It's nearing the end of Ramadan and this post is kinda late, but better late than never!
This is my first Ramadan in UAE, save for my visit to Dubai 2 years ago for interviews, and it's definitely a very different experience to Malaysia. In Malaysia, nothing really changes, except offices shut 1/2 hour earlier, and there are tons of stalls open in the evenings where people buy food.
Over here, hours are dramatically shorter, most offices are only open from 9am to 3pm, including mine. Unfortunately my team doesn't follow these hours, so no good there :( All or most restaurants are shut during the day, and only open in the evening, so you can't go into a mall to have a meal. The only place to eat is in a hotel where the restaurants would be covered by a huge curtain shielding the food from public view.
You can't eat or drink or smoke in public. In the gyms they even move the water coolers to a separate room so you can only drink in the room. There isn't anything to do during the day as most shops are also closed in the afternoon and only open at 7pm but they all open late till 1am. I was at a mall one weeknight after watching a movie and eating dinner, and the mall was packed at 11pm, including little kids running everywhere. We were probably the only non Muslim person around though! I have heard that most people who are fasting just stay up all night until suhour and then they sleep at 5am and if they have to go to work they wake up again at 8am.
It's quite interesting to me, coming from Malaysia where even people who are fasting would be serving food in a restaurant while they are fasting. Here, there is no tolerance for people who are not fasting to eat, drink or smoke. What I find sad is that while this is supposed to be the Holy Month, where people help the poor etc, this is also the month where the most food is wasted. I went to an Iftar (open fast banquet) and the food buffet was incredible. And they have it at every single hotel in the city...that's kinda ironic for me. But there are tons of good charitable causes going on too, like free food boxes for the poor given out everyday at the mosque and at hotels.
All in all, its been interesting, i'm glad when it is over and when things go back to normal!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
DVDs for sale
A few weeks ago, I had someone ring my door bell at 9pm on a weekday night. I open the door and there was this Chinese lady holding a big bag.
She goes : "You want dvd??"
Me: "Erm, no need, thank you"
Chinese Lady: "Very cheap, only 10dirham, all very clear. You don't watch dvd?"
I just stood there thinking, how bizarre!! I didn't buy any as my mum just brought my shipment from Malaysia!
She goes : "You want dvd??"
Me: "Erm, no need, thank you"
Chinese Lady: "Very cheap, only 10dirham, all very clear. You don't watch dvd?"
I just stood there thinking, how bizarre!! I didn't buy any as my mum just brought my shipment from Malaysia!
Drama Drama..
I went diving in Daymaniyat Islands in Oman 2 weekends ago with a friend who visited from Hong Kong and a friend from here. The islands are about 100kms north of Muscat and apparently the best spot to dive in Oman. The diving was awesome, though the trip was drama filled from the start!
One of my friends is a newbie diver and she was requested to pay extra for a dive master, which I felt was good as she would have someone to take care of her. Unfortunately the dive master also had 8 other divers to take care of, so I had to take care of my friend as he also wasn't the most responsible dive master I've met. He even forgot to bring 2 tanks, and 2 divers shared air while diving (which is a BIG NO NO!!). However the dives were good, and we saw so many turtles and they were the most friendly turtles I've ever met!
On the second day, the boat captain dropped the boat key into the water before taking off. He also had the spare key tied to the main key, so we all thought there goes our diving trip! Who in the world keeps the spare and master key together? Fortunately after 1 hour of digging through the sand and sea, they found the key and we departed! When we came back to shore, my friends and I washed our equipment, got packing and headed home for our 4 hour drive home.
When I came home at 11.30pm, the compound was dark - after 3 days being away (think no air conditioning in my apartment in 45 degree heat!), there was no power!! The security guard said maybe it would come back in an hour, so we decided to head out to get groceries at 12am. When we got home, there was still no electricity but by that time, we were just so exhausted that I just slept on the tile floors where it was much cooler. The power came back on at 5am, and I had to wake up again at 7 to head to work. I also then realised that I left my wetsuit in the resort! Superb ending to an eventful trip - thankfully the resort was fantastic and got some divers who live in Dubai to bring back the wetsuit, and I've managed to already get it back!
My poor friend who was visiting definitely had a good taste of the Middle East!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Bye Bye Crackberry
Maybe now IT will support iphones instead of giving me a crackberry!
BlackBerry services suspended in October
The UAE announced the world’s first suspensions of BlackBerry services yesterday as telecoms officials in Saudi Arabia also piled pressure on the devices’ maker to allow access to messages sent with them.
The UAE’s telephone and internet regulator, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), said that services for the nation’s 500,000 BlackBerry users would be suspended from October 11. Saudi Arabia’s telecom watchdog was reported to have ordered telecom firms operating in the kingdom to stop BlackBerry messenger services later this month. Saudi Telecom has about 400,000 BlackBerry users.
The moves follow signs of an agreement reached last week between the Indian government and the device’s manufacturer, Research in Motion (RIM), following similar threats by India to suspend services.
BlackBerrys send encrypted messages via RIM’s servers in the UK and Canada – meaning there is no way for authorities outside those countries to access them. This has led to concerns that the system can be exploited by terrorists to threaten national security.
The TRA said it had attempted to negotiate with RIM over various ways to obtain access to encrypted data since 2007.
According to the TRA statement, encrypted messages sent on BlackBerry phones are beyond the reach of UAE law enforcement. These services could “allow users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national security concerns”.
BlackBerry services suspended in October
The UAE announced the world’s first suspensions of BlackBerry services yesterday as telecoms officials in Saudi Arabia also piled pressure on the devices’ maker to allow access to messages sent with them.
The UAE’s telephone and internet regulator, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), said that services for the nation’s 500,000 BlackBerry users would be suspended from October 11. Saudi Arabia’s telecom watchdog was reported to have ordered telecom firms operating in the kingdom to stop BlackBerry messenger services later this month. Saudi Telecom has about 400,000 BlackBerry users.
The moves follow signs of an agreement reached last week between the Indian government and the device’s manufacturer, Research in Motion (RIM), following similar threats by India to suspend services.
BlackBerrys send encrypted messages via RIM’s servers in the UK and Canada – meaning there is no way for authorities outside those countries to access them. This has led to concerns that the system can be exploited by terrorists to threaten national security.
The TRA said it had attempted to negotiate with RIM over various ways to obtain access to encrypted data since 2007.
According to the TRA statement, encrypted messages sent on BlackBerry phones are beyond the reach of UAE law enforcement. These services could “allow users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national security concerns”.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
