Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Ministry of...wild goose chase?
Here's how the story unravels:
1) I find the phone number of the PR department of the ministry of health in Abu Dhabi. I give them a call. Someone picks up. I ask for the information I needed, he tells me I need to contact a division of the ministry in Dubai, and gives me the name of the person who could help me out. Okay...doesn't sound so bad. I ask for a phone number in Dubai, but the PR person in Abu Dhabi does not have it. Hmm. Isn't he supposed to know the number?
2) Next, I try to find the phone number of the person whose name I have. So I call 181 (which now became 199 by the way), and they give me the ministry's number here in Dubai. So I call...no answer. Call again...no answer. Call a third time...no answer. Call 199 again to ask for the number, to make sure I got it right. They give me the same number again. I call again...and just as I was about to hang up, a lady picks up. Success!
3) Or so I thought. I try to explain to the lady what I'm looking for...as I'm babbling away, I realise that she's put me on hold...I was on hold, while I was babbling away!!!! Like an idiot! So I wait, and wait, and wait....and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiit....
4) I hang up, thinking that she's forgotten about me. I call again. Another lady picks up, she tells me she's transferring my call to the right department. As she's transferring me, the line cuts.
5) I call again, a lady picks up (is it the first one, the second one, another one? I'll never know), she tells me I need to call another department. I ask her if she has the number, she mumbles something then transfers my call. I wait. And wait. And wait. Finally someone picks up. I ask for the information again. She tells me I have the wrong department and transfers my call again.
6) So I get transferred for the....I don't know, I've lost track of how many times I've been transferred already. I wait. And wait. And wait. A man picks up. Tells me I have the wrong department, I should call another department. I ask for the phone number, he says he doesn't have it. I ask for the number of the person whose name the Abu Dhabi office gave me, luckily, the man has that person's mobile number. Okay. I'm getting somewhere here. My wild goose chase was finally leading me somewhere.
7) I call the person's mobile twice. No answer.
And that is where I'm at. Ten phone calls later, and I still don't have the information I need. I'll try again tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
740 days...and counting
Is it because I'm getting older? Is it because I work harder here? Is it because there are no real seasons, which makes it seem like one whole year feels like just one summer? I don't know...
Last year, I was mostly nostalgic about having moved to the Emirates. My Montreal days were still fresh in my mind, and I was still at the stage where I was comparing my life here to my life there.
It's different now. The nostalgia is gone (except for a few waves here and there). Dubai has grown on me a bit...I have a few good friends here, but nothing like the friendships I had built in Montreal. There's a constant feeling of fleetingness with any relationship that's built here. It seems like the people I meet are here for a short while...they leave after 2, 3, 4, maybe 5 years. So they come here and try to live life to the fullest, keeping themselves busy with work, parties, movies, concerts, events, activities... which is OK in a way, but do they ever take the time to just sit and relax?
All this means that I never feel settled in Dubai...How can you feel settled when everything around you keeps moving? When everyone seems like they're constantly running after something (happiness? something else? who knows...)
And yet, in a way, I'm jealous of all these people who come here, knowing that they're only here for a short time. Because they have a plan. They have somewhere to go to after they've paid their dues here. They have a home to go to. I sometimes ask myself: what's next for me? Where do I go from here?
But I don't have an answer, because I've always said that home is where your family is, and my family is here. And moving somewhere new and starting from scratch becomes more difficult every time.
I don't know where this post is going...and after re-reading it just now, I realise that I am still a bit nostalgic...and that I have rambled on quite enough for one post...
So here's to hoping that next year, I'll still be blogging....and seeing how thing are going, I'll probably be telling you about my 3rd year in Dubai!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Blah...
I was shocked for about 3 minutes, not really realising what had happened. Poor birdie. R.I.P...
