Jackpot in UAE?

This year I missed the annual ritual of pooling our resources to buy the Da Ma Cai jackpot tickets during Chinese New Year. That was our annual strike it big affair, trying to win the millions of ringgits up for grabs! But hey... there's a similar jackpot thing in Abu Dhabi! Called the Raffles Draw, it is held by the Abu Dhabi Duty Free and a ticket costs Dh500 (=RM500)! That is for a chance to run for the big prize of Dh12mil. I've seen a similar draw in Doha too. A subtle form of gambling? Whatever it is, Dh500 for a ticket is too expensive for me. I'm contented with the RM3 ticket in Malaysia! Anyway, if you want to buy the Abu Dhabi Ticket, click here.

By the way, you may have noticed that my title now comes with some Arabic words. Yes, whenever possible, I'll try to put in some Arabic in my pages to give it a more Middle Eastern feel. By the way, as you know the Arabic script is written from right to left, i.e. in the opposite direction of English. But perhaps many do not know that Arabic numbers are written from left to right (just like English!). A way to confuse people? Anyway: some Arabic numerals for you: ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩ = 0123456789. Just to confuse you: a dot is a zero, a zero is a five, a seven is a a six and a flipped three is a four! Knowing a bit of Arabic numbers could be useful when reading some signages and dealing with banknotes.

Get your mails at the post office

A funny feature of the postal system in UAE (and much of the middle east) - mails are not delivered to your doorstep! Not unless you use courier services like DHL. All mails sent by normal snail mails are handled by the Emirates Post. You have to open a PO box at the nearest post office to receive your mails. This is a picture of a PO box room in the Ruwais post office. This is where I check my mails (only done that once) for my office.

Street names are apparently quite ambiguous and people usually go by landmarks when giving an address. Furthermore, sometimes the same street has different names depending with whom you are talking to! And every city seems to have a Sheikh Zayed Road (I've seen that in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi & Dubai). Sheikh Zayed is the former President of UAE & Ruler of Abu Dhabi. He was largely credited for his efforts in transforming UAE into what it is today.

Of 'wet' day and other stuffs

It hardly rains here but when it happens it's always in bouts of heavy bursts. It rained last night heavily for maybe 10 mins and then it stopped. I was caught momentarily in the club house. It rained again in the middle of the night while I was asleep. The rain here so far has not been very heavy and doesn't last long. But it was a welcome change to the hot weather. After the rain it's much cooler and refreshing. It is now cloudy, windy and cool. The desert sand is now wet and although the wind is strong, it could not blow the wet sand up to create a sandstorm. Yipee! At least I'll have no sand in my ears for the next few days! The rain reminds me of a neighbor I once had. The family was from Bahrain. I remembered when they first arrived in KL they were so excited to see rain. Each time it rains, the children will be running out and singing in joy. Needless to say, soon they'll realize rain is no big deal in Malaysia!
And the sandstorm reminds me of Singapore! They are lamenting now that Malaysia and Indonese refuse to sell them sand for land reclamation. Hmmm, maybe they can try to buy some from U.A.E. There is enough sand here to go around and they'll help us big time to reduce sand storms!
Anyway, I've been quite informed about the weather conditions and forecast in Jebel Dhanna because I fear another sandstorm as well as the rising desert temperature! Hehehe, I'm not a fan of sand or heat.If you want to know the weather condition in my place, click here. This page gives hourly update of the weather, humidity, wind speed and visibility as well as a 5-day forecast. Quite good and reliable.

Distraction of the flying sort

One the biggest nuisance in the Middle East is the Arabian flies. The flies here are a whole lot more friendlier than their counterparts in Malaysia. Their favorite past time is to swirl around right in your face and landing at strategic places like your nose or lips. And there are just so many of them here. I've no idea where they come from since I don't find any pile of garbage around. There is definitely no poultry farm or vegetable farm in miles. Usually, I've to spend some time swatting them after entering my office. Especially so during a sandstorm as the flies move in to seek refuge. They're also pampered by men's technology: A/C. And you don't have to worry about loneliness in the middle of the desert. The friendly insect will always keep you company at work, at lunch and while you are blogging. Yup, a little bit of Arabian hospitality! Well, the pics is some of my killings lately. Yes, we are savages here killing flies every day! It's either they die or I'll go insane...
This little insect with oversized eyes are also quite smart (I've learnt!) They know it when you are on the offensive and will try to lie low. Some even pretend to be dead after you've swat them! So the rule is swat them a few times until they're really squashed!

