Out and About in Dubai

Hubby and I went to the gym last night and all was going well until the chicken club sandwich in my tummy interfered with the treadmill running. I guess 4 hours between eating and exercising wasn’t enough. I moved over to the stairmaster which seemed to help alleviate the abdominal cramps.

Little did I know that my problems would be the least of my worries as 10 minutes into my stair work-out, DB comes alongside me almost double-overed in pain. He said he was stretching after his run and all of a sudden felt this acute pain shoot up his leg into his lower back. He could barely walk, bend over, or sit let alone tie his shoelaces. Said he had never been is so much pain before and that he felt faint. Yikes!

Trooper that he was, he still insisted that we keep our dinner reservations at the Madinat where I had made reservations for the Wharf restaurant that night. I had been dreaming of grilled lobster in lemon pepper sauce…mmm.

Poor DB! He couldn’t move his lower back at dinner and it was a struggle trying to bring food from the dinner plate to his mouth without dripping sauce all over himself! Two gin and tonics didn’t seem to help much either. But I must say that his grilled scallop appetizer was amazingly delicious and my grilled lobster with fresh thyme did not disappoint except maybe they could have give me 2 servings instead of one!

On the way home, it took DB almost 5 minutes to get into the car as he couldn’t sit down in the front seat without grabbing onto the car roof and cautiously lowering himself down….very…very… excruciatingly…slowly. I’m going to skip over him trying to get into bed - oh! it was awful to watch and listen to grunts of pain. You never realize how much you use your lower back muscle until it’s of commission.

DB refused to go to the doctor but when he woke up this morning stiffer and more in pain than before, he relented.

Anyway, today I made an appointment for him, then took him to the the doctor who diagnosed him with a badly pulled muscle and gave him a prescription of muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory drugs. Interesting thing about healthcare in Dubai - you pay the co-payment (25 Dhs for us which is about $7) and then whatever drugs are prescribed is given to you for free!

Well, I am glad to report that the prescription drugs worked like a charm. DB is now able to stand and sit without any pain and hopefully he’ll be better in a couple days and can come off the (highly-addictive) drugs.

Tags: Uncategorized | 2 comments »

I had been dreading the eventual day when I would have to start haggling for purchases. Haggling is an integral part of the local culture and is a game that has to be played as the stated price of most things are grossly inflated. I’m not talking about buying groceries in Carrefour or food at a Burger King (imagine: You want 10? I’ll give 5 for that Whopper! No? Okay 6!).

But when visiting places like the souks or Dragonmart, it is expected to haggle for your wares. Now I’ve never haggled for anything in my life. I didn’t have to in NY - I’d just wait for sales or mark-downs. And many times, I could buy things cheaper on the internet than I could at a local shop. The closest I’ve ever come to haggling was buying glow-in-the-dark 1999 glasses in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. I saved myself one dollar. Yep, one whole dollar. I was quite proud of myself.

Lately I’ve been wondering if there exists Haggling for Dummies as I own Cooking for Dummies and Knitting for Dummies and believe you me, I have referenced those books for years! Quiche Lorraine? No problem! Socks knitted on double-point needles? Easy!

But then again, I’m not so sure a dummies book on haggling would be of much help anyway. I mean, I know (in theory) how to do it - not only have I read everything about it on the web but I’m Chinese - hello! - I’ve grown up watching my mother haggle everything on the streets of Chinatown from gold, diamonds, to even my wedding dress!

And every time she has done it, my sisters and I would groan, roll our eyes and exasperatingly say, “Mom! Just pay and let’s go already!”

Aha! Little did we know then what it’s like to live in a haggling world where full-price is never paid except by unsuspecting tourists. DB once paid 20 Dhs for a small jar of curry at the spice souk only to find out later that another shop was selling it for 10 Dhs and you can get something similar at the grocery store for 5! No 14-day price adjustment policy here!

