Ramblings of a Singaporean FOB in the UAE

杂

2010-11-03T21:35:00.000+04:00

每天都忙得不可开交。六天的工作日很累，却空降了个韩国人鼓吹韩国人都工作七天。

虽然快入冬了，但白天还是三十多度。唯一让人感觉到这末季的是六点的漆黑，晚上的凉风。

每天都开车上班。早上的阳光很刺眼。光线之强烈，把外头变成了黑白，就只有光和影子。

下班回家我爱走海面那条路，因为能闻到海水的味道。

A docu on Israel and Palestine

2010-07-24T13:42:00.006+04:00

I am no expert in Israel/Palestinian issue, although living in the UAE, you do get views from the "other side", i.e. the Arab view. Reading articles in the local paper about the very same troubled land here does feel funny at times, because of how things are reported. The National ran a story last month about a Palestinian boy (handicapped by Israeli bombings) learning to scuba dive in the UAE.

Meeting Palestinians for the first time is like the sub-conscious meeting reality. The vague recollections of images on the news met with a guy smiling and saying hello.My Palestinian friend is a refugee born in the UAE, and does not have a passport. Neither did his dad, and neither will his sons, and maybe his sons' sons. By definition, he does not have a nationality. Travel documents are issued but this is scant comfort. What I do not understand is why Arab countries do not give Palestinian refugees passports, and why Arab countries seem to have such a little role to play in the troubled land where their brothers suffer. I'm sure some analyst out there will have an answer for me.

I also had an Israeli friend whom I had been trying to get back in touch with. When I knew her back then, I did not know much about the conflict and most of our conversations about Israel were about the culture, the coffee and the food. I was deeply impressed by the drive by Jews who go to Israel and bring back languages and recipes kept and preserved in their families in whichever country they had been living in.

The other day while browsing in Borders, I chanced upon a book about Palestinian fabric. It was hardcover and in colour, and inside were pages after pages of images showing delicately woven patterns that traditionally adorned Palestinian clothings. These images were in stark contrast to the images I grew up on watching CNN - stone throwing men, dead children, bombs, etc. Deep inside the hordes of faceless nameless people on TV is a rich culture entrenched in a land "promised" to another people at some point in time.

Palestinians deserve more attention and empathy.I've lost count of the number of times I've watch docus on the holoucast on the Discovery Channel, and also ABC in Melbourne where I go through the plight of the Jews every other Sunday. I hope this docu makes it to mainstream media.

This video was found on http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/palestineisrael-documentary/

2010-06-24T20:05:00.000+04:00

人与人、事与事像条钢索。走着走着就会习惯。看着看着，就会平常。

New moon

2010-06-23T00:32:00.000+04:00

I saw that moon again the other night.

http://mingbox.blogspot.com/2009/08/ramadans-moon.html

明天

2010-05-29T18:35:00.000+04:00

明天就要开始工作了，

有一点点期待
有一点点紧张
有一点点向往
有一点点犹豫

尝试了一年的小女人生活，一年的“少奶奶”。仿佛今天的社会，今天的经济不容许女人安安心心地主内。又或许是自己。明天要工作了，感觉整个人又活了起来，生活又有了目标。不知道这一年的休息有没有让我能更从容地面对工作？让我更认识家庭与工作的平衡？让我在工作中没那么容易迷失自己？

或许这一生都是在寻找平衡中度过，或许平衡就是那一念之差。

明天，新的开始。平常心平常心。

静夜思

2010-05-07T04:29:00.014+04:00

老公电话里说：“杯具。。今晚回不来了，明天早上回来。”

咳，应该习惯了吧！自己对自己说。结婚五年，我看差不多百分之四十的时间是分开的。回头再算算，如果把工作时间算进来，应该还不止百分之四十。我们在一起的时间就只是晚上吃饭，还有周末一天。典型的看到同事比看到老婆多。老公工作辛苦，老婆其实不该埋怨。但写写杂文也无妨。

老公的工作属于飞天走地形，常常得出差，招呼客人，开会，等等。我起初很难接受，但老公说这很正常呀，古时的男子都把老婆留在家里然后四处游走。想想也有点根据，李白周游列国，留诗数百，但哪首是提过夫人的？他俩老婆大概就是那幽夜显影的月亮和影子吧。还有那琵琶女，埋怨商人夫君“重利轻别离”，去买茶买了一个多月都还没回来，反而留她在江口"守空船”。（真是江水寒呀，江水寒。。）高楼当夜叹息未闲，唐朝诗人好像都爱写写女人的相思忧愁，但偏偏不说家中内人，难道不知贤妻“心恨谁”吗？