Waiting, waiting...

There seems to be some big problem with one of the gas turbine. The fact finders found some metal chips (quite a lot) in the combustion chamber. They did some boroscopic inspection and found some damaged compressor blades. Nobody seems to know what has happened but it looks quite serious and the machine may need to be overhauled. This means big delay for the outage. Not that it really concerns me but I'm actually waiting for an outage on another unit to carry out some jobs. Meanwhile, I'm quite free and have run out of things to do! Well at least I can blog. Good news is more people will be on-site to look into this which means it will only be merrier!

Meanwhile, I'm planning my sightseeing activities in Dubai (دبيّ) Yup, I plan to make the 400-km journey north to the New York of Middle East - the city of captivating contrasts. I'm sure it'll be a nice trip. I've planned it to coincide with Easter Sunday long weekend and can't wait to see this city. Top on my visit list: Dubai Creek, Dubai Museum, Souq Madinat Jumeirah, Burj al-Arab, Mall of the Emirates and the many souqs in Bur Dubai & Deira. Burj al-Arab is of course the 7-star hotel! (I'm not even aware there are that many stars!) I can't enter it unless I'm a guest. But someone told me you can enter (under table) for US$50. Don't know about that, but I'll be happy enough to see it from outside. For a frank and good guide of Dubai by a VT member, click here. Do check the tourist trap post on Burj al-Arab! Interesting info there.

Meanwhile, another sandstorm is brewing out there! Yup, this is the sandstorm season. Think I'll get lots of it now the season is changing to summer.

Tiring Weekend

It was a tiring weekend. Due to the outage schedule I had to work through Friday and Saturday. The shutdown was delayed by a day due to some problem with recommissioning of another unit. But the outage end-date remains unchanged. Pressed for time, I had to work through the weekend up to 8pm. Thank God I've stocked up some biscuits and instant noodles earlier as I was hungry every day by 6+ and had to eat something before leaving back for camp. By the time I reached camp in the darkness of the night, all I could do was bathe and hit the bed. But luckily everything was completed ahead of schedule and I can have some rest in the next few days. Ironically, the outage period has to be extended as well as there was some abnormal findings which may have some serious consequences. It has nothing to do with me but it looks quite grim for some people!

I'm glad that two of my German and Iraqi colleagues are on-site again. At least my office has more chattering, laughter and noise with them around. And I get to know a lot about Iraq from the perspective of an Iraqi. One good thing about working in this place is you get to meet people from different parts of the world. (Sometimes it can be annoying & trying - if you know what I mean). But it was interesting to meet people from India (from Mumbai, Chennai, Rajashthan, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh), Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, Phillipines (did I spell it right?), Iraq, Germany, Italy... the list goes on. Ironically I don't get to meet many Emiratis unless when I'm in Abu Dhabi. Even that, they are clearly outnumbered! UAE is a melting pot of culture and the easiness in which it has embraced foreign 'talents' is quite impressive. Well, I'm gonna head back to camp soon. Finally I can finish work a bit earlier today.

Sandstorm again...

After a few days of calm and relatively nice weather, it looks like another sandstorm is brewing again. It sort of started yesterday evening when wind became strong and started blowing sand. You know it when you see sand at ground level, crossing the road! Then it becomes stronger and they start becoming air-borne and hit you on the face. It'll just get worse and finally a big sandstorm hits. It's quite normal here during the change of season from winter to summer and vice-versa. It'll become warmer leading to the sandstorm. After that, it'll probably rain a bit (or maybe a thunderstorm as what happened in Oman) then the temperature will drop drastically. It's a cycle and with each cycle it'll get progressively hotter until the summer finally sets in. Very weird and hostile weather here! I found a video on YouTube showing a partcularly horrible sandstorm in Iraq. Click here to have a look. The picture here is not the sandstorm in my place but is one particularly horrible one in Iraq.
People will usually look forward to the rain after a sandstorm as it will bring cool weather back. But flooding will also occur if the rain was heavy. UAE is not particularly good in their drainage system especially after a sandstorm. The sand will just clog all drains and gutters leading to floods after a thunderstorm. So far, I've yet to see any thunderstorm, just short drizzles or showers at night.

