Desert Safari

I had the privilege of having my first visitor in Abu Dhabi over the Easter weekend. Not that I had an Easter weekend!

We drove around Abu Dhabi checking out the sites, and to be honest there really isn't that much to do in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, unless you're really into shopping malls. It is amazing however to check out how much construction is going on around here, and how different things are going to be in 3 years time, with the Louvre, Guggenheim, Zayed Museums, Saadiyat etc.

However, there are lots to do outside Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I would have loved to have time to take a weekend out to Sir Bani Yas Island which has a really good wildlife safari and falconry, Qasr al Sarab, or to drive around the other Emirates, which are said to be much more historical and rugged. There is also Oman a short 2 hours drive away.

Given my short weekend, my friend and I only had time to do a day trip to Dubai and then a desert safari. The desert safari boasted of visits to an Ostrich farm, camel farm, dune bashing, sand boarding, riding a camel and then finishing it all off with a bbq in the desert in a traditional bedouin camp underneath the stars.

So we set out for an hour's drive out towards the deserts near Al Ain, and stopped at the ostrich farm where we got to see some pretty huge ostriches. We then saw some camels at the camel farm, and then drove off in a convoy of 26 4WDs for a spot of dune bashing. To the uninitiated, that basically means driving along metre high sand dunes then tipping over them. It's pretty intense stuff, especially for the front passenger, aka MOI! It basically felt like a rollercoaster only scarier. We also got stuck once, and had to be towed by another 4WD (see pic). Would I do it again...er only if I had to.

Then we made way to the traditional Bedouin campsite and it so was not what I expected. It catered for maybe 200 people, with carpets and tables. It was nice sitting outside underneath the stars though it just was a little too touristy for my liking. I didn't bother trying sandboarding because there were so many people waiting and watching and I knew I would fall on my face. I did try the camel ride though (all 5 seconds of it!), that was pretty uncomfortable especially as the camel gets up from the ground. I of course, looked the obvious klutz and I think my friend and I made quite a sight trying to stifle our screams! They finished the night off with a belly dance which err if anyone has checked, is NOT emirati at all. She was the best belly dancer I've seen though, and I guess most tourists wouldn't know the difference between countries in the Middle East anyway.

All in all, a pretty interesting experience though I'm not sure I would want to go again..

Kabayan??

I keep getting mistaken for being Philipino everywhere I go. Most shops here are manned by Philipinos (like literally every salesperson!), and 9 out of 10 times they will ask me if I'm "Kabayan" or countrymen. I was at a mall once looking at the mall directory, and these 2 Philipino ladies came to me and said "Kabayan?". They were so embarassed when I replied No. Once I also stumbled into the office pantry and 3 Philipino ladies were having their lunch, so I said hello, and immediately, one of them asked if I was Philipino. When I replied No, they told me that they had been guessing if the new girl (me!) was Philipino or not!

People have always had a hard time telling what ethnicity I am, but I think it's unanimous that if I had to look like anyone, I would be Philipino. Even when I went to Manila 2 years back, people were talking to me in Tagalog. Maybe I should learn the language, that would really put people in a spin as now, most of them tell me that they know I'm not Philipino once I open my mouth. One Aussie lady did ask me if I was Aussie as soon as I said a sentence, I really didn't think that my Aussie accent was remotely noticeable, but who knows!

JUST...SO...TIRING...

I had an interesting conversation with a colleague last Thursday...it was the end of the week and we were all so exhausted. Not because of work, I think I have had the best work-life balance I've had for the longest time (getting in at 8.15, leaving by 5.30 or 6 is so novel!) but because achieving anything is never straightforward.

Everyday there is h some drama, some complication...with taxi drivers, with banks, with telco providers, with anyone and anything. It's come to a point where I always expect the worst when having to do something, and generally I"m fine, but it does get to a point at the end of the week where everything just heaves down and I feel completely exhausted. Last week, the trigger was my bank loan, when the bank couldn't just scan the approval letter to me though they said they would, and this resulted in my car being delayed by 2 days. All it took was 1 person scanning a simple letter over, but 20 unanswered phone calls, smses and emails later, I"m still waiting.

It does get to me, and I feel like know I understand what an expat setting up home in Malaysia would feel like. There is this big hump of stuff to get over when you first arrive, and dealing with developing country inefficiencies can really drain someone. Thankfully I think I'm nearly there, and hopefully I can lead a fairly protected life away from all these painful touchpoints soon.

Yoga at last!

I am so happy to be finally close by to a yoga studio (www.theyogajuice.com). It has been about 7 weeks since I attended a yoga class and I was really craving for a studio environment where I could practise. There are only 2 dedicated yoga studios in Abu Dhabi, and I live 5 mins walk away from one of them and 10 minute drive from the other. I went to my first yoga class last week and another a few days before and they have a good variety of ashtanga, vinyasa and hatha styles.

While I know I shouldn't compare, I do miss the amazing Stella (www.shinyoga.com) and the awesome Body Mind Life (www.bodymindlife.com) in Surry Hills.. The good thing here is that they organise workshops and yoga by the beach which I cannot wait to try out once I get my wheels!