要说自己独守空房太自怜，最起码今天的科技赋予我们网络和DVD。我可以一边“非死不可” 一边看《大秦帝国》，一边品尝自创的精美蜂蜜柠檬藏红花美颜饮料。想想老公此时此刻也在独守空房呀，酒店的房。老实说迪拜的酒店不咋地，连牙刷拖鞋都没有，虽然浴缸的Villeroy and Boch 的。

就在这深夜的三点半，我寄博客舒我寂寥。悠悠长夜少了老公的打呼声，安能入眠？难道这就是传说中的 “情人怨遥夜，竟夕起相思” ？这种事大概专署女人部门，老公实在点。现在应该在睡梦中，因为得养足精神明天大早开车回来阿布达比与（阴虚的）闲妻饮茶。

远处回教堂开始拜神了，我也应该睡觉了。

后续

老公说昨夜也想我了。因为酒喝多了头疼，但没老婆递水送药，所以想我了。

WOMAD in Abu Dhabi

2010-05-01T21:54:00.009+04:00

WOMAD was in town, and kudos to the Abu Dhabi government for making it a free for all event. I went for 2 of the 3 nights, and probably a good idea I dd not go on the 3rd night because sandstorms were in order. This was my first WOMAD, and I loved it!

I listened with awe the drumming/singing Chemirani's family originally from Iran and was near hynotised by the repetitive repetoire of God praising verses from Pakistani Fariz Ali Fariz. Trudging along the Corniche between acts, I arrived to the playful sounds of Babylon Circus in a slight sweat, and danced to the fusion beats of Transurban Global. And as Abri sang his heart out forehead glistening, young ladies in abayas excitedly took photos of each other whilst some Germans grooved to moves that looked like the twist, though not quite.

The soundscape was as amazing as it was odd. Odd because in this ever connected globe, where one comes into contact with people from all kinds of backgrounds, the sounds from their homeland still feels like my little peek into a backyard scarcely mentioned but always there.

WOMAD by the way stands for World Of Music Arts and Dance.Today where people are familiar with the likes of J Lo, Madonna, Chistina A, etc., regional music gets relegated to "World Music" status, the sounds of the " other" perhaps not unlike the "Best Film in a Foreign Language" category at the Oscars.I wonder if the mainstream music industry operates by a similar paradigm to the food engineers of Mcdonalds who strive to an empirical base for the taste palette so as to increase market and operational efficiency. I wonder if globalization actually reduces the rich tapestry of beats and tunes to a base toolset from which popular music derives, or if a certain range of sounds dominate so much others are drowned out.

To have regional music brought to the centre stage in this very diverse city reminds one that behind the common denominator of "hello"s and "how do you do"s exchanged in English, lie the intricate threads of culture invisible to those who do not see.

The last act I saw was Sierra Maestra. Around me were Filipinos, Europeans, Africans, and South Americans dancing to the Cuban beats in their own way. There was a group of young men, most of whom wore the national costume save for an African looking boy who was teaching his mates to dance.

Sadly I missed out on the band from China, but that's cool, I have good access to the chinese music scene being the wife of an ex-drummer (OK, W says one can never stop being a drummer, but he'll have to contend with chopsticks for now...) I certainly look forward to WOMAD next year, and in the meantime, I found out that Indians and Egyptians have their own radio station in Dubai..

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Ode to Melbourne

2010-04-26T04:33:00.005+04:00

I miss Melbourne

That little city tucked away

In that little corner of Earth

I miss Melbourne

How the laneways surprises you

rather than scares you

I miss Melbourne

My own ravine in my own little space

In that little cafe in that little corner

I miss Melbourne

And those who walk down Collins street wearing black at 8.50am

Those who beat drums to protest wars

Those who cuddle up in La Mama

Then go for coffee at Brunetties

I miss Melbourne

Not for her expensive streetside parking

Not for her 45% taxes

Not for those idiots who shout "Asian!" as I walk pass

But for the space she gives me

The scents of flowers in spring,

and good coffee

Maybe she has changed

Maybe she is the same

Maybe I'll go back

Maybe I'll not

Dear Melbourne.