Abu Dhabi - Escape from the desert

Would you believe it? I've been in UAE for almost 2 months and now only have I actually made a holiday trip to Abu Dhabi! Although it conincided with a violent sandstorm, nothing would have stopped me from going to Abu Dhabi! I stayed at International Rotana Inn Hotel in the city center. It was a budget hotel which offered reasonably good rooms and service. Hotel rates are high here compared to Malaysia. I paid RM320 for this room and that was almost the cheapest in town. The lack of budget accommodation in Abu Dhabi is quite apparent (even when compared to Dubai!)

Of course after a long time in the desert, I was glad to re-visit civilization! There was a sandstorm and I couldn't do much sightseeing on Friday. So I went to the shopping centers. First up - Abu Dhabi Mall! This mall is something like the old-wing of 1-Utama. I headed to the food court to search for anything Chinese! Hehehe.... I needed a bite of Chinese food even knowing that it'll probably taste horrible. I found this place called Manchow Wok. It serves 'chap fan' (I'd expected noodles or something else). Nevertheless, I had rice with chicken, mixed vege and spring roll. Together with a soft drink, that cost me Dh23! Expensive! I would get the same thing for less than RM10 at most in Malaysia. Taste was nothing great but it gave me some Chinese feel - so I was satisfied. In fact, the spring roll was quite good. After the meal, I walked around the mall. Pretty much the standard fare - G2000, Bossini, Nautica, Bata, Giordano and some expensive high-end shops. From Abu Dhabi Mall, I took a taxi to Marina Mall. This was a nicer mall with more selection of outlets - retail & food. There was no coffee bean but I had starbucks. There was an Ikea and Carrefour here too. Marina Mall is newer and had a better ambience. There is also a large selection of food outlets with quite nice ambience.
Later in the evening I took a stroll along the Corniche. There were alot of weekend campers out on the beach, picknicking and smoking shisha. Some were playing soccer while others are jogging or brisk-walking. There were many who just simply came for a stroll with their family to enjoy the cool sea breeze. The parks were great and very refreshing. Every Arabian city has a corniche and I think Abu Dhabi has one of the best.

The next day, I went to Al-Ittihad Square to have a look at some monuments - giant tea pot, giant cannon, giant perfume bottle and things like that. This is the so-called Emirati art! The weather was cool and it was nice to have a walk around the square. There are also many nearby parks and gardens to walk around. I think Abu Dhabi is famed for being the 'City of Gardens' because of the many parks around.

I also visited Al Hosn Palace and the Cultural Foundation. The Al Hosn Palace is the oldest building in Abu Dhabi and was formerly the residence of the ruling family. It has retained its original courtyard and architecture. Sadly though it was rather dillapidated and poorly-maintained. The courtyard was over-ridden with weed, the fountains were defective and some floor tiles have come off. For its historical role, the building would have deserved better. The Cultural Foundation was next door. The building has the look of a typical government complex. Not much to see unless there is some art exhibition.

After that I enjoyed the city scenery. It's true that Abu Dhabi is rather souless compared to its more exciting neighbor - Dubai. The greatest past time would probably be marvelling the skyscraper skyline and enjoying the busy street scene. There's not much to do in Abu Dhabi - but it was a great place to hang-out for me after almost 2 months in the desert. A respite from all the isolation. I enjoyed the calm and peaceful trip and wouldn't mind coming again for a short weekend. But next trip on my agenda would be Dubai!

For my Abu Dhabi Virtual Tourist tips, please click here.

