The Day Janice Painted...

Today was fun... We had KJ and Jaslyn helping out with the gardening at home....
I did my bit too... We ran out to Bunnings, bought some wooden planks and some paint - pretty paint - purple and pink.

Oh yes I did paint the rocks in the garden....

The Veggie Patch. We tried to grow snow peas, cherry tomato, garlic, spring onions, corriander, and an attempt was made with pumpkins too... all in out little veggie patch.

Oh... this wa sanother sign I made... It is really hard work sawing the wooden planks... (especially the arrow bits)...

Sanity Rejuvenation

Sanity Rejuvenation..... Being back to civilisation... where people don't do the "give-me-5-mins" sign on the road, where people queue (though you still see the odd sheep), where tail gating is not a national hobby, where it is possible to walk more than 200m, where sand storm only occurs on that little sandy patch around the trees on swanston street....

Janice is in Melbourne now and loving EVERY single bit of it...

Food, freezing weather, family and friends!

Ramboll Knowledge Experience - Denmark

Was up in Denmark last weekend for the Ramboll Knowledge Experience. It was one of the longest and best weekend of my life.

It was a long long flight via Zurich on Swiss Air to Copenhagen. All well worth it though!
We roamed around Copenhagen city. Did the city bus tour and all the touristic stuff.

Saturday was spent @ Gisselfeld Castle for the Ramboll Knowledge Experience! Super duper! Excellent organising for 5000 people!

It was all activities and fun and party!!! Woo hoo! Did some fencing, painting...

The huge map with flags of the offices for Ramboll!!

The dinner party!

Cheryl & Kenneth Wedding

Took me a while to post pictures of Cheryl & Kenneth's wedding... Better late than never!!

New Dubai Traffic Regulations

New Dubai Traffic Laws have come in place recently... Some are a little over the top.... Reasonable I guess for the idiots on the roads...

Dubai Speeding fines

Kindly note that the traffic fines starting today 17th July 2008 will be as follow:
Radar : 500 Dhs (approx USD$140) instead of 200 Dhs
Cutting a red light: 1,500 Dhs (approx USD$410) instead of 500 Dhs for the first time & 3 days in jail for the second time.

All Dubai except Jumeira:
All Dubai radars have been reset to catch if your speed is 10 Km/Hr above the street speed.
If the speed limit is 100 Km/Hr (like beginning of SHK Zayed Road ) you shouldn't exceed 109 Km/Hr.
[Before was: if the road speed limit is 100 Km/Hr , the radar only was to catch if the speed is 120 Km/Hr]

Jumeira (Main Roads only) : The speed limit is 80 Km/Hr and radar will catch on 81 Km/Hr
Jumeira(Suburb Roads only): There are hidden radar cameras. The speed limit in these villas areas is 40 Km/Hr.

Crossing the Yellow Line (Driving on the shoulder of astreet)
1. Impounding of vehicle for six months.
2. Applying the laws concerning fines and ancillaries thereof.
3. For those working as drivers, they must be deported and proof of deportation must be provided.
4. Six black points are given. (12 points before you lose your license)
5. The driving license shall be withdrawn in case of committing this offence twice, and shall not be returned to its owner until he/she passes a difficult test and pays a fine of 3000 Dirham(approx USD$1000).
6. After all of the above procedures have been completed, the vehicle will be released.

Karama

Today is the day we moved to our new old offices. Rather... only the Sustainability & Fire Teams moved offices. We're back to the crappy part of Dubai - Karama to be exact.



Good and bad feelings. I was getting comfortable at the Oud Metha office... this office is our new old one. WB moved out a few months ago from Karama to the Oud Metha office... expanded too quickly, and had to kick a few teams back to Karama! Let's give it another 2 months, before we explode out of both offices!

New ceilings made it so much better. It was much worse previously. Got myself a pretty window spot...



And.... There goes my free parking. At least there's good lunches around the corner.

Booz @ Baraccuda

Haven't been updating in a while because I haven't been doing much at all!!! Just work and more work.

We had a glass factory visit at Ras Al Kaimah. Stopped by Baraccuda on the way back. Looks a little dingy. Small little store hidden away from the main streets

Baraccuda is this place that sells alcohol at ridiculously cheap prices... and where you don't need a license to buy alcohol. (By the way, in Dubai, licenses are needed to purchase - and there is a limit on purchase!)

As you would expect.... we did buy quite a fair bit.

How often do you go to the liqour store to get booz with your boss during office hours? It was pretty cool. Clearly... a photo for blackmail. Haha.

A little Whinge

Today was one of the few really bad days of my life where things just didn't seem to go right.

I got up at 7am! (Usually I'm already at work by then). I had a 9am meeting at Sh. Zayed Road, and had to swing by the office to get my stuff. Went into the office and made my cup of coffee. Water was not hot. Great. So I had cold coffee, with undissolved sugar. The milk was late. So evaporated milk it had to be.

Happily sipping my coffee, I didn't catch the time. It was 845am! My meeting was at 9am. On ordinary non-peak times, I could get there in 5 mins. But... there had to be an accident under the trade centre round about.

