Au Revoir Sandpit!

I'm done with packing and now all set.

I mean, this is it -- my last few hours day in sandpit. I would be hypocrite to say I'm ready. Physically, yes but emotionally, maybe or maybe not. It's not that I don't want to leave. I'm itching to leave and actually have all the reasons to leave. As much as I love and have been attached with Abu Dhabi, particularly with my job, sadly, I have to move on. I guess nothing really lasts forever. Eventually, esp for the sake of our own growth and happiness, we have to make the right decisions in life. Decisions that would put your family first above anything else.

Sandpit has been good to me. I remember perfectly when I first set foot in UAE -- I was full of ambition, courage, and hope. There sure are loads of hurdles, but these hurdles shaped me, sorta defines who I am today. I wouldn't change a single thing as all experiences, good and bad, are definitely worth it!

I will miss my studio apartment... err prolly not! I will miss walking along Corniche. I will miss calling Baqala. I will miss getting pissed because of bad apartment maintenance. I will miss attending concerts with few audience. I will miss hearing prayer call 5x a day everyday. I will miss driving along nice roads. I will miss Maroosh. I will miss the rotisserie kind-of-heat during summer. I will miss PJs and Coopers. I will miss 12am food delivery calls. I will miss my office, my my... I have such an amazing messy office! I will miss my friends. List goes on and on.

Anyway, as I contemplate, watch the clock, and prepare myself to bid adieu for now (without weeping, of course not!), I just want to share how thankful I am for such an amazing journey sandpit has given. I will forever cherish all those sweet and bitter moments deep in my heart. This will be my last blog from the UAE. I'm out!

x

Oh Malé, Mawldeevs!

Recently, I went on an unplanned trip to Maldives with my travel buddies. It happened so fast and until now I can't effing believe I've been there.

At some antique shop for give-aways in Malé

Anyhoo, it started when I was snoozing and being lazy on my bed. I was sleeping and when I woke up, I got loads of bbm messages from these trip addicts. They found a very cheap flight going there. Usually, it will cost you like AED4,000+ just to fly there. Since Etihad had this promo, they unhesitantly booked tickets!

We stayed there for almost two days. Did some tour the moment we landed. We were surprised that you can tour the whole Malé Island for like 3 hours on barefoot. LOL Nothing to see in there but yeah, we did some arrangements for the following day - island hopping and snorkeling. We thought we could make it into diving but we lack time. We are flying back home after a day! Ugh.

So t'was like: Wednesday - tickets were booked, Thursday - booked the hotel, Friday - off to Male, Saturday - enjoyed the sun, sand and sea, and Sunday - head back home to Sandpit! Just like that.


Malé Island



I just love this pic because of different types of blue in it :)



Light blue sky and dark blue sea



Peacefully free ME!



Travel buddies :)



*speechless*

 But you know, unplanned things like this are the most enjoyable and memorable moments of life. I actually want to extend and stay like a couple of days more. You can't blame me. Maldives is just A-MAZING! Your jaws will literally drop at its beauty.

Looking forward for my next trip! :)

Sandpit

I've been here in Dubai for a week now and still have no luck in finding a good job. There are some, yes, but the offer isn't that worth it you know. My friends keep on telling me that that's the way it is. If you want a really nice job, you have to wait. So I'm anxiously waiting and hoping and wishing.

Anyway, t'was my first time visiting this country and let me tell you about some of my experiences so far. I arrived here last April 28 and I've been to numerous places -- Sharjah, Deira, Karama, Sheikh Zayed and so on. I am good at finding specific location but here, I'm not. Buildings or establishments here aren't the same in the Philippines. I couldn't even figure out whether it's a hospital, a school, a villa, an office, a mall or whatever. Also, Dubai has long, wide roads so you won't see any traffic jams anywhere.

My first week here is quite boring but happy at times. Boring when my friend Elaine have a flight which means I'll be left all alone at home but happy when she's here. We usually go dine out and stroll. I was lucky to be able to see Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. There was also this show that I saw which they call "Dancing Water". It was in front of Burj Khalifa and show starts every 6PM and continues every after 30 minutes to entertain tourists around. It was kinda beautiful and nice. I also get to see the 7-star hotel here called Burj Al Arab. Haven't got in to that place though, maybe next time.

When it comes to food, I wouldn't say it's cheap but it's average. A simple shawarma would cost around 5-10 dirhams. I've tried the famous shawarma from Aroos Damascus and oh boy it was soooo gooood! It's very far from our shawarmas back home. And since this country is mostly populated by Indians, there are loads of Indian restaurants or cafeteria everywhere. Indian foods were typically spicy and I keep on saying that I should be used to those kind of foods or maybe not! Meh. Well, almost everything you want to eat are available, from western cuisine to eastern cuisine.

