The hospitality industry, they say, is a man’s world, where top posts are dominated by men.

Recently however, there have been more and more women breaking the glass ceiling, and Alexandra Kelner, who recently assumed post as general manager of the four-star TIME Asma Hotel in Dubai’s Al Barsha shopping district, is among them.

What made her story quite unique is that she was a dark horse coming from behind, if you will, at the housekeeping department.

“I believe working in the hospitality industry requires lots of dedication, persistence and commitment regardless of gender, especially if we have a passion for what we do,” Alexandra, born in France, tells Dubai Vibes Magazine.

“I started my career in the housekeeping department, and being the person at the back of the house, I generally had less opportunities compared to those who were working front of house,” she said.

There’s more!

Alexandra will be leading a management team of women.

TIME Hotels’ CEO Mohamed Awadalla, said it has always been integral to their corporate strategy to diversify our workforce and offer equal opportunities to all members of staff.

“Under the leadership of Alexandra, all areas of the hotel operation will be managed by women, from HR to sales, F&B, finance, front office and housekeeping – even our executive chef is a woman.

“I am sure that this talented all-female management team will provide inspiration to all women who want to carve out a successful career in hospitality,” said Awadalla.

To this end, Alexandra said she is “beyond grateful for the trust that the executive team of TIME Hotels has placed in (me), under the guidance of CEO Mohamed Awadalla.”

Alexandra said she is very excited to be leading the team. “Of course, we are still in the soft opening period and that involves a lot of hard work preparing for the grand opening. But so far, the experience has been rewarding and I am looking forward to welcoming our first guests to TIME Asma,” she says.

TIME Asma Hotel held its soft opening last month.

Alexandra had worked in Algeria for two years as part of the pre-opening team of Sheraton Oran Hotel & Towers in Oran, prior to coming to Dubai.

She has been with TIME Hotels since August 2010, where she worked as executive housekeeper and moved up to become rooms division manager. Prior to that, she was assistant executive housekeeper at the five-star Grosvenor House Hotel for three years from 2007.

Alexandra has been in Dubai since August 2007. She said her initial plan was to stay for two or three years. “But, I guess, fate had other plans for me. Obviously I’ve stayed a lot longer and Dubai has become my second home,” she says.

 “Dubai is amazing! I love the constant change here, it’s so vibrant and it’s a place where everything is accessible. It is a very diverse, clean and safe city that’s always striving to be the best with a variety of initiatives for the hospitality, tourism, real estate and other sectors. Dubai is a truly unique city, welcoming all nationalities for both work and leisure, creating a melting pot of cultures,” she says.

Asked which part of Dubai she loves the most, Alexandra said: “I’ve been in Dubai for over 14 years now and I do not have a specific area or place that I can categorically call my favorite.

“However, something I do adore is when a new experience becomes available. Recently the Expo site opened to visitors, I really enjoyed visiting the Dubai Safari and I can’t wait to look around the museum of the future next to Emirates Towers – it’s such a beautiful building. And I guess that’s my point, it is very difficult to have a favorite, when Dubai always has something new and exciting to offer.”

As a boy growing up in Lebanon, Toufic Kreidieh, along with his buddy, Yasser Beydoun, vowed to hit it big someday, having been coming up with business ideas at an early age.

“Looking back,” he recalls, “my childhood was a bit rough on the financial side; I had to work many jobs to have enough money to get by and help my mother.”

“During those times,” Toufic added, “I wanted to grow up and do something big not only for me, but for my family, too.”

Fast-forward to the present and – voila! Brands for Less (BFL), a chain of off-price retail shops selling branded clothing at affordable prices across 74 stores of which some 41 are in the UAE: 32 in Dubai and nine in Abu Dhabi. Plans are afoot to bring the UAE number to 52 by yearend.

At the helm are Toufic as CEO and Yasser, who sits in as BFL Group co-founder and managing partner.

“Both Yasser and I wanted to make a mark for ourselves, and we believe that we can contribute to a bigger cause. Despite our humble beginnings, we worked very hard and slowly built our business,” Toufic said.

