My last rant on addresses

It is in my humble opinion, essential that a city, and the richest city in the world at that, have a proper mailing addressing system. Otherwise, it’s like trying to visit 2^nd Auntie, and having 3^rd Uncle shout from his house, “Turn right at the 4^th house from the 5^th corner, it is the 6^th house straight down!”

I know this place was a desert kampong 30 years ago, but didn’t most of Singapore start out as swamp kampong 40 years ago? Now, the typical post code is 6 digits long, and pinpoints the HDB block! This is a little island that doesn't exactly have a building fund in the form of petroleum underneath its weathered granite subsoil.

So where in the world, is one’s flat number decided by the watchman with his black (hopefully permanent) flat tip marker? Where in the world, do I have 2 streets with exactly the same name, one after another, right in front of my villa? Where in the world, does one need to triangulate one’s place of residence with positions of nearby school/malls just to apply for internet? (which they tell you takes 2 weeks, but I know people who have waited for 5 months..)

A place’s inertia to change is probably directly correlated to the relative abundance of its natural resources. I mean, mainstream Australia skipped the entire VCD phase of home entertainment, and went straight from video tapes (that’s right, video tapes were still prevalent in 1998!!) to DVDs. LDs were probably a rare sight there too.

And here, well, I’ll not be holding my breath. At least not whilst there’s still oil down there.

It's Raining

It’s raining.

And I thought the floods in Saudi Arabia were caused by global warming.

It’s raining.

There is a Creamfields concert tonight. Open Air. Great timing.

It’s raining.

The guys' been busy drying the pavement since.

It’s raining.

The drains are there, the water’s not going in.

It’s raining.

Are those bus stops designed only for 360 days of the year?

It’s raining.

Hope those poor bastards have an umbrella.

It’s raining.

It’s cold and windy, but I shouldn’t complain.

It’s raining.

It’s so Singapore, this wet and dreary day.

It’s raining.

Hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow. It’s the touch rugby finals.

Man, it’s raining.

I’ll miss this weather when it’s 48 degrees in summer!

Moonlight in Abu Dhabi

No, not some romantic moonlight dinner with W in the desert.

What happened is that I forced W to watch New Moon with me. Kinda my way of getting back at him for watching 2012 without me.

I must admit, I’d been drawn into the media hype over Twilight and had forgotten how the first installment nearly bored me to death in the cinema. I realize I am no fan of the teenage romance genre, with or without the vampire.

I much prefer blood and gore and plentiful special effects when I see a film with vampires and werewolves in them. Instead, the story here is about a girl suffering from depression, a boy growing into werewolf puberty, and a suicidal 130 year old vampire. Just in case the audience gets too bored, Victoria comes back to rustle things a bit, and the teenage werewolf gets to maul a vampire, which we the audience did not get to see.

However, if Twilight is like Underworld, it would have captured a lot less of the female audience, and the male audience - a sizable proportion of which were forced to watch it with their female partners. J

Nonetheless, the seat shifting, watch watching, back aching event in the cinema is mitigated by the experience of watching this teenage vampire flick in the midst of teenage Emirati girls.

I wonder if audience reaction to the topless male leads in the show is similar all over the world, but Taylors’new bod is very well received here. Every time he steps out with his 6 pack, screams are heard all over the cinema. Every time 2 characters kiss, screams are heard all over the cinema. The scene where Mr. Vampire Right decides to go topless as well, screams are heard all over the cinema. The 2 Emirati guys seated behind me shouted something in Arabic when the girls started screaming the nth time. I think it would be in the order of “Keep quiet!”

Rapturous applause and cheers emanated from the girls when Bella slaps one of the werewolf guys, and the 2 guys behind shouted something in Arabic again.

Should I be reading anything into this?

Arabian Nights

Arabian Nights must have been inspired by the nocturnal lifestyle of the region’s inhabitants. The Chinese medical advice of sleeping between 11pm and 1 am for good health definitely does not apply here. I think I’d fit right in, if only W is a nocturnal animal like myself, and if only his company allows for the split shift.

When we think of all night partying and siestas, we think of the Spanish. Well, apparently Arabs do the same thing here. I wonder if this has anything to do with the Moorish conquest of Spain, or just the unbearable summer heat.