无题 / Untitled

2010-04-22T08:12:00.012+04:00

一上车，我就注意到他的名字有点特别，不像是印度人的名字，虽然他长得很像印度人。

“你是韩国人吗？”他看着望后镜问道。

“不是，我是新加坡人。你呢？”

“我是斯里兰卡来的。”

“哦，你来多久了？”

“一年。你是游客吗？还是在这里工作？“

”我先生在这里工作。你有太太在斯里兰卡吗？”

“有呀，她在家里。”

这位的士司机叫D。英文说得很好，来阿布打比之前在斯里兰卡的电信局工作。为了还房屋贷款，来到这里与的士公司签了三年的约。条约大概是这样：司机没有底薪，开车赚到的车费公司收70%而他只收30%。公司不提供饮食住宿，燃料费公司报销。D说他合约一到期他就要离开了。这工作不好，太太也常常催他回家。他估计两年可以支付房款，然后就可以轻松下来了。

D算了算给我听。他每天大概可以赚到300迪拉姆（阿联酋的钱币叫迪拉姆），既是入他口袋的是90迪拉姆。一个月就大概2500迪拉姆。每个月差不多会被罚款500迪拉姆，租金500迪拉姆。既每个月剩下1500迪拉姆。

1500迪拉姆等于3000人名币，等于600新币。一般来到这里工作的专业人士一个月可以赚到一万五到两万迪拉姆左右。当然，这要看行业、经验。还有（较悲哀的）肤色。这里的南亚籍劳工每个月也就一辆千迪拉姆。这里的消费很贵，赚两万迪拉姆的人都很难自己出来租房子，生活也只能算中等阶级。一个月赚一两千迪拉姆的人，日子怎么过呢？D把我载到Marina Mall，的士费比在深圳还便宜。我逛了2个钟头花了大概200迪拉姆。其中130迪拉姆是花在普通食物及用品上。

我提着两大袋子打的回家，路上仰望窗外这座世界上最富裕的城市。它拥有你想象不到的富贵，但也是世界的缩影。因为世界上的国籍、种族、经济界线显而易见。

的士缓缓开进我住的小街。司机很小心，在“Stop“牌前把车完全停下来望了望再开。

The moment I got into the car, I noticed that his name does not sound Indian, though he looks Indian.

"Are you from Korea?" He asked looking at me from the rear view mirror.

"No, I'm from Singapore. What about you?"

"I am from Sri Lanka."

"Oh, how long have you been here?"

"One year. You are tourist or working here?"

"My husband works here. You have wife in Sri Lanka?"

"Yes, she is at home."

D's a taxi driver who was a white collar worker back home in Sri Lanka. His English is quite good. He came here because he wanted to pay back his housing loan, so he signed on to a three year contract with a taxi company in Abu Dhabi.
From what I understood, the contractual terms basically are: No pay for drivers, company gets 70% of the driver's earnings meaning that the driver gets 30%. The company does not pay for food nor accomodation, but pays for fuel.

D says he will leave right after the contract ends because this is not a good job, and his wife wants him back home anyways. He hopes to be able to pay off his loan these 2 years, and then he can relax (and have kids!)

He did a little math for me whilst we were cruising down the 30th. He makes about 300 dirhams a day, meaning he pockets 90 dirhams. That's about 2500 dirhams a month. For some reason, he'll get fined 500 dirhams a month for traffic offenses, renting a room with 4 other guys costs him 500 dirhams a month, so he gets 1500 dirhams a month for himself.

1500 dirhams is about 3000 HKD, and about 600 SGD. A professional expat working here can expect something like 15-20K dirhams a month. Of course, this depends on the field, experience, and (unfortunately prevalent in some places) skin colour. Vast populations of south asian manual workers only get paid 1-2k a month. Things are very expensive in Abu Dhabi. An expat on 20K usually has trouble renting accommodation by themselves and often need to share. A 15-20K lifestyle is pretty average here. (Some friends say it's like Uni all over again) So, I really do not know how someone can survive on 1500 dirhams.

D dropped me off at Marina Mall. The taxi fare is cheaper than the taxi fare in Shenzhen for the same distance. After shopping for 2 hours, I had spent about 200 dirhams, 130 of which were spent on groceries and common household items. With two shopping bags in hand, I boarded a taxi to get home.

As I gazed out of the window looking at this richest city in the world, I came to realize that here is a microcosm of this world, where the realities of nations, races, and economies are laid as bare as can be. Perhaps it is so obvious here because the foreign population is so many, and local population so few. A global city in the truest sense of the word.