‘Treasure hunt’

The business partners saw an opportunity in the UAE – and a challenge too.

“When we expanded to the UAE back in 2000, we knew we had to come up with something more original. Everyone who has stepped into the UAE sees it as a land of great opportunities, and the only way for us to enter the market and become a successful brand is to offer something that will interest its buyers,” says Toufic.

That is why, he said, they came up with the unique “treasure hunt” business model, which encourages customers to come back with the promise of exceptional pieces at discounted prices — up to 80 per cent off the original retail price for fashion designer brands.

“Seeing the joy on people’s faces while browsing through the shops and getting the dream item for themselves contributes a large part to my definition of success. This feeling makes us work even harder to achieve more and come up with innovative ideas to support this ideal,” Toufic said.

Asked what keeps them going, Toufic said, “the easiest answer would be success.”

“But after opening our first Brands for Less store, we sensed how people appreciated us for who we are and what we can offer them. With that realization, I can say that it’s the people we serve that is the primary motivation for us to expand and to keep introducing more branded products and improving the quality of our services.

“We aim to make our affordable branded items available to as many people as we can and to stay as one of the leading off-price retailers in our current markets and, in time, the rest of the world,” he said.

Toufic said they decided to embark on this type of business because “customers tend to give high preference to branded items.”

“There is a certain reputation and quality assurance that brands provide, and customers want that. However, these are generally expensive, and not everyone would want to pay or can afford the full price.

“We saw this dilemma and observed that this is a need that no one else is catering to, at least not in the way that we do. So, we founded BFL Group with the mission to offer branded merchandise at a competitive rate, which people can afford,” Toufic said.

Having become quite successful in the road he has taken, Toufic has some life lessons he wants to share:

“I learned that there is no shortcut to earning respect from people. How you get respect from your team is the same as in any other relationship. You earn it over time.

“However, it starts when you communicate your values very clearly and articulate a clear vision for the organization. People will respect you more as you live those values every day and deliver results.”

Toufic and Yasser have also never failed to look back to their humble beginnings and are actively involved in the education of more than 100 children in Lebanon.

“Whenever we have the chance to help others who are in need, we aim to do so to the best of our capabilities,” Toufic said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates:  An overseas Filipino worker (OFW), who dropped out of college and thus only has a high school diploma to show for her credentials, now runs a salon in this city through a partnership with an investor.

Gina Fe Bariga Sanico of Balabagan, Lanao del Sur, left her home town and her new-born son to care of her kin in 2011 to work as nanny in Oman. She was 25.  

Sanico had gone to San Isidro High School in Balabagan and was on scholarship at Mindanao State University Marawi City, a working student taking a pre-course semester to pursue a degree in civil engineering, when she decided, however, to leave everything behind and join the diaspora.

“Gusto ko lang kumita na ng pera. It was my choice po. Hindi naman ako sinabihan ng parents ko na tumulong ako. Pero mas gusto ko nang magtrabaho.  Hindi naman kami sobrang kapos. Wala kaming sariling bahay. Papa ko, ang work nya ay vulcanizer/mekaniko; at ang mama ko nasa bahay lang; apat kaming magkakapatid,” shared Sanico.

She went to Abu Dhabi and worked, again as a nanny, in 2013 before moving to Dubai three years later for greener pastures armed only with her high school diploma.

Dubai

“Na-apply ako sa kung anu-anong trabaho hanggang matanggap ako as sales coordinator sa isang seafood company – walang ibang baon kundi self-confidence, at ang aking ‘talking talent,’” she said, laughing at the part where she mentioned her “talent.”

“Hindi naman sa pagmamayabang, but yes I am good at words and numbers. And that was the start of my sales and marketing career. Without any degree or experience, naging eager ako na matutunan lahat: accounting, admin, sales and marketing work.

“Dito sa work na ito ko naranasan makipagkamay sa mga top executive chefs, purchasing managers at account managers ng mga five-star restaurants. I met different people from different countries and all walks of life,” Sanico said.

She would be working overtime and driving around the city to do sales field work and came to a point when she was juggling three tasks at a time.

