bits of dubai…

lazy to write long posts, so here are some snippets about this city, in point forms…

1. this has to be the only city with 120 nationals in it. everywhere you turn, you’ll hear a different language being spoken…

2. don’t believe the myth about women having a lower social status in the middle east. i think that rule doesn’t apply here. in fact, i feel women have a higher status than men here! they really take care of the women folk here… a man will be sent to jail or deported in 24 hours if a woman reports him to the police as trying to be funny with her.

3. male chivalry is very much alive here too. my GM opens and holds the door for me when i’m walking with him, other male colleagues wait till all the women have stepped in/out of the lift first before themselves and make sure all the ladies are seated before they take the last chair etc.

4. it’s still weird to see cars driving on the “wrong” side of the road… and out of habit, i’m always walking towards the driver side when i wanna get into the car (which is the passenger side at home!)

5. taxi drivers here are crazy. enough said.

6. it’s the city with all the tallest, biggest, longest, fastest… you get the drift.

7. i don’t know if it’s the industry practice or just my colleagues, but they’re always brushing their teeth!! after breakfast and lunch, you’ll find them diligently brushing away in the washroom sink and then reapplying their makeup. not a good thing when you need some private time in the toilet for some personal erm, business. it’s worse if there are 2 or more of them, coz they tend to chit-chat and take longer to leave the washroom!

8. the uae has the largest carbon footprint in the world! all the buildings are air-conditioned 24hrs a day. even the bus stops are air-conditioned!

9. it being a muslim country, i don’t really notice the mosques around here. even though my colleague has pointed out that there is a mosque every 5km, but due to their structure, we don’t really notice that it’s a mosque! sure, they still have the big dome at the top, but i guess because they’re all air-conditioned, they just look like any other building, unlike in m’sia, where the mosques have a large outdoor compound and open praying area.

10. if you don’t know already, the weekends here are fridays and saturdays, with sundays being the first working day of the week. feels a bit weird, but like they say, when in rome, do like the romans. anyway, public services and most shops are closed on the first half of fridays, due to the friday prayers. even the metro trains will only start running after 2pm on fridays!

ok, that’s about it for now… for photos, please view them in my fb!