A Bad Night!!

For all those that likes to check out the night scenes of various countries, remember to bring a partner of the opposite sex with you when you are here in Dubai! And even that might not get you in! I had a bad experience last friday and it really left a bitter taste in the mouth.

My friends (4 guys & 2 girls, including me) were going to this R&B disco club at some hotel after hanging out at some pub earlier in the evening. When we reached the club, there were a swarm of people crowding at the entrance. My friend Marc (US NG) manage to squeeze to the front and get the attention of the bouncers. He was told that to get into this club, you must come in a couple, ie a guy with a girl. Hearing that, we quickly got to know 2 Egyptians ladies who were very nice in agreeing to be our "partners" so as to get the 2 extra guys (one is me!! Haha) in. So we thought that the problem is solved. When its our time to go in, 2 guys in front (Marc & Nizar) and the 4 girls start making their way in. When it comes to my other friend and I, we were stopped! Marc quickly explained to the bouncer that we are in a group and that we have 4 guys and 4 girls. But the bloody ass bouncer refused to listen and keep pushing Marc in. And the sickening part is, he threatened Marc, saying "Do you want to go in anot? If you want, just shut up and go in!" We were feeling really pissed and Marc was still trying to explain to that bouncer. By this time, he was already about to burst and punch that ass. Luckily we managed to stop him. So in the end, we walked off without entering and as we walked off, I turned back and still saw tons of people begging the ass bouncer to let them go in. WTF man!!

Well, I do not know what reasons the bouncer has for stopping us. But I guess its probably out of all these,

1.) Its their business tactic so that in the end, there will be more girls inside then guys.
2.) They do not believe that the 2 egyptians were part of our group! Which is bullshit!! Haha.
3.) The last and most disturbing, that maybe they discriminate against Asians!!

If it is the last reason, I am not really surprised. Cause I already feel a mild level of discrimination in this society. To me, Dubai is all about money. There is this materialism and individualism behaviour which you can sense it everywhere. In the malls, pubs, resturants and even in peoples' conversation. Some of the places, its especially strong while some are still ok. So generally, when the shop helpers/bouncers/whatever look at you whenever you step into the shop, you get a feeling that they are seeing whether you have the money anot. I know its probably the same for most modern societies, but I just feel that it is especially strong over here. And back to the point of being Asian, I think asians (and this is just my own opinion) here are not being appreciated as much as the other nationalities. I do not know why but maybe they think that Asians are not as rich as the others. But I will find it out before I go back. I want to know where Singaporeans or Asians stand in other parts of the world. It just wakes you up and takes you out of your comfort zone and to let you be aware of what's happening in this world.

So for someone like me who has been "protected" since young at the safe havan of Singapore, this job rotation has really benefited me greatly. And pls do not be alarmed by this post. I am still being treated really well by my friends here. They are really a great bunch of people to hang out with and I feel a part of them. So no worries.

My new office!

Oh, I have moved to the new facility! The new premise is alot bigger than the old one and I also have my own cubicle! But the sucky thing is the strategic position of it! My back is facing the entrance of the cubicle so that meant everyone that walks past can see what I am doing. And that makes msning difficult!! Haha. And another super sianz thing is that its in the middle of the desert! I know Dubai is a desert so its kinda of an irony but at least the old premise is in the populated area of the industrial area! Now, there are no neighbours around us. Only sand and dust accompany the people working here! We are the first company to move into this part of the free zone (aka really really big industrial area). And that day, I heard from my colleague that there was a sandstorm just a day before we moved in!! Wtf man!! Haha.

My Cubicle. Btw, the chair sucks! Forces you to sit upright all the time. NB!!

Views from the new plant. They are building more around here but till now, only my company is in this part of the free zone. So even the cab drivers are not sure. That time I overheard my colleague giving directions to the cab driver. This is what he said, "South part of zone, near new foodcourt, near desert. " Haha.