Indeed, nothing, not even a dawn fire that recently gutted the shared accommodation she was staying at in Satwa and left her with only the clothes on her back, could dampen her plans. 

Finally, in April this year Sanino, with help from an investor-friend, took over operations of a salon, which was also in Satwa. The arrangement was such that the investor, a German national, would take care of the finances; Sanico, for her part, will run the salon’s daily operations.

The salon officially opened on June 4 this year with Sanico, now having a trade license, at the helm with two OFWs, and plans to have a full staff of six employees.

Looking back

Looking back, Sanico said the rollercoaster ride paid off.

“I am looking forward na mag-grow ang salon, not just for myself but to help my fellow kabayans here na magkaroon ng work,” she said.

Sanico, who turns 35 next month, also hopes to open a branch of the salon and a restaurant. “There are lots of opportunities out there,” she said.

“My plan is always as vast as the ocean. I know this is just the beginning. There will be more in the future. With hard work, determination, patience, perseverance and prayers, I can do more. This has always been my vision the moment I set foot here in UAE. At sana yung plans ko ay maging matagumpay para sa pamilya ko at para makatulong sa kapwa ko OFWs dito sa UAE,” she said.

Sanico’s advice?

“Continue learning. Continue growing. Huwag makontento sa kung anong meron lang ngayon. You can be more. Use all your extra time learning either self-study or go for a Friday class if you can. Always try something new and don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone. Maging stepping stone mo yan sa pag-abot ng mga pangarap mo. And lastly, keep praying.”

Satwa is a working class enclave with mostly OFW residents.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Most people spend over two hours a day on social media, and for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), this is precious time wasted, said a productivity expert.

Citing studies, Dr. Sandro Strix Toledo, a medical doctor of 21 years specializing in regenerative medicine, said a person typically spends two hours and 22 minutes on social media – checking Facebook, among others.

This, he said, “could have been better spent by gaining useful skills.”

Toledo, who has recently been getting the raves for his work as clinical conversationalist specializing in creating mind systems for better productivity, described this as “distractions” that stand in the way of achieving goals.

Toledo, who kicked off the 45-minute Zoom live stream series dubbed, “Opportunity for Filipino Workers” (OFF Workers), last Friday, June 18, said OFWs should also make it a habit to make a list of the tasks they need to accomplish the next day before they sleep at night, then check it out in the morning.

“Hindi ka pa nagsa-start, panalo ka na because it snowballs on the rest of the day,” explained Toledo, who is among 19 resource persons in the ongoing series of free online seminars for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) wanting to level up and gain skills toward entrepreneurship.

 “We gain power with intent, focus, and action. We lose it to distractions. If your goal is to have stable financial independence and stability, your productivity efforts should be geared toward strategizing and carrying out consistent actions toward building beliefs, resources, and skills that will enable you to be stable and financially independent,” Toledo said.

There is a difference between being busy and actually being productive, Toledo also pointed out.

“Merely being busy is a joke,” he said. “We substitute busy work for the work we should actually be doing. We do the familiar instead of the necessary. We do what’s easy instead of what’s useful.   

“So, we spend time at work, sure, but set aside energy and time you would have wasted on distractions, and use that on working on making your dreams a reality. That’s how you gain personal power and get your truly important things done,” Toledo said.

The OFF Workers live stream is held twice-weekly, every Friday and Sunday starting at 1pm UAE time. This has been slated to culminate in a week-long trade fair in October this year, organizers said. 

Nineteen sessions with each facilitated by 19 resource people will be held.

The topics are:

• Leadership & Entrepreneurship
• E-Commerce
• Freelancing
• Personal & Visual Branding
• Sales, Persuasion & Marketing
• Facebook Ads & Email Marketing
• Website development
• Productivity
• Mindsets as well as mental health and strength  

 Registration is free at https://bit.ly/3glv6iG

-end- 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: For quite some time, “Leilani” tried her luck at a raffle draw using important dates as number combinations.

“Dati, birthday, age, favorite numbers. That time po nang tumaya ako, random numbers lang,” she told Daily Bread.

Days later Leilani got a message informing her that she was among two Filipinos who have won AED250,000 each – approximately P3.25 million.

