Venture Dubai

2006-09-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

Lazy ivan is back...haha...

The past one week+ had been a hectic one...from morning till evening i'm at the site..under the hot hot sun (42 degrees at times)...i'm baked!! Then i have to walk aound the site...supervising the construction works..and making sure they finish the work...or rather...making sure the contractor's supervisor know wat to do n tell his workers to complete the job. This can be a VERY difficult task...i'm getting sick of the excuses and lies...sometimes it makes my blood boil sia! But as much as possible i refrain from shouting at them ba..no point being so angry i feel..just keep pushing them...of coz..sometimes i do show them the ivan-pissed-off look...haiz...i hope things can go smoothly...felt stuck in the middle...=[

Anyway i'm usually so tired at the end of the day...the 2 hr traffic jam tt i have to endure everyday is not helping!! The traffic here is atrocious...2 hrs..OMG...this is due to the huge number of cars on the roads...cars r rather cheap here..NO TAX!!! (except for a 5% import tax i think)...NO ROAD TAX!...i was flipping through the classifieds and saw the ads for 2nd-hand cars...C-H-E-A-P...one can get a Merc SLK for abt S$20+k...then there are the Porches..Jags...etc etc...it's very normal to find a Porche Boxster (my dream car!!) parked by the roadside..or a SLK parked in a makeshift carpark (sand!) or a Lamborghini zipping past you on the road (my pickup stopped beside a Lambo during a jam...chio!). Porches and SLKs r rather common on the roads...oh i saw a Mustang too! very nice....anyway it's mostly jap cars on the roads...(i only take the Mitsubishi pickup to site everyday =[..)

Ok photos...

These are some pics of the buildings in Dubai..i must say they have some very unique architecture..i guess it's becoz the country is free from earthquakes and other natural disasters..one interesting thing is tt they like to use glass facade...anyway..i dunno the names of the buildings haha..

i apologise for the quality of the pics...i took them while inside the car la...haha..

I experienced my 1st sandstorm while on the way back to the office...all the cars slowed down n hazard lights flashing everywhere...interesting...

I took a bus once (i went to Deira - another part of Dubai...more on it another time..including my excursion haha)...anyway the bus is normal..almost same as the ones in Singapore..except that they have seats reserved for 'Ladies'...dunno is u can see on the pic..hmm..

Another interesting thing...petrol is actually cheaper than diesel!!

Petrol is abt 6Dh ( S$2.6) per gallon (3.785l)...Diesel is abt 9Dh (S$3.9)

Also, there's only one telco in Dubai - Estisalat...a monopoly! Not only r the prices high...one sim card cost 165 Dh (S$71) with only S$4 worth of calls..sux man..it's also the only internet service provider...and they blocked youtube! n many others...including skype. This can be rather frustrating...(not tt i serve porn sites la..)...but anyway i have a program to bypass it haha...(opps!)..

Anyway...my colleagues all say i lost weight!! *yeay*

2006-09-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

I'm back with a new post...=]

Days passed and it's my 13th day at work le....so far things have been quite ok..i'm pretty comfortable to be in the company of Japanese, Indians, Pakistani, Bangadeshi, Filippinos...no Singaporeans haha...Apart from the 2 Singaporean Chinese ladies in the HR department, i'm the only Singaporean in the Engineering side. It can be quite weird at times...esp when in the company of the Japanese during lunches n meetings....they'll rattle on in strings of japanese and i'll be just there..eating my food or acting bz haha...oh well...

Maybe becoz i feel tt since i'm new to the country and in the company of foreigners, i should be frenly haha...introducing myself to strangers and asking for their names n where they come from...*ahem* i represent Singapore eh....whahaha..even on the streets...when i see pple i'll smile n say hi..they'll reciprocate loh..i enjoy tokking to people of different nationalities..Egyptians..Iranians..Indians...Filippinos etc etc..no Singaporeans yet though =P...it makes me wonder if i smile at someone on Orchard Road (esp a gal..a pretty one)..would she smile back? Maybe she'll think i'm a psycho or something n snare back instead haha...

Anyway...photo time!

This is my workstation, a room i shared with this Indian draftman. He's 24 (younger than me but alr working for 3 yrs)..nice chap who brought me to eat at nice n cheap indian restaurants and sight-seeing (which i'll tok more in later posts).

Oh ya..did i mention i got lost numerous times in the first week..haha..the sad truth was tt i got a map and the hotel was only 10mins from my office...yet i can lost my way. But hor..the area is a myriad of concrete buildings loh..turn a corner n u'll see a building..turn into another lane and u'll find a similar-looking one..once i asked this man (botak and rather fierce-looking...think Vin Diesel) for directions. He rode the bicycle and guided mi back..for a moment then..i was wondering if he'll bring mi to one place n rob me..haha..but cannot trust pple too easily la ah..=]

It took me 4 days before i can walk home from office without getting lost haha...instead of 30mins i now take only 10!...One comment: the streets in Dubai are rather clean...cleaner than Singapore i feel...hmm..dunno y oso..but lacking in the greens..no trees...sand sand concrete concrete...blah

This is the bellboy working in my hotel...

