Night # 47 - You've Got Mail

Received 2 pieces of mail from Singapore today :) As they say, good things come in pairs.

I have kind of forgotten how nice it is to receive snail mail and package from home... Being here makes me realise how I have taken little things like mail services for granted.

Night # 46 - Photos from Dubai

The mosques in Dubai are spectacular. I didn't get to take a close look, except when I am on buses, but the architecture is simply beautiful. The attention to such details made each mosque rather unique and special.

The same kind of details can be found in other buildings like the Blue Souk below. Perhaps this is a typical arabian style, but it sure is pretty :)

Night # 45

Bus Encounter # 2

Met the same bus driver again when I got onto the hotel bus at Dubai City Centre (btw is a huge shopping mall). This time round he was flirting big time with a female guest on the crowded bus.

Driver: Miss XXX, can you take a photo of yourself?
XXX: Yes I can.
Driver: Can you send it to me?
XXX: (laughed) Sure, if you give me your address I can send my picture to you.
Driver: Oh Miss XXX, why are you so beautiful?
XXX: (giggled) I don't know. I guess I have beautiful father and mother.
XXX: I am shopping for some arabian dresses, do you know where I can buy them?
Driver: You can go to the bazaar. You know the bazaar?
XXX: No.
Driver: I can bring you there.

(the bus isn't suppose to go to the bazaar... So he's using the bus to impress girls now?)

Anyway, everyone except myself, the Miss XXX and her friend alighted the bus when we reached the Gold Souk.

Driver: Ok Miss XXX. I bring you to the bazaar now.
Me: (What??? Aren't we suppose to go back to the hotel now? Stay calm....)
Miss XXX: Ok.
Driver: Can you sit next to me?

(Miss XXX obliged. Driver turned to look at her. We went over the entire kerb!!! Oh my goodness!!!)

Miss XXX: You have to be careful (still sitting next to the driver). You pay attention to your driving ok?
Driver: (said something I couldn't hear)

Anyway, the driver brought us to the bazaar and only realised that I was on the bus when the girl and her friend alighted.

Driver: Miss Yan! I didn't know you were on the bus.
Me: I have been here all the while. Are we going back to the hotel now?
Driver: Sorry, yes we are. Did you look at the girl just now? Do you think she's beautiful?
Me: No I didn't look at her.
Driver: Can you sit here (pointing to a seat closer to the front) so that we can talk?
Me: No I prefer my seat here.
Driver: I used to know this Russian girl years ago and I fell in love with her.... blah blah blah..
Me: (oh my goodness... Not again) Uh huh... (looking out of the window, didn't bother to look interested this time)

Night # 44

The 4-day trip to UAE has been nothing but a great eye-opener. I felt like I have been a frog in the well, as some would call it affectionately, a mountain tortise.

Perhaps it is the lack of knowledge and awareness that I have expected little out of this trip. I have been told that shopping is good at Dubai, I just have no idea how good it would be. It dawned upon me that over here, that almost any dream is possible. You can even ski in the desert.

The development in UAE is very much driven by the tourism and the demands of the foreign investors. In some cities, it is not difficult to find liquor and pork products. They are readily available. Imagined my pleasant surprise when I found pork bacon for my breakfast in the hotel... and I wasn't even staying in Dubai.


There were more surprises at the hotel. I was putting up at this 5 star beach resort that is 1 and a half hour drive from Dubai.

They have this private beach only for the hotel guests and the beach was squeaky clean. I was suspecting that the beach was man made because the sand particles are consistent throughout the beach and they are so fine and soft. Until one day while I was hanging out at the beach that I saw what they did. The hotel staff swept the beach every couple of hours. They treated the beach like their swimming pool.


I wonder if any of our beach resorts do the same.


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Took the Hotel's bus into Shahjah and Dubai on two occasions... Had some "interesting" encounters.