Nevermind. I got there in 20 mins. BUT... parking is a nightmare at that hour... I circled for another 10 mins, and decided to park in Satwa and walk! The walk from Satwa to SZR was 15 minutes. In the 40 degree heat and sand storm day, that is not funny at all. Wind was blowing the warm air and a million dust particles all over and on me... so not funny.

By that time, it was 930am. I got to SZR and asked for the Al Attar tower. It was the wrong tower!! I was at the residences block. Great!! Frantic and panic! I rang everyone I could think off. Jordan, Val, Matt, Heath, Elizabeth etc.... no one picked up at first. But thankfully these days, people do return missed calls. Only then I found out that Al Attar towers is on the other side of Sh Zayed Road!! If you don't know dubai, to get from one side of SZR to the other, takes ages. It's not a matter of turning right or doing a U-turn. You have got to get to the interchange, or the round about (where the accident happened) to get across.

I did get across in the end. It was 945am. I'm 45 mins late. Then it took another 15 mins to try find a park. In that process, I nearly ran over 2 indian dudes, and had a little fight with an arab guy. But I still didn't know which tower... because there are just so many Al Attar towers!!! what the.....

Hopping mad, i deicided to ring Val to let me into her carpark (she lives close by to my meeting venue). After parking my car... speaking to Matt to confirm venue... I had a return call from the other consultant. Apparently my meeting was the next day!!!

It was a long morning.... to end the day off.... I had a parking ticket outside the office (i forgot the meters), AND.... I got hit by a little green fruit that fell off the tree where I parked! What are the chances???? There are NOT that many trees in Dubai...

That's my whinge for the day.

To HK or Not?

I'm sitting here deciding if I should go to Hong Kong in July or not!!!

Hot weather - better than dubai though... and summer shopping (meaning i'll spend more money)...

Cheryl!! I can't make up my mind!!! I know you are reading this! (I'm definitely goin to Singapore though). Jun - what say you???

Crap + a whole load of bullshit = AustinWilliams

Today I read an article on the Age news paper which totally made me jump. Click here for a link to the article.

It's not because my work revolves around sustainability, but it's because it just doesn't make much sense at all to not be green. Look, rising sea levels, record temperature levels... do we have to wait till the earth gets flooded beyond recognition before we realise "oh... damn. that was global warming".

A copy and paste of a few lines from the news reads:
" THE millions of dollars spent to make Melbourne more sustainable have all been a waste of money. Home owners changing shower heads, installing power-saving light globes and solar panels are wasting their time. Worse, they have inhibited creativity and the potential attractiveness and comfort of their homes and offices.

This will be the argument British author and architect Austin Williams will make when he delivers a speech at a State Government-sponsored forum in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Williams will tell the Alfred Deakin lecture at Federation Square on Tuesday that "sustainability is one of the most pernicious ideologies of our times". He's likely to receive a cool reception.
Williams will argue at the lecture, titled "Planning Cities of the Future", that sustainability is a dirty word, anathema to architecture and vibrant cities.

"To me sustainability is the first thing we have to get rid of before we can clearly have a vision of what the future could possibly be," he tells The Age. "

The statement came from the director of future cities project. Website to future cities is linked here. He will run out of a job if this world does not turn to sustainability.

What a jerk.

Cost of Living...

Standard of living are goin up and up and up.

The biggest hit - Rent. Dubai govt issued a decree that rental rates shall not increase in the 1st year of lease, and a maximum of 5% only in the second year.

AND... I got hit with an increase. Is it worth fighting with the landlords? I'll probably be booted out, and having to find another place, pack and vacate in the middle of 50 degree summer... I think I'll just pay the increment. Plus, I'll never be able to find anything like this.. They're all snapped up!

Next, Salik was introduced last July. They think it's the solution to reducing traffic along Sheikh Zayed Road and at the Garhoud Bridge. Wrong. Bottle necks happening everywhere! All a ploy to tax people for using SZR. AND... this September, another 2 more salik gantries on SZR! It's pretty much a 16Dhs (AUD$4.50) a day to travel to work, or anywhere down the other end of Dubai! Pretty much all the by-pass is gone!

And the worst I heard... within the next 2 to 5 years... income tax! What a rumour. Fingers crossed. If so... i think we're all outta here!

Taking it one step at a time....

Jordan

Made plans today for a 5 day Ramadan trip to Jordan - Amman, Petra and the Dead Sea.

Initially there were the 4 of us. Then Zach bailed out, bringing the group numbers down to 3. Then Jordan + Family who has never been to Jordan wanted to go to Jordan... so numbers went up to 7. Just over the weekend, Alan and Ann wanted to go too... so up again to 9 people. And again Son Chai + wife were interested... so now it's 11 people. Most recent additions (may not happen though) is Mum and Dad.... so now we have 13!

I hope this trip works out. It's usually quite hard to coordinate big groups!!!

To join or not to join

Been trying to get some excercise going over the last few months. I've beeen so lazy.
To get myself up and going, think I should join a gym. But it's sooo expensive. 550Dhs (AUD $160) a month to join a club.

It's got Tennis, Squash courts, Gym, Pool and a lazy river!!!! Plus discounts at Wafi Mall. I'm a sucker for freebies....