Leilani, licensed dentist back home in the Philippines, has been working as dental assistant abroad for the past 15 years. She has, all her life, been wishing to someday open her own clinic on her return.

“Licensed dentist po ako sa Pilipinas bago nag-abroad. Pangarap ko rin na magka-clinic kapag pinalad na makapag-ipon. Napalapit na ang pangarap na iyon,” said “Leilani,” 44, who currently works in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi.

Leilani, who left the Philippines in 2006 to work as a dental assistant in Saudi Arabia, said the money will also enable her to clear debts, continue supporting her parents, give back to her high school alma mater and secure her daughter’s college expenses.

“First and foremost is the education of my daughter. My daughter is in grade 12 and wants to study medicine. I would have needed to work for 20 years to pay for it. Now I can make her dreams come true after winning in the raffle draw,” said Leilani, who arrived in Al Ain in 2016.

“I am the breadwinner in the family. Nagbibigay ako ng allowance sa father ko who used to work in Saudi Arabia and is now retired. Ako naman ang may maayos na trabaho kaya ako ang tumutulong sa kanila,” Leilani said.

She added: “I always think back to my formative years and my time in high school. The guidance I received from my teachers and my classmates led me to pursue my dream of being a dentist and now I want to give back. I plan on giving a portion of my winnings to my old high school.”

The draw was organized by Mahzooz , the only weekly live number combinations raffle draw in the region that offers players a life-changing opportunity with tens of millions in dirhams to be won every week.

Leilani was the third overseas Filipino worker (OFW) to win in the raffle draw. Last week, “Roland,” a bakeshop delivery van driver won AED1 million. Weeks earlier in May, a 31-year-old single mom, Wendy Arroz of Cagayan Valley won AED201,000. A fourth, “Alexander” also won AED250,000 with Leilani.

DUBAI, UAE: A series of free online seminars for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) wanting to level up and gain skills toward entrepreneurship has been set, with the first edition scheduled to be held on Friday, June 18.

Dubbed, “Opportunity for Filipino Workers” (OFF Workers), the event will have twice-weekly, 45-minute Zoom and live stream seminars to be held every Friday and Sunday starting at 1pm UAE time.

This will culminate in a week-long trade fair in October this year, organizers said.  

Nineteen sessions with each facilitated by 19 resource people will be held.

The topics are:

• Leadership & Entrepreneurship
• E-Commerce
• Freelancing
• Personal & Visual Branding
• Sales, Persuasion & Marketing
• Facebook Ads & Email Marketing
• Website development
• Productivity
• Mindsets as well as mental health and strength  

On Friday, June 18, Dr. Strix Toledo, a productivity and transformative coach, speaker, and trainer, will discuss ways to create mind systems and thought processes to increase productivity at work.

Dr. Toledo has coached managers, regional directors, executive boards, and captains of industry.

Registration is free at https://bit.ly/3glv6iG

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Picture this: An Arab man indulging himself in a bowl of kare-kare with manakeesh on the side; or an Indian national, so used to having curries as a staple on the dining table, trying adobo, probably curried, too; a British enjoying bubble milk tea for the usual afternoon break?

The possibilities are limitless as the Filipino community here rolls out two months of foodie galore, showcasing homegrown Filipino comfort foods with a gourmet twist to make these kitchen specialties ready for an international audience of over 250 nationalities, all of whom have brought foods they have grown up back home to share as well.

The food festival, will highlight this year’s celebration of the Philippine Independence Day festivities. It will be participated in by at least 12 Filipino-operated restaurants to showcase culinary wonders as the city steadily moves on to full recovery while much of the world grapples with the pandemic.

Inaugural

Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes said the inaugural event, the first of its kind in the UAE in more than a decade, “reflects the partnership between the consulate, the business community, and the rest of the overseas Filipinos to spread awareness of Philippine flavors and Filipino cuisine for other ethnicities to enjoy.”

“This is also a tool for our Filipino restaurants to generate interest among the other ethnicities in this part of the world and thereby create a deeper understanding of who we are as a people,” he told Rappler.