What else? Oh yeah, I've learned that cellphone loads here don't expire, sim card does but you can renew it after like a year. Buying sim cards here requires you to show some identification. So if ever you lost your phone or someone stole it, they can easily track it. Best part is you can still use the same number even if it was deactivated for so many years. How about that? And buses... buses here seems to be cool. In Dubai, you can only ride a bus if you got a bus card. They don't have bus conductors here. All you need to do is ride a bus, from a bus station (buses here don't stop to load and unload passengers just anywhere), swipe your card and voila! Mind you, bus cards can't be used by 2 or more persons, you'll be fined 200 dirhams if police officers caught you. And what's even cooler is that buses here got their own numbers for their respective routes. So organized! But you better be sure that you've checked on the numbers before you board or you'll be lost haha!

I think that's about it for now. More of sandpit adventure later! Toodles!

x

DXB

Never thought of stepping my feet on UAE soil but now here I am, trying to enjoy every second of it. It's hard to leave families and friends but that's the way life is. It's hard to explain but I'm pretty sure you know what I'm saying.

Anyway, I was all prepared -- financially and emotionally. I've got high hopes being here but most importantly, I have a plan. But before that drama I want to throw out everything that happened to me before arriving Dubai.

It seemed pretty easy on me but that wasn't always the case, okay. I'm doing this for the sake of those people who wants to go here so they'll at least have an idea. As what would everyone say, I decided to go here for better opportunities. So I fixed all my documents and within a month, I got all the results. I have a friend working in Dubai who helped with my visa and ticket processing. The only thing that I'll be thinking about is on how to pass through those immigration officers in Manila. Immigration officers in the UAE are more lenient (as long as you have all legit documents of course) so I don't need to be worried about that.

April 28, my departure date. I arrived in NAIA three hours before my flight schedule. First thing you need to do is to have your visa scanned for authenticity then off you go to check in your baggage. I couldn't stress more on the fact that checking in online a day before your flight is pretty helpful. You will benefit by not queuing from those long lines at the airport as there are specific counters for online/web check-in. Oh before I forgot, pay the freaking terminal fees first before checking in your baggage. You need that receipt enable for you to check in your baggage. So after checking in your baggage, you will be given your boarding pass (don't forget to ask for a departure card, you'll need that at the Immigration counter), then you can now go straight to the Immigration. This is the last step before you board a plane. Some say go to a line which you think will let you pass easily but who can tell, right? Anyway, I picked on the most snob-looking immigration officer and when it was my turn, she asked for my passport, boarding pass, and departure card. She looked at me then to my papers and asked, "Why are you going to Dubai? What's your purpose?" I calmly said, "Just visiting a friend." Then she asked for my visa and return ticket. She then asked, "Who is Elaine Cruz?" I told her she was a friend and that's it. She stamped my passport and gave it back to me. I exhaled deeply. I thought that wasn't hard and I'm lucky. There are some people who have been going back and forth in different lanes yet they've always been denied. I overheard one of the immigration officer telling the other officer, "Pabayaan mo silang magpabalik balik diyan. Maghahanap lang ng trabaho yang mga yan sa ibang bansa." In English, "Let them go back and forth. They're just going to find a job outside Philippines." Honestly, I felt angry. I understand that it was part of their so called "job" to make sure every Filipino citizen will always be on safety but can't you just let them pass? I mean, most of them are in the right age and it's up to that person whatever he/she will do to whatever country he'll/she'll be in. They have visa, they have passport, what else do you fucking want? Gah! Anyway...

So, I waited for boarding for almost two hours. My flight was delayed, what's new? Eventually, I boarded a Boeing 777 Emirates Airlines' plane and it was freaking huge. The whole trip was about nine hours straight. When we reached Dubai, we did not land that instant. The pilot said that they're experiencing traffic. I was like, "Traffic on air? WTF?" We've been circling around for like 30 minutes and then we landed.. safely.

I was so stoked upon entering the Dubai airport. T'was huge and clean and seem to be very organised -- well, compared to NAIA for sure! Oh, here's another tip, don't ever wear heels! I was wearing my new stilettos and never thought that I would be having a verrrrrry long walk inside Dubai airport. Anyhow, before the immigration officer, you will do the eye scan. I dunno what the purpose is but it's their protocol here. After that, go straight to the immigration officer. When it was my turn, the Arab officer greeted me "Kamusta?" which is basically "Hi" in my own language. So I told him, "Mabuti." which is "Fine." He asked for my passport and visa, typed something on his computer then stamped my passport. And that was it. No questions asked. This is when I realized Filipinos are more strict when it comes to the immigration thingy and I wonder why. When I passed through the immigration, I immediately saw and got my baggage. Then I got out of the airport and my friend was already there waiting for me. =)

It's 2AM when I arrived and I can feel the heat from this place. I really am in Dubai now.

x