubai skyline behind me at Souk Al Bahar, 8:09 PM. September 1, 2021. Nine days into the 39-day trip, and the heat still had the final word on every plan. My phone clocked it at 12:17 in the afternoon: 106°F, with a forecast high of 108. Two days earlier, my best friend Khristine and I had ducked into a Starbucks at Sahara Tower on She...