Tokked to him for a while..found out he's Nepalese and been working in Dubai for a yr...somehow the conversation got to salary...he told me his monthly salary is 500Dh (which is abt S$220) and the cost of my room is 450Dh per night! How to survive sia..with only 200 bucks...i began to wonder y pple r flocking into Dubai to find work..i found out from my driver (yes..i have a driver to ferry mi between site n office haha) tt he's not earning much too..difficult to make a living...i dun understand...

Change topic..Lunch is usually at the foodcourts but for dinner..i will cook! haha..although it's only one time so far (the other times being biscuits n cup noodles...i'm lazy to go buy la..)

Ingredients i purchased in the local supermarkets...

Knife and chopping board...i only began to appreciate the good-quality knives my mom bought when i encountered SO MUCH difficulty in cutting the onions, garlic and chicken...(damn my cheaponess..)

After and hour of food prepartion and cooking...WALA!

Looks good hor...haha..the taste is not bad too..i swear! =]

Anyway i cooked this on my off-day..i'll tok more abt my mini-excursion in my next post ba..=]

Oh..sometimes i have fruit salad for dinner too! Detox time...

Btw..i'm trying to see the changes in my skin colour...this is me on the 2nd day...will post another one when it's 1 mth...the difference will be obvious...i'm a baked potato..=[

2006-08-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hello peeps!!!

Sorry for the delay in setting up my blog...paiseh la..ivan being ivan..i is lazy =P

Anyway..i will try to blog as often as i can..if i'm not konked out from working OT or channel-surfing thru the 40 channels in my service (mostly hindi shows..one french channel n one russian) (",)

First..let's recap......

A big THANK YOU to all who came to send mi off at Changi Airport T2 on tt fateful night...LOVE U ALL!!

That's my bro-neighbour-good fren who gave me a lift to the airport and helped me with my 33.7 kg luggage haha...cheers bro!:

Good frens from YEP ( + shianglin's bf) =] :

CE frens-cum-study pals:

My lovely sisters (all babes!) and their boyfriend:

The infamous Hougang gang (less some members):

The Fab Four (minus Jonathan who's in China):

Everyone! Really surprised and happy to see 30 pple there...*sob*

After 7 hours on SQ492, I finally reached Dubai, UAE...was greeted by the heat when i got off the plane..hopped onto a bus which brought us to the arrival hall...was a little lost but was ok since most of the signs are in English (heng ah..). Waited 20 mins for the luggage (slow..) and similar to tt time when i was in Bangalore...there were pple offering to carry your luggage (for a token sum of coz..). Came out of the airport...but no hotel person to fetch mi! Called the hotel and they told mi they got wrong info from Singapore office (irritated)...but anyway i reached the hotel around 3:45am (tired n irritated)...SAVOY PARK hotel apartments will be my place for the next 1~2 mths...until i shift to a new place with my colleagues (Singapore)

Now a tour of the room...

Sofa set seems cozy enuff...

2 beds for mi!...but will only be using one...the other a make-shift table to throw my stuff haha..

Dressing table...not much use..

The pantry-cum-kitchen..it's not bad..with plates, cups, stove, 'microwave' etc...will start cooking soon..since the food here are quite pricey..

Clean toilet!! Very impt...although i still can't quite figure the water-heating system..cannot really control the temp...either VERY HOT...or VERY COLD...haiz..

After unpacking..i went to bed (5am)..only to be woken by a call at 8am to ask mi to go to work!! Piangz...anyway i went to office ard 12pm (in time for lunch)...which is a 10min walk from my hotel..rather sianz...had to start work alr..=[

Lunch was at the food-court in the Burjuman Shopping Mall...conveniently situated just beside m office..was taken aback by the price at first...S$12 for a simple meal (indian food..rice with 2 sides)...but i got used to the price after couple of days..expensive to live here sia..anyway..the first day was spent slogging till 8pm...sad...

First shopping trip to the supermarket! And this was on the 4th day i think....the prev days were just travelling between office and hotel...tired after a day's work which usually last 12 hours...i'm too tired to go anywhere else..

Stocking my the fridge is priority..although i din buy much..i went to this supermarket chain called Spinney's...almost like the NTUC back home i guess...but the prices r higher (as expected)...will make a price-list for my colleagues so they'll know what to bring over...haha...they have Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce here! almost wanted to bring over from Singapore haha...crazy...

I din buy these in Dubai..essentials i brought over from Singapore haha...

Guess wat...Breadtalk in Dubai! Din know they expanded into this region...bought these in Burjuman Shopping mall..

I will post more photos in my next post...tired alr...plus i'm gg out soon..off-day!! finally...after working for 9 straight days...=]