That was yesterday morning, the start of what looks like is going to be a very rough week. Work, work, and more work....enough work to last me a lifetime...I've come to the realisation that I hate meetings. Not just because most of them are simply completely useless and a complete waste of time, but also because meetings usually mean that I have to stay an extra 5 hours at work just to try to catch up on the workload. And that was in fact the case yesterday.
And to top things off, I have a horrible back ache that's making me miserable, you know, the kind of back ache that makes you hurt when you take a deep breath...and that woke me up at 5AM this morning. I feel like I'm 70 years old!
And that was just Sunday! I wonder what the rest of the week has in store for me...
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
You can make a difference - Tip 8
This edition of you can make a difference tackles a hot topic (pun intended). We've been hearing about global warming for as long as I can remember, but Al Gore's recent documentary "An inconvenient truth" has brought the issue under the spotlight.
Here's what my friend S. had to say about this:
Reports reveal that human activities are behind climate change.
To avoid cooking our pretty planet to the max, switch off the lights, turn off your tv, and shut down your computer while you're out enjoying the sun, moon, stars and other mischievous activities.
Facts: The average home contributes more air pollution than the average car.
Leaving lights on for an extra hour each day over the course of a week releases 20 tonnes of green house gases.
Screen savers do not save energy.
On average, human activities release 70 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a day, every day! Emissions should be cut by 70% to 80% to simply stabilize atmospheric concentrations - and thus temperatures.
Why can’t climate change go unchecked? It's been a while since the last You can make a difference tip. My friend S. has been busy....but also a little lazy I suspect.
This edition of you can make a difference tackles a hot topic (pun intended). We've been hearing about global warming for as long as I can remember, but Al Gore's recent documentary "An inconvenient truth" has brought the issue under the spotlight.
Here's what my friend S. had to say about this:
Reports reveal that human activities are behind climate change.
To avoid cooking our pretty planet to the max, switch off the lights, turn off your tv, and shut down your computer while you're out enjoying the sun, moon, stars and other mischievous activities.
Facts: The average home contributes more air pollution than the average car.
Leaving lights on for an extra hour each day over the course of a week releases 20 tonnes of green house gases.
Screen savers do not save energy.
On average, human activities release 70 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a day, every day! Emissions should be cut by 70% to 80% to simply stabilize atmospheric concentrations - and thus temperatures.
Why can’t climate change go unchecked? This video says it best (for your viewing pleasure: have your glow sticks handy).
To be honest, I didn't realize that I, personally, was contributing so much towards global warming...I'm usually good with switching unnecessary lights off, and I spend all winter with my air conditioning switched off, but my computer is constantly switched on at home...And I'm sure that offices and malls could make the effort of putting the air conditioning down one or two degrees (why should I be wearing sweaters in the middle of the scorching summer??), and we could all make the effort to recycle more (or, in my case, start recycling!)...A little goes a long way...
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Boys and their toys
I still can't, for the life of me, figure out how to embed videos on my blog. I've tried with YouTube, I've tried with Google Video...to no avail! Can someone attempt to explain to me what I'm doing wrong? I'm not that technologically inept!
Anyway, back to the documentary...It follows the lives of 4 filthy rich men:
- Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum al Maktoum, a member of the Dubai ruling family, who brought the A1 race to Dubai.
- Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan al Nahyan, known as the "Rainbow Sheikh", a member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, whose eccentric vehicle designs are out of this world.
- Mohammad bin Sulayem, the famous Dubai rallye-driver, whose car collection is worth more than 10 million dollars.
- Sheikh Mohammed bin Issa al Jaber, the self-made Saudi billionnaire hotelier, with luxury properties all around Europe and parts of the middle-east.
It's like "Lifestyles of the rich and famous"...the Arab edition! Check it out...it's quite mind-boggling...and entertaining.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Aida
When we reached Emirates Palace, there was a huge lineup of cars, and in my head, I thought "here we go...this is Shakira all over again!". But with some creative maneuvering from my dad, we managed to find a parking spot rather quickly. But it seems that the parking area and the opera area were not the same...We had to take a bus that would take us to the place where the opera was taking place. So we waited in line, behind a few other people. There was already a bus waiting there, but it was full. The bus left, and we waited for the next one. And waited. And waited.