The view from the car during journey back.

There was an atonishing thing I learned about Dubai recently. They have no residential postal services!! This explains why there is actually no proper address for my apartment!! Only companies have postboxes and postal codes. So, if anyone wants to send letters/parcels to someone in Dubai, it has to be send to his working address. And i was telling my flatmates about this and John (the french engineer) says that actually there are alot of countries that do not have postal services! So apparently, I am the country bumpkin here! Well, you always learn something new everyday. And you can probably imagine the look on the face of the customer service officer of the nearby mall when I asked her for the nearest post office earlier. She gave me a "WTF look" and smile before telling me that there is no residential postal service but there is stlill a post office that deals with overseas postal. But it will take ages, according to her. Haha.

Seems like for all the money that Dubai has and invested in real estates, they ignore services like this. Sighz.

Night Out

Ok, my gf says that I have not been blogging enough so now I will try to blog more! Haha. But i am really lazy to write so perhaps i will just post more pics! I went to a lebanese restaurant recently for dinner and it was really good! The decor was nice and the food is fantastic!! It costs me about $40 but there has got to be the best meal I eaten so far in Dubai! Check out the place!

The mall where the restaurant is. Its called Dubai Festival City (or something like that. Haha)

The outside of the cafe. The design is really cool!

Name of the resturant. Blanc stands for White in french so that explains the color theme.

Look at the number of appetizers served! Apparently, it is part of Lebanese culture to make the person full after eating the appetizers. This huge amount of food is a show of generosity by the host (or maybe becoz we paid for all these! Haha.) Well, there are quite a few dips which you will eat it with traditional lebanese bread, abit like roti prata but much bigger. Basically bread is a huge part of their diet and you can eat anything with it! I liked the fried cheese sticks shown at the bottom right. Its really good!

The main courses. The first is traditional lebanese skwers. Its like kebab with either chicken or beef wrapped in bread. The meat are mostly grilled and you can also eat it with the dips given. The second is lamb stick with fries. I like this coz the meat is not as hard as i imagine. And the sauce that goes with it is really solid! Haha.

This is the drink they normally served after your meal. Its rose water and as the name suggests, you can smell the flavor when you are drinking it. Initially I wanted to try the lebanese coffee but I was just too full after the meal so I decided to wait till next time. Anyway Issa knows how to make it so I will just go to his place for it!

These are just of the photos I took from where my seat is.

There is a small man-made river which runs through the area and I suppose you can board it for a tour for some money. This is the seesha that they smoke in this place. Its really cool and modern looking compared to the traditional seesha. Oh ya, in this resturant, you can buy anything that you like! Like the chairs, tables, utensils, the seesha that you see here costs a cool $450!!

The Damage!! For 4 persons.

The tent in the mall which shoppers can rest after a long day of shopping!!

The disco which we initially wanted to go. Its really happening just by looking from the outside. And i can tell you, there are alot of guys and girls here with the model look! The thing with middle eastern pple (esp lebaneses) is that, they have this exotic look which you often find on the fashion magazines back home. Think its the genes or something. But its maybe becoz its at the clubs so that is always where you find all the beautiful pple. But from most of the lebaneses that i know here, they all look pretty sauve and pretty with their color eyes.

On the left is Issa (roommate with the Dubai NGs) & right is Gemile (can't really spell his name), an Egyptian.

Pic of the hotel.

The pub we ended up in. Its also a pretty place with live singer and all.

Havana Cafe plays mainly latino music and you will see pple dancing salsa on the dance floor. Amazingly, most of the pple on the dance floor have the grooves and moves! It seems like dancing is in their blood! Haha. In the pub, there is also a "Sean Paul" lookalike singer! And true to that, he sings SP's songs really well!! Haha. So there is also abit of reggae in the music.

The one with the specs is Marc (US NG) and beside me is Assaad (Service Engr from DHT).