The taxi driver drove slowly into the quiet street where I live. He was very careful to make a complete stop at the stop sign, proceeding only after checking carefully that no one was around. The last time I drove like this was during my driving test.

月亮说

2010-04-19T21:12:00.003+04:00

四川人对新加坡人说：“我不喜欢河南人，河南人很*****。"

新加坡人想："不都是中国人？"

香港人对新加坡人说：“个鬼老点解娶咗个宾宾？”

新加坡人说：“香港人和菲律宾人在他们眼里，不都是亚洲人？”

新加坡人对月球人说：“我不喜欢中东人，傲慢无比难以理解。"

月球人说：“不都是地球人？“

此时无声胜有声

2010-04-15T02:35:00.096+04:00

上周bbc新闻。有对英国籍男女在阿联酋被判入狱一个月。怎么闯的祸呢？这一对倒霉鬼在迪拜的一间餐厅里聊天。隔壁桌两岁大的当地小孩忽然跟妈妈说两人在亲嘴呢！妈妈很愤怒，这两无耻之徒怎么可以在大庭广众之下让孩子看到如此道德伦败之事呢？于是妈妈报案了。

是不是这年头的小孩都变聪明了？我想我两岁的时候，应该对亲嘴这事没概念吧？两被告上诉说自己没亲嘴，只是男的亲了亲女的的脸颊罢了。不知道当时的座位布局及其角度干系是否被判官考虑在内？还是这案子是杀鸡儆猴用的？男的是英国土生土长的阿拉伯人。有些人认为，这次的判决，和男士的基因有关。

个人认为多数国家的多数法律是应该被尊重的。敝人只是对断手以及死刑有意见，不过脑子里有看法是脑子里的事，人家国法不屑你脑子里同不同意。所以到了哪个地方都该遵守法律、尊重当地文化，因为不知者还是有罪的。

今天有感而发，是因为这案子让我回忆起一些事情。

知道我的第一个不雅手势是怎么学的吗?

那时大概小三或小四吧。我正兴高采烈地跟一位大姐姐形容一部武侠电影里的打斗情形 - 就是大侠如何用筷子筒接恶人扔向他的夺命筷子。我用手演绎此景，姐姐马上说别弄那手势，因为这是个不好的手势！老实说，若姐姐没那反应，我也不会意识到原来那手势是不雅的，而这件事我也根本不会记得。好了，姐姐的一番道德教诲反而教会了我我不应该知道的东西。其实那 F 字骂人的脏话我也是这么学的。那时候好像小二吧。我和妈妈在咖啡店里，我看见外头的墙上涂鸦了4个字母。我问妈妈是什么，妈妈很不高兴地说是很不好的东西。这下子，我学会了。

所以说嘛，那两岁的小孩会知道亲嘴是什么东西吗？两岁大的小孩说的亲嘴概念上和大人一样吗？她妈妈如果不搭理，小孩兴许把事情忘了，然后单纯地多过几年？现在事情闹大了，小孩也懂了。两岁呀，太早了点吧!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8602449.stm

On the BBC last week, a British couple were sentenced to a month's jail in the UAE for kissing in public. A 2 year old local girl who happened to be in the same restaurant with her mother, told her mother she saw the two kissing on the mouth. Her mother was very angry that a 2 year old be allowed to see such an immoral act in public, and promptly called the police. The extent of the kiss I am not sure, but couple was consequently charged with breaking decency laws in the country.

This is not a post about respecting laws in other countries. I think most laws in most countries should be respected. So far I have problems with chopping off hands and the death penalty (in service in my own country), but I have a right to my own views, and I'd go all the way out to avoid getting into trouble. No point whinging when you should have known better.

I'm writing because it brought back some memories.

Guess how I learnt my first rude hand gesture?

I was in primary three or four, and was excitedly trying to describe to a (much) older friend a scene from a martial arts film, where the good guy caught chopsticks hurled at him by the bad guy with a bamboo chopstick holder. I used hand gestures to illustrate, and my friend immediately stopped me and said I had just done a bad gesture. Now, if she had not said anything, I would never have known that the gesture is rude, and would have just forgotten about the whole thing. But because she reacted, I learnt something I should not have.