Bus Driver Encounter # 1

Driver: Miss Yan, you went to Blue Souk alone?
Me: Yes (that's the Blue Souk on the right. I had initially thought it is the place where they sell all kinds of blue stuff... Yah right)
Driver: Where are you from?
Me: Singapore. (Of course out of courtesy I responded by asking him) Where are you from?
Driver: ********** (name of country will not be mentioned here)
Driver: I came to Dubai 6 years ago without a visa. I came by sea.
Me: Oh. And? (getting worried)
Driver: I was caught and was sent back to my country.
Driver: I paid the middle man thousands of Dhm in order to get my visa to come back here again.
Me: So you have been away from your country for a few years now?
Driver: Yes, but I love my country very much.
Me: But why did you leave your country then? (I have since regretted that question really)
Driver: Oh Miss Yan, I can't tell you why I left my country. It is a secret.
Me: It's ok. (Now I am really worried. What have I done? I have stupidly asked a question which I didn't want to know the answer)

After a really pregnant pause....

Driver: Miss Yan, I am going to tell you why I left my country.
Me: (Oh no, I really don't want to know) It's ok. You don't need to tell me.
Driver: It's ok, I will tell you. I killed a man in my country.
Me: (Did I hear it right? Did he say that he killed a man?) uh huh... (tried to look calm, I don't need a confession right now)
Driver: I fell in love with a girl, the other man was rich.
Me: Uh huh (Please spare me the details)
Driver: So coming to Dubai is like a shortcut. I want to earn enough to buy her.
Me: (continue to look vaguely interested) uh huh
Driver: In my religion, you have to buy the girl otherwise she will not be yours alone.
Me: (What in the world??) oh ok (How long is this going to take... Arghhh..)

Night # 39

Just a quick entry today. Am going to Dubai afterall :)

So I guess I will offline for a while but I promise to take some photos there. Hopefully people there are more tolerant of tourists who are trigger happy.

Night # 38

We were intending to go to Dubai tonight but due to some unforeseen circumstances, it was cancelled.

So today like all Sundays will be a lazy day for me... got to rest my aching body :)

By the way, while I was on the treadmill yesterday, I was hit by an idea. Now that I have the time, I can do progressive training to do a half marathon... Then another thought struck me. What about a marathon by the time I am 35? Let's see if I still feel like it after a month.

Night # 37

Nothing too exciting today except that a friend invited us for dinner at Gulf Chinese restaurant. I went, pretty sceptical about the quality of chinese food that I will find there.... but the food was good. Thoroughly enjoyed the dinner. It was commented that however this is the first ever Chinese restaurant that we ever went to where there's no chinese in sight (except me of course :) ).

Night # 36 - In Pain!

I am suffering the repercussions from yesteday.

For one, our guest brought a toffee banana pie... It was such a delightful SIN!!! It was also after almost eating one-eighth of it that I realised I had gone way past my threshold for sugar. I went to bed feeling sick in my stomach and woke up at 4 am in the morning, still feeling the side effects. So I stayed off sugar today to recover.

Secondly, I was so zealous on the treadmill yesterday that I forgot that I haven't run in a long time. This morning I had aches in most parts of my body.... Owww!! That's basically how I went out today, going up and down the stairs and even when I laughed. Now I only hope that tomorrow I will be still up to it on the treadmill... Got to burn off that pie!

Today, we took time to visit the City Centre near Salmiya today. It was our first visit there and this place has a serious range of household and daily use products. I was contemplating if I could take a photo of it but I thought I had better not, in case I get into trouble with the securities.

For instance they have an aisle on taking care of your cuts and pain. So for a start there are all kinds of band aids, different brands, meeting various needs. Then there's the panadol series, strepsils, etc.... and there were different condoms amidst it all in the same aisle.... Interesting... I would love to hear the logic in that categorisation.

We went to the one and only Subway over here. Nothing beats a good sandwich :)

Night # 36

Had friends over today and made dinner... This is one load off my mind. I had found this to be pretty stressful really. For one, I am not a confident cook. I have certain dishes I like to prepare but this dinner is different. There were some constraints. First I can't prepare poultry because the lady is expecting and she's staying away from them due to the bird flu. Secondly, I hardly cook beef or never did mutton, so shan't try alien territory there. So that left me with fish... and I could only do salmon.