Fifteen minutes later, we decided to walk, because we heard an Emirates Palace employee telling someone: "it's a 5 minute walk towards the hotel". So a bunch of us start walking, then another employee sees us and says: "what are you doing? The opera is in the opposite direction, and you can't walk there it's too far, you need the bus".
So we head back to the ever-expanding line, and wait, and wait...and wait some more. Finally, 3 buses show up, and they stop towards the middle of the line. People were being disrespectful and rude, with everyone rushing towards the buses, rather than wait calmly in line like civilized people. We were at the front of the line, but by the time we made it to the bus, there were almost no seats left! But thankfully, at the last moment, we managed to make it on the bus.
The bus took us out of the hotel, and back into the traffic jam of people trying to find parking...ridiculous! But we made it through eventually, and reached the opera area.
Once we got there, we made it through security and ticketing quickly, and managed to find our seats. We had to walk through some sandy areas, which is not ideal when you're wearing high-healed sandals, but it was OK (hey, at least it wasn't a new pair of shoes!).
Unfortunately for us, the weather conditions were not ideal for an outdoor opera that involves pyrotechnic effects. Because of the wind, the backdrop could not be lowered, and the special fire effects were cancelled due to security reasons. And it was so windy, that we actually decided to leave halfway through the performance, because we couldn't take the cold anymore.
The show itself was good (well, the first half at least...). I'd never been to an opera before, and I initially throught that I'd be annoyed by all the high-pitched singing, but I wasn't...As a matter of fact, I was really into the whole thing, and the story of star-crossed lovers Aida and Radames was intriguing. The only thing is that our seats were a bit far, and the subtitles on the screens could have been a little bigger to make them easier to read.
I just really wish we could have toughed it out till the end...But I'm glad to see that Abu Dhabi is taking a step in the right direction by bringing some arts and culture to the city. And it was cool to see so many Dubai people coming to Abu Dhabi to attend an event for a change, rather than the other way round!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
300
If you haven't seen it yet, go watch 300. Those who know me will tell you that I'm not really into the gory, bloody, shooting, killing kind of movies. But this is a movie that's worth seeing, if only for the brilliant cinematography and special effects...and of course for all the hot, amazing, half-naked bodies.300 is the film adaptation of a graphic novel (which is something that's entirely prominent in the movie, as a lot of the settings look like they were taken straight out of a superhero comic book) of a semi-historical account of the Battle of Thermopylae.
What's amazing about this movie is that it was almost entirely shot in front of a blue screen (and sometimes a green screen) in Montreal. While the filming took 60 days, the post-production work took a whole year!
All the actors in the movie had to undergo a strict workout regimen to end up with the bodies we saw on screen. Here's a video showcasing the workout routine. Impressive!
Good entertainment...and finally, a war movie that both men AND women can enjoy :)
Monday, March 26, 2007
A hole in the wall
Some contractors came, looked into the leak, tried to fix it for about 2 weeks, and then closed the hole.
And then it leaked again. Even more than before. I've slipped once already, and almost slipped another time, because it seems that the concept of putting a bucket under the leak is too foreign for the people who are running my building. So they put a hole in the wall again. A bigger one. It's kinda scary when you know that these hole-making people are Emaar!
What's even scarier was the cockroach I found last week, taking a stroll in the corridor. He greeted me one morning as I was leaving for work. I guess he was feeling adventurous and decided to come out of the hole in the wall and see what's out there. I think he must have been the King of Cockroaches or something like that, because he was really fat, and long, and very scary looking.
I came back from work that evening, and he wasn't there anymore. Someone had gotten rid of him. Or so I thought...
