UPAA-UAE

2009

January

Elections for the BOD 2009-2010 took place in Chowking restaurant at the Marina.  Outgoing president Albert Alba presided with election and arbitration committee members Galo, Lucy and Ria.  New BOD elected and met to plan the year ahead.

February

Held the second job fair, this time, in Abu Dhabi after the initial job fair held in Dubai.  Click the photo to jump to the Photo Gallery and view more pictures from this event.

March

First General Assembly of the year as well as induction of the new BOD held in Dubai's Grand Midwest.  Philippine Ambassador to the UAE, His Excellency Libran Cabactulan and his wife Mrs. Remedios Cabactulan, both UP alumni and UPAA-UAE members were our guests of honor.  Fun games and bonding were enjoyed by all.  Please check out the snaps from the event in the photo gallery, thanks to Doc Heck and Tita Ayet Morada.

We also got quite busy with helping fellow Pinoy who were supposedly hired as drivers for the RTA by Al Tomooh via CYM International Services, a placement agency in the Philippines, who scammed these workers leaving them with loans as well as unemployed.  Several have opted to go home, some have been hired by RTA after passing the written and road test, while others found employment in some Dubai private companies.  For a back story, click here. 

April

Bonding and fund raising day in Al Ain with an "adobo festival" for spread; board games we all love like mahjong, tong-its, pusoy dos, scrabble, pictionary, boggle, etc. and darts and chess with karaoke singing and a bit of Al Ain tour.  This gathering also officially formed the UPAA-UAE Singers with a presentation from Shawie on the art and science that is chorale singing.  More pictures in the Photo gallery.

Another bonding and sporty event in Abu Dhabi is the bowling tournament set up by Special Projects followed by a bonding night with another round of karaoke singing at the Dy-Liacos' residence and a tour of the Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque the next morning. 

May

Committee meetings particularly cultural and education as well as memcom following up on member updates and fees.  Choir practice and a "Yupikikay Day" held at the Reflections Salon owned by UPAA-UAE member and previous BOD, Mike Ortega.

This was followed by another round of choir practice at President Tinette Pudda's home in Deira.  Thanks to Maricar P. for the photos and to view more, please check out the Photo gallery.

June

Another practice session in Al Ain with some "it's complicated" revelations from several members (ano ito?!  OMG!) and bonding for the UPAA-UAE Singers.  This time we also practised singing the UAE national anthem.

June 12, Dubai.  UPAA-UAE hosted the "Palarong Pinoy" with Events head Michelle Mingi at the helm.  Events Committee members particularly Marites Schripper and Eric Andaya were all over the place with Michelle to ensure props were available as well as prizes for winners were handed out.  Thanks to Reflections Salon, LBC, Ms. Lou for Rimmel, Maricar P. for giveaways and for helping out on the day itself.  Galo and Obet were hosts for the morning part of the activities and with Zeena Z, they also had a skit prepared and presented in the evening.  Mike Fortes also helped with emceeing on the day.  President Tinette shared her TY message in the Discussion area.

June 12 - 13, Abu Dhabi.  Vice President Earl Palacios and EduCom head Tricia Cusi led the Abu Dhabi UPAA-UAE members in the flag raising ceremony and PD/Workshop session at the POLO office.  Earl and Tricia both shared the day's goings-on via a post on the Discussion area. 

There are pictures of both the Dubai and Abu Dhabi events in our Photo Gallery.

The UPAA-UAE Singers also performed for the first time at the Philipppine Independence Day celebrations held in Abu Dhabi as the opening act, singing the Philippine National Anthem as well as the UAE National Anthem.

 July

Despite the heat, basketball kept members fit and breathless as the scrimmages and practice sessions tested old, ageing, bones but also kept the camaraderie and fun.  Tagged as the UPAA-UAE Fighting Maroons, there is a "liga" in sight when cooler climes kick in.  Many also want to put up other team sports subgroups and one popular sport aside from basketball is badminton. 