Violent Sandstorm Strikes!

A violent sandstorm struck UAE on Friday. After days of strong winds blowing sand and a mild sandstorm on Thursday, the big one came! The storm coincided with my weekend trip to Abu Dhabi so I had the opportunity to experience it first hand. I was waiting for my bus at Ruwais station when the sandstorm gathered strength. By the time I got onto the bus, there was a thick layer of sand powder on my forehead. Sand was in my ears, nostrils and hair. The wind was extremely strong packing high volumes of sand across the highway as the bus made its way to Abu Dhabi. You can hardly see anything out there in the desert and everyone was covering their face. Palm trees bent down under the heavy sand and strong wind. It looked very grim and frustrating outside. I made it to Abu Dhabi safely. In a way, it was good that I was in Abu Dhabi as the full effect of the sandstorm was filtered out by the tall buildings in the city. There was some sand blowing in the city but was mild compared to even the usual sand-blowing conditions in Ruwais. The weather was slightly stuffy at 35degC and it was hazy throughout Friday thanks to the sandstorm. A bit of a dampener on my holiday mood but I enjoyed myself in the shopping malls instead (but not after a bath to remove all the sand!)
Thankfully, the storm abated by the end of the day. The next day was a beautiful day with cool temperature. After days of hot weather, the mercury seems to have plunged to around 20degC and wind was chilling. At night, it went down to below 20degC which was great!
So, I've survived my first sandstorm! (Proud of it somehow) Sandstorm is a nasty experience especially if you need to be outdoors. The feeling of sand making its way into every single orifice of your body is not a nice feeling! The feeling of sand particles hitting you at 20knots is also not nice. But the worst of all was when I returned to my camp after the weekend and found a bit of the desert has shifted into my room! Yup, even with all the doors and windows tightly shut, the sand made its way into the room through any small gaps. That was how strong the wind was on that fateful sandstorm Friday! So after my holiday trip, I need to do some cleaning! Oh well... maybe I'll just leave it to the cleaners and sleep...

Sandstorm for real!

Gosh... I think this is a sandstorm for real! The weather has been going crazy the last few days. First it was strong winds (40km/h) blowing sand particles all over the place... You can see sand crossing the road as the wind blows. Some get lifted up and hit you in your face. The temperature has gone up to more than 30degC in the past few days (I think it touched 37degC). Humidity is low, so not much sweating but there's still the burning heat.
Then now the worst has come: today the sandstorm (or at least that's what I think it is, could it still get any worse?) hit. The sand is no longer crossing the roads only, they are now fully air-borne and if you walk out into the open desert, you are bombarded with sand! Not a nice feeling at all. Someone left the door open for a few minutes and it looks as if the desert has shifted inside. Surprisingly, the wind is not exceptionally strong (20km/h) and the temperature seems cooler (23degC). Maybe this is because, the sand has blocked the sunlight so we don't get much heat! Anyway, I hope this will stop soon because while the sand is blowing I can't work. Basically, I can only stay in the office and blog! A nice way to Ular! But hey, I can't even get out of the office now without getting bruised with all the sand hitting me. So meanwhile, I'll check out the tourist attractions in Dubai - seems very interesting.

Almost a sandstorm

It's almost a sandstorm here today. Very strong winds blowing sand everywhere. I just checked that the windspeed is now 40km/h. Cycling is a tiring task (if at all possible) and even walking down the street is difficult. Sand in your shirt, nose, ears, eyes, everywhere! If you walk outside you feel the tiny sand particles hitting your face and arm. I'm sure by the end of the day when I remove my shoes, I'll find sand there too. Even with my windows tightly shut, still some sand find their way into my office. And someone told me this is still not the real sandstorm yet!... Gosh, what will a real sandstorm be like? Well, such strong winds blowing sand is usually a sign of changing weather. My guess is it'll get pretty hot in the next few days unless it rains. But rain is not a luxury that this place has much of. The so-called rain here is more like a drizzle in Malaysia. It is short-lived but it does make the weather feels cool and nice. And it clears the sand.