The F word was acquired the same way. One day when I was in primary two sitting in a coffeeshop with my mum, I noticed a four lettered graffiti on a wall outside. I asked mum what it meant, and mum said in a very annoyed tone that it's a very bad word. So there you go, it stuck. These unsavory things I would have picked up sooner or later, but the way I went about acquiring them is interesting - from the very people trying to protect me.

So I wonder had her mother's reaction been different, maybe the little girl would simply forget about the matter, and continue with her blissful innocent life (for a few more years anyway).The whole point is to protect children's innocence, is it not? But now she knows. Two years of age is a bit early to be aware of mouth kissing, don't you think?

认识的第一位巴勒斯坦人

2010-03-27T01:32:00.000+04:00

那天，有机会跟一名巴勒斯坦女士谈天。她是我认识的第一位巴勒斯坦人。家人住在约旦，是约旦国民，但总会介绍自己为巴勒斯坦人。她在一家供应商的公司工作，是个主管。先生也是巴人，两口子和孩子在阿联酋已经生活了七年。她给人的感觉很乐观，很有生命力。我问了她一些关于中东语言和通俗文化的问题，因为身边的人都不是中东人，所以对于中东的文化还是很迷惑。

她很有耐心，带着笑容回答我这些无知的问题。我最后问他知不知道什么是Travel Document。是否如我朋友说的，是发给巴勒斯坦难民的一种旅游证件。她说是的，当你在巴勒斯坦为了救自己的生命无奈需要离开时，到了别的国家那个国家不一定会给你公民权。那时就只会发个Travel Document既是一张纸给你。她的表情稍微严肃起来，眼睛望着远处说：“巴勒斯坦人一生下来命就很苦。” 我无言以对，大家尴尬地安静了片刻。

Quote of the Day

2010-03-23T14:49:00.001+04:00

前几天，与一位香港来的女士游客谈天。她问这里治安如何？我说很好呀，基本没有什么偷窃,杀人或抢劫等犯罪案。

女士很惊讶地说:“啊，那报纸写什么呀？”

Some days ago, I was chatting with a lady tourist from Hong Kong. She asked if the UAE is a safe place. I replied that it is very safe here, there is very little crime like robberies,murders, burglaries, etc.

"So what is there to write in the newspapers then?" she asked.

Oman and UAE from the air

2010-03-17T17:32:00.001+04:00

The mountains of Oman

Above UAE

Right before landing in Abu Dhabi Airport.

The Chinatown in the Desert

2010-01-23T02:56:00.015+04:00

Did I mention this wonderful place called Dragon Mart?

It's the Made-in-China Central situated at the International City about half an hour's drive from Dubai. Always hard to find parking, always crowded. It's an oasis in this expansive (read: expensive) desert city for the cash strapped expat who thought his/her salary package is fab until he/she had to pay rent.

For some odd reason, the Cosco Warehouse sited right next to it features the neo-Medieval fortress aesthetic, whilst Dragon Mart itself takes design inspiration from .... (no points for correct answer) a dragon. It's essentially a long portal framed warehouse structure built to abstractly resemble a dragon. If this were in Hong Kong, some Feng Shui master would have been on TV explaining the mystical forces at play.

But, there are practical uses to the dragon iconography. When asking Chinese traders for directions, you'd usually get an answer like, "It's near the Dragon Head!" , or "Go toward the dragon tail, it's on the left..."

And inside, you'd really feel you are in China.

This is coming from someone who actually lived in China before. In fact, this place reminds me of Shenzhen. Shenzhen is a city on the south of China filled with the Chinese diaspora of the domestic kind. The majority of the population in Shenzhen is not local to the region. So in Shenzhen, it's normal to find business names featuring geographic locations from all over China, more so than other Chinese cities.

Dragon Mart has the same thing! Among the myriad of pinyin trade names, location specific names are apparently quite popular. E.g. Baoding Tianjia Trade Co, Wenzhou Jinliang Electrical, Qing Dao Electrical, Shandong Investments, Ningbo Trading, etc. etc. Or there are the China cliche ones like Golden Phoenix. My favourite is a store called Al Golden. Very fusion.

Of course, it's not just the trade names that lends the 'China' feel to me. It's the young store assistants sporting the latest in chinese hairstyles (there is a chinese barber shop nearby) idly playing with their mobile phones sitting on a stool outside their store, it's the rites of bargaining that frequently involve pretending to be from somewhere you are not, it's the sheer variety of products showcasing the sheer range of what can be made in China these days. I went in greeted by Hello Kitty, I went out staring at solar panels.