Naughty naughty..a little scary actually!

Taken from Gulf News..

Dubai: A couple who claimed they kissed on the cheek in a restaurant while under the influence of alcohol face one month in jail and deportation.

A 24-year-old British man, who works in Dubai, and a 25-year-old woman, visiting from the UK, will appear before the Appeals Court next week, seeking acquittal or reduction of the primary judgment. The Dubai Misdemeanours Court sentenced the Britons to one month in jail followed by deportation for kissing and touching at a restaurant in Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR).

Presiding Judge Ebrahim Khalil Abu Shamma, who handed out the primary verdict, also fined them Dh1,000 each for consuming alcohol.

Prosecutors charged the couple with kissing and drinking alcohol, after an Emirati mother claimed her children saw the man kiss the woman on her lips around 2am in the restaurant. When the defendants appeared in court they denied kissing on the lips and said they kissed each other on the cheek. However, they pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol.

Court records said a 38-year-old Emirati woman testified that she spotted the woman walking into the restaurant along with four men. "My daughter told me that the accused were kissing on the mouth. Then I spotted them doing so myself. I also saw them touching each other, as they were seated two to three metres away from our table. A number of customers witnessed the scene as well," claimed the Emirati in her statement.

A forensic laboratory report showed that the defendants had 22mg/dl of alcohol in their blood. Sources close to the case told Gulf News that the couple appealed the primary judgment. "The couple is seeking to acquit themselves or to win a reduced punishment," said the source.

Prosecutors asked the court to implement articles 121 and 356 of the Federal Penal Law.
Article 121 stipulates that any expatriate suspect, who gets convicted for a crime related to honour or modesty [such as kissing, groping, hugging, cuddling etc…] faces compulsory deportation. According to the same article, a court can instantly deport a suspect for a misdemeanour crime instead of imposing a jail sentence.

The verdict sheet of the primary judgment said: "The court concluded that the man kissed and touched the woman's leg and shoulder in the restaurant in JBR.

"She consented to what he did. The court deemed their behaviour as public indecency and a breach of modesty and honour.
"The man had asked the court to hear the statements of the Emirati woman's children but the court disregarded his plea because her statement was enough. Besides she had also seen the crime herself."

Presiding Judge Abu Shamma handed out a lenient punishment as per articles 99 and 100 of the Federal Penal Law.

Bureaucracy at it's best

Ras Al Khaimah sex-in-car duo to serve sentence
- Taken from Gulf News..

The RAK Criminal Court sentenced the couple after a passer-by heard noises coming from the car and reported it to the police.

Ras Al Khaimah: A Bangladeshi man and an Indian woman have been sentenced to a year's jail and will be deported after they were found having sex in a covered vehicle. The RAK Criminal Court sentenced the couple after a passer-by heard noises coming from the car and reported it to the police, who caught the couple red -handed.

A senior court official said the couple initially denied having an illicit affair despite the evidence the authorities collected against them. During the court session, the suspect provided the court with a marriage contract signed by himself and his partner stating that they were already married.

The court official said that the court did not recognise the contract as it was not attested.

Sorry - you did not get the 10 signatures you needed to get this attested!

Crazy taxis

The reason why I cannot wait to get a car is because I am sick of getting cabs around. There are no street addresses here, so each call-cab affair involves me getting on the phone directing a cabbie on how to get to me. Most of them are pretty ok but occasionally you get the really dumb ones that have absolutely no clue, and refuse to listen to what you're saying.

A sample conversation was my colleague and I getting a cab to get us from the office today. Cab asks where we are, we tell him, he says 10 minutes. 15 minutes later, still no cab, so we call him. This is the conversation on my colleague's side:

"Where are you?"
"Can you speak English or Hindi? I cannot speak Arabic or Pashtun.."
"OK you are at 2454?"
"OK, which roundabout??" (there are like 5 around my office)
"No, what do you see, tell me what you see"
"Do you see the pink concrete wall that borders the airbase?" Go towards that, take a right and you will see the building on the right"
"NO NO NO, we are not at 2454. We are at xxxx "
"Listen to me, we are not at 2454, we are at xxxx, You know xxxx?" (obviously he has no clue!)
"Ok we will wait at the road"
Colleague puts down the phone and we both heave a big sigh...

10 mins later, still no cab. Colleague gets on the phone and calls cabbie..

"Where are you?"
"What??! We are not at Cafe Colombia, I know where that is. You have to come to xxxx"
"OK, who is this?" (Cabbie had passed the phone to someone else!)
"Do you see the pink wall, go straight towards it and turn left, ....."

The conversation goes on for another 5 minutes and colleague puts down the phone cursing..

We wait and see a cab passing on the opposite side, so we wave at him, and expect him to make a u-turn..but 3 mins later, no cab! We got so pissed off that I called another cab, and a total of 30 mins later we were finally in a cab.

This wasn't an isolated incident, and I've had so many conversations like that ("Yes i know you are at a roundabout but there are 5 around the office, what do you see, tell me what you see!). It's really annoying and tiring to deal with this so i cannot cannot wait for the car!