I'm off to Dubayyyyyyyy
My trip to Dubai did not start well.......first, I had to call the
driver because he did not show up at the agreed time of 6am....it seems he just
woke up when I called him. Then, my flight got delayed....
My take off time is supposed to be 10:45am and guess what, the
plane got delayed due to technical problems (scary, after all the plane crashes
that we've seen in the news recently) and we finally took off after a 3-hr
delay. Quite surprising for an Emirates flight, they are normally quite
efficient with their schedules.
Just 20 minutes before arrival in Dubai, the plane hit some
airpockets and was rocking madly.....oh shit! I know it's April Fools Day
(things seems to be a joke the whole day) but I couldn't find anything funny
when my mind just keeps on replaying images of the recent Germanwings flight
and before I can start my litany of prayers, the captain finally announced that
we are now due to arrive in Dubai in a few minutes. Halleluia!
And it was not finished yet...... Tried to activate roaming on my
phone for both SIMs only to realize that my personal SIM doesn't have enough
credit and my office SIM should have been activated prior.....I went to line up
in an Etisalat counter and after 20 minutes, the line still did not move
because the guy manning the counter was slow and was just leisurely chatting
with the customer while the queue behind became longer and longer(now I believe
what others say about the work standards of Emiratis)......and so I left and
took a taxi to the hotel. I actually took a cab for females, it has pink
stripes and comes with a female driver.
With both my phones almost dead and no mobile connection, I have
to wait for my friend to show up coz the booking is under her name.
This is surely not my day…..it’s been 30mins now and I am still
waiting in the lobby… and since I cannot call, I have to ask the reception to
call my friend…..and so the whole arrival to Dubai saga continues….
My host for my first night is a former colleague from Jumeirah,
and she graciously granted my request of staying in a Jumeirah hotel when I
arrive in Dubai. While catching up on stories and chika (we have not seen each
other for more than 4 years), another friend arrived and we moved to the
rooftop bar, Cu-Ba lounge for a short drink before bidding adieu to my first
night in Dubai.
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