My Bit of Abu Dhabi Impression

Q is in the Netherlands attending his dad’s retirement party -Congrats, Bart & Wads! I figured I can take a camera as my companion to the Abu Dhabi streets and see what I get. Here are some photos to share with you.

This is the city we live in – somehow I saw its heart better through camera lens. I wonder why.

Look, Two Wheels, Hooray!

Isn’t it just so exhilarating to be on two wheels and cutting through fresh air – especially in crazy Abu Dhabi traffic!

I have been biking to work this winter – it is about half an hour one way and takes me through about 10 km of multi-flavored city: downtown congestion, road barriers, highway bridge, pedestrian side walks, building elevator, construction site, and corniche path – watching sunset over the water front is very therapeutic after a long day at work!   Q caught me one morning as he stopped on the way to the Abu Dhabi airport. (If you cannot see the video link, click here.)

 

Another exciting development in our lives is that I am learning to ride motorcycle! Yes, in Abu Dhabi – can you believe it?!? I know, I can’t even believe it myself!!! I don’t want to jinx anything so the storytelling will have to wait till I pass the road test next Monday. But in the mean time enjoy the video Q took – thanks for watching my back, sweetie! (If you cannot see the video link, click here.)

 

More to follow on our two wheels adventure in Abu Dhabi… Stay tuned. :)

I Can, therefore I Spend

Here is a photo of my manicured fingers. For my friends back in Toronto, I promise you this is a one-off thing, so don’t panic. But the experience did prompt me to blog about this human behavior magnified in this part of the world: I can, therefore I spend.

- Nails. Getting French manicure only cost me AED 50 (EUR 10 or USD 13) in a decent ladies-only salon in a shopping mall. Because how affordable it is, getting manicured and pedicured becomes a popular weekly routine for a lot of ladies – both local and expats. Whereas I just got depressed hearing from my Filipino aesthete that it’s been four months since she left her baby behind.

- Hair. I have never seen as high percentage of blonds among Caucasians as in Abu Dhabi. I’m serious. The second time I saw the same Lebanese hairdresser, he asked me, “why don’t you dye your hair?” I said, “no, i like mine grey.” he went, “Oh, I remember you. Last time you also didn’t want your hair dyed.” That was three months ago – I was surprised he remembered me. As if that wasn’t enough, he went on saying, “You are not from this world. Look around, everyone dyes their hair.” Okay, maybe not everyone, but it’s pretty close. Apparently if you can afford adding that touch of gold in your hair, you get it done!

- Cars. Earlier today a colleague complained that he had to pay AED 8,400 (EUR 1,700 or USD 2,200) for his wife’s car registration renewal – all just for her speeding tickets. I asked him what kind of car his (house)wife drives – he said Audi. Just another case of I can therefore I spend.

Like a friend once said, “Abu Dhabi is a place that brings out the best of you and the worst of you.” Unfortunately it’s more the latter for most of us. I’m secretly hoping the nail polish will chip off sooner rather than later.

UAE Visitors Take Note

Unless you are good at reading fine prints, avoid visiting Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Yes, you heard me. UAE is a country where vacation is to be enjoyed with caution. Here are the fine prints that most visitors are not aware:

- It is illegal to drink alcohol without a liquor license in this country, and I suspect none of the tourists would get one considering the application process is lengthy. (story link)

- It is illegal to swear in public, especially to locals. No f-word, no middle-finger, no jokingly, no moment-of-excitement. None. (story link)

- It is illegal to have sex or stay in the same room outside wedlock. And yes, that means rape victims can be charged on the same account, oh yes. (story link)

The list goes on.

Surely all these illegal activities exist among tourists and expats, but just like car accidents, they rarely happen and most people are happy with their day-to-day lives without noticing anything until something goes wrong.

Oh yeah, and if one is really unlucky and got in the way of an important local (story link), it’s a good idea to get on the very next flight out of the country before setting foot in a police station.

There you have it. UAE visitors take note.

Touching base

My previous employer in the Netherlands (LVNL) asked me to write an article for their internal magazine updating them with what’s been going on with us since we left.

I really enjoyed my time working there, and this is a way of touching base with my previous work and colleagues.
(hallo LVNLers (and all others!), post a reply or send an email, let us know how you’re doing!)

They allowed me to publish the article on the blog, have a read if your Dutch is up to scratch :)

(for people on our mailing list, if you don’t see the picture in this post, go to the blog to read it)

(P.S. changed the link to a bigger picture...)

How to stake an Emirati tree

Did anyone else notice the odd-looking three-legged trees around Abu Dhabi?

The featured trees have been this way for at least the past year and half, and this is what happened when a thunderstorm hit:

In my humble opinion, they provide a very good illustration of relationships of Emiraties and expats in the country's development. Enough said.

FYI, the following are some Facts about Staking a Tree:

"Tree staking is never done with the intention of harming a tree. Staking is usually done with love and with a desire to promote root and trunk growth and protect a young tree from harm.