In his prepared Independence Day speech, the diplomat, head of the Philippine missions in Dubai and its five neighboring northern emirates, highlighted the need for the consulate to continue “working in tandem with the Filipino diaspora to identify how else they can move their wants, dreams, and visions forward” in light of pandemic recovery efforts.

“Each step we take towards fruitful collaboration, whether baby steps or humble strides, is a step towards the betterment of all,” he added, citing the food festival as one such move.

Kick off

To officially kick off the much-anticipated event, officers of the Filipino restaurateurs’ group, League of Food and Beverage Entrepreneurs (LFBE), took their oath at the Philippine Consulate on June 12, 2021, during which the campaign dubbed, “PINASarap sa UAE Food Tour,” will be officially announced, paving the way for the involved restaurants to start buckling down to work.

The campaign, which will officially take place from July 1 to Aug. 31, 2021, will be highlighted by a “dining passport” that will be given to customers by the participating restaurants and stamped as they dine in.

“PINASarap” is a portmanteau of the Filipino words, “Pilipinas,” the vernacular equivalent of Philippines; and “sarap,” which means flavorful in English

Next level

To bring the event to the next level, an exclusive dinner will also be held on July 27, 2021 that will feature a curated Filipino menu for invited heads of diplomatic missions, UAE businesses and representatives from other business groups. An afternoon tea party will also be held on the same day.

At least 60 high-level individuals have been invited for the event.

Organizers said this will provide an opportunity for Dubai’s food and beverage industry stakeholders to network and explore possibilities for collaboration as the city’s hotel and restaurant businesses recover from months of closure during last year’s quarantine measures.

And so apt it is, organizers said, noting that Dubai is a melting pot of a multitude of different cuisines and restaurants with award-winning chefs busy in the kitchens taking orders from people of varying gastronomic tastes and taking the extra mile to keep them coming back.

As Uwe Micheel, president of the Emirates Culinary Guild (ECG), an association of about 3,000 chefs in Dubai, puts it: “Dubai really is now a culinary city.”

He said Dubai has become home to celebrated chefs, adding that the city had “very little in terms of food and beverage” when he arrived in January of 1993.

“But now, I think Dubai can compete with all the culinary cities in the world. When I came here, we went to Hong Kong… to Singapore to learn, to see what was going on in the culinary world.

“These days, the chefs from Hong Kong, from New York are coming to see what we are doing here because now you can find every concept, every cuisine in the world in Dubai,” said Uwe, also Director of Kitchens at Radisson Blu Hotel Dubai Deira Creek.

Ricardo R. Bojador, Filipino executive chef at a Japanese fine-dining restaurant in Dubai’s glitzy Downtown district, could not agree more.

He said that among the finest are Filipinos working silently amid the banging of pots and pans in restaurant kitchens.

“Marami na kami, sa hotel man yan or restaurant. Kahit saan akong mapunta na kitchen hindi nawawala ang Pinoy staff,” Bojador said.

Mechanics

Meantime, the “passport,” once fully stamped by the 12 participating Filipino restaurants, can be entered to the raffle draw for a chance to win prizes topped by round-trip tickets to the Philippines, said Gina Valbuena, LFBE chair and owner of Kubyertos Cuisine.

She further explained: “All 12 official members will issue these ‘dining passports’ to interested customers –  Filipinos and other foreign nationals – who can then qualify for the raffle draw by having their ‘passports’ completely stamped.”

Valbuena said completed passports may be submitted to any of the LFBE members. Raffle draw will be held on Sept. 3, 2021, she said.  Other than the round-trip plane tickets to the Philippines, Valbuena said other prizes include  packages from project partners as well as vouchers from LFBE restaurants and enterprises.

And to as well highlight the Philippines’ participation to Expo 2020 happening from October 20 this year to April 10 next year, Valbuena said participating restaurants have been required to create a special nook in their premises promoting the country’s involvement in the world fair.

‘Kitchen ambassadors’

“PINASarap sa UAE Food Tour” will once again put to fore the role of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), approximately half a million of them in Dubai, as “culinary ambassadors.”

