moving yet again!!!

well, i’ve been here for more than 2 weeks now, and i’m still staying in the hotel! tonight will be my last night in the hotel, as i’m finally moving to my apartment tomorrow… so yeah, moving yet again!

i just went to see my apartment after work yesterday… well, it was better than i expected. initially, when i told SF the name of the area where the staff accommodation is, her first reaction was, “OMG!” so i was expecting some dilapidated and run-down building… but the building itself was really nice. it’s just that the area it’s in… basically, the whole area where i work and (will) stay is in the old part of dubai. so it’s not like the newer and more posh part of town, where most of the expat community stays. but it’s really near my work place, so i guess it’s ok.

the building where the staff accommodation is looks like a serviced apartment, with 24 hours security. yesterday, i was shown 2 units, both 1-bedroom units. eventually i chose the bigger one, not because of the size, but because it has a balcony. at first i was thinking that i’ll be able to hang my clothes out to dry on the balcony, like in m’sia, but now that i think about it, my clothes may be coated with sand if i do that! :P

the unit comes with a built-in wardrobe, fridge, stove and washing machine. so i’ll just need to get a few pieces of essential furniture to complete the place. but since i’ve just viewed the place yesterday and will be moving in tomorrow, i’ve no time to go furniture shopping yet! but dun worry, the management won’t make me sleep on the floor… there are a few pieces of furniture such as bed, chairs etc that they can loan to me first while i sort out my own furniture, so all is good. just hope they remember to loan me the curtains!

as for the building, other than a few units which are occupied by some families and non-staff, most of the units are occupied by my company’s employees. staff of a lower level has to share their units, 2 to a room, 4 to a unit. thank god i get the whole unit to myself! so anyway, the good thing about staying at the staff accommodation is that you know most of your neighbours (reallly? good thing?) and can get help easily if anything were to go wrong. but on the other hand, you’ll be seeing your colleagues at work AND ALSO when you go home… there goes my social life! :D

anyway, the building has only 4 floors (generally, the buildings in this part of dubai are not very tall, due to the fact that it’s very very near the airport, with landing and taking off planes flying rather low here) and there’s a swimming pool on the roof. but access to the pool is limited. ladies can only swim there 3 days a week, men 3 days a week, and the remaining day is for families (but ladies are allowed too). also, there’s also a gym for ladies ONLY! hahaha… i’ve yet to find out if there’s a gym for men. if not, then the men staying there are quite kesian also, right? :D

other than these facilities, there’s also a unit where they’ve converted into a “common room” for the employees. one part of the unit is where they serve our meals, so we can either eat at the staff canteen before we go home, or eat here at the accommodation. then at another area in the “common room”, there’s a computer room with wi-fi. most of the staff have their own internet line, so generally those using the computer room here are those who’ve just arrived and have yet to buy their own computer/apply for their own line.

ok, so that’s all about my living arrangement so far. will take photo of the apartment to show everyone when i’ve moved in tomorrow.