I think i'm putting the weight on with all my excessive work-time snacking! I should use the gym at home... but when it's free, you don't use it! That's me!

SHould I spend the money then!!!???

Misc + Gold Souk

Hung around with Mun Wah and Mark over this weekend...
It's nice to have friends around!!! But playing tour guide is always fun.... (I get to try new things too!!)

At the Irish Village with the usual gang.... plus Will...

Pretty Souk Madinat Shop!!

Starbucks.... Life saver of the day!

Night time hangout - with the WB gang
5 days a week @ work... and we still hang out on the weekends!!! That makes it 7 days a week.

Well... Mark was around in town for the weekend and we went to the Gold Souk with J & W for dinner and a bit of watch bargaining with the Indians at the Gold Souk. Will got ripped off buying his 400dhs watch (which I would only have gotten for like 100dhs).

WB Bowling

Had a work bowling social event... Did alright... 115 and 112! At least I broke the 100 barrier! Got to know a few more people at work... which was good!

New Job...

The new job is just fantastic. No regrets leaving at all!! Just getting a little stressed out with having to be busy and working again!! At least I have a real working team now... but it's fun working with Heath, Jeff and Will. I think sometimes we spend more time talking than doing anything else.

Anyway... the move has been so far so good... busy, but it's very gooood.

Last day...

Was my last day at work today... and I'm starting my new job tomorrow!!! (ok... I wrote this on 30 April, but it took me like a long time to post up pictures...)

Mixed feelings... Happy to leave, yet it's been a long few years with so many close friends around! Now I know why some people say you shouldn't get too close to people at work! - it makes the leaving difficult!

Well, we all caught up for drinks at the Irish Village after... was a good day!

Fujairah

It's summer again! Today, the thermometer shot past 40 degrees. Still, we took a drive out to Fujairah. This place is about 2 hours off from Dubai... right at the Gulf of Oman.


Stopped by the Friday Market. It's Saturday today by the way. Friday market opens 7 days a week. Haha. It was just fruit stalls, little souvenirs and carpet shops all around. The fruits are really good. Especially the bananas - the same ones used for goreng pisang!

Part of the Gulf of Oman

Fujairah Rotana Beach Resort

In UAE, there are round abouts with really strange things used for "decorating"...

the Pot round about

the Dolphin round about

the Oil Lamp round about

Another weekend has passed....

Peru... 09

I just had this urge to go to Peru/Equador end of next year... Anyone???
Did a bit of research... and realise long planning is needed. So well...

Filling in....

I know I haven't been blogging in the last few months. 6 of you have said to me "oey, can you please update your blog?" So well, here I am updating some of it.... It's quite hard updating things that have passed for so long. For now.... here it is... I will upload more in the coming days!

Will definitely do a special one for Yujun and Joon Jae's wedding!

Birthday 2008

This year's birthday celebration was one of the best and longest (ie. multiple groups) in quite a while... My one week break back to Singapore was just birthday celebrations from Monday to Friday. Wheee!! It was cake after cake... from family, cousins, to friends... Missing Singapore already!!

Brownie cake with my name.. how cute! Oo... it was a mean brownie. Finger lickin good.

Joanna, & Rachel. Henry was missing. Thanks for the cake!

Went to Doc Chengs @ the Raffles Hotel for dinner with the family. Jeremy, Sue and Joy are all stuck in Melbourne at the moment. So it did seem a little quiet and strange having dinner with dad, mum, aunty, uncle and grandma. Food was good anyway... Haven't been to this restaurant in ages. At least 15 years i would imagine?

Doc Chengs @ Raffles

After years and years of being overseas... the three of us finally got together again. Well, my birthday was not the only reason. It was Yujun's Hens Day.... since she didn't have a hens night! Aye... let's just call it a girls day out. All we did was eat though....

After not being able to make up our minds where we could go for lunch, we ended up at Bobby's @ CHIJMES. OO.... love the pasta there. So yum.

As usual, we did take a lot of photos.... some really stupid ones in fact. (Ummm, not quite my idea?) Haha.

Ahh.. that was round 2 birthday cake @ Raffles City Basement... some random cafe we popped by. Latte was good. Just like in Melbourne.

And of course.... Present time. Cheryl made me this card... (just like in Primary school days). With little pretty stickers all over. It was a good reminder of those swimming days!

Round 3 of Birthday Celebrations... Melbourne Uni OCF bunch @ Hanabi, Odeon Towers. Japanese Buffet. My favourite. Food was really good. (no my life does not revolve around food - it just happened that way). As usual, Mavis - the walking food directory, organised it... (thanks mave!). Oh... it did happen to be Kaye's bday a few days before mine too.

Ummm.. this time, there was no birthday cake... but we did have a birthday fish each thanks to gideon. (Wel, it was a Japanese buffet after all and the fish was part of the deal). It's funny though. Really funny... and strangely interesting. But well, I have good and strange friends (who are probably reading this anyway!)

And... to finish it off.... Durian cake! all the way from Emi cakes from mum. Oooo... D24 durians are the best!

Why do I miss Singapore again...?? mmmm... I wonder.