Had to improvise here and there as I have limited utensils and so I managed to pop all my 3 dishes into the oven and ready at the same time. Voila! Boy, am I glad that the dinner is over :)

And before it slipped my mind... Must thank M for the roasted potatoes recipe, everyone loves it!

Night # 35

It is a lovely day today. It is warm and sunny. Took the opportunity to walk at the beach.

I hesitated in walking barefooted on the sand when I spotted some pieces of broken glasses but I found whole intact shells washed up the shore.

I had this thing about shells, especially colourful and intact ones. I picked up a few, resisted big time in bringing them home... I went through the "what am I going to do with it?","will it end up just kept in some container and forgotten?" and "yah, I can think of a couple of things to do with them now, when will I get down to doing it?". I left them at the beach... I survived :)

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I am going to mark today as the day I spent $10 on a chicken and mushroom pie!!!! This shall be the last time I will pay for such a flat, thick pastry pie with minced chicken and small brown stuff called mushrooms.

This was how it happened. I was at Starbucks and was getting a caffe latte then I spotted the chicken pie. I thought it would be nice to try it out. Didn't occur to me that I should look at the price for one... and two to do the mental conversion quickly in my head until it hit the register and my jaw dropped.

I resolved I will learn to make chicken pies. Somehow I keep thinking of the Don Personal Pie back home... and they cost less than $5 for a good chuck of pie.

Night # 34 - Valentine's Day

So it is Valentine's Day again today. The only reminder I got of this "important" day was the huge white teddy bears (which says "Wuv Me") being displayed and put up for sale at the Sultan Centres... Otherwise it is an uneventful day. There is no hype about it, about making someone feel special, evening for two... blah blah blah...

Was talking to M today and the topic of me getting a job here came up during our conversation. I am sure quite a number of people (my parents included) must be wondering how on earth I spent my time here especially I had a full-time job back home, my schedule was usually packed every day. So now that I have a clean slate every day, how do I cope? Have I gotten over my holiday mood or am I bored of all this lifestyle already?

On a contrary, I am enjoying this peace. I don't have a problem not meeting people. If I feel that I am up for some real human contact, I take the company bus to join the ladies for some shopping trips and engage in some idle chat and gossip. Otherwise I am contented with my painting and spending some time in the gym with some big pockets of free time in betweeen. I have finished my book and was considering getting another one from the Amazon but the savings aren't substantial as compared to buying them from the Virgin Music and Bookstore at the Marina Mall. That seems to be the only place I know that sells a considerable range of English books. There isn't any library or second hand bookstore here. I have a suspicion that people don't read very much here.

How did I end up talking so much? I was thinking at the start that I have nothing much to blog today... possibly suffering from some cyber fatigue... but no... once I start, I don't seem to be able to stop :)

Good nite!

Night # 33 - Cleaning Day

It is Monday... again...

Cleaned up our place and made some cinnamon rolls. That took me the whole day. The rolls turned up burnt. I think I was too impatient, didn't give it much time to rise and double its size, got to remember the rising time.

Besides that, there's nothing much to blog today...

Night # 32

There, I have done it. At the back of my mind I keep hearing teacher telling me that certain things aren't correct or my perspectives are wrong :) but I will learn along the way I am sure... For one I am beginning to understand some of his teachings a little better since I have to experiment and try out the colours on my own.

So without wasting any time, I have started on another one :)

Night # 31

It was a very cold day today.

It was surprising that the weather took a turn. It was raining and was cold the entire day (something like 11 degrees C).

Went with the bus today and joined the ladies for shopping. There was some sale going on in Sharq Mall... 75% off the regular prices. Bought a pair of pants, that's it.