 

Another July baby is the Photography subgroup, UPAA-UAE Lente which immediately took a life on its own, having had a series of workshops held in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.  It is now on its fourth session with an impressive collection of photos and enthusiastic photohobbyists. 

August

UPAA-UAE held its second General Assembly (GA) at the Flora Hotel in Dubai.  Members from all over the emirates met up and had a great time.  UPAA-UAE Singers also perfomed and the UPAA-UAE website (http://www.upaauae.org/) was officially launched.  Enjoy viewing photos of this event by going to the PHOTOS area of this website.

 

September

There are several events here including the Lente's series of photography workshop; the Singers' practice and preparations for Christmas carolling; EduCom's meeting with UPOU officials and the Speakers' Bureau's series of seminars at the Philippine Embassy.

October

Ondoy and Pepeng broke our reverie and UPians went packing - relief goods - for the typhoon victims back home.  The iskolar ng bayan spirit is very much alive in these parts of the desert.

 

News about Fighting Maroons!  Read box below: Believing in the saying that there is no way to go but UP. UPAA-UAE basketball team aka the Fighting Maroons had their first taste of sweet victory against Cebu Slashers in the elimination playoffs held Friday, 6th November 2009 in Dubai. Winning by 12 points (60 - 48) the Fighting Maroons were literally a David to the Slashers' Goliath with players much bigger than UPAA-UAE's. However, their 6' 4" 200-lbs pure muscle man was no match for our Michael Clarin's and Mark Punzal's combination of basket shots.

The first two quarters was a seesaw of who was going to take the upper hand as both teams played against each other for the first time and was gauging how each other plays but by the third quarter, the Fighting Maroons took its biggest lead with 10 points and never looked back.

With our very own Mike Fortes as coach and some help from the Du team, we finally won our first victory made sweeter by the valiant efforts of team members: Albert Lorete, Michael Clarin, Ernie Moral, Mark Vernon Punzal, Eric Andaya, Joel Gozales who was also the bard of this brilliant tale whilst Amiel Averion was unable to join the team due to some prior engagement.

The Fighting Maroons wore lavender jersey which according to Galo was a bit gayish but still had the desired effect of securing us the win. More games to follow as the team has yet to play about 5 or 6 games to qualify in the finals.

Support our Fighting Maroons (in lavender)! Games will be announced in the Events and Activities link of this website.

(Source: Joel Gonzales)

 

November

MARAMING SALAMAT PO SA MGA TUMULONG FOR ONDOY/PEPENG RELIEF OPERATIONS A big "THANK YOU" to everyone who helped in the relief operations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and special thanks to the LBC, through Arnold Cereno for collecting all the boxes. Initially, LBC pledged to 100 boxes but at the end of the two-week operations, LBC sent a total of about 800 boxes to the Philippines. Thanks to all the donors and members who helped in the packing operations in both Emirates. Mabuhay po kayong lahat!

December

UPAA-UAE is five years old! UPAA-UAE's Christmas and Anniversary Party was held last 11th December, Friday at the Flora Grand Hotel in Dubai. Despite the downpour, everyone found their way in wearing "jobs in uniform" costumes and Christmas-sy hats. The tandem of Galo and Obet as host was a hit and the C.R.A.P. (Christmas Reunion & Anniversary Party) Committee worked hard ensuring everyone had a great time. MemCom was on hand to welcome new members and it was great to see some "old timers" (oldies but goodies) come and join in the celebrations. There was a walk down memory lane with pictures of UPAA-UAE from its early days till now and the UPAA-UAE Singers sang a few carols to add more of the Yuletide feeling to the event. There were several quirky games that also earned worthy prizes thanks to the generous donations of our members. Congratulations to the CRAP & Events Committee for a wonderful party and to all members who joined and shared not only in the fun but also for the Endowment Fund of our Scholarship Program. Photos of the party will be uploaded onto the Photos page of our website, so watch this space.

We would like to compile key events and photos of previous UPAA-UAE activities so if you do have them, please email us so we can post them here.  Thanks! 

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004