Anyway, yesterday was quite interesting. There's a new guy at camp and I found out he's a Singaporean which is great.. finally found someone here who speaks the same slang, who shares similar topics! We were both delighted to meet one another - it's good to meet a fellow Malaysian/ Singaporean when you are overseas. At least there's someone to keep company during those long and boring after-work hours. But he's lucky, he only needs to be here for 2 weeks! Nevertheless, at least a fellow friend from a neighboring country. For that, we'll put aside all those differences about scenic bridges or land reclamation.... Let the politicians have fun with those!

Home Truly...

My country of origin has been a source of much curiousity here. Many have thought I was a Korean. One guy even proudly introduced me as the engineer from Korea. My wandering around the plant has also stopped an engineer to turn back and ask me, "Are you from Japan?". My Iraqi colleague was wondering whether I was sent from the China office for this project. While there was also a huge number of people who thought I was a Filipino. So far there was one who thought I was Indonesian. So you see it was interesting that I have assumed so much nationalities in the past few weeks. However, I never hesitate to pronounce that I hail from Malaysia. It makes me feel proud when this was received somewhat with admiration. It seems that many people have good impressions of Malaysia. Responses were very heart-warming:
"Ah... Malaysia, Truly Asia"
"I see you are from Malaysia... that's a beautiful country - green, friendly people"
"Yes... Malaysia.... That's where Petronas Twin Towers are"
"So you are from Malaysia? That's a wonderful country with plenty of opportunity and wealth"

Such responses demonstrate the good standing of Malaysia in the eyes of the world. We are no longer an obscure country north of Singapore. We are known far and wide as a wonderful country with friendly people. It also makes me realize how lucky I was to be born and brought up in a wonderful nation. And being away from Malaysia made me realize how much I miss it and wish to be home. Home truly, Malaysia is where the heart belongs!

Warranty Works

Since late January, I've been working on warranty claims for a 1500MW power station 250km southwest of Abu Dhabi. It was quite tough initially since I've no idea of the project (I was never involved in this one) and I have to sort of tie up the loose ends. I had something like a 2-day handover session with my predecessor and I was thereafter pretty much left to my own designs here. Of course, my predecessor who is the warranty manager still supervises the project but he's too busy with his new assignment somewhere in Dubai. So I'm left alone in the plant (there are no the warranty engineers here now) with 2 fitters. It was quite challenging since I have to handle warranty claims not only from electrical systems but mechanical and C&I too. Naturally, I tackled all those that are electrical first (since I'm familiar with it). But I cannot escape from the rest. So gradually, I begin to pick up on what is left behind and work on it. I've to put aside my volts and amps and start talking about balluff, transmitters, valves, bar and degC. Not my forte but then I get to learn new things that I never had the opportunity to earlier.

Actually warranty works are much easier than O&M works. I act more like a middle man (sandwiched between the client and EPC contractor), trying to mediate a solution out of every problem reported. In a way, it was good because now I have to exercise more on my right side of brain - which I admit was underutilized for far too long. Not too deep into technical issues but more on how to communicate and handle the stakeholders. I've learnt to become more persistent - you have to if you are going to get any response or result out of all the issues. This can make you a pain in the ass but hey... I have a job to do here!

So after more than a month on-site, I've sort of settled down on the job. The client engineers are quite helpful and friendly and this is very important because on many cases, I depend on them for a solution. A good rapport with them makes things smoother. When I first came, there were 132 open claims. I've since brought it down to 103. In fact only 61 are active claims while the rest are going to be resolved pretty soon. In fact, I think I have only 1 or 2 big issues to handle. Thereafter, I would have outlived my usefulness here... hehehehe.... Or rather, the rest aren't much of a big effort. So I hope that I'll be able to close more claims as time goes and hopefully I'll be back to Malaysia in no time.

Where on earth am I?

Some of you may be wondering where on earth I am now actually. Well, just to get your bearings right... please find here a snapshot from Google Earth showing my location from Abu Dhabi & Dubai. You see that little house symbol? That's where I am now.