Curfew hours for daughters here must be quite late, coz ladies all decked out in abayas are still sitting around in shopping malls at 2 am in the morning. And, imagine my surprise to see an Emirati couple pushing a stroller (in it, a fully awake toddler!!) enjoying a leisurely walk around the neighbourhood at 1 am in the morning!

12am, people are still sitting around the streets engrossed in conversation, 11 pm, just finished dinner and starting to enjoy some coffee. 10pm, restaurants are bustling with hungry diners. 9 pm, perhaps some quick shopping before getting a bite?

Just my kinda place.

Boxes

Go to the entry A Ramadan Moment for the prelude.

So, the aircon to the bedroom has hence expired and Massoud came again to fix it, and he did with a detailed verbal breakdown of the steps taken to fix the aircon. And as he headed towards the front door, he turned and asked if I will give him boxes if I am happy. I think I know what he wants, and I am sure I heard right this time.

"What is boxes? What language?" I asked as I gave him 10 dirhams.

"Arabic", he said, "You happy give boxes. I don't know English for this."

"Ah.. English is call Tips" I said.

Good Tidings

So the night before I am scheduled to fly back to Abu Dhabi, I decide to indulge in an all night internet rendezvous with er.. the high speed internet of my Singaporean nest. Kudos to the government for making Singapore broadband capital of Asia.

Anyways, deep into the latest Heroes episode online, I decide to surf around again and the latest Yahoo news buzzed up.. Dubai is not going to pay its debts!! Stock Markets are crashing!! Dubai is Broke!!

Ok, the construction industry guys in the UAE have known this all along, that contractors are not getting paid. Now its official.

I took a look at the Lian He Zao Bao (aka Chinese Straits Times of Singapore) the next morning and figures starting coming in... like Dubai World owes 50 odd billion dollars in debt, the whole of Dubai owes 80 billion, and Dubai was only able to secure a 5 billion loan from Abu Dhabi out of the 20 billion they wanted. And more about the lack of transparency of commerce in Dubai, and the fact that property prices fell by 50 % since last year..

Well with all this doom and gloom, I am glad W works in Abu Dhabi now..

So up I go onto my flight and arrived in Abu Dhabi in the evening. W and I went out for dinner at a nice Indian restaurant, we flipped though some newspapers and guess what the headlines of Gulf News were?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been fun. Foreign news sources are readily available here, and a few days later, letters start streaming into the Financial Times (the writers with Arab sounding names) complaining about bias reporting from the western media on the state of Dubai's economy. And as stock markets recover, the local papers see a sign of renewed confidence in the potential of Dubai.

The UAE Minister of Economy is "surprised" at the global reaction to the re-structuring announcment, and debt restructuring (whatever that means) is absolutely normal in global business. The 5 billion bond was a great success and reflected the transparency of business transactions here. And indeed, the 4% interest is quite attractive.. (assuming that this is not going to get restructured as well)

Anyways, good news for the expat populations is that rent in Dubai is going down down down. Now if only I can talk W into driving 3 hours a day to live in Dubai and work in Abu Dhabi...

又来一次..

One more time..


刚刚从香港回来。这次是想将我的香港签证延期，不料因为W离开香港太久被拒签。离开的时候心里不经有一种复杂的感觉。这几年我已慢慢对香港产生了感情。记得刚到香港的时候对那个地方相当的反感，毕竟是从澳洲过去的，环境有一定的差距。

曾经陌生的广东话已经成为我的一部分。跟朋友说广东话觉得非常亲切，仿佛只有广东话独有的多调尾音才能充分表达我心里的感受。曾经认为年久失修的上环房子现在已经觉得是我曾共触过的历史的一部分，就像以前的新加坡牛车水一样。

就是这样过了4年，心里的隔阂解开后发现家的感觉其实哪里都可能存在。现在我又开始在一个新的地方过新的生活。我还没有习惯中东的生活。可是会不会过4年后，我又会在这里找到那种熟悉的回忆空间呢？

A Ramadan moment

My air-conditioner was more of a fan rather than an air-con. No cold air was coming out as it probably was not properly connected to the compressor outside. So anyways, I asked the watchman to come look at it and after 2 days, one of his workers came knocking on my door in the morning. He took a look at the air-con and went outside. About midday, he came back and asked me to switch it on again. Bingo! Fixed.