This is Chinatown of the contemporary kind. No longer a ghetto trying to retain the traditions of the old, but a salute to Deng Xiao Ping's free market reform, an immersive lesson in the China brand of socialism (aka "Capitalism" quoting me Chinese friend), and a bustling hub of international trade.

This Chinatown also has stores run by South Asians. The cafes that sprinkle the "dragon spine" are manned by Filipinos. Most of the shoppers are Arabic, and the rest would be a United Colours of Benetton mix of people from all over. According to a report in The National newspaper, people drive from Saudi Arabia and Oman to shop in Dragon Mart!

Well, not to mention the cash strapped Singaporean and her mates then :)

My friend wanted a bike rack for his hatchback. We found one, agreed on a price, and asked if we can return it if the rack did not fit. Usually, I'd expect a "yes" to this question, but the lady's answer surprised me.

We did not have to pay for the rack if we are unsure, we can try it out on his car without paying, and if it does not fit, bring it back. Now this is something new...

"Aren't you scared we'll just drive home with the rack?" I asked in Chinese.

"No" she replied.

Apparently her Arabic customers sometimes do not bring enough cash, so she lets them bring the goods home first, and deliver the cash to her later. Unless you are trading with someone you know very well, this will NEVER happen in China.

And this, is what I call Regionalization.

It's a small world after all

2010-01-17T20:58:00.005+04:00

I remember growing up, that Hong Kong is a faraway place.

Singaporeans had their skewed perception of Hongkies, as do Hongkies Singaporeans. Then I made friends with a lot of Hongkies in Uni, but Hong Kong was still far away. I did not understand or maybe "feel it" when HK TV shows/movies, and my friends talk about Shatin, Tsim Sha Tsui, Central, etc. etc. And never did I imagine I would actually live in HK at some point in my life.

In Hong Kong, I realized that 3 of my childhood playmates, whom I have not seen for at least 17 years live there! This was surprising, coz 1 one them is Singaporean, the other 2 migrated to Canada a long time ago. My sister, whom I never expected to want to work in Asia, made the move to HK sometime before I was leaving. And when she arrived, I was introduced to even more ghosts of my past whom I did not know were in HK.

So then I move to the UAE. A distant and exotic land.

A serendipitous series of events lead to W and I being invited to a Christmas dinner at a friend's place in Abu Dhabi. And of course you engage in polite conversation over dinner with the other guests about your place of origin, how long you have been in UAE, rugby 7s,etc. etc.

So there was this guy whom W was trying to explain the location of Shenzhen to, and the guy said "I know Shenzhen, I worked in HK". "Ah, what did you do?" I asked. His answer filled me with a tinkling feeling, something like a soothsayer might feel before making a prediction. "Where did you work?" I asked, "not TL!!"

His eyes opened wide, and both of us covered our gapping mouths. "My god!"

"What's your name again?" Then came the reply in full, the 2 names lit up in my head like a matchstick. I have heard of this guy throughout my time in TL. He had left TL before I went in, but we know the same people.

He had gone to HK, gone to Canada, and now to UAE.

This was Christmas last year. And just an hour ago, I found out my postgraduate course mate in Oz is also here! I have not seen her in about 6 years! She also went halfway round the world, and now live in UAE.

So it is a small world after all.

What's in a name (and a passport)?

2010-01-16T13:56:00.004+04:00

The UAE has gone on a full gear to get everyone an ID card. So all nationals and foreigners with residence visa need to get an ID card. The first thing to do is to download an .exe program from the official website, and fill in your details electronically. The .exe will then generate a pre=registration form for you, which you need to print out before making an appointment with the authority via the online appointment system.

I'm now on the form filling stage, and slightly baffled by the form fields.

I am not sure why the Middle Name is a compulsory field while the Family Name is not. But what if you don't have a middle name, like me?

I think I understand the rest of the fields, but what I really don't get is the Famous Name. I tried asking a Lebanese who lived here before about the Famous Name,and he had no idea. But he said when Arab people ask for your middle name, it means your Father's name. But since I am not Arabic, I find it weird to put Dad's name on any documents coz Dad's name never appears on any of my official documents except for the birth certificate.

And then there is the passport section. 5 kinds of passports! What is a private passport? How does that work? I definitely do not hold a diplomatic passport, and am pretty sure my passport is not temporary.