My mother called while I was shopping. I think she must be very worried about us here after hearing about the protests regarding the danish issue. It is in fact very quiet here. The only form of protest that I am aware of is the removal of all danish products off the shelves. Otherwise life is still the same...

Night # 30

I did my first haircut!!! I think it was kind of a disaster but I am sure I will do better the next time. My husband survived the ordeal alright but I think I better do some study on it :)

By the way, I discovered durian from Thailand in the supermarket today. It costs something like $24 for 1 kg of durian... It better be D24 grade or something for that price. But having said that it is almost possible to get anything here if money is not the issue and as long as you are willing to wait and tolerate the irregular supply.

Night # 29

The following incident made news today.

Cuckolded citizen stuck with someone else's baby

A citizen has spoken out about his wife's alleged infidelity and the baby that resulted. According to Al-Rai Al-Aam, which did not name the citizen, the man claims that a DNA test proves that the five-month-old infant is not his. The child, born at the local maternity hospital, was registered as the son of the citizen.
When asked he is sure that the baby is not his, the citizen replied that his wife "spent one full year with her family and they did not see each other, so how can this possibly be my son? The second proof is that DNA test results proved that the baby is not mine. The mother knows who the father is and knows very well that it is not mine."

This is not the end of the story. It seems that this man had gone to the police and court to file a case. However, his estranged wife refused to take the baby back and he's most likely to be stucked with the baby for 8 months as that 's the average amount of time needed to settle such cases.

Unbelievable...

Night # 28 - News

This is one thing that struck me as odd when I first visited this place. They had men working as salesperson in women apparel shops. I mean if you think about certain practices here, such as one is not allowed to take photos of other women, to protect their modesty and privacy, then what is a man doing in a female boutique?

Perhaps I should clarify. When I went into this particular shop selling only women's clothes, there was only one man in the shop. I had found that to be uncomfortable and I would be unwilling to try the clothes if I was shopping alone.

I hadn't thought much about this until I read this in the News today.

Tough time ahead for men working in women's shops

By Nancy Oteifa
KUWAIT: When the Ministry of Trade and Commerce announced a new law banning salesmen from working in any women's shops and gave them six months to leave their jobs, this was a disaster for many men working in shops selling ladies clothes. Men are panicking and don't know what to do, some are planning to go back home and others don't even have this choice, because they have debts to pay. This new law is a double edged sword as any women will be happy as they can go shopping feeling free and not embarrassed in front of these men.

Right.... so there have been MANY men selling women's clothing.

Night # 27

I promised I will try to be gentle this time
I eased it out from the box and pulled
I gave a little tug but it didn't budge
I pulled it slightly harder
It started to wrinkle
Oh no, not again....
I tugged harder this time
It became detached from the box
but it laid crumpled and messed up in my hand
Sigh...
My struggle with the cling wrap
I love it to be clingy
but it clings where it ought not to cling!

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Showed this to my friend... and this is his version:

I whispered... I'd be gentle.
as I slowly eased you out,
with a little pull and a slight tug.
Alas, but you didn't want to budge.

I slowly increased my fervor,
to get, to tug, nearly to yank.
Your dismayal showed in wrinkles,
as I looked at my handiwork,
crumpled and lifeless,
clinging to my hand as if you needed the air.

My love to struggle with you it seems,
but I would love you be clingy,
and not cling where you not ought to be!

I love it!

Night # 26

It occured to me that on the average I get about 10 hours of sleep each day. Though in the night I still have difficulty sleeping early (like 9 pm) but I really don't have a problem wallowing in my bed till 9 am in the morning.... Yes yes... I can hear some of you back home calling me a pig :D but this is such a luxury.... really

As I indulge in this life, the more I think of the mad lifestyle we have back home. I can't imagine that at some point, some of us were working like 12 hours a day and juggling the many other things in mid air, still hoping to do the best in all of them. It was utter madness ... but that's how life is I guess. We do as Romans do.