He then said if there is anything else that needed fixing, I could call him anytime. Oh good! I pointed at the mini chandelier ceiling light that recently dislodged from the ceiling, now hanging precariously by a few wires 2.3 metres from where I'm sleeping, and asked if he could fix that too.

"Yes, no problem. I come back later."

Fantastic, I smiled and was going to see him to the door when he said, "Give me something."

I was shocked at his forthrightness to say the least.

"What? Give you something?"
"Yes, anything," and he said something that sounded like ".. boxes".
"You want boxes?" I asked. "Sorry, I cannot give you my boxes, they are my shelves now."

I had converted the boxes I shipped over to bookshelves the night before, to give me some time to figure out how to get the IKEA truck to my place.

"No,no, " he said, and came sentences I could not quite make out, but then I thought I heard the word "boxes" again.

He must want the boxes real bad. I suddenly remembered I have a spare box in the living room. I got him that box and handed it to him. He then said, "No no no, money."

Wow, these people tell it like it is.

"Money? You want money?"
"Yes, yes! Money. 10 Dirham, 20 Dirhams. No matter."

My face must have conveyed downright utter confusion.

"You don't know?" He asked.
"No..." I answered, eyes wide open and jaw slightly dropping.
"Ramadan now. You ask me do anything, give, I Muslim. Fasting"

Maybe he was saying "fasting" when I thought I heard "boxes".

"You happy give 10 dirhams, 20 dirhams, OK. You not happy?"
"Oh no, no.. I happy..."
"You don't know yes?'
"No..." Still looking confused.

"Ok, ok," he said smiling as he makes for the door, "you don't know OK." And he shuts the door after him.

I admit I have slow reaction. But coming from where I came from, it is extremely rare that someones asks for tips so blatantly. I was slightly intimidated when he suddenly asked me to give him something, I mean, I was alone in the flat with this guy. Yes, I am a paranoid Singaporean female. That said, he was smiling nicely throughout the whole episode, and now I felt a bit bad I did not give him anything. He was fixing the air-con outside in the heat in the middle of Ramadan without food and water after all.

I wondered if he was going to come back to fix the ceiling light after this. I decide to give him some money next time he came, but he did not turn up until I called the watchman another 2 days later to get someone to fix the ceiling light for me.

By now, a light bulb in the living room had burst, and I asked him to change the bulb after the ceiling light. I then gave him 20 dirhams and said, "Last time, First time hear. Shock, ya. Sorry ya!"

"Ok, Ok!" He took the note with a smile, "Next time fixing, call me."

And back to Boxes. 

Another 10 things I did not know before coming to the UAE

1. They REALLY don't have the concept of an address!
2. Cars generally flip over in traffic accidents, and people in them generally all die.
3. Pedestrians generally believe in the afterlife. They cross the road (with cars zipping at dangerously high speeds) slowly and without looking.
4. There is such a thing as beef bacon.
5. Buildings can be designed with no stormwater drainage, coz, there is no rain.
6. Malls are the Alpha and the Omega of life.
7. DRAGONMART sells things at chinese prices! (ok, just a teeny weeny bit more expensive, but still...)
8. Emirate women top it when it comes to veiling yer head in style.
9. Locals leave the engine on when filling their tank so the aircon is still on. So dangerous..
10. Bars can be franchised and can look exactly the same.

Oh, and one more..

11. Speed cameras cannot catch you if you drive above 200km/h   ; )

一山还有一山高

The skewed emphasis developers here put on building villas has resulted in an acute shortage of apartments for couples and expat populations such as W and myself. As a response to market demand, many villas are partitioned into apartment sized residences and rented out.

We have just moved into one of these "apartments". W was the one who sealed the deal. He had to do so quickly as residences the size of apartments are hot cakes. If you do not say yes on the spot, it'll be gone by the next phone call to the agent.

I have not seen the apartment prior to moving in, but I was not really flustered about it. I thought I was ready for any kind of residence having been baptized into the realm of teeny weeny apartment living in HK. I thought I was ready for any kind of renovation/building misadventures having had a contractor, who does not know what a built-in oven is, renovate my Shenzhen flat.

But, as the chinese saying goes, "一山还有一山高”. i.e. For any mountain there is always another mountain higher than it.

Lets start with plumbing.