White Snow

I have never been a fan of Korean music. But I have been watching Arirang TV every night and kinda like this song called "White Snow" sung by Eru. It has been on the top of the chart for a few weeks. I think the song is about missing a loved one during winter. Hey, by the way it's still winter in UAE or maybe coming to an end...

Fog in the desert?

"You have fog in the desert?" That's what a friend asked me when I mentioned about it. And the fog can be really bad. With visibility less than 100m, one has to drive extra careful. On one foggy morning rush hour last week, more than 150 accidents occurred in Dubai! No thanks to drivers' attitude!

Check out the two pictures here... both taken about the same time at the same place on different days. The fog covers everything at sight... pretty cool heh?

Mystery of Dalma Island (دلما)

There is this island off the coast where I'm staying now - called Dalma Island. This island is a bit mysterious and I was wondering whether to visit it one of these weekends. I found the following description in Wikipedia:

"Dalma is an island approximately 20 miles (32 km) off the coast of Abu Dhabi. The population consists of about 10 thousand inhabitants, most of whom are Iranian and Qatari who have been granted United Arab Emirates (UAE) nationality. The island has many private farms for the ruling family of Abu Dhabi."

And as I surfed the internet, I found a website by one of the island's resident which you could check out at http://fatima1880.tripod.com/id4.html. It says in one paragraph:

"...Delma Island does not look like a desert strip. Rather, it is as if a giant farm has been torn out of a fertile European country and transferred to Abu Dhabi. Visitors to the island are surprised to see cabbage, cauliflower, onion, cucumber, tomato, melon, pepper, parsley, banana and mango growing here. They are even more surprised to see such trees that are alien to the area as apple, pear, strawberry, fig, almond, grape, orange, lemon, olive, kiwi and cedar."

Hmmm.... doesn't that sound interesting in the middle of the desert land? As of now, I have yet to visit the island. But I can easily catch a ferry from the jetty which is just located outside my camp. And after visiting the official website of Dalma Island at http://www.dalmaisland.com/ I think I have even more reason to explore this place which is definitely off the beaten path.

The area around the jetty itself is beautiful and pristine. The blue sea in the backdrop of a light blue sky with small boats anchored around the beach. Sound of birds chirping as the hover around the bay. The entire place is a picture of calm. At the jetty, you could see some villagers waiting for their ferry to the Dalma Island or for the connecting bus to Ruwais or Abu Dhabi. It costs Dh2 to Ruwais and only Dh12 to Abu Dhabi. The bus frequency is low but hey, it's cheap and I don't mind it. The best part is the bus passes right in front of my camp providing me a cheap mode of transport for provisions in Ruwais and holiday in Abu Dhabi.

Well after all this blogging, alas I have yet to make the trip to Dalma Island. I would soon... I'm intrigued by the lush farmland there (something I don't seem to see anywhere in this part of the world). There's also a pearl museum on Dalma apparently because the place used to be known as Pearl Island... interesting! So I'll update this blog on Dalma Island as soon as I pay it a visit!

Ruwais (الرويس) Town

With oil reserves that is expected to last for more than 100 years, Ruwais is the source of Abu Dhabi's wealth. And Abu Dhabi is the main contributor of oil exports (>90%) in the UAE. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is the owner of many refineries located in Ruwais.To house the many engineers and workers of these oil facilities, ADNOC has built the Ruwais Housing Complex. Situated a few kilometers from the ADNOC refinery, this is the only town of any size here 250km from Abu Dhabi city. It is also another 100km more to go to the Saudi border town of Sila. For those who have to work in the oil refinery, power station of desalination plants in this area, Ruwais is the only nearby source of civilization. Devoid of any entertainment, this small township nevertheless provides all the basic amenities to its residents.

The housing complex is a beautifully landscaped township with houses and apartments which are the main forms of abode. The roads are clean and neat. Trees line the roads providing a green effect in the middle of the desert.Primary and secondary schools are available for the children of ADNOC workers. As are shopping arcade and medical facilities. There are also sports and gymnasium facilites spread out at different areas of the complex. And of course, several mosques are built to cater to the needs of the Muslim community.