...Turns out His Royal Cockroachness decided to pay me a visit in my apartement. Out of the 20 apartments on my floor, I guess he decided that my apartment was the cosiest, warmest, and most welcoming. Imagine my surprise when I saw him strolling on my living room floor. I panicked. And I sprayed him with everything and anything I could find, from Pledge to Windex (I didn't have any insect spray) until he died (or drowned).
This morning again, I called Emaar to complain (for the 3rd time), and again they took note of my complaint and promised that someone would look into it within 48 hours.
I'm looking forward to the day my wall becomes hole-less...and to the day my life becomes cockroach-less.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Shakira, Suckira

Never again will I attend a huge concert in Dubai. Never again will I attend a concert organised by Mirage Promotions. Last night can be described with just one word: DISASTER.
Dubai wants to organise concerts that attract international artists? Dubai wants an event where there are 25,000 people attending? Well Dubai better start setting up a decent infrastructure that will be able handle such a load, before...because the logistics of last night's concert were simply ridiculous!
It took us 2 hours to get to the Dubai Autodrome (from the Greens), because the traffic on Al Khail road was moving at snail pace. When we finally got near the Autodrome, we realised why traffic was so backed up: there was simply one entrance, with one lane (!!) to the parking area of the autodrome. Umm, I may not be an engineer, but HELLOOOO! Don't you think that's a recipe for disaster right there?
We told the cab driver to stop up at the roundabout before the autodrome, and we walked a good 20-30 minutes to get to the ticketing area. And there, we were met by yet another disaster.
Keep in mind that by that time, it was already 9PM and the concert was supposed to be starting. But we heard an announcement saying that the concert would be delayed because people are still coming in. Understandably...HALF the people who were attending this concert were still waiting to go through the security check!
We waited in the blue line (which is the section for which we had bought our tickets), and people started pushing and shoving to get their wristbands. The line was huge and was moving so slowly. At one point, while we were in the middle of the line, we heard someone in the other line saying "please send an ambulance, someone just fainted!". My friend, who's a doctor, ran to the other line to see what was happening. It seems the girl who fainted was drunk, dehydrated, and hyperventilating. Of course, no ambulance showed up, and the promoters barely reacted to this incident.
After 50 minutes of waiting in line, we finally made it through security, at which point the concert had already started. We had to walk another 10 minutes to make it to the concert spot.
By that time, we were thristy, so we had to wait in yet another line to get coupons for drinks. But here's the catch: outside the concert area, you can buy drinks, and they'll give them to you in cans (Pepsi, beer, etc.), BUT, you can't bring them inside the concert area. If you want to bring drinks INSIDE the concert area, you have to buy them from another spot, where they give you your drinks in plastic cups. Go figure!
We finally get our drinks, and got into the concert area. The concert itself was OK, and Shakira entertained the crowd with her dancing for about an hour and a half alltogether (by the time we got in, it seemed like the concert was already ending!).
As she finished her signature "Hips don't lie", we made a mad dash to the exit, trying to beat the crowds. We managed to make it through unscarred, but then we were met by yet another disaster: no taxis! Thank God we hadn't brought our car, because cars were stuck for miles on end trying to get out of there. We decided to keep walking on Al Khail road until we found a taxi. We walked, and walked and walked, for about half an hour if not more....
Taxis were few and far between, and some weren't even stopping! I never thought I'd say this, but at one point, I was walking in the middle of Al Khail road with cars all around me!
I called Dubai Transport asking for a taxi, and the woman at the other end of the line said "I'm sorry we can't send any more. We already sent 200 taxis to the autodrome". I laughed at her. I said: "You have an event with 25,000 people attending, and you send 200 taxis?? Are you kidding me? You're gonna need much more than that!".
The taxi driver we finally found told us that he didn't even know there was an event taking place at the autodrome, and that he was just passing by there by fluke! Imagine!
Let me tell you that we were happy to get home. The concert in itself was OK (not wow, but OK), but the whole pre and post experience made it a very frustrating and horrible event for us. Definitely not worth the Dhs 295 we paid for each ticket!