Recently, DB and I went to the Jumeirah Antique Museum to look for bedroom and dining room furniture. The name is a bit of a misnomer because it’s not really a museum but a 65,000 sq ft dusty maze of a warehouse in Al Quoz filled with merchandise from many different countries such as Moroccan lamps, African masks, Kashmir pashminas, Vietnamese ceramic, Indian wine racks, Omani silver, Pakistani swords, so on and so on, with sections, rooms, or aisles devoted to each particular category of wares. There’s also a framing section (like for pictures). And as they do sell wholesale, there’s the usual souvenir kitsch such as miniature crystals of the Burj and Emirates Towers, made-in-China key chains and perfume bottles, etc. AND, if you are in need of a life-size penis ashtray or a penis can opener - look no farther than the Moroccan lamp room as there are a couple on display. Perhaps someone mistook the lamp room for the penis section/aisle/room? Hmm…

There were no bedroom sets nor dining room tables but it was great fun weaving in and out of the narrow aisles looking at all the goodies on display. It was so dark in some areas that I might bring a flashlight next time and pretend that I’m exploring some underground Arabian treasure trove.

The only thing that we came away with were two small red Moroccan-like floor lamps that you can put tea candles in.

Here is my first time haggling skills at work:

-”Sir, how much is this lamp?”

-”80 Dirhams madams” he says. Oh god, this is where I’m supposed to counter with an offer of half.

-“Um, can you give me a better price?” I asked instead. Ugh, failure, failure, failure. He nodded, punched some numbers into a calculator (ah, that old game) and offered me 140 for both lamps.

-”Um, will you take 120?” I counter. No! I’m supposed to say 80, Will you take 80 for both? Why didn’t I say that?

-“They are worth 155, I am already giving you discount of 140,” he replies. Crap, why didn’t I pay more attention when my mom did this? What would mom do? What would mom say?

-”Um, so you really won’t take 120?” holding my breath.

-”130,” the man says.

-”Okay!” Sold! …Wait, why did I give in so easily? Sigh.

Well, I must’ve been really pathetic at this game, because after the man wrapped up the lamps, he came back and sold the lamps to me for 110 without any further haggling from my end.

Actually I think he said, “I now give them to you for 100″ but I suck so much at this game I may have haggled him up. 110!

Tags: shopping | no comments »

Edit (2-20-08) to include this link to the RTA Route Map

When I first told people that I was moving to Dubai, I was asked a few times if I had to cover up my body and face like in other Muslim countries. Luckily, Dubai is pretty liberal in that respect. Ladies are not required to wear the abaya (black flowing gown) or cover up their head. However, many UAE nationals choose to do so as it is their national dress and I would also think it is a sense of national pride. I have been noticing that the abayas and headscarves - although always black, have quite interesting (sparkly) trim and fabric. The gown is cut long so that it sweeps the floor and it is always interesting to see which high heels they are wearing underneath. Yikes! I digress.

So although I can wear tank tops and shorts in public, and bikinis at the beach, there are a few “rules” that females should follow in Dubai. One of which is that ladies are “requested” to sit at the front of the bus. I believe there are a couple seats in the front that are supposed to be ladies-only (maybe 4 or 6?) so if they are all taken, no more ladies are allowed onto the bus nor are we allowed to stand. I guess if you are lucky, a man might give up his seat for you but I have a feeling that that is a rare occasion given there are so many men swarming to get onto the bus in the first place. But hey, I’ve only ridden the bus twice, second time being today, so what do I know?

After the success of my first bus experience, I decided to give it another go as DB had the car today and I hate wasting money on cab rides - no matter how cheap it is, it can’t beat the bus. Anyway, it’s also better for the environment to use mass transit.

So out I went to the unmarked bus stop, armed with reading material (currently reading Running a Hotel on the Roof of the World: Five Years in Tibet. A quite humorous account about the first Holiday Inn in Llasa, Tibet)

This time, there were about 15-20 people waiting for the bus. Ah, rush hour. And I’m sure another, oh, 50-100 will pop out of the bushes as soon as the bus arrives. Three to five minutes later, not one, but two buses arrive. Ah, ye old bus-bunching game.