Over time, Filipino food has been introduced and enjoyed in the city by other nationals wanting to try something new in the same vein as Filipinos have grown accustomed to Arabic, Indian Japanese, Chinese and Thai food, among others, themselves experimenting with their pots and stoves on weekends.

Boosting this are the Filipino restaurants numbering close to 50 in Dubai alone, not to mention the “carinderias” and “turo-turos” that abound inside hypermarts, with trays upon trays of food ranging from balbakua, a Cebuano dish, to dinuguan and dinengdeng (an Ilocano staple); menudo to rilyenong bangus – mostly by the Kapampangans of Central Luzon.

“Kahit na yun boss ko na local (Arab) ay pamilyar na sa Filipino food. Filipino food is the next big thing,” Bojador said.

There are also Filipinos who have cross-married with other nationals and introduced Filipino food to their spouses’ family.

“Nung una, medyo hesistant sya to try,” said Imelda Farah, an office staff, of his Arab husband. “These days, mag-whatsapp pa sya on his way home to ask me to prepare adobo,” she added.

Speech

Meantime, Cortes, in his Independence Day speech, also noted the Filipino community’s resilience as he highlighted individual and group efforts showcasing camaraderie, and how this has further fortified the consulate’s ties with its constituents.

“Against the backdrop of the 123rd Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence dawning upon the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos in the UAE, one wonders if the pandemic has provided our community a greater momentum for consulate-community engagement and if so, what it means for the future of our diaspora in this part of the world,” Cortes said.

He stressed: “The tandem of consulate leadership and diaspora-led endeavors springs forth avenues that motivate our overseas Filipino community to aspire for greater heights and in providing a stronger voice for our unique identity.

“Truly, as we think about these challenging times and our sense as a nation, it is more apparent that the essence of our independence lies in the delicate balance between government’s dependence on what our people desire and the common good.”

Excited

Other LFBE officers are Rolly Brucales, vice chairman who also operates Off The Hook Seafood Restaurant, which has nine branches across UAE; Divina Jimenez, secretary and owner of Joy Bubble Tea that she and her husband opened at the height of last year’s pandemic and has now grown to have another branch; Cristine Galang, treasurer and general manager of Zutto Suki Japanese Restaurant; Albert Opena the group’s membership director, who also operates Ounce, a leading events, mobile bar solution and brand activation specialist  in the UAE.

All are excited about the roll-out.

“This group will do its best to elevate the quality of our food to other nationalities… to put the uniqueness of our cuisine on the spotlight,” said Brucales.

Jimenez, for her part, said “PINASarap sa UAE Food Tour” is just the beginning.

“Abangan na lang ang aming mga projects in the future,” she said.

Jimenez added: “As of now under discussion pa ang offer naming package but will surelybe  bubble tea + food to share with family and friends at an affordable price of Dhs 50.”

More Filipino “foodtrepreneurs” were expected to join LFBE.

The LFBE is under the arm of the Philippine Business Council-Dubai and Northern Emirates (PBC-DNE), the only Filipino organization licensed by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry and part of ASEAN Business Council Alliance (ABCA).

The LFBE was launched on April 18, 2021 in Dubai.

 

‘Ngayon mau-umpisahan ko nang bayaran ang mga utang ko’

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) working as a bakeshop delivery van driver in Abu Dhabi has won AED1 million in a raffle draw, or the equivalent of about Php13 million – money that, he said, will cover expenses, which include paying off outstanding debts to friends and kin in the Philippines so he can finally go home for a break, and a dream wedding for her partner of three years.

“Masayang masaya. Hindi po ako nakatulog. Tumaas pa ang blood pressure ko,” said the winner, identified only by the raffle draw company as “Roland,” and who refused to give his full name when contacted by Daily Bread News, citing privacy issues.

Roland, who hails from Pangasinan, said his live-in partner was as well ecstatic. “Number combination nya kasi yun,” he explained.

Roland, 38, who said he has been in the UAE for the past 10 years, said topping his expenditure list is the transfer of their family’s land title from their grandparents to his mother. “Sa lolo’t lola ko pa kasi nakapangalan. Malaki ang gastusin sa paglipat ng name sa titulo,” he said.

