Rain rain go away..

I witnessed my first thunderstorm in Abu Dhabi. Obviously this doesn't happen very often. It wasn't a real thunderstorm like the ones you get in Malaysia, rather a few claps of thunder and some heavy drops for 15 minutes. However, there were warnings in the newspaper, as people here are not used to rain. The city is not used to rain, drivers don't change their driving habits in the rain, and houses get flooded as seals are not meant to cope with rain. Thankfully nothing's happened here in my apartment except that the cable tv signal has disappeared. However, I haven't forgotten my own exploding rain storm in my bathroom 3 weeks ago!

It's also funny that in Marina Mall, the 2nd largest mall in Abu Dhabi, you get a chance to see fake rain. I didn't know this, and it so happened that I was passing the spot at the exact time that the rain fell..I was just walking through, and saw a cleaner with a bucket and a security guard guarding the area. Then I saw water falling from the ceiling, and heard some thunder noises. I was pretty confused. First I thought that there was a thunderstorm and the roof was leaking, then it hit me that I was in the desert and the likelihood of a thunderstorm is pretty minimal. So I thought, hm could it be fake..and I thought "NO WAY" who would create a fake rain storm in a shopping mall? Then I remembered I was in the UAE, the land of man made islands and fake snow fields in shopping malls and I realised that it was a show. It was funny because there were other expats around looking pretty confused as well..then it stopped and the cleaners got to work mopping the floors. I'm pretty sure lots of people have slipped and fallen on those tiles before. It just seems so ludicrous having a fake 2 mins rainstorm in a shopping mall, especially for me coming from the land where we get thunderstorms every single day!

This is quite a funny read about the fake rainstorm, I hope that I never get to the stage where I miss rain and want to see a 2minute rainstorm..
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081114/REVIEW/741287308/1008