"What some tree planters do not understand is, rather than helping a tree develop root and trunk growth, improper tree staking replaces a supportive trunk and root system with an artificial support that causes the tree to put its resources into growing taller but not growing wider.

"If and when the stakes are removed, the lack of trunk and root development makes these trees prime candidates for breakage or blow-down. In the first good windstorm, down these trees come. They have lost the supportive protection of natural development."

From Abu Dhabi: Christmas Carol, Bedspace Ads and Liquor Store

Some random things to share with you of our life in Abu Dhabi.

- I crashed a private function to watch our friend Meg sing Christmas carol. The backdrop is a giant light display of UAE flag, left beaming from the UAE National Day celebration back in early December.

- Bedspace ads posted on a random bus shelter, which is not in use and simply acts as sand collector.

     - Although I’ve never visited an adult video shop in Toronto, somehow I reckon the experience would be similar to that of visiting a liquor store in Abu Dhabi, except there are really only a handful of them. As you can see below, the shop windows are all blacked out, and after your purchase, you carry your bottles in black unmarked bags… not to mention the mandatory liquor license!

 img source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/biglittlesister/3363630996

From the local liquor store, Merry Christmas and drink up, everyone! :)

"Always Welcome in Jordan"

"Welcome, welcome!" Just about every Jordanian we met in Jordan repeated the simple yet warm word to us while we were there for 11 days last week. It turned out the word can be used loosely as "hi", "bye", "thank you", "okay", or filler for moment of awkward silence. During a typical quick conversation, you can hear the word muttered at least a dozen times. It's essentially the duct tape of Jordanian's English vocabulary.

So what did we do while we were there. Let's see. My top highlights would be...

- Camping in a Bedouin tent in the middle of desert:


- Driving in the mountain range


- Sleeping in an ancient cave next to Petra:


- Selfishly and gladly having Petra's Treasury all to ourselves in a beautiful early morning:


- Mudding ourselves at the Dead Sea:


- Diving/snorkelling in the the Red Sea at Aqaba.

- Moon walking in the dark night under full moon in Wadi Rum:



- Riding very spirited Arabian horse:

- Camel Riding!! (Smell you later!)

Special thanks to our couchsurfing hosts for helping make such a memorable trip: Akram and Bianca in Amman and Nawaf in Petra!

Crossing Expats' Boundaries

Q and I are wexpats - expats who came from western countries. And that essentially defines our "environment" long before we even landed in Abu Dhabi: from what type of car we would drive, to what range of accomodation we would choose, to what type of friends we would hang out with, etc, etc, and surely and naturally we did just that - settled very comfortably in our wexpat environment. But once in a while we venture out of our comfort zone and into other expats' "environments". And the result? It's always surprisingly pleasant. One such example was watching the Pakistan v.s. New Zealand cricket match in the Cricket Stadium last Saturday.

The first thing we noticed was that bad traffic jam leading to the stadium turned a two-lane side street into a four-lane. Some Pakistanis opted for parking further away and made up the lost time by running towards the stadium. I can't recall the last time I saw even one person running towards a sporting event, let alone crowds. The enthusiasm caught on me before we even reached the parking lot.


It was our first cricket match ever, and it was a "50-overs" "one-day match", i.e. a long form, and long it was - the match started at 3 pm and we left at 10 pm - an almost-herotic SEVEN hours, and it still had another good hour to go by the time we left! It was an all-around wholesome experience: the crowd, the teams, the stadium, the friends, and the poster! Okay, some may argue beer was missing. :)


I can't quite describe it but the level of dedication and enthusiasm somehow made me respect the Pakistani expats much more so than before. A lot of them may be alone here, they may not earn much, and they may not be able to afford many hobbies, but for what they can manage, they really make the most out of. The cricket match was quite a display of such spirit.


I wish I had something more intelligent to say about this boundary-crossing experience, but really at the end of the day I felt truly happy, for the people surrounded me at the stadium were truly happy - and that is something I don't get when walking into the fancy hotel bars of Abu Dhabi.

Wastas + Abu Dhabi = ?

Wastas are "connections" in Arabic - they are about who you know to help make *things* happen. Think them as wheel teeth that keep the clocks ticking, and in the case of Abu Dhabi, often for free!

These are what Wastas have got us during the past two days: Beyonce concert last night, F1 Grand Prix practice at the circuit this afternoon and Jamiroquai concert tonight - all for free! A little background on these F1 concerts - AD organizers made an interesting decision that they were only available to race pass holders, and not available for purchase by general public. It turned out for the Jamiroquai concert alone, a total of 15 friends/acquaintences attended mostly, if not all, without ever purchasing any race passes. Oh yeah, the arrangements were all quite last minute as well. So even though three days ago we didn't plan on having anything to do with Abu Dhabi F1, already we've been to three events at the fresh-paint-scented venue!

Yas F1 Circuit from West Grandstand-that's RedBull car racing across on the bottom there.

Jamiroquai was only 20 meters away!

I don't think Q and I quite get the hang of this cultural phenomenon, but why should we even bother. Sometimes, it is easier to just go with the free flow.