I have to say I am thankful for the running water and flushing toilet. However, the kitchen sink and its associated drainage system put me into a catch22 situation. A high rate of wastewater flow from the sink means water gurgles out of the floor trap. A low rate of flow (i.e. half plugging the sink to slow down the water) solves the water fountain problem but the sink leaks profusely because the water now has more time to seep through.

I admit I am confused by the assembly at the bottom of the sink. The usual sturdy looking PVC pipes and traps are replaced by a very large black rubber washer-like element and a translucent flexible plastic hose-like element through which water flows to the floor trap. This innovative construction clearly does not work.

If my assessment is correct, all kitchen wastewater enters the kitchen floor trap and flows toward the bathroom floor trap before being expelled. I suspect there is not much of a gradient (if any) between the kitchen trap and the bathroom trap, resulting in a backflow and hence a water feature at the node. This is a retrofitted bedroom after all, the kitchen trap was not there before.

I shuddered at the thought of washing fish, meat and all other perishables in the sink, and having their essences ending up on my floor. Wonder if Carrefour sells industrial sized Detol, I'd probably need it everytime I cook to clean the floor.

Talking about cooking.

The kitchen in teeny. The cooktop sits right next to the fridge. Einstein must have come up with this wonderful kitchen design to test the fire retardation and heat insulation properties of the powdercoated fridge skin. The solution here is to move the fridge into the living room or I'd be living off cup noodles for the rest of my tenure. I have half a mind to put a board on top of the stove and buy an electric hot plate instead. That way, the landlord can pay for the electricity (included in the rent), while I do not have the problem of calling for gas when the gas tank runs out because we do not really have an address.

This is a sub-divided villa. The villa has an address but not the "apartments" in it. There are no apartment numbers, so how will the gas guy find me? Due to this funny yet extremely prevalent situation, dwellers like myself do not have a postal address, and need to apply for a P.O. box in order to receive correspondence.

A subdivided villa also means some basic infrastructure of modern apartment living is missing. I looked everywhere but I could not find a phone socket, and neither did I see a TV signal socket. I decided to be a Wifi criminal and tried to find wireless signal, but none could be found in the area. Am I to believe that no-one in my neighbourhood owns a router?

The combination of excitement and disbelief is yet to wear off as yet another evening draws near. Sitting in an internet café, I ponder over the logic of local space planning. That the bedroom is 2.5 times an average HK bedroom, the living room is 2 times an average HK living room, the bathroom is 3 times an average HK bathroom, and the above mentioned kitchen is 0.5 times the size of an average HK kitchen. The rental price of this property? About 9,000 UAE dirhams a month. i.e. HKD 18,000, SGD 3,600. This is actually quite cheap by Abu Dhabi standards. Sigh...

Endurance City

"They don't have the right to treat Indian workers that way," said P who continued commenting on how ridiculous it is that the world gives China shit for anything she does, but makes little mention of the shocking conditions labourers face here.

P is an elderly Swedish gentleman here on a project. That said, almost everyone is here on a project. Even though he had seen worse conditions for labourers in India, it's still no reason why they should be treated the way they are here.

W was telling disbelieving friends tonight about seeing 2 Indian guys hired to sit out in the open without shade in 40 degree heat just to lift the barrier at vehicular entries to a construction site. At the Abu Dhabi airport open air carpark, where I was overwhelmed by the heat from the sky and the heat radiating at me from the bitumen, south asian men are hired by the truckloads to push the luggage trolleys away.

It is Ramadan now, and one can still see labourers toiling in the midday heat on the roadsides without food and water. Unbelievable.

Rydges Plaza, Satwa Roundabout, Dubai

"Make sure you tell me where to turn off beforehand!"

I was clearly stressed. Everyone knows a missed turn in this place will cost half a gallon of petrol and an extra half hour depending on the make of your car and style of driving.

To which the comforting reply was," I've never been there before, I don't know!"

I took a deep breath and exhaled. Ok, stay calm.

Sheikh Zayed Road is a long one. W and I were soon lost in conversation about how we missed Shenzhen's Sichuan hotpot. Shall we go for one in Dubai? No, not nice enough and expensive. Oh cannot wait to get back to Shenzhen. How I dreamed about Hua Shen Long at Bagua 3 Road.... Maybe when I am in HK next time I'll make my mates go to Shenzhen with me. Good idea...