So I was tossing between the Standard passport and the Travel Document passport. I decided to choose the Travel Document option. Only to find out from a friend the next day, that Travel Documents in the Middle Eastern context means Palestinian refugees in say Jordan. They do not have Palestinian passports, and the Jordanians do not give them citizenship. So they end up travelling with a Travel Document.

Now where is the Save and Continue button?

New insight into this thing called an Abu Dhabi Address

2010-01-14T23:53:00.006+04:00

Finally! My own internet in the comfort of my own home... no need to steal Wifi through windows anymore!

The guys came to rig it today, and to my mild surprise, there is an address section in the documentation.

"You guys actually have my address?" I asked to have a look at the form.

"No, no, this is plot number, only Etistalad use" replied the technician.

"And electricity, and water" quipped the other technician.

So apparently this is how it works. Mail still needs to go to a P.O. box, but in order to locate a building for billing/installation/repairs/etc, utility companies (internet included) use 2 things to figure out where you are: The sector, and the plot number.

E.g. Sector E11, Plot Number P44

And in the case of villas, the plot number is usually also the building number. So never mind what your landlord decides as his villa number, what really matters is the plot number :)

Please refrain from public shows of affection

2010-01-14T23:41:00.000+04:00

Dinner

2010-01-14T23:30:00.001+04:00

W and I went for buffet dinner at Shangri La today. Like well trained Asian people ever watchful of even the most unprized possessions, we took care to always leave one person seating at the table to watch our stuff while the other one goes food hunting.

So as it was, we did not have much of a prolonged conversation coz one will be eating whilst one is "out there", and when he/she comes back, the other will have cleaned the plate and ready to hit the road.

I sat around while W went food hunting, looking aimlessly at the other people. An Emirati couple seated next to us had both gone to get food, leaving the wife's Burberry bag perched on the table.

So if she feels OK to leave her Burberry unmanned, who would want to take W's aged knapsack?

Just to dispel the pork myths

2010-01-13T00:50:00.012+04:00

Folks tend to think that you cannot get pork here at all. Well, guess the UAE is more liberal than some other Arab countries in this regard. But you do need to make an effort coz not a lot places have it. Spinneys in Abu Dhabi has it, but piggies are cheaper out there in the desert...

Pork section of a chinese grocery shop in the China section of International City. Not just pork meat in there, some products are inside because they contain pork products (e.g. oil) in the production process.

Although the classic Cha Siew Bao is made of chicken in most places, those who seek shall certainly find some run down in-the-corner chinese establishment to satisfy that craving.

Pig Trotters!

This was in Dubai, run by Shangainese. Did not know Shanghainese can cook like this, my recollection of Shanghainese food is sweet black noodle and pan fried buns. Anyways W enjoyed this meal. The orangey thing on the bottom right was roasted prawns. Yummy like anything too.. maybe coz of pork oil..

And if you do find pork at a restaurant, more often than not, the bill will say something like "Beef" for your pork dish. I once had fried Kimchi at a Korean restaurant where the pork slices were hidden within the cabbages and thick Kimchi sauce... naughty....

Edit: Was chatting with a guy who grew up in one of the expat compounds in Saudi Arabia. Compounds are essentially gated expat communities which is a must rather than a choice. But inside them, you can live like you lived at home with all the booze AND pork you want. So you can even get pork in Saudi Arabia!

My last rant on addresses

2009-12-19T20:14:00.010+04:00

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

2009-12-13T22:24:00.009+04:00

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

2009-12-13T22:20:00.003+04:00

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

2009-12-13T22:15:00.006+04:00

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

2009-12-10T23:14:00.008+04:00

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

2009-12-03T23:25:00.016+04:00

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..

2009-10-09T18:49:00.008+04:00

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

2009-09-22T02:55:00.023+04:00

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

2009-09-14T17:17:00.010+04:00

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

2009-09-07T18:07:00.024+04:00

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

2009-09-04T01:58:00.008+04:00

"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

2009-09-02T16:44:00.009+04:00

"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

2009-09-01T16:59:00.002+04:00

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

2009-08-29T10:57:00.002+04:00

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

2009-08-29T01:12:00.000+04:00

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

2009-08-28T11:48:00.004+04:00

"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

2009-08-26T17:28:00.001+04:00

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

2009-08-26T16:02:00.003+04:00

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

2009-08-26T12:00:00.000+04:00

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

2009-08-26T11:29:00.002+04:00

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.