Also high in Roland’s to-do list is a dream wedding for his partner.  

Roland said he will also consider business ventures like a condo unit, but hinted he’d be more inclined to go farming and manage a fishery.

“Mabilis maubos ang pera. Nagtitingin-tingin ako ng mabi-business kung sakaling mag-for good na,” he said. “For good” is a common term among OFWs in UAE, which means returning home without intent to work abroad again.

Roland said he already has savings for his two kids that he has from his first love affair. “May savings na talagang naka-laan para sa kanila,” he said. He has two kids, the eldest being 16 years old; the youngest, 10. His partner, a widow, has a child.

And, as there’s no place like home, as the cliché goes, which is why Roland said he plans to clear all his debts so he can visit the Philippines again.

“Ang dami kong mga utang sa mga kaibigan at kamag-anak sa Pilipinas. Kaya hindi ako maka-uwi kasi hindi maka-bayad. Ngayon uumpisahan ko na silang bayaran,” Roland said.

Roland is the second OFW to recently win in the raffle draw held by Mahzooz, the only weekly live draw in the region that offers players a life-changing opportunity.  

In May, a 31-year-old single mom working as office manager at an HR Consultancy won AED201,000 or the equivalent of Php2.63 million pesos. Wendy Arroz, who hails from Cagayan Valley told GMA News Online that she will use the money to settle a housing loan she got two years ago for her daughter.

According to Mahzooz, along with Roland, an Emirati national also matched five out of six numbers and claimed AED 1,000,000. The two winners shared the AED 2,000,000 second prize, which was doubled in accordance with the Rules of Mahzooz, after going unclaimed in the previous 26th draw. 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Filipino restaurateurs, who all together operate 18 restaurants, have vowed to take “Pinoy cuisine diplomacy” to the next level through an event coinciding with this year’s Philippine Independence Day celebrations.

Plans are also afoot to organize a city-wide food festival happening after summer and joining in major culinary events.

This, bearing in mind that Dubai, being an international city that is second home to people from over 200 countries, has also transformed into a culinary wonderland, where expats bring with them comfort foods they grew up with back home for other nationals to indulge in.

“One of the reasons we wanted to come up with a restaurant group was to ensure that Philippine cuisine diplomacy efforts have an institution, even if very informal, to serve as foundation,” Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes, head of the Philippine mission in Dubai and the neighboring northern emirates, said.

“By forming such an association,” he added, “we have an informal grouping of Filipino business people involved in food and Filipino cuisine that is able to share best practices not only when it comes to management of their resources but also in the marketing of the Filipino flavor.”

Gina Valbuena, chair of the group named League of Food and Beverage Entrepreneurs (LFBE), said “the opportunities will be limitless in terms of celebrating and showcasing our food offerings on occasions most suitable.” She noted major events like the annual government-held Dubai Food Festival (DFF), which usually runs for a month and participated in by dining venues across the city.

Other than DFF, similar food events include the Thai Food Festival hosted by the Thai Consulate General in Dubai; and the Taste of Dubai participated in by major dining destinations across the city. Just recently, Malaysia also held a week-long coffee festival.

“We are planning something interesting in the pipeline for Independence Day. The food fest may happen during the cooler months,” Valbuena said.

“I would assume that a Filipino Food Festival will also definitely be in the pipeline in coordination with relevant government agencies, partners and external parties,” she added.

Funding

Cortes, meantime, lamented that funding needed to launch such an event can be a concern. “We all know that marketing entails money and heavy advertising, and budgeting relative to our cuisine diplomacy efforts are very much lacking; which is why most of our endeavors need to be out of the box, and this is where the restaurant association could be very, very useful,” he said.

“Thailand and Korea are success stories because of their heavy and intense pouring of resources, both financial and human, into these diplomacy efforts,” Cortes added.

Cortes further explained that budget “has always been an issue in many of our marketing efforts and clearly it is a resource that remains very difficult to procure.”