"Hey what is that?" I asked as I zoomed past a turnoff. The sign above showed a black circle within a white circle.

"That is the roundabout!"

Darn....

OK, now we need to find a way to turn back.

I turned out at the first turnoff I could find, and got to an open field with a hospital nearby. 5 mins driving around I found myself back at Sheikh Zayed Road again, but not in the opposite direction. Ok, nice try. We drove on for some time, and to our delight, saw a sign that says "Abu Dhabi". I nearly missed this one, but I managed to change 3 lanes in 2 seconds.

OK, now we need to find the roundabout again. Don't miss it this time, I told myself.

We saw the sign that pointed to the roundabout. OK, signal, change lanes, turn off. Good.

"DON"T GO UP THE BRIDGE!" shouted W.

Too late. The road had divided up into 2 very abruptly, one going down to the roundabout, and the other to god knows where.

#$%^&#@!!!

What are we going to do? We are lost! Where are we? Why did we never buy a MAP??!!

"Hey, isn't that Rydges Hotel?" said W pointing to his right.

We shook our heads in disbelief.

"You're on time!" beamed D as we entered his hotel room.

Yes D, we were surprised too.

Of Kids

With the noted exception of hotel pubs, families with kids can be seen everywhere in the UAE. The kids are always laughing and running around in malls, supermarkets, and restaurants. So full of the childhood energy that seems distant... and I rather suspect this is not only because a good 20 years have passed since I last chased my cousin across the coffee lounge at mum's workplace.

So I'm sitting in restaurant here looking at kids running around, and having a feeling I have not seen this in a long time. Why is that? Ah, I was in HK the last 4 years of my life, and HK kids don't run around at top speeds in restaurants.

First of all, you are in mortal danger if you do. The waiters barely have enough space to maneuver trying to serve up the boiling hot double boiled turtle soup. Secondly, portable game consoles seem to be standard issue. A clustering of kids generally involve a physical gathering around some lucky bastard with the latest PSP game, or a bluetooth duel to each her/his own console. So whilst the adults spin the web of HK gossip intrigue across the table, the kids fight it out in virtual reality as mum puts a Har Gow on junior's plate telling him to eat it before it gets cold.

No PSPs in sight here. Maybe that is a reason why kids here don't wear glasses. Think I appreciate the good old fashioned watch- out-if-I-catch-you-because-you-caught-me-last-time-so-I-am -getting-even play style. I make a mental note to keep my PSP for myself when I have kids in the future, and continue eating. W's finished his second plate and he makes off to the buffet table as 3 boys dash past him. I think they are playing catch.

百闻不如一见

To hear of something a hundred times is nothing like seeing it once - Chinese proverb

"It is common here," says W in response to my question: " Did you see the guy with 4 wives last night?" D said she sees men with 4 wives with loads of kids walking in malls quite often. Last night, I noticed that there was not one, but at least two tables with the 1+4 configuration.

Now, I've always known that having 4 wives is allowed in the Quran. I have monogamous muslim friends whom I teased about having 4 wives. I hear about it when some guy goes to court in Singapore for polygamy and defends himself by asserting that Islam allows for 4 wives. (albeit his 10 wives make him 6 over quota)

But actually seeing it as a social norm, that's something different.

Driving

Where else in the world can you drive at 80 km/h right in the middle of the city? Right here in the UAE. It does not even feel like I'm speeding, I felt I was driving slowly. Consider this: 80 km/h is the speed limit to expressways in Singapore. Roads in Toorak in Melbourne only let you do 40.  The speed limit on the highways, i.e. the 30th/2nd/4th, etc is 100 km/h. I do exactly that (and 20 on top of that) and cars zip past me left right and centre. Maybe they are rushing for dinner, who knows? 80 on the above mentioned road I get tail gated like crazy with them huge 4 wheel drives and high beams shooting right into my rear view mirror. Makes me want to get a tank next time I hit the road. Well, what can I do but swear within the comfort of my little toyota? 

Steam

"So how is Abu Dhabi?" I asked W on the phone months ago when he first got there.

"Oh, not bad, but steam comes out of the toilet when I flush it!" He replied.

I paused for a moment. "Steam?"

Now that I'm here I found the reason for the oddity . Someone had connected the hot water to the WC water supply. Piping hot water every time, steam cleaned WC everyday, how about that?