The freaking long limo which i saw while on my way out!

All 5 of us squeezing into the cab so as to save some money!! Haha

So its was a fun night out with my colleagues. The dinner was good and the chillout was cool. Will blog more on the places I go next time.

More photos will be posted on Facebook.

I cooked my first own fried rice!!

Its now Sunday, 1pm here. I am still nuaing on my bed and surfing net. It feels good not to work on sunday (btw, my weekend here is suppose to be fri and sat). This week, i am having an extended weekend becoz its the end of Ramadan. We have 4 days of holidays starting on fri and I will only start work on Tue!! Shiok right? Haha.

Over the past 2 days, I have been just hanging out at my apartment in the day, and gg to my colleague's place at night for chatting and playing some poker. Don't really feel like walking around the city. I think the main reason is becoz I feel that i still have alot of time here and I don't want to finish exploring the city. And partly, its alos becoz i am lazy to go plan the itinerary! Haha.

Well, I recently starting cooking my own meals and frankly speaking, i am having fun!! Haha. I am glad that I am able to eat some simple home-made food rather then eating cup noodles or fastfood! I was cooking fried rice the other day and amazingly, it tastes quite good!! Haha. I have always like eating fried rice and so, to be able to cook it makes me feel so proud!! Ok, i admit that its a bit salty (i added too much soy sauce) and its not exactly a "Buddha jump over the wall" kind of dish that we are talking here. But the fried rice still rocks!! Haha. And now, i am already thinking of cooking another of my fav, seck mee! Haha. Will try it some other day.

I finished it all!! Haha

Although i spent about 1.5 hrs in the kitchen and ended up with fingers that stinked of garlic, but i still feel satisfied after the meal! Haha.

Well, got to go brush my teeth leh. Will blog more if i got the time.

Knocking off soon!!!

The time now is 345pm. 15mins to knock off time. I am trying to keep myself awake, so i decided to blog for awhile! Haha.

I went to DHT's new facility today. It was in the middle of the dessert!! WTH man!! There is nothing except sand and dust! And I got a feeling that there will be alot of sai kangs for me once we shift to the new plant. Oh, why can't i ever escape sai kangs!! Haha.

Oh, the driver Hamand invited me for a picnic this coming sunday!! He must have guessed that I am very bored over here. Haha. Well, i will be going with a few colleagues and it will be outside of Dubai, in another federation. This is great man. Oh ya, Hamand is a Paskistani who seems to hate the world, coz he always have the angry face. Haha. But Nizar says its becoz its Ramadan period now and he is hungry, thus the mood swings. Well, I will know soon as Ramadan is ending this fri. For the end of Ramadan, there will be 3 days of public holiday and for this yr, it falls on fri, sat and sun. Which effectively only mean 1 more off day for me. Well, better than nothing.

Oh, its 4pm now!! Yeah. Knock off time. I really love the Ramadan period coz the working hrs are shorten to 830am - 4pm, instead of the usual 8am-5pm. And i been taking 1.5hr lunch daily so everytime when i came back from lunch, it will be knock off time soon! Haha. The pace is considerably slower compared to Spore but I do not know whether will it be different come end of Ramadan. We shall see. For now, i am just enjoying the perks of being in a Muslim country! Haha.

Alright, I am shutting down my comp. Cya folks!

My first week in Dubai!!

Its now 11pm (friday). I am lying on my bed with my laptop. I like wireless coz it mean i can bring my lappie around and also able to surf net at the comfort of my bed. Haha

There are so many things that I can say about my past week here but I do not know where to start. Haha. I have pretty much settled into the environment. I survived my first week working here although i was basically only doing reading. I guess the weeks ahead will be more shack coz i will be going down to the workshop once i got my coveralls and safety boots. I seriously admire all the workshop guys down there. The coveralls they issued are the thick kind and i can imagine how freaking hot it must be to wear that over here in Dubai! Yday, i was there, under the hot sun for 30mins and i swear that my boxer was wet after that! Damn it man. Think i need to bring extra boxers to work for the next few weeks!! Haha.