I haven't had a chance to start pottery here yet but I have been trying to work on watercolour painting. I am beginning to appreciate the amount of thinking and observation one need to do in this form of art and since I can devote that kind of time into it, it is more enjoyable than I realised. I look forward to completing my first piece... Yes it has taken me that long to work on one :)

Night # 25

There will be no entry today. :)

Night # 24 - Day Out

We had a day out today. The weather was getting really nice. I was able to walk along the street with only my t-shirt and jeans.

We were back at Ikea today to get some "nice to have" stuff. Bought a couple of candles and a rug and some kitchen wares. Nice :)

We also went to an Indian restaurant at Marina Mall. Honestly I think the food is alright, but a little on the pricey side. Service is good. I suppose it isn't cheap to eat out over here. On our way out around 3 pm the place was getting packed... seems that it is the lunch time.

We took a walk to the Sultan Centre and back. Didn't buy anything except 3 packets of Almond Jelly powder. I have learnt my lesson. If you find something you like that is not readily available elsewhere, make sure you buy more than one... I couldn't find my tofu anymore since the last time I bought it.

Going to take an early rest tonight... :) It had been a lovely day out.

Night # 23

It is Friday already.

Did nothing much today. Just lazing around and combing the internet for ideas for dinner. We are supposed to invite some friends over for dinner and I have no idea what to cook! Can't cook chicken... sigh... got to look some more I guess.

Night # 22

Checked mobile phone - "One missed call"

Me: Hello. Did someone call me on my mobile?
Man: Hello. You speak English?
Me: Yes (What did he think I was speaking?)
Man: You speak Arabic?
Me: No.
Man: You speak English?
Me: Yes (Duh!) So did you call me?
Man: What is your name?
Me: Did you call me?
Man: You speak Arabic?
Me: I think you got the wrong number.
Man: No no. New friend.
Me: New friend? No. I am not interested.
Man: New friend.
Me: Not interested. bye.

I guess this is one way they make friends without using the internet.

Night # 21 - Blood Test!

I woke up very early this morning to go for a medical test today. It was meant for my application for my residence here.

It was well arranged by the company who got someone to fetch me and other lady to the medical centre and walk us through the procedure. When we got there, the place was packed with people standing outside the centre. We were told that sometimes it could take up to a full day just to have the blood test and x-ray. My goodness. We took only 2o minutes. We literally breezed in and then we were done and out. The people were still standing outside waiting for their turn.

Today, I am very conscious of my skin colour and differences in status over here. For one, the difference in status is a matter of hours of waiting time. If you know the right connections, you know the who and the how, you just breezed through the system. You will be attended to promptly and it will be hassle free. Why then the skin colour? There is also a difference if you are an asian or a caucasian or as they call it the easterner and the westerner.

Perhaps some people may shrug it off and say that it is part of this world, but being brought up in a place where we believe in equality in all races, this is uncomfortable. If I think back at the medical centre. Today, as I was told, is a quieter day as compared to other days of the week. The rooms where we were supposed to take the blood tests were empty. The staff was just sitting there waiting. The x-ray room was virtually empty. Yet there was a large crowd waiting for their papers and waiting to be called in to do the blood test. The major held up is at the registration. It is unbelievable.

Then again, this is one place where we should be glad if things HAPPEN your way. There is no reason why there's such a huge delay, but you should be glad if they decided that it is your paper that they will approve today. Sigh... perhaps there is some logic to the illogical.

Night # 20 - Ladies Day

Today I decided to take the company bus and join the other ladies for a day out to the Marina Mall and Salmiya Sultan Center.

It was an interesting experience. I have been warned about how some fishing of information is done during such sessions. So I guess I went with certain expectations and to a some extent was guarded about what I should say and reveal. But it went pretty alright not as intimidating as it seemed.

The bus was full of British ladies. Wow. Some of them have been to lots of places. It was interesting listening to their experiences living in some other middles eastern countries. Perhaps there is so much to see in this world that most of us have missed. Sometimes we are so caught up in our own home, in our own world that we missed the bigger world out there.

Oh well... I think I shall make pizza today :)