Covering up

One thing I did not understand. How do muslim women put up with so much cloth covering their heads and bodies in 40 degree heat?

Now I get it. 

The moment I stepped into the convection of hot air at outside Abu Dhabi airport. I got it. 

I thought I knew what hot was. I mean. I am from the equator. One should wear as little as possible, sweat and let the breeze take heat out from the body. Well, not quite the environmental strategy that will work in a desert. 

My smart move of wearing short sleeves sizzled my arms, literally, and I got slightly dehydrated from the rapid moisture loss from my uncovered skin. So the next time I was out in the open, I wore a white (SRI* index of 100) long sleeved shirt and felt better immediately. It did not even feel that hot.  

So my conclusion is that people should cover up here in the middle east for physiological reasons - To protect the skin from the sun's rays, and retain moisture. Still, the black robes that muslim women here wear do seem uncomfortable given that black absorbs heat. So how come the guys get to wear white coloured robes? 

*Solar Reflectance Index

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9

I was actually pretty sure if there is anything I can understand in Arabic, it must be the Arabic numerals.

But I was surprised. Really surprised to see an alternate number system when I arrived. They invented numbers as we know them for god's sake! It boils down to my ignorance, and also the common use of the word "Arabic" when talking about European numbering. (aka 1,2,3,...) Here's the the wiki on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numerals

Anyway, one cannot stop learning can one? But why not use the numerals that most of the world use? Why bother to have 2 kinds of numerals on phone pads and license plates?

Anyway, at least now I can read the numbers they use.

*ahem* (clears throat)

One is still 1, Two is a mirrored 7, Three is like the 2 with 2 aches on the top instead of a horizontal line. Four is a mirrored 3. Five is BIG O. Six is a 7, Seven is a V, Eight is an inverted V, Nine still looks like 9, and Zero is a single dot.

TADA! My little step into the water, and the ocean beckons....

10 things I did not know before coming to the UAE

1. Emiratis do not use Arabic numerals (as we know them) 

2. Arabic is read right to left but numbers are read left to right

3. Trees are an urban occurrence

4. Hotels double up as pubs

5. You don't appreciate good traffic engineers until, well, you don't see good traffic engineering

6. Driving at 140 km/h is snail pace

7.  Middle easterners are worried about Ramadan becoming commercialized

8. Taxis are cheaper than Shenzhen

9. Boiled tap water is still capable of giving one tummy aches

10. A good night out does not have to involve alcohol, just some good mint tea and shisha

Ramadan's moon

My first Ramadan in the Middle East, specifically in the UAE. A few days leading up to the holy month, everyone was abuzz with apprehension. For most of the ppl I met, it will be their first Ramadan in the middle east too. So many questions like: What happens if they catch you drinking water in the day? Can we still drink beer? And of particular concern to W and I, can we hold hands? Or can we only hold hands after sunset?

Everyday ppl waited for the elders to give the call for the start of the Ramadan. Here in UAE, the first day of the Ramadan is based on observations of the moon. "They are still watching the moon" said S, a young British lady I met in a bar on the final night before Ramadan. The elders gave the call the next day.

I generally don't have much to do during the day. W stays in the middle of the desert near the airport in a villa with his workmates. Apparently this place does not even have an address. I know it's called Khalifa City, a new development. So new, they have not gotten down to planting trees yet. For someone who grew up in a tropical island, its slightly depressing to see nothing but sand outside my window. I had been sick since I arrived due to an upset stomach, and had not gotten to car renting and driving around yet. So it was an uneventful day in the room of the villa waiting for my beloved to come home from work.

W arrived home in the evening, and we decided to drive out to the city for dinner. I got into the car, buckled up, and looked up, and in front of me was the most amazing moon I had ever seen in my life.

It was the new moon. The beginning of the moon's passage that also marked Ramadan. The slither thin crescent was like an arch carved out of the sky with the tip of a sharp blade shining defiantly in the night sky. I was surprised for a while. Why is it I don't remember the moon looking like this before. Was it because I never looked, or is it something one can only see in the middle east, or something that only happens on the first night of the Ramadan? I felt I understood the reverence for this new moon muslims have, if only for a bit. But it was enough to lift my spirits the rest of the night as we drove down the 30th to the Corniche for a bite.