Leaving on a jet plane...

...for a 10-day vacation (and to attend a good friend's wedding). Blogging during this period will be minimal to non-existant....

See you in a couple of weeks!

Hello...Goodbye...

Been out of touch for a while. The past couple of weeks have been hectic...trainings, meetings, big projects, not much sleep!

But the good news is, I've got a vacation coming up! Unlike previous years where, by the time I'd take my vacation in August, I'd usually be drained physically, mentally, emotionally...This year, I'm actually shocked at how soon my vacation's coming up! It's almost as if I am not tired enough to be going on vacation :) But hey, I'll take the break anyway!

And the best part is, I'll be taking another short vacation end of summer...so when I come back, I'll have something else to look forward to! Woohoo!

Still, I won't completely ignore this blog while I'm gone...I'll try to write some posts over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

Random thoughts....

I know I've probably discussed this subject to death, but I still don't understand this whole public holidays system here.

Israa wal Mi3raj is today. Some of our clients had the day off yesterday. Some will have the day off on Sunday. The government sector will not have any days off apparently, so it's weird in this case that the private sector has been given some days off. My company has not given us any days off, which sucks! I could have really used a long weekend!

On another note, I keep getting this message on my cell phone from "HHIE Survey" which says the following:

Determining the minimum wage limit and securing a satisfactory standard of living are major goals of the Expenditure and Income Survey.

Okay.....Umm...3 things:
1) What does that mean?
2) What am I supposed to do with this message
and 3) Why have I received this SAME message over 5 times now?

And finally, my vacation is now 14 days away. I can't WAIT! I can't wait to be away from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, I can't wait to be away from the heat, and I can't wait to be away from work.

OK...really, I'm still here...

Yeah it's been a while. It seems like every single one of my posts lately starts with "I know I've been gone for a while", or "I've neglected this blog" or "It's been too long since my last post". But I'm here....

And no, I don't have an excuse for not posting. I've just been...distracted lately. Work is busy as ever, but I just don't have the energy anymore...I feel like I'm kinda neglecting work lately. But I'll attribute that to some internal changes at the office, and to the fact that I am just drained. Right now, the only thing that's keeping me going is my holiday, which is happening exactly a month from now. Woohoo!

I've been reading a bit more, which is a good thing. Spending more time with friends, which is also a good thing.



I've watched a couple of interesting movies, one of which is Fast Food Nation, which, once you watch it, will turn you off fast food for good! (I still can't figure out how to add links to my posts using a Mac...!!!)

Anyway, I haven't had a burger since I watched that movie. Really. The movie is loosely based on a book by Eric Schlosser. It features Greg Kinnear, Wilmer Valderrama (Fez from That 70's show) and Bruce Willis among others, and follows the investigation of the marketing manager of a ficticious fast food chain, trying to pinpoint why traces of feces were recently found in their burgers. In parallel, we follow another story of Mexican immigrants entering the US illegally to work and make a better living...and how they get exploited by the managers of a meat packing company producing meat for the ficticious burger chain.

Directed by Richard Linklater who also directed Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, the movie was so graphic at some points that I simply could not watch...and I still wonder how he got the footage in the meat packing plant.


Otherwise, I've also been watching Planet Earth, a documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough. It's one of the best documentaries I've ever seen in my life. The footage that was captured is simply breathtaking, and makes you discover places and species you would never even knew existed otherwise (an American version narrated by Sigourney Weaver also exists). Words can't really do justice to this one-of-a-kind documentary...its definitey a must-see for everyone and anyone, and it'll make you fall in love with our planet.

OK..I'll leave some stuff for the next post....:) I'll be back soon....

All's good!

• I got a new, temporary work laptop to replace my sick laptop that needed to be sent to the doctor...woohoo! I am no longer disconnected from Blogland :)
• I'm on vacation (again!)
• I found out last week that my rent can't go up this year. Here I was wondering how I could possibly afford another 15% increase, when Sheikh Mo decided that for those who had their rents increased last year, there would be no increase this year. So I won't have to leave my apartment hopefully (unless the landlord decides to kick me out because a "relative" wants to move in....). Double woohoo!

In other news, my cousin (a regular reader of this blog) is visiting from out of town, and although he knows Abu Dhabi really well, Dubai is still foreign to him. So here's a question for you all: if you had some visitors from out of town, and you only had time to take them to one place in Dubai, what would that place be?

Looking forward to all your comments....

On vacation...

I am now officially on vacation...until next year! Nothing too exciting...I'll be spending most of it in Abu Dhabi with la familia.

I am already bored, so I really don't know how this next week will go, especially given that both my sis and my bro will be working (except for Christmas day). And I don't have that many friends here in A-D....so I guess I'm going to have to keep myself entertained.

Here's the plan (we'll see how much of it I'll achieve):

- First, 2 days of Christmas shopping. I have not bought a single present yet, so tomorrow and the day after will be dedicated to shopping.

- I also have a lot of movies and series to catch up on: I started watching episodes 1-6 of season 3 of Lost, I am hoping to be able to download episodes 1-10 of season 3 of Grey's Anatomy, I have downloaded copies of Volver, Babel and the new Bond, I want to try to catch Holidays at the movies, and I have yet to finish season 4 of 24 (I just got sick of 24 after a while, so I just stopped....but maybe I'll get back to it soon).

- I want to go back to reading my book (The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini)

- I need to go to the beach...I haven't been this white in a while...I'm just waiting for my semi-flu to go away (I am in between sick and not sick, which is really annoying....my throat hurts and I cough, but otherwise, no cold, no fever, not even feeling that tired...weird!)

- I want to get a massage (a couple of weeks ago I got one at Tips and Toes in Marina Mall, and it was AMAZING!)

- Go out once or twice...I need to see people (other than my immediate family)...although I don't even know why I bother, it's always the same people you see here in Abu Dhabi....

That's all I can think of for now. I better hit the sack. I have a full day of shopping ahead tomorrow...Ugh...

Not good...

Hmm...been feeling sick the past couple of days. I left work early yesterday, couldn't sleep all night, went to work this morning despite feeling like I had just gotten hit by a bus, and now, I am sitting on my couch, with a sweater, and a thick blanket, and yet I'm still freezing cold (oh, and the A/C is off, and the window is closed).

I thought I had a fever, but the thermometer says my temperature is normal. But I am definitely not feeling right.

I think I just need a good rest, but tomorrow is my last day at work before the holidays...So I am kind of forced to go to work to hand-over all my projects. We'll see how I feel in the morning.

The last thing I want is to spend my first few days off sick in bed! Plus, I have a ton of shopping to do. Ever the procrastinator, I have not bought a single Christmas present yet! I was counting on this weekend to get all my shopping done! Ugh...the thought of scouring the busy malls for endless hours trying to find the perfect gift makes me sick to my stomach, but I gotta do it! I admire people who are disciplined enough to get some of their Christmas shopping done a couple of months before, or even in the summer! Plus, I can't hold on to a gift for a couple of months. If I buy someone a gift, I have to give it to them immediately!

Change of topic: I noticed that beta blogger is now no longer beta. I don't know why, I am still reluctant to switch over to the new blogger. To all those who have already switched, what's your feedback so far? Are you happy with the change? Do you recommend it? Has it made blogging easier?

On a break....

The day after I posted my previous post about when Eid is happening, my company management announced that we would be getting Sunday/Monday off, regardless of when Eid is, and we'll also get Tuesday off if Eid is on Monday. So here's to hoping Eid is on Monday :)

...which, apparently, it should be according to this article.