The storage bay, workshop and office.

The amount of presentations/materials that i have to read!! Sianz...

As u all can see, the plant is pretty rundown at the moment. My dept Downhole Tools (DHT) are currently sharing this pathetic plant with Rigs Solution. The workshop is only about the size of 2 basketball courts but there are tons of machinery squeezing inside it. Everyone is like fighting for space. And that is why, the pple from Rigs Solution kinda hated us becoz they feel that we are taking up their space! Coz this plant was originally only for them. (well eug, this will be the place where u will spend your 3mths in Dubai!! Hehe!!) So i was kinda sad when i first came here and see the state of this plant. But luckily, DHT is shifting to a new premise next week and i will be able to have my own cubicle and also a better working environment.

Journey to work. There are nothing except constructions!!

There are alot of nationalities over at my company. Basically everyday for work, u are like going to some United Nation meeting or something. But that's because Dubai is full of expats. In fact, 90% of the population here are expats. The locals, called the Emiraties make up the 10%! And you won't actually find them working in private companies because they got so much more benefits by working in govt agencies. To them, work is not exactly a necessity coz the dubai govt give their citizens super good benefits. Free this free that. Haha. So you will actually find alot of indians here working as construction workers (same in spore), pakistanis working as drivers, etc.

Most of the time, i hang out with 2 groups of pple. First will be with George and his colleagues from Rigs solution. George is a lebanese who is my flatmate. He is a nice guy and he treats me quite well. (And i don't mean it in a gay way!! Haha) I went with him once to one of the colleague's apartment which is also in the same area to see them play poker. Apparently few of the lebanese guys from Rigs S share an apartment. Lebanese are known for their hospitality. They will offer you tons of things once you reach their home, like drinks, food, cigerattes (if u smoke), etc. And it is actually rude if you do not take anything. They will see you as been arrogant or something like that. So i had a beer and also some food while i was there. The way they live at the apartment reminds me of my hostel life back at NTU. A few good frens staying toge and having fun everyday. The only difference is that there are more beers and cigerattes compared to hall. Haha.

The other group of pple i hang out with are the Dubai NGs and also the American NG that is also having his rotation here. Basically they are all Lebaneses too! (including the Amer NG, Marc!!) So this tells you that there are quite alot of Lebanese over at Dubai. They good thing about being with them is the age similarity. So there are more topics to talk about. But the prob is still the language. Although everyone in Dubai knows english, they still prefer to speak Arabic. So most of the time, they will speak Arabic. So sometimes all you can do is smile while they are talking!! Haha. Like an idiot. But i don't really blame them coz this is their national language. And I decided that since I will be here for 3mths, i will learn some simple Arabic so that the time here is not wasted! But Arabic is like freaking hard to pronounce man. I cannot say Good Morning in Arabic becoz there is this word "khair" which I just can't seems to get it. Everytime i say it, they will laugh! Think its my short tongue. Haha. So now, i always use the general greeting as-salaam alaykum instead. Haha.

Dubai NG, Dany

Dubai NG, Nizar

US NG, Marc

Lunch at nearby foodcourt. The ONLY place i been for lunch so far!!

The book which I just bought! Irwan & Eug, I am gonna sell it to u all once i get back!! Haha

Well, to think i would actually be writing a blog. I used to hate doing all the stuffs like frenster, blog, facebook, etc. But now, I am actually "actively' engaging all these. I guess this is because these are perhaps the only communication tools which i have to talk to the pple back at home. So I will try to maintain my effort at keeping this blog alive!! Haha.

I shall end my entry here. Its really troublesome and slow to upload photos on the blog man. Think i will put the rest of my photos on facebook. I will talk about my trip to the (about the size of 5 taka!!) mall next time.

Night folks!!