GOOD FRIDAY

Traditionally, I would either be doing the Holy Week ritual (visita iglesia, church ceremony, procession, etc.) or spending quality time with family and friends in the beach or somewhere in Tagaytay (as I always go home every time this season kicks in).  This year, the only similarity is that the day was simple and quiet.  As the Catholic’s Holy Week isn’t really celebrated here in Dubai, I ended up doing chores and errands – quick haircut (finally, after two weekends of saying that I’d get one), grocery shopping, a trip to my now “official mall” (MOE) and some house cleaning (not the whole flat as I’m dead lazy, as always!).

Metro Day! From Internet City to Mall of the Emirates. Found this interesting board!

Typical Carrefour cart with my microwaveable food stuff and toiletries for the week ahead...

Next question would be what to do tonight and tomorrow!  Great opportunity to consult the website for “What to do in Dubai as a tourist” again – it’s a bit of a stretch though to search for something “Good Friday” related.  :)

DUBAI TOURISM 101

After working and living in two different foreign countries, one of the important things I have learned is that to continuously enjoy the ride, one should maintain the “tourist” mindset.  Once you feel that you are already a local in that certain place, the thrill, curiosity and excitement of exploring what your “home away from home” may offer can just simply fade away – and that, you don’t want happen as it would eventually lead to boredom and irritation (on the extreme side).  For sure, there would be other aspects to consider to sustain one’s level of interest in a new place, but this is only one bit which based on my experience, matters quite a lot.

Hence, I am taking that conscious effort to always see myself as a new tourist here in Dubai (despite the fact that I have a resident visa stamped to my passport), knowing that this will allow me to always love what I am seeing, appreciate what I am experiencing, and perhaps most importantly, not have feel the unnecessary stress that may come along my way.  Simply put, keeping the I-am-a-tourist-and-I-am-on-a-holiday mode (but of course, while still being responsible), will make each and every single day a pretty exhilarating one.  :)

In the spirit of the thought, I am fortunate to have experienced a couple of “touristy” activities in the city over the last two weekends – desert safari (complete with dune bashing, camel ride, buffet dinner and belly dancing) and Friday Brunch in a South African joint (not uniquely “Dubai”, but part of every expat’s lifestyle – just like how it is in Jakarta and Singapore – only difference is doing it here on a Friday instead of the typical Sunday sked! Hahaha!).  Some pictures to sum it all up…  :)

Black and White Photos

With the advent of digital cameras coupled with an idiot-proof digital imaging capabilities of personal computers, my collection of black and white “feeling photographer” photos significantly increased over the last three years, and the number also became directly proportional to the amount of travels and holidays I have had.  While most people collect cliché pieces from destinations they have visited (e.g. fridge magnets, key chains, shot glasses, mugs, t-shirts, etc.), I consider my set of photos as the priceless souvenirs of my indulgence and exploration moments.  To bring it to the next level and make them real conversation pieces, I finally managed to do what I have been wanting to produce – a mini-collage of choicest photographs that serve as wall ornaments, this time in the flat that I just recently moved-in to.

9 of 400+ favorite photos

Unintentionally, the “black and white” minimalist concept caught my eyes while roaming around Ikea to find inspiration as to how my new abode would look like.  After a couple of weeks, I successfully managed to furnish a bare 1-bedroom apartment, while bringing to life the deconstructed theme found in the value-for-money home store.  With no background in interior design or architecture, below is the bare minimum that I managed to put together.  Not extremely proud of it (yet!) as there are still tons to buy to complete the picture, what matters to me at this point though is that I really feel good every time I enter my flat as I am bound to enjoy a relaxing time in a place that reflects my personality – may be colorless, but has that endearing impact that you simply can’t and won’t ignore.  :)

Living Room

Living Room

Living Room

Living Room

Dining Room

Dining Room

Dining Room

Dining Room

Bedroom

Bedroom

Bathroom

Bathroom

Balcony

Balcony

NEW CHAPTER… FOR THE NTH TIME!

Tagging myself to be leading a “transient life” turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy…  unfortunately or fortunately.  After packing four luggage bags and two huge cargo boxes to conclude my temporary life in Singapore, which lasted for almost a year, I found myself repacking all of them after a break of nearly two months in the Philippines.  Just when I thought that my “transient life” would come to an end, destiny begged to differ.  In an unexpected twist of fate, “Welcome to Dubai!” turned out to be the compelling message, which opened a new chapter in my fairly exciting adventure.

Truth be told, I am easily endeared by any concept within the realm of “new”, “fresh” or “change” – which also indirectly means that I easily get bored with monotony, stagnancy and flatness.  It may be a function of my age, my go-getter personality or the fact that I don’t have such heavy responsibilities yet, which allows me to take sharp curves and turns or maneuver my moves on the path that I am leading.  After receiving three job offers (one in Manila, one in Singapore and one in Dubai), I opted to choose another expatriate post which shows promise in terms of answering my hunger for getting on with something different again…  not just within the context of work per se, but more on the “life” that I will be experiencing – new country, new continent and new opportunity to start all over.

Three weeks ago, I found myself breathing the air of a new place that I’ve never been in.  At a glance, I saw Dubai to be very much similar to Las Vegas – a city built within a desert filled with recreational spins, making it the “Adult Disneyland” indeed.  I never thought that it would be as such, but that certainly was a pleasant surprise.  On the physical surroundings, it appears to be consistently “grand” – good, because everything that you see appears to be an eye candy, yet bad, because they all seem superficial which magnifies its seemingly ostentatious personality.  I might be wrong, but this was my first impression.

First task then is to get myself settled into the new office and find my new flat (as I was only given a couple of weeks to temporarily stay in a hotel) at the same time.  Luckily, one of my cousins is actually based here – hence, my primary support is very strong, making the start-up run smoothly.

Some pics worth sharing, see below!  :)

Madinat Jumeirah

Madinat Jumeirah

Madinat Jumeirah

Madinat Jumeirah

Madinat Jumeirah

Madinat Jumeirah

Dubai Mall

Dubai Mall

Dubai Mall

Dubai Mall

Dubai Fountain

Dubai Fountain

Dubai Fountain

Mexican dinner

Mexican dinner

Mexican dinner

Night cap...

Night cap...

Knowledge Village

Knowledge Village

Knowledge Village (X-Ray and HIV Test Center for Resident Visa processing)

Metro Station (the best I've seen so far - better than SG, HK, NYC, SF, MLA!)

Metro Station

Metro Station

Mall of the Emirates (interesting advertising space...)

St. Francis Catholic Church in Jebel Ali

Palladium (one of my favorite buildings... quite similar to NYC's Chrysler