The town center of Ruwais consists of the central market which houses the Abu Dhabi bank, ETISALAT office, reception area, bakery, market, supermarket and shops selling items like stationery, hardware, computers and tour packages. A post office and the red crescent socity can also be found here. The Grand Mosque is located behind the central market.A bus station provides bus services to Gayathi and Jebel Dhanna as well as Abu Dhabi city. Run by the Abu Dhabi Municipality, the bus services are an important mode of transport for those without cars. The service is not magnificent but the fares are cheap. (Dh10 to Abu Dhabi). However, one may have to bear with poor scheduling and Arabic-only signs.

There's a saying that a green UAE is the symbol of its wealth. In the vast expanse of barren and hostile desert land, you can actually find a township which is so green and abundant with vegetation. This is what you see in big cities like Abu Dhabi and Dubai. And even in Ruwais (in the middle of the desert) you can find such greenery in the housing complex.Water sprinklers are installed to keep the grass alive here. Beautiful flowers seem to blossom in the winter. Trees and palms also give the entire area a cooling and nice feel.

The Camp

For the next few months I have this camp to call home - NCC Shuweihat Village. NCC stands for National Catering Company and this caterer seems to be everywhere in this part of the world. The place I'm staying is often referred to as a 'camp'. Maybe this is because there are a number of labor camps spread out all over UAE housing foreign workers who toil day and night to make UAE what it is today. But to call the camp I'm staying in a labor camp would not do it justice. This is more like a resort-style camp housing executives and engineers working in the nearby refineries as well as power and desalination plants. Some have even made this place their permanent abode bringing along their family and fencing up their little house which is spruced up with a small garden. As a result, the entire 'camp' has a more homely feel to it.

Basic facilities like a restaurant, gymnasium, game room, TV room, swimming pool, tennis court and volleyball court are available in the camp. The gymnasium is where I spend much of my time on the treadmill. After a big sumptuous and lavish dinner, I definitely need to burn all the calories. (I'll elaborate a bit more on the huge size of Arabian meals later). The game room has a billiard table and dart board - both of which I'm hopeless in. The TV room is another place I spend quite a lot of time reading the Gulf News as well as watching satellite channels like MBC and Dubai One. Although I have a TV in my room, but somehow these two channels cannot be found. So that's pretty much how I pass my time in the camp.

My own room is like a studio unit with a living area, kitchen, bathroom and the bedroom. The room is cozy enough and affords me a good night's rest everyday. There's even an oven with a full set of kitchen utensils - not that it'll be of much use to me. The TV channels available are plenty - more than 1000 channels thanks to satellite technology. A variety of channels from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and even Russia are to be found. Sadly though, I don't get as much English channels as I would have hoped. There are plenty of X-rated ones though. And it's funny when you such channels side by side Christian channels. But somehow, my favorite channels here have come down to BBC, CCTV9, CCTV4, NTD, Arirang, Al Jazeera and Luxe TV.

The restaurant offers nice local and western cuisine. It's actually quite tasty. But there's one thing about eating here - expect a big meal. The people in the Middle East eat like there's no tomorrow. Here is a sample menu:

Dinner Menu at NCC Shuweihat

salad + spinach soup + eggplant spagetti + kebab chicken + boiled vege/ rice + french fries + cake + fruits + drinks.

Lunch Menu at NCC Shuweihat

salad + tomato soup + grilled king fish + ghee rice + curry vegetable + rice + fruits + drinks

Staying here for any amount of time will definitely send me back to Malaysia a whole lot heavier. Food is nice but the quantity is simply too much for me. But I shouldn't complain, at least I'm well-fed. Which is why I need to frequent the gym to keep myself healthy.

The camp is only about 1-2 km from my workplace making commuting rather easy. The camp is a peaceful and calm place. The people are friendly and after some time I've made some friends with other people like me who are sent to this part of the world for some assignment. These are people I meet all the time at dinner or in the TV room.