I got on after fighting my way through (again, what’s the matter with queues?!), not too worried about seats as I’m only the second stop on the x25 line. Last time DB and I rode the bus, the driver told us 2 Dirhams ($0.55) so I gave him 2 Dirhams. Well, my ticket says Dhs 1.50 so either he pocketed the difference or I didn’t take my change - I don’t recall him making a move to give me change. I know it’s barely 2 pennies but still!

Two more stops later, the driver was only letting ladies in while hordes of men swarmed the bus, faces inches from the door, trying to get on. What’s going on? There was no one standing inside my bus and it didn’t seem particularly full. But he didn’t let a single man board. At every stop, he would pull up to the curb, watch the men outside standing shoulder to shoulder, at least 3-rows deep, and then scream, “ONLY LADIES, LADIES ONLY” and if there were no ladies, he would quickly accelerate away. Maybe my bus was only picking up ladies and the bus that was behind us would pick up the men? But it’s rush hour and there’s standing room!

As my stop got near, I pressed the “Stop” button on the overhead console. Is it supposed to DING? Well, it didn’t ding and I started to get a little worried. Maybe there’s an indicator by the driver that alerts him when I need to get off? Why isn’t STOP showing up on the fancy LCD screen that’s supposed to tell you where the next stop is but has been stuck at “Ritz Carlton” for the last 5 stops? The driver had been stopping for ladies only so what if there were no ladies at the next stop? What was my contingency plan? I guess I could walk back from the next stop - could be miles! - or DB would have to pick me up. That would be pathetic! What was the point of taking the bus if I had to be picked up!?

I was about to scream, DRIVER STOP! when another lady got up to get off and the lady next to me moved over so I could get out. Whew! Crisis averted. Now to battle my way out of the bus. As ladies are supposed to exit at the front of the bus I found myself staring at another huge horde of men already elbowing each other aside, thinking they were going to get on this bus. I steeled my face and readied myself for Exit Maneouver. I’m a New Yorker, I can fight crowds! But again, the driver screamed out, “ONLY LADIES, LADIES ONLY!” and I managed to get off safe and sound as the only lady waiting for the bus made her way on.

As I got off the bus, I noticed that the other bus that was behind me did not stop to pick up passengers either and drove right by - also no standees. These men have been standing here for awhile, two buses in sight and none allow male passengers to board - not even to stand? I know I have seen public buses here packed with standees - so what gives? - a rather bizarre incident in my book. Is this common?

Tags: transport | 5 comments »

Edit (2-20-08) to include this link to the RTA Route Map

I did mention in this post that I had a rain story to tell. It involves public transportation in Dubai which is pretty lacking here (only buses right now, a metro is under construction) which is why people prefer to drive or cab if they can afford it. And, petrol is cheap.

The RTA (Roads and Transportation Authority) focuses more on marketing cliches and a lot of talk rather than action, follow-through, or real service. For example, the RTA said last September that bus intervals would only be 10 minutes apart at most (Ha! So they’re telling me that when I’m stuck in rush-hour traffic, a bus is going to show up every 10 minutes while I haven’t moved an inch), they said there’d be a computerized passenger information system (How about just giving us a map online? I can’t even get that nor a bus timetable to save my life and they talk about a computerized system? I challenge anyone to find a Dubai bus map or timetable online), and don’t even get me started on the so-called air-conditioned bus shelters (ok, all I’m going to say about them is that it would have been nice if they had been open and usable when it was p*ssing down rain last week and people were standing OUTSIDE of them getting soaked. They are as useful as a palm tree since most of the ones I’ve seen are taped CLOSED. Come to think of it, a palm tree would probably provide more protection from sun and rain).

Ah, back to my bus-riding story. The first time I took the bus in Dubai was last week with DB when the cab we had called the night before decided to leave us stranded. DB had left the car at the office as he had gone drinking with the boys. We normally catch a cab at the Hilton that is right across from us but as it was forecasted to rain, we thought we’d play it safe and pre-order a cab for 7:45 the next morning. We all know cabs are a dime a dozen and always honking at you when you don’t need them but when it rains, they’re either off-duty or no where to be found.

