Desert Safari

December is a slow month in Dubai, cos most of the holidays in the year are 'concentrated' in that month. In fact, I am blogging this on a holiday! During a previous 3-day holiday period, hubby and I went on a Desert Safari tour. It's a must-do for anyone who have stayed in a desert area (or so-called... for Dubai, i guess).

Earlier, all I know about Desert Safari is that you get to experience driving around and being out in the real desert. Instead, it exceeded my expectations! I must say it felt different being surrounded by just sand, minus the real roads in far sight. Wasn't quite prepared for the rollercoaster like jerks as our guide drove his 4x4 wheeler skillfully up and down each sand slopes... We actually went on this tour with another family. The little girl was initially scared and kept quiet most of the time, whereas her older brother was enjoying himself, evidently :)

For me, it was quite fun. However, I started to feel a bit nauseous after a while. Somehow, after coming to Dubai, I realised my body can't take well to the repeated jerks whilst in car and being stuck long in traffic jams. After 15 minutes of solid safari, the driver drove onto the main road and headed toward the camp where we had dinner and night entertainment. He told us that it would be only 2 last minutes of safari. Within a minute of safari driving, the little girl threw up! Believe me, at that moment, I was trying hard to hold back too! The driver pulled over and allowed the little girl to alight with her parents and recovered. Thank God that I was able to hold on well... :p

The evening was an overall pleasant experience. Though sitting on a camel was scary at times (when it suddenly got up or kneel down to let me 'alight'), I am glad that I had done it! Ha! ;) There were the traditional dances performances as well. There was one where the male dancer had this flying saucer like skirt that lighted up when he danced with it... There were some good sports who volunteered to take that to dance with it. I must say that the turning around over and over again is not easy... Don't they get dizzy? And of course, how could I not mention the sensual belly dancing by the female dancer? The MC had to repeatedly urged the guys to sit down and not block the people behind (who are cosily seated at their tables) from viewing the entertainment. Even hubby and I had to step up to tap the shoulders of those guys to be more considerate.

It was indeed very cold out at the desert at night, especially now the winter season has just set in. Our guess was that it was 16 degrees celsius or below?! I thank God that I brought my gloves along, and of course, my jacket.

Alright, previous attempts to post pictures at this site had been a problem. Here's yet another of my attempt, though not sure how successful it will be!

Rain indeed.......

A few days ago, i witnessed rain while travelling in my company transport. It wasn't just rain but downpour. Somehow, my workplace area tends to be more prone to rain... I attribute it to the more plentiful water supply there. It's a man-made marina place... and close to the beach... well, whatever.......

Today, I became a victim of the rain. They say it tends to rain in Dubai for not more than a week in a year. Well, I have heard that flooding can be a problem. I have seen for myself the great jam the poor drainage system had caused. 2 out of 7 lanes being unusable is quite a big deal, not to mention the frequency of road accidents here given the higher speed limit and the way of driving here.

Just to clarify, I wasn't referring to being stuck in the jam in being victimised. It was kind of worse than that. This morning, I entered my office to find that my department area is flooded. The carpet is wet. Not a big deal for me. The documents being wet was some of a deal for me. Perhaps I should give thanks that my workstation is largely intact i.e. PCs still usable, whereas another department was virtually drenched by water......

Something that amazed me was the work culture here. I have heard of such stories but today, I am a real witness to testify. Instead of going to where the action is i.e. pumping out the source of water leakage, a total of 10 over workers assembled at the worst hit area in the office, awaiting confirmation to move the office stuff so that they could change the carpet.

Goodness. Didn't they see that the water was still dripping down?!? I find the question quite incredulous as I told the foreman to coordinate with the party responsible to fix the leaking roof first, before thinking of moving any stuff. He then proceeded to call some other parties.

What a Saturday. Thought I could at last start doing some non-urgent work for today's half day of work. Blame it on the rain.