Travelling from KL to Abu Dhabi

I have been in UAE for more than a month now. I actually arrived on January 29 (after a few days notice from my company). My assignment was to handle warranty cases in a power station situated some 250km southwest of Abu Dhabi. So now, bored with life here in the barren desert, I finally found myself blogging. Wow... I never thought I would do this. But there's always the first time huh? But there's lots to write to cover my first month here. So I'll start today describing my travel from KL to Abu Dhabi.

I boarded a Qatar Airways flight from KLIA to Abu Dhabi with a 6-hour layover at Doha Airport. The flight itself was uneventful. Although services are quite acceptable on Qatar Airways, I find the male stewards a bit arrogant and unfriendly. There was an LCD screen showing movies and sometimes flight details. I was abit puzzled by a display showing a compass with an arrow pointing to a black dot. At first I though that must be the direction of my destination city - Doha. But later I found out that it was actually the Kaabah at Mecca.

The Doha Airport itself was actually a small airport. The funny thing about this international airport is that it does not have aerobridges. Therefore, one has to walk down a flight of stairs from the plane and board a bus that brings one to the terminal building. Once in the terminal building, you will be ushered to either the immigration counters or the transit lounge. The airport is pretty small and manageable. But it could be horribly boring if you were to spend 6 hours in transit. To make it worse, my onward flight was delayed and I had to be in Doha Airport for 7 hours. Thank God there was some Internet PCs available for free allowing me to pass some time. Wi fi is available but quite weak.

The food outlets were expensive. Imagine an A&W burger with root bear cost RM28! It's broad daylight robbery! But that's probably the most reasonable thing to munch on. There are some cafes which are more expensive. And the nearby food court serves food that do not look at all appetizing.

The duty free zone is small and offers some duty-free watches, perfumes, chocolates and liquor. Funny, liquor in an Islamic country. The entire zone can be covered within minutes unless you really have something in mind to purchase. Another funny thing about this little airport is that there doesn't seem to be a single FOREX counter within the transit lounge. As a result, I had no choice but to use USD for my purchases - not to mention the change would be given after a not-so-nice exchange rate conversion.

Nevertheless, the service within the transit lounge was quite good. The entire place was neat, clean and tidy. It has a modern feel to it - something like a bigger version of Senai Airport. The staff were friendly and offers any assistance as required by travellers. There is this Arab lady who would walk up and down the lounge announcing the next flight and making sure that nobody misses his/her flight out. She also directed me to my gate when I first arrived in the lounge. Most of the staff are actually Indians - the janitors, waiters, shop attendants, maintenance crew etc. This is a scene I would later see in Abu Dhabi as well. The overwhelming number of expatriates in the Middle East (especially Indians and Filipinos) make the entire region look more like India. I mean, if you have blindfolded me and brought me into the region announcing that I've reached India, I may actually believe it. I may ask why the desert? But then there are some barren landscape in India. I may have asked why Arabic words, but there are some parts of India near the Pakistani border which uses Arabic script. So yup, I could have been in India.

My flight to Abu Dhabi from Doha was to take only an hour. After 7 hours of waiting, only an hour to my final destination. Abu Dhabi airport was small and very crowded compared to Doha. As you enter the terminal building it feels as if you are entering a queen ant's nest or something like that. There is this magnificent structure in the middle of the building that I could not quite describe. I was in a rush and therefore did not spend any more time in the terminal. I had to collect my Visa and make my way out as I was already 1 hour late. Outside of the terminal I was received by my driver who would whisk me away in the night into the cold desert.

2 hours later, I reached Ruwais. This small oil town settlement is the source of Abu Dhabi's oil wealth. It is said that there is enough oil reserves to last for more than 100 years. More than 90% of UAE's oil wealth comes from Abu Dhabi. But this barren place is 250km from civilization. So alas, after almost 24 hours of travelling, transit, waiting etc. I've finally arrived at my destination - Ruwais. I was too tired to think of anything else but to just hit the bed when I reached my room. This is the beginning of my life in UAE. Would it be a fulfilling experience? Would I fall in love with this country or would I abhor it? Would I survive the next few months here? Would I miss home? I'll just have to stay on see.