At 7:40am the cabbie called - to tell us he was downstairs, so we thought - but he was actually calling to tell us that he had picked up an airport customer so would NOT be picking us up. I think DB went off the deep end at this point. I cannot repeat for the sake of PG-13-ness the words that flew out of his mouth. We tried but could not get through to any cab company that morning (we can’t get through on a sunny day, let alone a rainy day).

So out we went into the rain hoping to hail a cab on the street. Outside, everywhere we looked there were people already staking out each corner trying to do the same thing. DB had an important meeting at 8:30 so we decided to try the bus. I had read that the new x25 bus route runs express, was utilizing only new buses, and noticed that it conveniently goes up the road to DB’s work - seemed promising. Now, if only we knew where the bus stop was and if we could pay with cash, coins, MetroCard??

We stood in front of a building where we thought the bus stop was (deduced from being stuck behind the bus a few times in our car) as there was no bus post nor bus shelter, nothing. Luckily the bus came within 5 minutes to pluck us out of the cold, rainy, blustery morning. DB used the 5 minutes of waiting time to call up the cabbie again and give him another earful for being irresponsible, greedy, and that he would report his *ss. Honestly, not sure if the cabbie gave a d*mn.

Although we seemed to be the only people waiting for the bus, as soon as it showed up, 10-15 people appeared out of thin air to push their way in front of us. Where did they come from? Were they hiding underneath the parked cars? Haven’t they heard of something called a line? or queue?

We told the driver where we wanted to go and he told us, “Two Dirhams!” DB paid the driver a fiver, got his 1 Dirham change, and proceeded to sit next to me in the front of the bus. That’s when I had to tell him that he couldn’t sit there as only ladies can sit in the front. So he got up and went towards the back. Why didn’t he just sit behind me? Silly.

It took about 35 minutes to reach our destination which wasn’t too bad as it normally takes us 15 minutes to drive ourselves. There was a lot of serious flooding on the roads which reinforced our decision even more to get an SUV.

We played a bit of real life Frogger when we got off the bus as there didn’t seem to be a crosswalk anywhere for miles. Mm-hm. Typical.

Tags: transport | 3 comments »

DB and I took part in the Dubai 10k today. It is held as part of the Dubai Marathon. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Dubai event without being the biggest in something or other. Not to disappoint, this year’s marathon is the richest long distance running event in history with prize-money of USD 1,000,000. Well, the money sounds great but, alas, my marathon days are over.

The 10k is 2 laps around Za’abeel Road. I finished a disappointing 60 minutes and 34 seconds. I had hoped to run faster than my Scotland Run 10k (59:51) from last year but there were a few challenges in this race:

1) Warmer Weather - Scotland Run was in NYC in April so the weather was cooler (60 degrees?) and it was very overcast with slight drizzle that day. Today Dubai high was 71 degrees (21 Celsius), sunny with no cloud cover so real-feel of of about 80 degrees (26.5 Celsius).

2) Lack of Mile/Km Markers - Dubai 10k had no mile markers nor kilometer markers so you had no idea what pace you were running or how far you were from the finish line. NYC races have markers at every mile including a time-elapsed clock.

3) Lack of Water Facilities - Dubai 10k had only ONE (yes, only ONE) water station. This was at the half-way point. And get this - instead of small paper cups of water, they were handing out full 600mL bottles of Aquafina. There was some gatorade in paper cups but the pourer could not keeping up and started handing out the large gatorade bottles as well. So you can imagine how many almost-full bottles of Aquafina and Gatorade were thrown to the side of the road after having taken one sip - what a waste of water and poor planning!

I think the race directors could have taken a couple of pointers from the New York Road Runners Club but it just goes to show how spoiled I was to have raced in a city that has 1st-class planning.

So I guess all-in-all I did an okay run given the weather and water challenges. The course wasn’t anything to speak about - it was 2 loops from one roundabout to another around a construction site (not surprising, this being Dubai) but the views were nice - Emirates tower, World Trade Center, Burj Dubai skyline.

One odd thing did happen - during lap #2, DB and I saw a young deer that had somehow ended up on the course and was running in the middle of a group of runners. Damn I wish I had my camera!