This, “especially so when we have social services priorities (back home) and our priority on assisting Filipino nationals in Dubai and the northern emirates,” Cortes said, referring to help – legal and financial, among others –  provided to distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Official

The LFBE was officially formed last month under the auspices of the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai and in collaboration with the Philippine Business Council – Dubai & Northern Emirates (PBC-DNE), following a meeting organized by the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) attended by 22 Filipino restaurateurs.

The LFBE, a sub-committee of PBC-DNE, “aims to promote and sustain the development of Filipino-owned restaurants and be the resource for industry information to its members,” said Valbuena. 

It also seeks to make available value-added member services, suitable training, education and business support needed by Filipino entrepreneurs for growth and sustainability.

“For the LFBE to achieve its objectives, it is definitely part of the plan to open active engagements and seek support with and from appropriate UAE and Philippine government agencies and groups,” said Valbuena, who has taken a break from her job in the corporate world to form her own restaurant, Kubyertos Cuisine. 

As of press time, she added, elected officers were facilitating the membership process of the food and beverage (F&B) entrepreneurs into the sub-committee; after which, a group discussion of initial projects will be scheduled in due time.

Officers and members

Meantime, other members of the LFBE executive board are Rolly Brucales (vice president), who runs Off the Hook Seafood Restaurant, which counts nine branches across the UAE; and Divina Jimenez (Secretary), who operates the flourishing Joy Bubble Coffee Shop that she and her husband opened a few weeks before last year’s covid-19 quarantine measures.

Treasurer is Christine Galang, restaurant manager at the authentic Japanese restaurant, Zutto Suki Ramen; and Albert Opena of OunceDXB and is in charged with memberships.

Among restaurants in the group are D’Original Pares Mami and Grill House, Paluto Restaurant, Sisig Express, Panadero Pastry Shop.

Other restaurants which have yet to be registered for membership are Timplang Ala Eh, Bulalugaw, La Paz Batchoy and El Batangueno Restaurant.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: It’s not like her to quit.

So, she turned things around after losing her job as human resource specialist for 12 years and opened her own flourishing consultancy company, saying she’d rather make use of the expertise she has developed than throw in the towel.

Also see: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/pinoyabroad/pinoyachievers/786583/dubai-ofw-loses-job-to-pandemic-forms-own-flourishing-business/story/?fbclid=IwAR1-gen_9oKvn_6yxY0VOzKnU8q-uwXoPnP-SNoX37Q7DpYwr1h94EM8L5s

“The pandemic is more of an opportunity than a challenge,” said Robie Torre-Gonzales, noting that as companies downsized their workforce to keep afloat, outsourcing and collaboration have become the trend.

“And HR services are absolutely among the outsourced services being sought,” said Gonzales, who was given termination notice last September that took effect three months later. She was head of learning and organization development at a leading consumer electronics company. Her department was dissolved due to downsizing, she said.

“The company was greatly affected by the pandemic. So, I was hit,” Gonzales, who had also worked in the HR field back home in the Philippines for seven years before moving to Dubai, said.

The company that she formed two months back with help from a business partner, also a Filipina with expertise in the field, and was aptly named People Bureau International (PBI), has started to prosper.

“Surprisingly, yes, it is growing. I started out with my HR network.  And then referrals na. The good thing kasi about our business is that di lang services ang pwede naming i-provide.  We also provide solutions. 

“So for example, kelangan mo i-develop ang sarili mo,  empower yourself, get yourself certified.  When you want naman an HR technology to support the HR department, we have product solutions for that too,” said Gonzales.

“Our only challenge now is time,” she added.

Gonzales also heads the association of Filipino HR practitioners in Dubai, popularly FilHR, where she provides pro bono services.

Companies outsource their HR needs to “focus on their core strategy and operation,” Gonzales explained.

“And since 40 years of combined expertise kami nung business partner ko, we are very adept in organizational development.  We help companies strategize their human capital development,” Gonzales said.

Among consultancy services PBI provides include road-mapping; organizational development and design; restructuring and transformation; job analysis and evaluation; compensation and benefits computation; competency analysis; employee performance evaluation and management; strategic planning at management level; and payroll optimization.

The HR start-up also provides services in HR policies and procedures as well as advisories regarding compliance with HR regulations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).