Tags: Uncategorized | 2 comments »

DB has recently told me that the FIB (Flamingo in Black) in this post is not a loner or outcast as I had thought, but actually a juvenile flamingo. I’m upset now, but in a different way. Before, I thought the other pink flamingos wouldn’t play with the black one, but now, I’m upset at the poor parenting skills of the flamingos, letting the juvies out of sight to roam on their own…okay, now I’m over it.

Page 22 of the Bird Book has this to say about the Greater Flamingo:

Status: partial migrant. Winters Turkey, Near East, Cyprus, also coasts of Arabian Gulf, Red Sea and Arabian Sea. Rare Jordan and vagrant Lebanon.

Habitat: saline coastal lagoons, salt-lakes, mudflats. Breeds colonially on mud banks or in shallow water of salt-lakes building mud-heap nest, a few centimeters above water.

Uh huh. Fascinating.

You can buy this book on Amazon.com for $26.40 or for AED175 ($47.70) at Magrudy’s (it’s like a Borders).

Tags: birds, wildlife | no comments »

The headline news in Dubai right now is the rain and all the chaos that it is causing on the roads due to severe flooding. I too have my own rain story to tell but I will leave that for tomorrow as today I have another matter that I would like to blog about as it is making my blood boil. Grrr!

(But let me first leave you with this post in Life in Dubai which I think nicely describes the chaos that is being caused by the rain and Sandier Pastures has some nice photos on her post as well).

So, on to why I’m p*ssed off today.

I’m not entirely sure why this got under my skin. Maybe it’s because lately I’ve been surrounded by so much incompetence, so much no-can-do attitude, so much inefficiency, so much “No madam,” “No madam,” “That cannot be done madam,” “No madam,” and so much nonchalant-ness in Dubai that this one thing just sent me over the edge. Most days, I just shrug my shoulders and get on with life. No sense losing one’s cool over minor stuff when there’s world hunger to tackle, right. Anyway, everyone’s allowed to have their bad days and p*ssed off days. Well, this is mine.

Here’s the story. Yesterday I subscribed to FeedBurner because I wanted a way to track subscriptions to my blog via RSS feeds. The tracking service provided by FeedBurner sounded great and since the company had been bought by Google in July of 2007 I figured it would have a nicely integrated set-up process with Blogger (which is what I’m using) which is also owned by Google.

Well, there IS a simple process but the catch is that you have to either (1) have your website be on a Blogger blogspot account (ie. www.blogspot.sdangit.com) or (2) have www.sdangit.com be a registered domain with Blogger.

I fall under a different category which is that I use Blogger only for the blog program but then I upload all the files to my own domain that is in no way affiliated with Blogger/Google/FeedBurner. As the FeedBurner quickstart manual did not mention what a person in my position can do to take advantage of their service, I did the natural thing - I Googled as well as searched both FeedBurner and Blogger forums. When I sensed that there was no integrated solution, I posted this on their forums.

In essence, their response was “Configure it yourself.”

HELLOOO!!!!

First of all, I had posted under “Upgrades, Wishlists, Enhancements” and not under “Help Me Please.” So I was not asking “What can I do” nor “How can I do this” but rather “This service does not exist, can it be added?”

When I was working at SAP and the CRM users submitted requests for enhancements or upgrades, never once did I hear my team say, “No, this cannot be done.” And leave it at that. Even if it was a far-out request, it was added to the list, prioritized, and then Steve or Brian would meet with the field and update them on where things stood or what the work-around was (well, there was more to it than that but I know you don’t have all day do you?).

I guess what I am trying to say is that it would have been nice if the reply from FeedBurner came as something more like this:

“Thank you for your submission to our wishlist. While there is currently no simple solution to your issue, we recognize that many users have brought this matter up and will add it to our list for review. Please be aware that not all requests can be realized but we value your input as both a Blogger and FeedBurner user. In the meantime, please find instructions on how to configure the redirect on your own here or here.”

Yes, I will configure it myself. But silly me, what was I thinking to suggest something that would make FeedBurner more universally accessible and useful.

Okay, rant over. Now I am going to open up a bottle of wine and forget this whole thing.

Tags: Uncategorized | 1 comment »